I’ll be telling the tale of the past nine days. Recently, there have been three disappearances in my neighbourhood, and I was almost one of them.
I usually go outside every Saturday at 10 to get some snacks in a nice spooky night. I always appreciated the dark nights, yet I never knew darkness would hold true danger until recently. 9 days ago on Saturday I went to the local store to get some crisps and soda when I saw somebody in the distance. It seemed to have grey skin, yet I could not make out the precise colours in the dark. Its nails seemed like ruthless claws and their eyes were pure black. I thought that it was likely a normal human being who happened to be trick-or-treating 3 months late. 30 minutes later I was resting in my bed, tired and ready to sleep.
Somehow a strange feeling of dread filled me. I slept well, yet the next day the dread continued to fill me. At the time I didn’t think much of it, although I had no idea of where this feeling came from. I am still uncertain if this feeling has anything to do with the sighting.
The second day things got worse. Before going to bed I watched the moon out of my window, and saw the same figure walking in my neighbourhood. That night I had the worst nightmares I have had in years. I dreamed of terror, loss and the creature himself.
The next day the dread and nightmares continued. I saw the creature again. I saw the creature through my front door, standing without knocking. I watched it for 5 more minutes. It would not move. I went upstairs to my window to see him still standing without knocking. I slept very little that night, perhaps an hour at best. It would appear that insomnia was added to my continued nightmares and dread. The next day I woke up again to try to live a normal life, filled by silent dread and paranoia.
I worked all day, always fearing the creature would see me as a lazy snack. That night when I went to sleep I almost screamed as I saw the being in my kitchen, silently looking straight at my eyes. I quickly went to my bed to sleep another day.
Madness had arrived. I was stressed all day and night, awaiting punishment. I barely worked that day, fearing the creature. I had now began to see that the torture of the past few days was all caused by the monster. I began to realize that all the people who disappeared in my neighborhood stayed inside for exactly a week before disappearing. I began to think that perhaps in a few days I may die. I heard screams that night. That night I saw the creature in my bedroom, still not saying a word.
My phone, keys, hat, pencils and three novels disappeared the next day. Madness was intensifying. I could no longer think without thinking of the beast. I could no longer do a thing. I stayed locked up, never sleeping. At midnight, after not seeing the being I went to sleep. That night I saw a being in my bed when I woke up. It said nothing, by then I was getting used to seeing it. What I feared was the idea of it.
I could not think that day. I did not go to work. I tried to eat to distract myself, but it didn’t work. I went to bed early, despite sleeping very little. I woke up at midnight to see the beast in my bed once again, staring blankly at my eyes. It whispered the words: “I am Unknown.” Then I saw my feet disintegrating. Initially I did not even think of that, until I soon realized that soon I will be nothing but rotten dust. I ran from that bed and screamed. My feet were gone. I didn’t know how I was walking. “Go away!” I screamed. I heard no answer or any reaction. I was still standing, just as before. “Death.” muttered the being. I hid downstairs, thinking of my life. I was spared by the monster. My feet were returned, but I have now become hard of hearing. Yet I was lucky. The other disappeared individuals of the neighbourhood died 7 days after torture began to them.
Two days later, I am sitting, writing this. The symptoms of torture continue, despite being lighter. I don’t know what to call this being. I personally call it an “Unknown”, after the words it muttered in my bed. I still fear every day that it shall come back.