I know the title is quite dramatic, but I believe it is warranted as I encountered a something truly horrifying just a few days ago.
Before I start, let me state that those who read beyond this point will share my burden, my curse of knowledge. Now, let’s begin.
It was Saturday, September 10th, 2022, and I had just finished my shopping was walking home with two plastic bags in hand. Suddenly, my head felt like it was about to explode, my heart was racing, my muscles were tense, I was on high alert. I franticly looked around me, but nothing, just an empty street. I stood there, frozen on the sidewalk, my hands clenched, my legs shaking, a leaf falling from a tree. Then I saw what threw me into fight or flight, a red cross on the horizon. Ominous, unmoving, deep crimson. In a matter of moments, I realized that my life was at risk. Then, the sky grew dark, the cross grew brighter, and my legs began to shake even more violently than before, and beyond the buildings down the street I saw a colossal figure move, and as it moved the ground shook more violently than my legs. An inky black figure, with what seemed to be tentacles branching off its body, and as it moved deafening booms rang into my ears. I was spiraling, my ears were ringing, my thoughts drowned out by my terror.
Then I heard a soft and quiet voice, “Hello, young man. Do not fret, for you are perfectly safe.” Despite how soft spoken the voice was, it has a malevolent sneer under its kind facade. My panic grew. “Why are you afraid? No harm will come to you.” Its tone grew insistent. “Stop your panicking. There. Is. Nothing. To. Fear.” Insistent still. My hands were shaking now. “WHY ARE YOU AFRAID?!” It was yelling in my head now. Then, deafening silence. For what felt like years, this silenced consumed me. The cross grew brighter, the sky grew darker, my sanity wore thinner. Then finally, in the softest, quietest of whispers, now physically from behind me. “You shouldn’t be afraid; I’m only going to kill you.” My blood ran ice cold, my entire nervous system lit up, and I suddenly lost the ability to breathe. Unable to move, unable to breathe, unable to see anything aside from the crimson cross that seemed to consume my field of vision. I was the closest to death I had ever been, it was as if I teetered between being dead and alive for the moments before I turned to face what I was sure would be the last thing I’d ever see, and I was sure it would be more horrifying than anything I’d seen before.
I turned, and I saw a smile. A twisted smile, ear to ear on a near featureless, stark white face. The eyes and mouth were voids of black, and from them spilled a thick black liquid. It stunk like rotten flesh, and as I stared into the eyes of this creature, I saw two red points of light within, they pierced my very soul. In a matter of moments my mind absorbed every detail of this horror, but it would be nothing compared to what I’d see next.
Suddenly, I was falling. An endless void surrounded me, I was cold, suffocating. Then I hit what felt like a body of water and began to sink. Still, as I sank, I saw that ominous crimson cross. A voice then echoed in my head. “You do not belong here; this world is not for your eyes and the beings of this world are not to taste of your flesh. Be grateful, your life has been sparred on a whim. But, in return, let you be cursed with the knowledge of what lies beyond the veil, what cosmic machinations play out while you toil about your insignificant lives.” Then I saw the visage whatever being was speaking to me. Vaguely simian in outline, though possessing an everchanging face. From insectoid eyes and octopoid feeler to canine eyes and a lack of a mouth, and finally a spiraling void of everchanging features almost more than my mind could comprehend. But, after this image flashed before me my mind was filled with information. My head felt as if it was going to explode again, my eyes swelled, my body convulsed as nerves fired at random, and finally I knew everything.
I knew of the numerous cosmic horrors that laid just beyond our observation, the millions of species within our universe, the hundreds of eldritch beings that dwelled within our solar system alone, and their terrifying power. After this, I blinked, and I was back on that empty street. Only milliseconds had passed, the leaf still danced in the air. I took a deep breath and fell to the ground, my heart pounding. I then looked up, and the horizon was clear, only the sunset decorated the sky. I raced home, and contemplated what I’d say, and came to the simplest conclusion, that it all truly happened. Now, I’m telling all of you, trying lift this burden off my shoulders, trying to share this curse.
Finally, my warning, if you suddenly feel as if your life is at risk, if you see a red cross on the horizon, close your eyes. Deny yourself the horror of what you will see, accept your death and pray it will be swift. For that is far more favorable to living just a few days with the knowledge of what exists beyond our known reality. After this is posted, I will take my own life, and this will be all that remains of me. I do not know why I feel compelled to share this information, but nonetheless I am.
Good day, now.