Hello, my name is Mark. I’ve recently been forced to visit a mental institution for 1,5 years.
Allegedly, i had schizophrenia, I went to a hospital with this problem and they diagnosed me, they kept me under watch until it was confirmed.
I got medication for my sickness, supressing visions and sounds I had and everything went well for a while.
I attended school like a normal person, I went to the gym (I was very, very self aware, and realized that im overweight because I was bullied), watched shows online,
had hobbies and friendships like every normal person, except the noises I heard and sometimes,
the strange people I saw in my room, or school.. or on the street.. yeah..
Anyway, I’m 20 years old, I have a little brother Hunter who is currently 14. I live in a house in a village called Hartlepool.
My parents are Julia and Mark, I’ve been named after him. They always thought I was a normal kid, and well, I was, until they realised that what I’ve been telling them about my days
doesnt make sense. “Mom, today, in the middle of the class, I heard somebody scream and yell my name.. I think they wanted help, but when i asked the teacher, everyone looked so confused, and she didnt let me out!”
That was the first thing that weirded my mother out. Of course, she investigated it because, why would I be lying? But after countless hours, she realized i was.. “joking”
A few more cases like that happened after, and my mom shrugged it off, before my father went to school and requested CCTV footage. He was angry, confused and scared for the children attending the school. After the school
Proved that there wasnt anything fishy going on, my parents decided to bring me to a hospital, where they told them, I was schizophrenic, its possible i am hearing sounds. I was 16 at the time.
2,5 years later, I found myself in a police car. They arrested me. “Why?” you might ask. Well… Heres the story..
It was early June, 2020.
I do not remember the exact date, forgive me.
It was the last day of school, everything went normal, we had a ceremony for the summer, i went home, showed my grades to my parents who were quite happy with them, I never was a bad student. This was my second to last year in school,
before I graduated. I had a girlfriend, her name was Martha. Martha was beautiful and smart, she made me laugh, she cared about me, she acknowledges my sickness, and it didnt affect her.. she treated me like it was normal.
This was the day we had our first kiss.. Now i remember.. It was June 6.. My memory is.. deteoriating, im sorry..
We were sitting in a park near our school, we were talking about the summer ahead of us, vacations we had planned, parties, etc..
Soon we found ourselves talking about sex, and it was exciting at the time, i wanted my first time to be with her. I mentioned that to her, my heart was beating in my throat, my hands were shaking a bit, they were sweating,
then she just kissed me.. It felt amazing. I kissed her back. All my problems just left my body for the few seconds the kiss lasted..
We talked for half an hour with renewed energy and then we went home. I said goodbye, kissed her again, my cheeks red from all the blood that rushed there.
I looked back one last time, before I gathered myself and got on my way. I found myself walking alone in the streets, the birds were singing, cars and cyclists’
sounds filled up the neighbourhood. 15 minutes passed and I found myself staring at the entrance of our family home. Blue walls, a brown oak door that creaks every time I open it.
I live on the second floor, right next to the staircase, I decorated my room with posters of my favourite bands, some books I read when I was little, pictures of me and my family, etc.
I said hello to my parents as i walked through the door, then ran upstairs straight to my room. My brother still wasnt home, which was really odd, he usually gets home earlier than me, and the last day of school never was an exception.
I sat down at my desk and since I didnt have any homework for the summer, I opened CS:GO on my PC, and played away, I joined a voice channel that we often used with my friends, and waited, with the thought that hopefully, someone joins me soon.
But, thats not what happened at all.. After a few matches, I heard someone saying my name through my headset, it was a nice, soothing voice of a man. Who was he? I dont recall him ever joining here, I never even talked with him.
He cut my thoughts in half, as he said:
“Prepare yourself.” It sounded like a warning, if I think about it now, but back then I really thought that my friends are playing a prank on me.
I closed my game and opened the chat, but there was no one there with me, only me, alone, with this strange man talking to me from my headset.
“I just took my medicine, you should disappear soon.” I told him, and reopened my game.
“Mark, i am no hallucination of yours, although you cant see me, only hear me.” Whats that supposed to mean? This is really vivid..
“There’s gonna be a time, when no one believes you, not even your family, not even your friends, but you need to know something.” What is he talking about? I know im sick but.. am I completely insane?
“And what’s that supposed to be?” I asked him, quite angry now, i never wanted to be ill.. i want to be normal..
“You’re not sick. You never were. You are special. There’s things in this world that shouldn’t be here. Things that don’t belong. I’ll help you along the way, but trust yourself.. IF you see strange things, hear them, sense them,
just know that, maybe, there’s a chance that it IS real.” He explained, I was shocked to hear this, this can’t be right, right?
“Wait, what? Please explain more, I dont get half the things you are saying!!” I pleaded, but he seems to have ignored it.
“Hello? Are you still there?” I called out again, but there was no response.. I think the medicine worked.. Of course it did.. Im ill, not insane! Right? Right?? Special? Whats that supposed to mean?
I had 100 questions and 100 more, but there’s no way he can answer me now..
“Dinners ready!!” Yelled my mom from downstairs. It knocked me out of the state I was in, did this much time pass already? My mind was racing as I looked at the clock.
It was 6:30PM. I walked down with a puzzled look on my face, and sat down at the table. My mom made us some tasty food, we thanked her,
And dug in. I had a nice talk with my family, but my brother wasn’t at the table.
“Sweetie, how was the last day at school?” Asked my mother, with her sweet, calming voice.
“It was alright mom, I met Laura after school in the park! We had some fun, but thats it.” I replied, but my mind was still racing, i had so many questions.
“Are you going to work this summer?” My father questioned me, he wanted me to be a hard working man, a man of honor.
“I haven’t thought about it yet, but now that you mention it, I was eyeing some things from the shop the other day.” I said, answering him.
The doorbell rang. *Ding.. Dong..*
“I’ll get it!” I told them, excitedly, thinking that we are having guests over for dinner.
I opened the door, it let a loud creek, almost like it wasnt used for decades.. I looked outside and saw…
Nothing.
Absolute emptiness.
The sun was going down and the streets were still light. The sky was red, with shades of orange and yellow seeping through the clouds. There were no cars, no people..
“Was this a prank?” I asked myself, looking around if I see anyone running away from the house.
Thats when I almost had a heart attack. Hunters head was poking out from the blue corner of the house..
“What the fuck!? Hunter you scared the shit out of me!” I shouted at him, quite angry, he never told us that he’s going to be out this late.
I already forgot what the man told me up in my room, I.. Forgot.. for a second..
“Hunter are yo-“ My words were cut off as he suddenly pulled his head behind the wall and disappeared behind the house. Was he going to come inside? Is he playing a prank that his friends told him to do?
I sighed and closed the door. It creaked once again, before the lock popped into its place.
This.. unexplainable horror ran through me as I looked back at the dinner table..
There was my mom… my dad… and… Hunter?
“Hunter!” I yelled at him.. I was so confused..
“What?” He asked, innocently.
“Where were you all day? You didnt say a thing before you went out!” I questioned him, clearly seeing him outside the house just a moment ago, there’s just no way he could’ve made it to the backdoor in this time.
Now that I looked at him closely.. He also changed his clothes.. He wasnt wearing that T-Shirt.. I could see the collar of it outside and it clearly wasn’t green! What the fuck?
“I don’t know what you mean. I was home all day, I was taking a nap? Sorry for not saying hello. Oh also, are you gonna eat that?” He pointed at the french fries on my plate.
“Huh? You were.. home? What do you mean? I just saw you outside.. You face was.. all dirty and-“ My father cut me off.
“Mark, Sit. You are hallucinating again. There was no doorbell, there was no one outside. I followed you to the door, you were so transfixed at the corner of the house you didnt even notice me behind you.” He explained.
I was terrified.. I just took my medicine an hour ago. I should be seeing things, Hearing? Maybe, but definetly not hallucinating.
“Calm down, alright? Hunter got home earlier than you, he was tired and took a nap. I woke him up before dinner, sorry for not telling you he wasnt home. Lets eat now.” He could see the questions written on my face.
I was silent throughout dinner. I ate my food, gave the fries to Hunter, i was on a diet anyway. I stood up, pushed my chair under the table and put my plate in the sink, and looked outside the window on my right again.
My face froze as I saw hair at the bottom of the window. It was on the outside and slowly… slowly… it emerged until his gaze met mine.. My little brothers eyes met mine again… I backed away, he looked terrifying..
Was that blood on his forehead? Was he hurt? I asked these questions to myself.. Before the sound of glass breaking scared me to death and I fell to my ass. I looked behind me. The glass on the backdoor was in pieces,
There was a half-brick laying in the midst of them all. I quickly stood up and turned back around. Hunter was gone from the window. Good, now I only have one problem. Scared shitless, I walked to the backdoor and opened it..
I looked outside to the backyard, there wasnt anything unusual.. An inflatable pool that my father already set up… a small tree, a shed where my fathers tools were.. they could fix any problem anytime…
Green grass, and some pavement.. And no one outside.. I looked around, fortunately, there wasnt a ghostly Hunter staring at me from any corners this time I quickly stepped back and closed the door.
“DAD! DAD!!” I yelled, terrified.
A minute passed before he came running in his pajamas from the bathroom. He was in the shower with my mom at the time.
“What happened?” He asked, concern in his voice as he looked at me then looked at the broken glass, the shards on the floor and then the brick.