[The memory starts with Emil, dressed in his original white and blue expedition uniform with its wide collar, bandolier of explosives, and carrying a semi-automatic gun. It is raining hard, and he is moving cautiously through the rotting ruins of a city, following the sounds of cats crying and yowling as if they're fighting. As he's about to turn away and leave the cats be, he sees the form of a Beast walking by.

The creature looks like a large dog, maybe an Afghan, with a pink collar barely visible under the thick fur at its neck. But that's where the resemblance to a dog stops. There are dark smudges in the fur under its eyes that look like old dried blood, or perhaps some other kind of dark bodily fluid, the fur is thick and matted, and when its eyes are visible you can see worms crawling through and around them. As it moves, the Beast softly whines, a pathetic 'nyuuuu' of misery. The creature pads slowly over to a stone pillar where a cat with a large gory injury on its head is trapped, hissing at it.]

Okay, then...

[Emil in the memory sounds hesitant, but he lifts his gun to his shoulder and aims at the Beast.]

Don't move for a tiny moment, I'll take care of this. That's it, good boy.

[As he speaks, his voice soothing and cautious, the creature turns to look at him, only just noticing his presence.]

It'll be over very soo-

[The sentence is cut off by the creature lunging toward Emil, and the shockingly loud report of gunshots.]

[After the Cthulhund outruns him, still whimpering and crying in pain, Emil finds himself back at that pillar, where he sees Sigrun, a tall redheaded woman in a uniform similar to his own, reaching up to try to coax the injured cat down so they can take care of it. The rain is coming down harder now, soaking his hair and the collar and shoulders of his uniform, and his gun is slung against his back now. He's about to approach Sigrun and the wounded cat when he hears a soft 'miu' - the sound of a kitten's cry - and follows it to a hole about the size of an outstretched hand in the foundation of a nearby ruined building.

Kneeling down, he reaches inside carefully and withdraws a tiny, cold bundle of wet fur...]

[It is nighttime now, and the rain is still falling in freezing cold sheets. Emil is standing by a small pile of rocks with his arms crossed. Beside him stands a boy around his age but much thinner, with a hood and jaw-length ash blond hair. Emil looks angry now, sulking, petulant like a teenage boy, and he doesn't look at the other boy when he speaks.]

...If you have some death rites you'd like to perform, maybe get them over with so we can go back inside.

[When the other boy doesn't respond, Emil says 'Hey.' to catch his attention, but stops as he realizes that the other boy is looking at something off to the side. Emil follows his gaze, and both boys watch as a wet, furry form crawls out of the pitch darkness.]

Phase One: p.336 to p.346.
Phase Two: p.347 to p.355.
Phase Three: p.356 to p.360