I, Jan Cornelis, a blue-collar worker, recently got a new job at the Zoological Society Natura Artis Magistra. If anyone finds this journal, please return it to my wife as I keep it on my person and something might have happened to me.
Recently I have lost my supervisor position at the factory, therefor I needed a new job. Always worked in factories from the age of 15, I didn't know anything besides assembling parts for machines. We mainly assembled parts for automobiles, making sure the rich people can show off their wealth is how I explained it to my family and friends. My family did not have money for further education as the rich children are privileged to. So my fate was to keep working until I could retire. Now 40 years later, finding a job is not easy. Who would need an old factory worker with arthritis in his knee? Finding a job was like finding a winning lottery ticket, it was nearly impossible. My brother-in-law has done very well for himself, he has some fancy doctorate. He told me that he traveled to Africa to find relics for his employer. I assume that he found me too simple-minded to really understand what he did, sometimes I feel like he patronizes me.
However, one day he came to me and invited me for a drink at the local cafe. One of those cafes where people can sit down and have something to eat and to drink. A bit too fancy for a blue-collar worker, yet as long as he is paying I'm fine with it. Sitting there with his fancy three-piece suit, his perfect Windsor knot tie. After our first beer he started telling me about where he worked, it sounded quite interesting. Although it felt more like showing off than actually informing me about his work. After a while, he told me about a janitorial position. It would be the lowest of the low, I would have to sweep and clean up. He told me that he would have wished he could give me a better position, however because of my basic education he couldn't offer me anything better. I highly doubt that he would wish better for me.
I always had the idea that he thought I wasn't smart and rich enough for his sister. My dearest wife always assured me that love is more important than money. She admitted that her parents wanted her to marry a wealthy man, one that was fat so you could see that he had money. It's something that has always bothered me, I wanted to provide for my family. Give them more than just the cheapest meat and potatoes that we, most of the time, could afford. That aside, I couldn't be more ecstatic! After many years of having my lower back blown out and my joints rusted like old bolts to an engine, this sounded like the easiest job there was. We cheered on our arrangement and drank our beer to celebrate my newfound place of employment.
I was expected the next day to visit the place where my brother-in-law worked. I've heard about the place, yet never had the money to take my family to see it. Standing at the outside of the front gate with the iconic blackened steel fences, with two cast bronze eagles topping the fence gate. I looked at them as they were looking at me, judging me. While I looked up at the bronze eagle statues a man about my age came to the fence to open it. "I assume you must be Jan Cornelis?" said the man. In front of me stood a man who wore an overall made of denim. Work boots that have been worn out from front to back, with dirt all over it and a flat cap made of tweed. He looked like a working man like myself, although a bit dirtier. "Yes, that would be me," I said with pride. "Good, come on in, I'll show you around."
The metal door creaked while it was opened, metallic scraping over the ground. You could see that the ground was worn from opening and closing it every day. Although it was early in the morning I could smell that this man had been working since at 4 am. The odor coming from his was not his own sweat perse. I could smell that he had been working with excrements from animals. The smell wasn't odd, seeing that the place is a zoo with all kinds of exotic animals. For the next hour we walked around while he told me all about the place while showing me animals I had never seen before in my life. Mighty lions and vicious brown bears in their respectable habitats. I was captivated by the majestic animals all around us. I could not believe my eyes and could not wait until I could tell my wife and kids what I had seen.
My janitorial office was in what I could say was my favorite building. We walked upon a big white classy building from the 1800s. Inside there were marble pillars holding up a curved ceiling. It felt like I just walked into the palace of our queen Wilhelmina. The man brought me to my office. A small cupboard-sized room with everything I could need. Armed with a map of the zoo the man let me on my own to figure out what to do. They sure give a lot of freedom to be working in a fancy place like this. The map showed all the important buildings and all the cages and reserves for the animals locked away in here. I feel pity for the animals being locked away. However, being brought up in a poor family, the nurturing and food that they get is something I'd wish for when I was young.
After I changed clothing to a more janitor appearance I could hear the first children excitedly exclaiming joyfully what they would be seeing today. Wishing, one day, I could do the same for my children. I decided to walk around the building where my janitorial office was located. It turned out to be a big aquarium the size of the whole block where I lived. Every room poorly lit to emphasize the beautiful fishes swimming around in their respected habitats. Beautiful art on the walls grasped my breath. I walked up the marble stairs where I was greeted by old paintings of the first owners of Artis with stern-looking faces. They were looking like generals overseeing the aquarium. I used my key to go back to the office of the new owner. Beautiful wooden walls, brown leather chairs standing in front of a desk. Pictures all around showing off his expeditions to Africa and Asia. Behind his desk stood a large bookcase with hundreds of books. Most about traveling the world, I could see that there were books that were as old or even older than our country and yet greatly preserved. I might not be well versed as my brother in law, however, I did grow up reading all the books I could get my hands on about our amazing world. My fingers slowly gliding over the spines of the books, feeling the rigid leather and engravings flow over my fingertips. While gliding my fingers stopped at a book that felt different, you could say it was leather, yet the texture was completely different. I couldn't explain it even if I tried. While the others were brown and smooth, this one was black and roughly textured. I was intrigued by it being something I had never seen before. I couldn't help but pick it up off the shelf of the bookcase, it felt heavier than most books I've held.
Right away I could sense that this was not a normal book. Upon looking at it the black leather seemed to glisten and yet no sunlight was reflected. There was no name on the cover nor on the spine. However, it showed a strange-looking figure. It looked like the face of a squid but the tentacles flow from where the mouth of the creature would be located. Yellow eyes looking straight into my soul. I had the urge to drop the book right away, I might not be a god-fearing man. However, something like this does make my spine shiver.
Then I heard a stern voice coming from the door saying: "Who might you be and why are you in my chambers?" Slowly turning around with the book still in my hands I looked at an elderly man in a navy blue suit. His face was quite worn from age, hairline receding. Glasses tight on his nose. Now having a full look at him I noticed his bow tie neatly and tight, his golden pocket watch chain coming from his chest pocket. "Do I need to ask again?" He said even sterner this time around. I recognized him as the new owner after looking at the paintings outside. As sudden as I realized he was the owner I stumbled and said: "My apologies, sir. I'm Jan Cornelis, the new janitor. Nice to meet you, sir". "You know who I am?" he said with curious intent in his voice. "I've heard who you are, sir. And I've seen your painting on the wall, it was not my intention to do any harm to your collection or intrude in your office, it's my first day." I said with god-given fear of being fired on my first day. "Sit down good man, you don't need to be nervous. You look like an honest hard working man. However, please put that book back where you found it." He said with a much lesser stern voice.
Carefully placing the book back, the book gave me the feeling that it did not want to leave my hands. After placing it back I noticed some black smudges on my fingertips as if the book had let some ink on me. I'd clean that up later I guessed. I sat down in front of the director's desk in the rich leather chair. "Again, my apologies that I intruded in your office, sir". I said nervously. "Poppycock, you came to admire my collection, nothing wrong with that, maybe you wanted to tidy up your boss's chambers. I do have to ask and I do mean no offense, what does a man like yourself gain the interest of books like that." He asked with gleeful interest in his voice. "No offense taken, sir. My parents couldn't afford to give me any schooling of any kind, so my dad would bring us books so we could read. No amount of books were enough of the books he'd bring home and gathered a small library myself. Nothing like this one I can assure you." I explained still a bit nervous. The director sat up straight in his chair. "I believe we are all equal, we just have different upbringings, different luck" said the director. "That is why my intention is to give everyone a chance on seeing our place of work. A zoo for everyone, and not just the wealthy and rich!" "That is very noble of you, sir. I wish I could bring my family to this place as they will probably never see a lion or elephant in their lives." I said with regret in my voice. "Why don't you bring your family over next Saturday so you can show them around? Free of charge! If your children have only half your enthusiasm for learning, then your family is the ideal family I'm looking for to show my zoo to." "I...I can't thank you enough sir, is there anything I can do to compensate you? It's only fair, tickets are expensive as they are." I said gratefully. "Well if your intent is to pay me back then you can do a favor." "Anything, sir. I'm already in your debt for hiring an old man like myself." I said eagerly. "Next Saturday a special event is hosted here, I need a security guard to see that nobody will come to disturb our event. Can you do that?" He asked looking me straight in the eye. "Yes of course sir, no problem at all."
"Now tell me, do you know anything about that book that you held so dearly?" "No, sir. Nothing at all. It felt different than the other books, a different kind of leather I assume?" I said unsure if I said something stupid. "This book has the strange habit that it calls to people, I know, I called the person who said this to me crazy as well. However, this is a very special book, one like no other." Said my employer with a spark in his eye. "What makes the book so special, sir?" I asked with some hesitance. "This is for many a work of fiction, for others, it is an alternative to our reality. I procured it from an auction from the other side of the ocean, all the way from Arkham in New England. It tells the story of the great old one." "The great old one, sir?" I asked. "Yes, the great old one. It's a long and complicated story and I don't have much time at the moment, maybe after Saturday when you've done a good job I'll tell you more if you are interested of course." I nodded to my employer and said my goodbyes.
The rest of the day went smoothly. Cleaning up after some kids dropping their ice cream. Watching the monkeys chase after each other. It was very different from my previous job at the factory, I felt more at peace than ever before. Looking at the monkeys jumping from branch to branch, hearing the lions roar as if they aimed to impress their visitors. Cleaning such a place was less of a bother than I expected, and I couldn't wait to tell my family.
That evening I came home to my family waiting to hear my stories. Even before I could hang up my coat, my son bombarded me with questions. "Dad! Did you see any lions? or Giraffes?" He exclaimed excitedly. "Aren't you curious about what your old dad did!" I said while throwing him over my shoulder. "let's go see mom and your sister, shall we?" The house we lived in was nothing special, it was the same working-class house every other poor family lived in. I walked into the living room where the table was set for dinner, dearest wife even put out the fine plates for this special occasion. I threw my son off of my shoulder and told him to get his sister for dinner because I was starving. My dear wife walked from the kitchen with a big pan filled with stew to the table and kissed me. "You look like you had a great day, dear", she said with a smile. "It was definitely one of the better days for sure, my boss even invited our family to spend a day at the zoo!" I said excitedly. "The children will definitely enjoy that dear. When you speak of the devil, there they come!". My son and daughter sprinted down the stairs and sat down, eagerly waiting for me to start telling the story of my first day at my new job. They sat on the tip of their seat to hear every single word, asking questions about all the animals which are present.
The evening grew darker and the children went to bed, leaving my wife and me sitting on the couch. My arm around her and a smile on her face, she said: "I haven't seen you this happy for a long time, this job will do you and our family good, dear". "I definitely have a good feeling about it, remember to thank your brother soon." The candles became stumps of wax and we made our way to bed, satisfied from such a perfect day. Everything seemed perfect, but that book. That book kept crawling back into the back of my mind. That book that I held in my hands. Why did it feel important to me? It's just a book I told myself and tomorrow is a new day. My wife laid against me, putting her arm around my chest and she held me with pride. Slowly but surely we fell into a slumber.
That night I had a dream, a dream that might haunt me for the rest of my life. My breathing went all over the place as if I was running out of air. I was surrounded by water, trying to keep my head above water I struggled. I felt the desire to let go, to let myself drown. It was ok, I told myself. My wife would take care of the children, they would be ok I reassured myself. My muscles couldn't keep me above water anymore, crushing cramp overcame my calves and upper legs. This was it, this was the end, the saltwater gushed in my mouth. Desperately I spew it out, I couldn't help it, water came into my lungs as I failed to keep my head above water. I decided that it would be quicker to just drown and get it over with. My body went limp and let the water flow in. A strange feeling of peace and acceptance came over me, not worrying about anything, just being there in the moment. Looking around I saw great mountains of the ocean, schools of fish traversing, and going about their life. I felt water moving around me and the mountains were moving, slowly the mountain turned towards me. Big yellow piercing eyes turned to me, staring me into my soul. I couldn't move as the big mountain with eyes looked at me. Looking back at it, I saw that it was no mountain, it was a monster. A colossal being that noticed me. Just before I had a moment to think my mind went blank.
"Jan, wake up, Jan! Why are you so wet?" Slowly I woke up from my nightmare only now realizing that it was a dream. The bed felt almost as wet as if I just came out of a lake, although I could feel that it was sweat. "You were tossing and turning and you feel like you had a fever, dear. Are you ok?" Asked my dearest wife. "Yes, I guess I am alright, dear. Must have been a nightmare. Don't worry about me dearest, go back to sleep." I sat at the edge of our bed with my head resting in my hands. What did I just dream? Why am I so wet? More questions than answers came into my mind.
The next days were stress-free and felt like a new leaf in a new world of wonder and disbelieve. Seeing all those kids accompanied by their schools, while their faces are in disbelieve of all the animals of the world. I couldn't wait for my kids to be able to see all these wonderous animals in their habitats. Seeing the researchers trying to figure out how these animals worked really interested me. I've always been a bit of a dreamer on how the world worked, so it really felt like I was in the right place at the right time. Just a couple more days and my kids will be the happy kids in this amazing place.
It can't be later than 7 in the morning while writing this, last night my kids couldn't sleep from excitement. My son was reenacting his best lion roar, while my daughter sat on my lap asking a thousand questions. The best I could answer was that they would see it themselves today. My wife was equally as excited as she also never had visited the zoo either, and her face was as equally excited as the kids. I've never seen the kids dress as fast as they did, nor eat their breakfast with such haste. I've got a feeling that this will be a great day.
I, Coenraad Kerbert director of the Zoological Society, will take over this diary as my dear friend can not do so anymore. It's a shame for what happened in his wake, yet he is in true greatness now. An explanation will be further in so this event will be documented for anyone to read.
I welcomed the family at the gates, I wanted to be sure that they had a fantastic day. The children ran up to the gates with the parents behind attempting to stay close behind them. "What a wonderful family you have there Cornelis, I would say that I was jealous of your wife, although my dear own wife would be overwhelmed with jealousy". His wife stretched out her beautiful pale hand and let me kiss it as the gentleman I strive to be. "Welcome to the people's zoo, I want everyone to see the great unknown in the world, and today it is your day, enjoy yourselves!". I was not done talking before the children ran across me. Cornelis had a proud smile on his face, I was happy to see that he could give his family what they deserved.
At the end of the day, the children sat on a bench against each other almost too fatigued to keep their eyes open. "Did you have a nice day with the family Cornelis?" "Definitely, sir. Thank you again for this opportunity" he exclaimed with the same proud smile on his cheerful face. "Don't forget, tonight you are on guard duty at our event, be there at 8 o clock sharp!" I said with a stern voice, he is still my employee, and yet I consider him a friend, sharing our knowledge of the world. "I will be there right after dinner, sir. You can count on me!"
The family rushed to their house so they could have their family meal together. I can't imagine what kind of meal they had, I'm sure they deserved better than the potatoes and cheap meat they would have had. I'm lucky as my parents were wealthy enough so I could be raised with a silver spoon in my mouth. I admire families, like this one, who can make ends meet without any luxury and still be appreciative of what they have. I suppose that is what made me interested in Cornelis in the first place. A smart mind without proper education.
Ten minutes before 8 Cornelis reported back to me to hear what he had to do tonight. I told him frankly that he had an important task tonight, he would be the guest of honor. He looked at me with a befuddled look as he did not understand. "Please take a seat, have a sip of whiskey, my good man. And I will tell you everything that there is to know." He looked quite interested and yet he did not understand his importance. "I see from your glazed eyes that you might not understand your roll in this all. As you know I look for the extraordinary in this world, anything that is not native to us and I like to display it in our beautiful zoo. Although not everything can be shown as it's too large for us to even fathom. Some things can be seen as too evil for the public, albeit I believe we should still serve those who are greater than us." "Evil things that are greater than us?" He asked hesitantly. "Yes, where you might be a god-fearing man, I and all the others who are gathering tonight are not compliant to your god." I told him. "Do you serve Satan then?" He asked with fear in his eyes. "No, no my good man, not satan. Do you remember that book that you held so dearly from this bookcase? That black book that gave you a nightmare." "How...do you know?" He asked. "I saw it in your eyes the moment you turned around. The great old one had chosen you to call upon, he chose a poor man to show his glory!" He looked at me like I was crazy, and yet I caught sight of a small sparkle. He wanted to know more!
"This black book is quite special, it was written by a sailor who drowned himself after, as the crew said, went beserk from madness. As they had found an idol from a wrecked ship. He described it as a devil statue, just like this one". I walked over to a statue of like a normal person would say, a squid-like creature with the wings of dragons and the body of a large lizard. He had a beard of tentacles running down its face. "Is that the same statue?" He asked. "No, unfortunately, the ship went down and the surviving crew only took the book and not the statue. Although this statue is made with a specific description of what this mad man had written down.
"How do you know that this book is real? Books, don't have special powers, they are just pages with ink on them." He asked skeptically. "This is why I like you Cornelis, a man of science rather than myth. The moment I saw you, I saw myself when I held the book for the first time. That night I had possibly the same dream as you. Drowning in the sea and seeing the great one, as big as a mountain. Everyone here tonight has seen him in a dream. It is what we say is the Call of the Great One, the Call of C'thulhu if you will." I explained. "Drink up your glass Cornelis, we have a lot to do tonight.
The moment he finished his glass I saw his eyes fall like the night fell at the same time. His hand lost grip of the glass and fell on the floor. The last of the expensive whiskey dripped on the floor as two people dressed in expensive black suits took Cornelis away. "Prepare him for the ritual." I said as I waved them away while putting on my black robes. While checking my pocket watch I saw that it was time to go to the others. I can't imagine if Cornelis feels betrayed or even lucky for the situation that he's in. Does he realize that this is the highest honor that can be bestowed on a new believer? I made my way through the aquarium, imagined how Cornelis would have led his kids through these halls. It was as if I saw them here, excited pointing at the fishes, giving his kids an experience they otherwise would never get to see. I feel for his family, and yet they are blessed by the great old one's blessing. We would take care of his family for the rest of their days. The kids will be submitted to the best private schools money could buy. His wife would never have to work in her life as we will take care of the blessed family.
I approached the door with the squid head, has Cornelis seen this door while he worked here this week? Has he wondered what was behind this door? The door creaked as I opened it and it showed a spiraling staircase, as old as Amsterdam itself. Instead of modern lights, candles lit the way in their crevasses in the walls that were chiseled out by the master masons who built this basement long before we even existed. Downstairs I came into a great hall with pillars that would make the Romans and Greek jealous. A big basin filled with water was in the middle with a great wall piece of the head of C'thulhu on the wall. The room was lit by tens of candles and it felt a bit cold. I don't know if it was because of the water, or that we were in an old basement, or that this room always gave me a certain chill. "Gentleman, please take your positions, we have two offerings to do for the great old one!" I said with a booming voice, echoing through the room. "Hurray" shouted the dozen of men back, all wearing robes and masks. I prepared my own mask as the ritual had asked for. "Bring out the worthy!" my voice boomed once again. The gentleman from before dragged two bodies. One dressed in a white gown with long blonde hair, and the other was my friend Cornelis.
"Gentleman please wake them up with the smelling salts we provided for you, but please keep them restrained. They might not yet realize how lucky they are." They were both rudely awakened from their deep slumber. The woman in the white gown started to scream as she was the first to awaken. She was quickly gagged by her handler. The second one was Cornelis who I thought looked very disoriented and confused. I can't blame the good man.
"Welcome blessed ones, thank you for joining us on this hallowed evening. You might be confused about why you are in restraints and why we look the way we do." I looked at both, Cornelis looked terrified while the blonde woman was still screaming, although it was muffled. "You both have been selected for various reasons, Cornelis I already told you why you were selected, the Great Old One picked you as his disciple and we decided that you will be blessed. To know if we can continue our blessing we need to have a sacrifice". I will never forget the look on the blonde woman's face, she instantly understood why she was here. We picked her because she was pure, 18 years old, and still an untouched flower. I raised my finger and made a slicing motion across my neck to indicate the handler could carry out the sacrifice. Cornelis yelled to stop this madness, he tried to get out of his handlers restrained, although it was useless, his body wasn't ready after the sedation we gave them both. The gag was removed from her mouth and the woman screamed for her life as the blade sliced her throat. The scream became a gurgle of blood and air. I saw her eyes quickly turn white and she fell forward on the floor made of stone. "Throw her into the basin" I said to the handler.
A fury of tentacles was seen splashing in the basin as multiple squids were devouring her body. The blue water quickly turned red from all the blood that a body holds. "You monsters! how could you do this! You murdered a young girl, for what?" He shouted at us. "To see if it was the right time my friend" I said with glee in my voice. "And my fellow men, it seems that our offering has been taken, it is a blessed day!" A dozen men shouted with joy as they had been waiting for years for this day. "Are you going to murder me too?" He asked with rage in his voice. "Unfortunately, to gain a blessing from the great old Cthulhu, yes. We will have to kill you. And I understand that this might seem like something bad, but let me speak". I said with some regret. Cornelis looked at me with a confused and betrayed look. "We all want the best for our families, and I consider you a friend Cornelis. We decided after we have seen that you have been marked by Cthulhu himself that we could offer your family the right support. Your children will go to the best schools money can buy, your wife will get everything her heart desires. They will benefit from your sacrifice greatly." I tried to convince Cornelis. "The fact is that you could never give them what we can with a snap of our fingers. And collectively we can give them the world. I assume that you have been worried about that for years now, ever since the birth of your children, am I right?" Cornelis did not look at me, rather he sighed and agreed. He could never give them a proper education. They would be restricted as he himself was in his early years.
"Whatever you have to do, do it quickly. Just promise me...my family will be taken care of." He said with grief in his voice. "I'm happy you are willing my friend. You have my word, and my word is gold. Your whiskey had a special tranquilizer in it which makes you feel numb. You won't feel any pain and it will be over quickly. I hope to see you at the other side when my time has come to be blessed." I said with pride in my voice. Slowly I raised my finger and Cornelis was pushed into the water. There was some blood left in the water, although it was more opaque than before. The men were looking into the water for what would happen. If it was the case that Cornelis wasn't the chosen one, he would be eaten by the dozen squid in the basin. As Cornelis struggled in the water we saw his movement slow down. The dozen squid were moving away as black ink came out of the mouth of Cornelis. "It seems that he was blessed by Cthulhu!" All the men, including myself, were shouting our appraisal towards Cornelis. I would even dare to say that we were jealous of his greatness.
That's where this diary ends. If you read this, don't feel bad for Cornelis. Touched by the Great Old One is a blessing far more than the average god. His family is thriving now, I would even say that they are happy. When his kids get older they will be allowed to have an internship here if they so desire. As they are the son and daughter of Cornelis, the blessed one.
