As you all know, a formerly rare avian disease has started appearing in small children in Northeast Europe. The disease is lethal and has begun to spread exponentially.
Multiple veterinary professionals from our school have been sent to the area to assess the situation, but each student has been reported missing.
Every missing person was last seen entering the town of Grandine.
Local law enforcement suspects they got lost on the way to the town, as there are few maps of the surrounding area.
Any information about the missing students would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
MISSING PERSONS:
Dawson Prent
…
Steven Aureo
…
Mary Karly Smith
CONTACT THE NUMBER BELOW WITH ANY INFORMATION
(XXX)-XXX-XXXX
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This was posted everywhere at my university at the time. It was shocking to a lot of us, especially to those of us who were close to the missing students. I wasn’t particularly close to any of them, but I knew them, so it was still somewhat upsetting. All three of them were highly trained and knew their shit. They were seen as our school’s ‘gifted few’. That’s probably why they all got sent out to go study that disease.
Even though I was also a veterinary science student, I’m not ‘gifted’ in the same ways that they were. That morning, my veterinary anatomy professor told me to go to the dean’s office, as he had “something of great importance to discuss with me as soon as possible”. I remember being worried and confused. I wasn’t a perfect, model student, but I was pretty damn good, and I don’t know why the dean would’ve wanted to meet with me.
To avoid wasting too much time, I’ll sum up the conversation. I was called there
to be sent out to study this disease, just like those who went missing. Something just wasn’t right. As I said, I was a smart student, but nothing exceptional. Even in veterinary science, I’m not at the top of my class. When I asked him about this, he said “We need a… new perspective, Ms. Dreger. You weren’t close to the victims, and you are more intelligent than you give yourself credit for. You’ll be fine. If you change your mind, call me immediately and we’ll cancel the trip.”
After a while, I went back to my dorm room. I had to pack my bags, as the dean told me I would be leaving that Wednesday. Most of my classes were canceled to allow people to deal with the situation at hand and do schoolwork at their own pace. My roommate was one of those people who were very close to the missing students. Her name was Sophia Gray, and she got along with a lot of people. She was extremely extroverted for a nerdy vet student, which was pretty uncommon for people in my major. She didn’t take it very well. She was reticent, spending most of her time in bed or just sitting at her desk. When I walked in she just looked over from where she was sitting at her desk and smiled faintly at me. I don’t think it helped that she was getting sick herself. I asked her how she was doing and she just shrugged, looking back at her veterinary anatomy textbook before saying, “About as good as you can imagine”. Taking a tissue out of the box and blowing her nose, then throwing it away in the trash.
I felt bad for her, but we weren’t especially close either, so I told her I hoped she felt better soon, walked over to my bed, and pulled out the drawers underneath where my clothes were. I began to take out the clothes I would need for the trip, folding them, and putting them into my travel bag. After I packed my bags I quickly put them off to the side of our room, next to our desk.
“Where… where are you going?” Said Sophia with a sniffle, nervously eyeing the bag next to her on the floor.
“Oh… the dean asked me to go investigate that avian disease over in Europe. The same one that Mary, Steven, and Dawson were asked to investigate. It’s a fully paid vacation, plus they said I could return immediately if I got too nervous or scared, considering… y’know. But-” I stopped talking, turning and noticing the expression of nervous dread on Sophia’s face.
“But… why? Aren’t you scared you’ll just go missing like the rest of them…?” She asked, her eyes tearing up just thinking about it.
“Well… uh kinda? But as long as I don’t go near that town I think it should be fine… ” I said, now feeling a bit awkward after clearly making her upset.
“Allison. Please. Just… be safe. I don’t want to lose anyone else.” She said, her body almost fully turned towards me.
I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was doing something wrong by telling her. I could barely look her in the eye, but then I did. I will never forget what I saw.
Her eyes looked glossed over. Like someone else’s cold, dead eyes were shoved into the cavities that were her eye sockets. At the time, I just figured it was just her cold, or- whatever it was. I wish I had known better.
I averted my gaze, looking away, but I could still see her out of the corner of my eye. It wasn’t just awkwardness. I was oddly… scared of her at that moment.
“Uhm, I’m gonna go get some food. Feel better… Ok?” I said as I began walking out the door, not even turning around to face her again. I just… wanted to leave. Knowing what I do know, I think that was the last smart decision I made.
After dinner that night, I remember returning to my dorm, and seeing my roommate lying in her bed, facing towards the wall, covered in her large comforter blanket.
I awkwardly entered the room. I felt bad about what I said earlier. The people who went missing were still fresh on everyone’s minds then. Maybe I should’ve just hid the truth from her. Maybe then… well I could have given her some peace of mind.
I sat next to her on the bed. She was quiet. I took a deep breath.
“I’m sorry Sophia. I didn’t mean to worry you. I know everything is still fresh. I know we aren’t close but… I just… feel bad for bringing it up. I don’t know… um…” I paused as I sat my hand on her shoulder. Just as I did, I quickly jerked it away, holding it close to my chest.
She was cold. Really, really cold.
I should’ve run… called the police- anything.
I regret what I did next.
Her face was covered by a blanket, like a veil. I only saw a bit of her skin, and it looked pale, like a sheet of paper only mimicking human skin. I reached towards the blanket covering her face, my brain screaming louder the closer and closer I got.
I pulled the blanket away slowly.
Her eyes were the same as before, dead, and glossed over as if they were shoved into her sockets, stolen from someone else. Her pale, paper-like skin was moist, almost covered in a layer of sweat. The stench was like nothing I’ve ever smelled before. I don’t know how I didn’t smell it before, but the only way I can describe it is like a stench of death and shit mixed, paired together in a horrific, twisted harmony. Then I noticed what was leaking from the gaps in her eyes, ears, and mouth. A mix of saliva, blood, puss, and… eggs. It almost looked as if small, tadpole-like eggs were being birthed from every orifice on her face.
I immediately backed away, falling flat on my ass, a scream escaping my mouth as my brain tried to process the horrors present to me.
I don’t remember much else from that night. Someone entered the room, I think they threw up on the floor and called the police. Like I said, I don’t remember much, I only really know because I was told a while later what had happened.
They quickly quarantined our room, and the university was closed indefinitely. There was a small memorial for her in the town’s local church. I assume the actual funeral was more quiet, limited only to close friends and family. I attended her memorial. I felt like it was only natural. I was the last person to find her alive, and I was the person who found her like that.
Although our room was quarantined, the surrounding area surprisingly wasn’t. I assume it was so people could pay their respects. Our room was locked, but there were trinkets and memorials set outside of our room, with a picture of Sophia hung up on the door.
All my stuff was already taken out of the room. The police arrived that day and left late in the night. I went there after the police had already left. I think it was like, three or four in the morning.
It felt as if, behind that door, there was a completely different world. Once a place of comfort, now a land of death that few would ever witness. I don’t know why I went back there. It was totally against my survival instincts. But something in me wanted to know what happened. Going against every instinct in me, I used my key, and unlocked the door, making sure to avoid stepping on the small shrine outside.
Looking back, I’m shocked that I was able to get in. The police should’ve locked it, barricaded it, something. Maybe they were just as shocked as everyone else. Though, that doesn’t excuse the poor job they had done sealing off the area.
As I walked in, I was again hit by that stench. It wasn’t as strong, but it was still lingering around the room. It was as if the room was a different environment, separate from the rest of the building. As I looked around, I saw police tape, evidence markers, and police equipment. About what you’d expect at a crime scene. And of course, her body was gone. However, some of the… liquid that she secreted could still be seen on the bed sheets.
Then, I noticed a different smell. A similar stench of death, this time coming from the trashcan next to the desk. I walked over, leering into the small bin. I saw a lot of tissues, unsurprisingly. But… they weren’t covered in snot. They were covered in blood. She must’ve been suffering before she… passed. But at the bottom of the can, I saw something brown sticking out to me as if trying to reach out and tell me that it was there. I reached into the trash can, grimacing as my hand brushed past the dried, bloody tissues. Then I felt what lay at the bottom of the trash can. A small cardboard box. I pulled it out, trying not to disturb the tissues and leave evidence of tampering.
I almost threw up as I felt what was on the bottom of the cardboard box. The box was… wet, and it was leaking a black, thick fluid that covered my hands as I held it. Holding myself together, trying not to expel my dinner all over the floor, I opened the box.
I could’ve never predicted what would be staring up at me. As I looked into the box, what greeted me was a deformed, barely recognizable, mutilated carcass of a crow, bathing in the same black liquid that was seeping out of every corner of the box.