I don’t think that life in a big city is the worst thing in the world, far from it, I just think it’s overrated. Sometimes I would find myself daydreaming about the time I lived in the woods with my family. Hunting with my dad on rainy days, helping him lay traps under the leaves to see if we can catch a rabbit or two. Even helping Mom clean the hut, amongst many other things.
Those were easily the happiest moments of my entire life, even if it was tough, they made me the person I am today. It has already been years since they passed away. Time flies when you work six days a week on a job you don’t really like, with people you don’t really care about, or even care about you.
I needed a break, from everything.
I’ve been saving some money for a while, and finally, I had enough to buy a little cabin in the snowy mountains. When I arrived, I felt like a kid all over again. The smell of wet wood, and the view of hundreds of trees going down the mountain, brought back so many memories, for the first time in years I felt like I was really happy.
After some more minutes of admiring the view above the valley, I went back inside to organize my baggage, it was just some clothes, iron pots, tools, books, and a newly bought hunting rifle. Wasn’t much, but it was all I needed.
The next few months went almost perfectly, just as I hope they would. I already had a good idea of the region around me, had my little stock of firewood ready to go, got a good deal for satellite internet, after all, I wanted peace, not be bored all day, and even made friends with the people living down the valley. The only problem was that my food stock was running a bit low, and the forecast said heavy snow would come sometime in the next weeks.
I was a bit hesitant to go much further up the mountain, the folk who lived nearby told me to be careful, it seems a lot of hikers went missing in that region, no one really knows why, but they think it’s probably due to bears or wolves, which were pretty common around here. But still, I really would need to stock up on food if there was a storm approaching.
Threading as carefully as I can, I went up the mountain. I was able to secure some rabbits but that wasn’t nearly enough, I had to find something bigger. I ventured further and further but to no avail. It was when a weird sound came to my attention, it sounded like whispers, coming somewhere from the east, it was faint but definitely was there. As I allowed my frustration and boredom to take over me, I went to investigate what was it about. I was getting closer but I really could not make out what the sound was, it didn’t sound like any language I’d heard before. What really freaked me out was that I could not help but feel like it was calling me, I even had the impression of hearing my name.
After what felt like hours, I found what looked like a cave entrance, and the sound was coming from inside of it, but there was something odd about that place, the atmosphere around it felt heavy, I’d say even sinister. After some moments of just staring at it, I could not gather the courage to go in. It was getting late, and after all, I still needed to find food. I cowardly went back to hunting.
A few more hours later, I finally was able to take down a deer and, relieved, I made my way back home. Still, I couldn’t stop thinking about that damn whisper, it was as if it had burnt itself inside my brain, to the point that when I reached my cabin, I could still hear it by my side.
The next few days went terribly. I had nightmares every single night, and they were vivid. I wouldn’t die on them, or anything like that.
I was the one destroying everything. I was the one killing everybody. I… Was the monster.
Besides those awful dreams, the whispers would get louder, to the point I wasn’t able to concentrate on anything. I was starting to feel like I was losing my mind.
I HAD TO DO SOMETHING.
I’ve had enough, I needed this to end, and if I had questions, that God-forsaken cave had my answers. The storm was still holding strong, and it would be at least two days before it ends, but I couldn’t wait that long, with fear of doing something terrible to myself, I packed some supplies, grabbed my trusty rifle, and made my way to the cavern.
After walking through that blizzard for hours, even though I could hardly see what was ahead of me, the heavy atmosphere meant I was close. Soon after shuffling through the snow a bit more, I found the entrance. I was paralyzed by the idea of going inside of it, it was so dark, I felt like it would swallow me at any moment, I tried to think of what could be waiting for me in there, but my mind failed me.
With all the braveness I could gather, I turned on my flashlight and finally forced myself to go inside of it.
Right after the entrance, on the ground, there was something that resembled a campfire, but it seemed like no one touched it in years. And right beside it, there was an weird pedestal with a book on top, on which I couldn’t understand any of the symbols on it, so I put it in my bag and continued on my way.
A few minutes passed when my flashlight shined a light on something that looked like a giant marble door. As I got closer and closer, it became evident that whatever was whispering, was behind it.
The design of the door was very intricate, with ornaments going from top to bottom, and various weird writings, apparently in the same language as the book I’d found. On one of its sides, there was a narrow entrance, just narrow enough that I could pass through. After squeezing myself through it, I managed to reach the other side.
As soon as I was able to completely step in, the giant stone door closed itself behind me with an almost ear-busting sound. Panic struck me, and before I could even do anything, the torches lit up one by one, revealing a giant hall made of marble and gold, and a long red carpet that led to the center.
In there was something that I will never be able to erase from my memory… Rows of dozens of corpses around a marble box, all of them on their knees, bowing, as if they were praying to it.
That sight almost made me vomit out of pure fear.
I turned back to the door, and for hours, I screamed… Until I lost my voice. I tried to forcefully open it… Until my hands start to tear apart and bleed.
When I thought there was nothing else I could do, that’s when I lost hope. I Just… gave up and accepted it. All I could think about was how much I missed my family.
In the middle of that moment of dread and depression, the whispers caught back my attention. I had nothing else to lose, so I would at least have my answers! They came directly from that marble box. It looked more like an old stone coffin really. As I treaded towards it, even though that foul smell, I couldn’t help but feel sad, for all those poor people.
As soon as I reached the center, a hatred started to boil so deep inside of me, that I pushed through the pain of my skinless hand, and opened the heavy lid of that thing with a strength I didn’t even know I had.
To my surprise, there wasn’t much inside, only a golden medallion, the source of the whispers. A bit hesitant, I reached for it, and as soon as I held it in my hands, the voices got silent. Suddenly I felt my consciousness leave my body for a brief moment, I saw things that I’m not able to put into words, except one of them…
Eyes… Lots and lots of eyes. Judging me… All of them glowing in a tone of red-ish orange.
I don’t know how I know it, but I could feel that every single one of them belongs to a single entity.
I quickly snapped out of it. My head was spinning and I felt dizzy. Something changed, I felt… Different somehow. After a quick look around, for some reason, I noticed that I seemed able to understand the weird words on the door.
“Keep away“…
I have no idea how. I didn’t know what they mean and I couldn’t pronounce them either, but, in my head the phrase made sense.
That’s when I shifted my attention to the medallion. Even though it was in this cave for God knows how long, it looked impeccable, every crevice and every gem encrusted on it shined as if it had just been polished. As I turned it around, I saw something written on it too.
“By the name of the Great King and Queen, thee shalt never see the light of day, Dark One!”
As soon as I finished reading that sentence, I felt the ground shake, and when my eyes met the great door, I felt my eyes lit up with hope again. The door was opening!
Without even thinking once, I put the medallion inside my coat pocket and bolted to the exit as fast as humanly possible, even forgetting my rifle and stumbling into a body or two on the way there. I felt like an incarcerated animal, reacting to the slight chance to escape. I just wanted to get out of there.
After what felt like an eternity, I was out. It was the middle of the night already, and the storm was still active, but it did not matter, nothing would stop me from getting home.
I was so tired, my body was on the limit, but at least I was finally home and safe. I immediately sat down on the first wooden chair I could find to take a breath.
A few moments later, I felt a lot better, but also I felt my adrenaline levels drop, and with that, my hands started stinging with unbearable pain. I was so focused and exhausted, I completely forgot about them. I quickly rushed to the medicine cabinet and started taking care of them.
I carefully finished removing every single snippet of skin that would still be loose, one by one and realized I was even missing one of my nails. With a cotton ball, I cleaned and sterilized the whole area. I took my time on this step, the soothing burn of the medicine interacting with my flesh calmed my nerves, and I needed it, I could feel my sanity slipping away from me.
With my hands now treated, I could finally think properly, but my body was starting to fail me, I was having a bad time keeping my eyes open, and it was finally time to take some rest. With my dirty clothes and backpack still in my body, I jumped into my comfy bed and closed my eyes.
Nothing… absolutely nothing happened that night, not a single dream or anything weird during the day either. And it stayed that way for around a week. That’s when I tried to throw away that medallion. It was just fine sitting in my cabinet, but when I put it in the trash, it seems to have made it angry. No matter what I did, somehow it came back to my body. I threw it into a lake far down the valley once, but on my way back, without me even noticing, it was in my hands again, still wet from the lake water. Then I remembered that damn book. I was also going to get rid of it, but, something in my guts made me curious about it. I just… Had to know more.
I sat down on my desk, and still hesitant, I gathered the courage to examine it. It had a rather simple design and not a lot of pages, the cover was dark green with a painting of two golden hearts, one of them was kinda hard to tell it was a heart, it was almost faded and a bit warped, and the other one was just a bit worn off.
As I opened it, I felt like I was being watched, almost as if someone was excited to see me read it. I tried to just ignore it and kept my focus on the book. Weirdly enough, I still could make sense of all the words on it.
It was a story about two lovers, a King, and a Queen, which after almost losing their kingdom to an ancient evil, cast a powerful spell, and defeat him, sealing him inside the castle and transporting the whole place into a different world. Even though they were successful, a sacrifice had to be made. For all eternity, they would stay in that castle to ensure the Thing doesn’t escape that place.
They… lost everything. All they had was one another.
What a sad story, and also a bit terrifying. After I finished reading it, I noticed that on the inner side of the back cover, there was a small round crevice, with stains of blood and some sort of dark goo. While I inspected it, the feeling of being stared at got even more intense. Then I had the dumb idea of comparing it to the medallion.
The moment I took it out of my pocket, just like a magnet, it flew out of my hand and snapped into the circle with a click, a terrifying darkness started to pour from inside the book and fill my room. Red-ish orange eyes everywhere. I didn’t have any control over my body. I could hear a thousand voices speaking to me, but none of them made sense. They… laughed at me.
This kept going for a while. I really thought nothing could be worse than the time I’d spent in that cave… I was wrong.
After what felt like an eternity, everything got silent. the book lying open in front of me… I feel weak, and it’s hard to stand up… With every minute, I feel my life getting drained out of me.
As I write this, I’ve already blackened out a couple of times… I don’t know how much time I have, so… I’m sending you this… Just, please…
STAY FAR AWAY FROM HERE!