You can read ahead on Patreon
Eldritch Horror? No, I'm A Doctor
Read up to 10-12 chapters ahead
Access exclusive character portraits
Q&A
Dimensional Librarian Available now on Patron!!!
Your support means the world to me and will help me keep creating this story. If you enjoy the ride so far, please consider joining every bit of support helps! ❤️
Link
https://patreon.com/Thanarit?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink
It took thirty minutes to get Steven to stop screaming.
Thirty. Full. Minutes.
Dr. Nox stood patiently in the corner while Mary tried to calm her husband down. The children stared in confusion as their father hyperventilated on the floor, his SMG forgotten beside him.
"Steven, breathe. Just breathe," Mary kept saying, her hand on his back.
"Daddy's being silly!" Emma giggled.
"Very silly," David agreed.
Dr. Nox shifted his weight slightly, his tentacles swaying behind him. He'd retracted them somewhat to appear less threatening, but they were still visible, coiling and uncoiling in an almost hypnotic pattern.
Finally, mercifully, Steven's screams died down to whimpers, then to shaky breathing, then to silence.
Mary stood up, her expression hardening as she looked at her children. "David, Emma, go to your rooms. Now."
"But Mom—"
"Now."
The tone in her voice made both children scramble off the bed and run out of the room, casting curious glances back at the strange masked man with the tentacles.
Once they were gone, Mary turned to Dr. Nox. Her wariness had returned now that the children were safe. When he'd first arrived at the door, she'd found him kind and lovely, if a bit weird with his formal manner and peculiar outfit. But seeing Steven's reaction had changed everything.
"I apologize, madam, for the trouble," Nox said, his voice genuinely apologetic through the plague mask. "This was not how I intended this visit to go."
Mary's eyes narrowed. "You seemed nice when you arrived. Polite. But now I'm seeing why my husband is terrified."
"I'm Steven's doctor. I performed a surgical procedure on him recently, and I wanted to check on his recovery. I should have called ahead."
"Doctors don't usually have tentacles."
"I'm a specialist."
"That's not reassuring."
Dr. Nox tilted his head slightly, the plague mask's beak pointing toward Steven, who was still sitting on the floor looking shell-shocked. "The procedure I performed was an eye transplant. Your husband's left eye was damaged beyond conventional repair. I gave him a new one. The operation required the patient to be awake throughout. It was... intense. Your husband developed some PTSD from the experience. When he saw me unexpectedly, especially with the children, it triggered a panic response."
Mary's expression shifted to confusion. "Eye transplant? But Steven's been wearing that eyepatch for years. You're saying you fixed it?"
Steven reached up and touched the eyepatch covering his left eye. "Yeah. I can see again. Both eyes work now."
"Then why are you still wearing the patch?"
"Because the new eye looks weird. It glows blue."
"It glows?"
"Bright blue. Like a flashlight. It's distracting for other people."
Mary looked at Dr. Nox. "You gave my husband a glowing eye?"
"It's a very effective eye," Nox said defensively. "Excellent visual acuity. Enhanced perception. Multiple optical modes. The glow is just a minor cosmetic side effect."
"Minor?"
"Relatively minor."
Mary stared at him for a long moment, her mind clearly trying to process this information. "And the surgery required him to be awake? Why?"
"The procedure involves integrating biological material that requires active neural mapping. The patient needs to be conscious for the connections to form properly." Dr. Nox's tone was matter-of-fact, as if this was a perfectly normal medical explanation. "It's uncomfortable, but necessary."
"Uncomfortable," Mary repeated flatly. "My husband just screamed for thirty minutes straight."
"The memory is worse than the actual experience."
"That doesn't make it better!"
Steven finally found his voice, though it came out hoarse. "It's okay, Mary. Dr. Nox is a good man. He fixed my eye. I can see again because of him. The surgery was just... traumatic. Really traumatic. But it worked."
"That's still concerning, Steven."
"I know. But I trust him."
Mary studied her husband's face, then looked back at the doctor. Her expression was still wary. "You brought those lovely gifts. The chocolates, the game console. You were so polite at the door. But this..." She gestured at the tentacles, at Steven's continued trembling.
Steven scrambled to his feet, his soldier instincts kicking back in. His hands were shaking slightly, but he forced them to steady. "Mary, listen. I need you to leave the room. Please. This is military business now."
"Steven—"
"Please. I need you somewhere safe. If something goes wrong... just please."
Mary looked between her husband and the doctor. Finally, she sighed. "Fine. I'll be downstairs. But if I hear screaming again, I'm calling every emergency number in the city."
"That's fair," Steven said quickly. "Very fair. Extremely reasonable."
Mary gave Dr. Nox one last look before walking out of the room, closing the door behind her with more force than necessary.
Steven waited until he heard her footsteps on the stairs, counting each one to make sure she was actually leaving. Then he turned to Dr. Nox, his expression shifting from fear to professional composure. "Okay, Doctor. What's the situation?"
Why is he so scared of me? Ren thought, genuinely confused. I gave him his eyesight back. I was playing nicely with his children. I brought gifts.
...
The System's sigh was audible in Ren's mind, heavy with exasperation and shame.
"The cultists," Nox said simply.
Steven's blood ran cold. His hand instinctively moved toward his hip where his SMG was holstered. "What about them?"
"They made contact with me today. Performed some kind of test. They think I'm their prophet or something equally ridiculous. They want me to participate in a ritual in three days."
"A ritual? What kind of ritual?"
"The summoning kind, apparently. They want to use me as some sort of conduit or sacrifice or bridge. The details were unclear. They were very cryptic about the whole thing." Dr. Nox's tone was light, almost dismissive, as if he was discussing an annoying but manageable inconvenience rather than a cult trying to summon an eldritch god.
Steven's expression turned serious. "And what did you tell them?"
"I didn't kill them, if that's what you're asking. Seemed like it would cause more problems than it would solve. Dead cultists just bring more cultists. It's like a hydra situation."
"So you just... let them go?"
"They weren't threatening me. They were recruiting me. Big difference." Nox shrugged, his tentacles swaying with the motion. "I figured I'd let the professionals handle it. Hence, the house visit."
Steven's mind raced through the implications. He can clearly deal with the cultists himself. He has the power. The fact that he's here means he finds them annoying but doesn't want to escalate. He's outsourcing the problem to us. Which means he respects our capabilities. And if we don't handle this, if we upset him...
"You want us to handle them."
"Correct. I'm a doctor, not a soldier. Dealing with cults is your specialty, not mine. I fix people. You fight people. It's a natural division of labor."
Steven pulled out his phone. "I need to call the others. Right now."
"The others?"
"The officers who were supposed to visit you tomorrow. We need to move up the timeline."
Steven dialed Ralph's number. It rang three times before a groggy voice answered.
"What?"
"Get to my house. Now. It's urgent."
"Steven, it's almost nine PM. I'm in bed. Whatever this is can wait until morning."
"Dr. Nox is here. The cultists made contact with him today."
Silence.
Then the sound of sheets being thrown off. "I'll be there in fifteen minutes."
Steven didn't even need to explain further. Ralph understood the implications immediately. If the doctor was upset enough about the cultists to visit Steven's house personally, this was serious.
Axel answered on the first ring. "What's the emergency?"
"Doctor's here. My house. Cultists contacted him today. Come now."
"On my way. Should I bring the assault plans we drafted?"
"Yes. Everything."
Daniel answered groggily. "Steven, I have a report due tomorrow—"
"Cultists. Doctor. My house. Now."
The tone in Steven's voice made Daniel wake up immediately. "Understood. I'll be there in twenty."
Kai, Ash, and Jack were already together when Steven called. Kai answered, his voice cautious.
"Colonel?"
"Get to my house. All three of you. Dr. Nox is here about the cultist situation."
"Wait, the doctor is there? At your house? Right now?"
"Yes. And he's asking for our help with the cultists. We need everyone here to plan the operation."
There was muffled conversation in the background. Then Kai came back on. "We're leaving now, sir."
Dr. Nox took the phone. "Hello, gentlemen. I appreciate your prompt response. This is a time-sensitive matter."
The sound of frantic movement came through the speaker.
"We'll be there in ten minutes!" all three said in unison.
The call ended.
Steven looked at Dr. Nox. "They'll all be here soon."
"Good. The sooner we coordinate, the better. I find cultists particularly annoying when they're persistent."
Twenty minutes later, Steven's children's bedroom looked like the world's most ridiculous military briefing room.
Seven high-ranking military officers were crammed into a space designed for two children. Ralph had arrived in pajamas but carrying a briefcase full of documents. Axel wore a tank top and sweatpants but had brought tactical maps. Daniel still had his dress shirt on but had clearly pulled on his pants inside out in his rush, clutching a laptop. Kai, Ash, and Jack looked the most presentable, having grabbed their uniforms before leaving, though clearly thrown on hastily.
None of them stayed away from Dr. Nox. Instead, they gathered around him attentively, notebooks and devices ready.
"Thank you all for coming on such short notice," Dr. Nox said.
"Of course, Doctor," Ralph said immediately, pulling out his notebook. "We've been wanting to root out this cult for months. If you have actionable intelligence, we're ready to move."
"Absolutely," Axel agreed, spreading out a map of the city on the floor. "The Children of the Mother Goat have been a persistent threat. We just haven't been able to locate their main base."
"This is the breakthrough we've been waiting for," Daniel added, opening his laptop.
Dr. Nox recounted the events from earlier that day. The cultist's arrival at the clinic. The test they'd performed. Their belief that he was some kind of chosen one. Their invitation to participate in a ritual in three days.
He left out the parts about Shub-Niggurath, the Mother's mark, and the Law of Fertility. That seemed like information that would cause more panic than necessary.
"Three days," Ralph said, writing furiously. "That gives us time to prepare but not much. We'll need to mobilize quickly."
"The fact that they invited you means they trust you," Axel noted. "This is perfect. You can lead us right to their sanctum."
"Exactly what I was thinking," Dr. Nox said. "I volunteer to act as bait."
"We accept," Ralph said immediately.
"Absolutely," Axel added.
Steven nodded. "We've been trying to find these bastards for years. They've killed civilians, corrupted hunters, and performed illegal rituals. This is our chance to end them."
They spent the next hour hammering out details with military efficiency. Dr. Nox would accept the cultists' invitation and allow them to take him to their sanctum. He'd transmit his location using a tracking device. Once the military confirmed all the major cult members were present, they'd launch a full assault.
"We'll need strike teams," Ralph said, sketching out formations. "Multiple entry points. Overwhelming force. I want this to be a complete extermination."
"I can have fifty hunters ready by tomorrow evening," Axel added. "All B-rank or higher. We'll coordinate with the Supernatural Division's elite squads."
"We'll need demolition in case they're underground," Daniel noted, pulling up architectural plans of the city's sewer system. "Based on previous cult activity, they favor subterranean locations."
"Agreed," Ralph said. "We'll bring enough explosives to collapse the entire structure if necessary."
Kai raised his hand. "Sir, what's our rules of engagement?"
"Total elimination," Ralph said flatly. "No survivors. No prisoners. These cultists have forfeited their right to mercy."
"Understood, sir."
They refined the plan. Timing. Positioning. Communication protocols. Evacuation routes in case things went wrong. Medical support for casualties. Cleanup procedures for after the operation.
Finally, after sixty-three minutes according to the dinosaur-shaped clock on the wall, they had a comprehensive operational plan.
"Any questions?" Ralph asked.
Dr. Nox raised a hand.
"Yes, Doctor?"
"You wouldn't happen to have a death sentence S-rank or higher inmate on hand, would you?"
The room froze.
Everyone stared at Dr. Nox.
The only sound was the ticking of the dinosaur clock and someone's rapid breathing.
Ralph's face went pale. Axel's jaw dropped. Daniel's fingers stopped moving on his keyboard. Kai, Ash, and Jack all looked at each other with identical expressions of horror.
Steven felt his newly restored eyes widen behind his eyepatch.
"What?" Ralph finally managed to say, his voice barely above a whisper.