[This is a work-in-progress. Any feedback would be appreciated.]
Entry 1:
Generally, I quite enjoy walking through the nearby woods in the rain. The trees block the downpour so I don’t need to bring a jacket, but the air is still filled with that glorious Petrichor the rain brings out. The wind also helps to build an atmosphere, as the trees’ relentless rustling creates a feeling I find calming. I’m writing this, of course, because that’s all changed, and the memory’s already fading but I need to remember why.
Today, in the morning, I went out for one of these walks. While on the trail I encountered something strange. It just seemed to be a dead deer at first, perhaps it had been sick for a while and finally let go. But then I noticed some movement over it, and there seemed to be something feeding on the carcass. The image is getting a bit foggy, but best as I can remember it was humanoid in figure. Its skin was mottled with the same greys, browns, and blacks that composed the forest floor, so I only saw it at first due to the movement and the shiny, wet, amphibian quality to its skin, come to think of it. At one end, a stump came out of what I assume was its torso. It appeared to be the thing’s head, but there was no real neck to define it. I can only assume it was a head due to the features on it. I think that there were depressions where the eyes would be, and a protrusion where the nose would be. The weirdest part was that the skin over the head looked to be taught, as if it was a human head entirely covered by skin. The only truly defined feature I can remember was its mouth, filled with razor-sharp pointed teeth sunk into the carcass below it. It also seemed to have normal limbs, with structures shaped like hands and feet at the ends, but they were webbed. Its fingers, or what would have been fingers, ended with a pointed claw like a cat’s. It looked up from the carcass, or I assume it ‘looked,’ as I approached, and made a cooing sound at me as if inquisitive. It shocked me, and at that point I turned and ran. I didn’t stop until my front door was safely locked behind me and I was sure I had arrived alone.
I don’t think I’ll be visiting the woods any time soon…
Entry 2:
I’ve rarely left my house since my last entry a few days ago. Luckily for me, the employer can be kind enough to give a few days off… At least until a week has passed. The odd part, I don’t entirely remember what it is that I’m afraid of. I remember walking by a dead deer on the trail, standing there looking at it for a while, then running off scared, but the journal describes an encounter with some sort of demon. I feel like I’d remember something like that. The journal seems like a good idea anyway though, so I’ll just keep writing here. I probably just need some fresh air, so I’ll be heading to the woods again for a walk. Who knows, maybe I’ll come across this ‘creature’ again.
Update:
How right I was. I remember why I was scared again, and I feel that I was right to be. For whatever reason though, the important details are fading awfully quickly, like I wrote it had been last time, so I’ll have to get this down fast.
Around dusk, I reached the area on the trail where the deer had been. There wasn’t much left of it but a rotted leg. I heard a strange sound coming from nearby, in about the direction of the former deer. Now I might compare it to the cooing the creature in my last entry made, but I was curious and had forgotten at that point. At around the point where I thought it had sounded, there was a clearing and a large lake which I had never seen before. Poking out from under the lake in multiple wide stones, engraved all over with odd angular symbols, as well as a couple of large stone buildings buried in the mud. Enthralled in my new find, I wanted to try to enter one of the stone structures, the architecture of which could be described as ‘unconventional’ at best. There was a hole in the wall of the nearest one at about my level, and looking back I should have noticed that its sides were smooth and slimy, even at the top. I peered inside, and it smelled awful, like a stagnant fish tank. I shouted, “Hello?” into it, I should have realized it would be a bad idea, and immediately I heard a loud sound much like that which I’d heard before, followed by a wet slapping sound. Behind me, I heard a softer cooing sound, only to find a creature much like the one described previously standing, yes standing, in the middle of the water (Actually, it might just have been shallow in that spot.) next to one of the engraved obelisks. It appeared to be inspecting me with the little indents on its ‘head’. Then it began to coil itself back, as if like a cat readying to pounce, and I could hear the sounds becoming louder through the hole, and I’m still not sure if it was just the small space amplifying the sound, or if there were hundreds of them in there, as I don’t actually remember if anything came out of the hole. At this point, I started to make a run for the path, and I remember tripping over a root at the edge of the clearing. I was very nearly caught by one of the things because of that, but a nearby stone in the head beat it back long enough for me to escape for good. A little blood or something splashed on my sleeve, I guess, and looking now it appears to have green blood. I’ll have to consult the park ranger or whoever in the town has authority over these things about the creatures, as I’ve never seen them before and I hope to never see them again!
Entry 3:
Notes have begun appearing in my house. My fridge alone is a mess of stickies reading, “Talk to the ranger!” and, “Burn them out!” I haven’t touched this journal for at least a week, remembering that it led me to something dangerous after the last entry (Though, without this book I can’t remember what said thing is!), but based on its contents I think that I put the notes up. My memory’s been foggy ever since the first entry, and the notes, at least the first, pertain to sentiments written here. Much as the last entry says I shouldn’t, I feel a need to investigate again.
Update:
It appears that I was just writing stories before. I checked out the lake again, and there was nothing odd there. There were obelisk-like stones coming out of the water, and there were the strange buildings as well, but there was nothing particularly odd about them. There were no engravings of angular symbols of any kind, and the building was completely quiet inside (It still had a horrible stink though). It was just as I remember, so maybe I’m not totally losing it like I thought I was. I write this because I’ve already taken too much stock in my previous entries, so I’ll tell the future to listen here, not to the other entries.
Entry 4:
Well, I went for a walk last night, and now I’m not sure what to think. For the past week I’ve felt like someone’s been watching me, confining me to my house for fear of… Something… I was somewhat desperate at that point, and that night the conditions were so perfect for a late walk that I just couldn’t stay in. So, against my better judgement, I quickly packed up and set out for the woods, hoping that just maybe my ‘admirer’ would be asleep or something. It worked for a while, but once I had been walking for a while I heard the strange cooing sounds. I’ve disregarded this journal ever since the last entry, and in fact, haven’t even picked it up for a good while, so my first thought was, “What kind of bird stays up this late?” and I began the trail again. Eventually, I’d reached the former resting-place of the deer, and I noticed a soft blue light in the direction of the cooing. This applies to the previous cooing, but even of this my memory’s fading, so I assume that I didn’t remember any of this from previous, so I was more curious of the lights than frightened. The scene of the lake is hazy in my mind, but I do remember that the light came from some fireflies that somehow glowed blue instead of yellow. I also remember the creatures from before all gathered around the stones, which had all become engraved again somehow, and making their cooing sounds. If I’m correct, it almost sounded like they were chanting. I stood frozen for a while and watched as they seemed to perform some kind of ritual. I’m not sure what it did though, that point’s just a mess of blurred colors and sounds, I just know that something made me even more frightened to the point that I was able to run away. I just hope that I wasn’t followed…
Update:
I think that I may have heard screaming involved with the ‘ritual,’ but after this long, I just can’t be sure.
Update:
I saw one outside my window earlier in the night, it stood under a streetlight and stared at me through the dark and the rain…
Entry 5:
Not only is my memory going, but now I’ve become inarticulate. I think that I sound fine, but those I talk to never seem to understand what I’m saying, and just walk away in disgust. Writing seems to be my only way of expressing ideas now, so I just have to hope I can still do that.
- Sorry, I can’t speak. Only write.
- No thanks.
- Yes, please.
It’s only a few simple phrases, sure, but this book is the only way for me to get my point across now, and these will save a lot of time.
Entry 6:
Now even as I walk to work and the store I hear those things cooing at me from the bushes and the trees. I’m getting more nervous too, as I’ve been hearing deeper sounds mixed in with the usual.
Entry 7:
At night I’ve been seeing them gathering around my house, cooing relentlessly. I don’t know why, but the neighbors don’t seem to wake. Together with the new noises, I’ve noticed that some of them are more muscular than the others now, and seem to have spikes going along their backs. I don’t think it bodes well for me…
Update:
I’ve checked, and my neighbors just don’t seem to be home. Their lights are off day and night, with no exception, and nobody answered the door when I knocked. Though, at this point I guess I don’t blame them for not telling me they were going on vacation.
Update:
If they’re on vacation, then why are all their cars still here? Come to think of it, what happened to the neighbor’s dog? It usually yips through the night until it falls asleep, but I haven’t heard it for a while…
Entry 8:
I haven’t seen them, but I hear them knocking on the door, so I’ve hidden in the closet. If they can smell, I hope that my smell around the house is enough to put them off of me, as the doors don’t lock save the front and back.
Update:
I heard wood splintering, and their cooing has become a chant. It sounds so familiar if only I could just remember from where!
They’re in my room now. I hope they don’t find m
Entry 9:
They’re all one of them! The police were the ones knocking the other day. Apparently, the neighbors put out a complaint because I was just walking around knocking on people’s door making disgusting gurgling noises, and I’ve been arrested for some reason (I think for ignoring the police, or something). They say I’m gurgling, but they’re all cooing, with brief periods of normal speech, like the creatures! I can hardly understand anyone around me now, so I guess I know how the others felt about it.
Update:
They’re sending me to the loony bin, apparently. I just have to hope that this all fixes itself somehow…
Entry 10:
All their writing’s gone now! It’s just become more of those angular symbols from the stones in the lake! I’ve heard them saying the same about my writing, but I can read it just fine.
Update:
I’m going away, aren’t I? If somehow someone ends up with this journal and can read this, don’t let them take me, I’m not crazy! I swear I’m not! I’M NOT CRAZY, I’M NOT CRAZYNOTCRAZYNOTCRAZYNOTCRAZYISWEAR!