It all started a month ago. I was on an expedition in the Sahara desert. We’ve found the remains of a building that looked like an ancient temple. Most of it was underground, so we spent days digging deeper and deeper.
After a few days, we finally found a way inside. It was incredible as we walked inside that temple. There weren’t any people inside for thousands of years. There were ancient drawings on the walls and a few statues of… strange people. They had very uncanny-looking anatomy, with unnatural heads and way too long arms.
One night, I found a very narrow corridor hidden behind a few rocks. It led me to a place even deeper. As I walked, I found a strange place. It looked like an altar. There was also a strange skull lying in one of the corners. It was abnormally long compared to a human head. Maybe it belonged to an unknown ancient human species, I thought.
As I barely touched it, it broke into pieces. I cursed because it could’ve been a great discovery. I tried to stand up, but suddenly, I had a strong headache. I vomited to the floor. I don’t remember what happened afterward. I woke up in one of our tents. The expedition leader then sent me home to Europe. And from that moment, my life turned into hell.
I constantly had terrible nightmares. I started to hate everyone in my life. I’ve got angry about little things.
One night, I laid down to sleep. I quickly fell asleep and saw myself walking into a house that I didn’t remember seeing before. I looked down at my hand holding a knife. A human suddenly came out of one of the doors. It was a bald guy in his 40s, wearing a green shirt.
“Hey, who are you, and what are you doing in my house?” he shouted. I became angry. Does he think that he can tell me what to do?
I stabbed him right in his chest. He had a surprised look on his face, he then slowly collapsed to the ground. I looked down at my knife, which was red from the blood, and then I realized that I wasn’t dreaming. It was real, and I killed another human. I dropped the knife from that realization. How could this happen? I had no idea what to do now.
I didn’t remember going to that house, however, when I looked out the window, my car was standing in front of the house. I made a few reality checks to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.
Your fingerprints, idiot, I heard a voice in my head. I quickly looked down at the knife I used to kill that poor man. I grabbed it and threw it behind a couch, which probably wasn’t the best idea.
I ran out of the house back to my car and drove home. On the way, I was thinking about how did I even get into the house. Why wasn’t it locked? Or maybe I opened it somehow?
When I got home, my wife ran toward me, with a scared expression.
“Where were you?” she asked. “You just stood up, then walked out of the room. I thought you were going to the toilet, but then I heard the car’s engine.”
“I… I have no idea,” I responded. I was still too shocked to tell her the truth. “I have a terrible headache.”
I immediately went to sleep. My wife was really worried, and wanted me to go to the doctor. I was in bed the whole day, hoping it was just a dream. Around lunch, I turned on the TV to check the local news. They were talking about a man who was killed in his home at night. I still hoped that there was another murder in the city, and it wasn’t me until they showed a picture of the victim.
I just wanted to die at that point. I killed an innocent man while I was unconscious. Because I was unconscious, I know. It wasn’t me. I remembered the discovery in Africa. My headaches started when I touched that damn skull. What if it had some ancient virus on it? Or maybe a ghost, or a demon.
No, that’s ridiculous, I thought. I had to go back to Africa, maybe I could find an answer there. Then I had the idea to call the expedition leader. Luckily, he picked up the phone.
“Pierre, hi, how’s the expedition going?” I asked. “Have you found anything interesting?”
“There are some setbacks, that’s for sure,” Pierre responded. His voice wasn’t that calm. He sounded tired and stressed. “Remember that new guy, Stoffel? Yeah, two days ago, he committed suicide.”
“What? How? Why?”
“No idea, man. How are you, by the way? Are you feeling better?”
“Yeah, I can go back if you want me to.”
He agreed. I told my wife about it, and she wasn’t a fan of this idea. She was concerned that my condition didn’t improve. She said that I should stay at home for at least another week. I told her that this was the last expedition this year, and I’ll be home for half a year, when I’ll come back.
A few days later, I arrived at the excavation site in Africa. I spoke with Pierre, and he told me everything that happened while I was home. Stoffel was exploring the same corridor as me when he suddenly ran out of the temple and collapsed. Pierre sent him home too, but when Stoffel arrived home, he jumped out of his window. He said they haven’t found any strange viruses or other things around the temple.
I went back inside the temple, and quickly found the corridor where everything started. What happened to me at the altar a few weeks before, and what happened to Stoffel at the same place?
I went there alone because I was afraid of something happening to the others too. The altar looked way darker than I remembered. I had a few dynamites in my backpack. I haven’t told Pierre about it.
I knew I had to destroy whatever was at that place. I didn’t believe in ghosts before, but I couldn’t take any risks. I set up the explosives, then ignited them. I turned back to run out of the temple, but I stopped.
You’re going to die here, you disgusting human, I heard the voice in my head. I couldn’t move, even though I wanted to. In the corner, I saw a strange shadow, a silhouette of a humanoid creature.
I finally managed to break free from whatever was possessing me, and ran out of the chamber as fast as I could, just as the dynamite exploded. A flying rock hit me in the arm, breaking it instantly. I lost my consciousness.
When I woke up, Pierre was looking down at me.
“You blew up the fucking temple! Are you crazy? Just go home, and never come back!”
I became angry as he walked away. What an idiot, I saved people with that explosion! I would’ve killed him, if I weren’t in bed with a broken arm. I would’ve killed him… but I didn’t want to. And at that moment, I realized that I was still under the influence of something.