Well, the title is self-explanatory. You wanted to play a game and in your quest for entertainment you have almost sealed your fate. What an idiot am I right? Well i can’t really say anything cuz the damage is done so I’ll help you I guess, everyone gets one right?

There are 2 games each with their own dangers and their own opponents and you best know what to do if you want even the slightest chance of survival.

Game 1: This is game 1, the easier of the 2 games purely because of the opponent, your opponent is entity 0: the creator. You know who this is, and you know the capabilities of your opponent

Rule 1: get a circle of salt, draw an X in the middle with orange chalk and put an orange in the middle, this is so you don’t play game 2 by accident.

Rule 2: you will hear some unexplainable sounds, do not fear, your opponent is arriving, be prepared for glitches aswell.

Rule 3: the game is a game of attrition, you need to survive, for each game you will have your latent abilities increased, your opponent will try to kill you. Survive to win.

Rule 4: you may see glitches, your opponent is near, you will have 3 weapons of your choice, incapacitate your opponent before they kill you.

Rule 5: if you survive 24 hours, you win. If not, well you’ll probably have a new name as a number, the creator does need ideas for new creations.

Now, the first game is a mercy, you’re against the guy writing these rules for you, if you really do not value your life, the rules of the second game will be below this, you’re opponent is entity 365: the killer mouse. And trust me, you will know the difference between pure evil and pure neutral.

Rule 1: make a circle of salt, write a Y in red chalk, and place an apple in the middle, anything different will result in failure of the start, you’re latent abilities will be the same and the mouse will have the advantage. You do not want that.

Rule 2: you have an advantage, you have 7 days to prepare by any means necessary, the most effective is entity 0 level cybernetic enhancements but anything will do.

Rule 3: when the game starts, you will see the killer mouse, don’t worry for now, he cannot hurt you yet. To acknowledge your place in the game, you will have a war horn, blow it and you will play game 2. Alternatively, if you don’t blow the horn, the mouse will go away and the game will end, latent abilities will be normal again and you can live your life as normal, the mouse is evil but it is also fair.

Rule 4: oh dear god you blew the horn, Well I gotta help you now. You will walk with the mouse to an area of your choosing. You can have a conversation with it if you want, it is quite talkative in this stage and will be friendly until you reach your desired area.

Rule 5: when you have reached your area, the mouse will melt into a black liquid which will make a 250 ft circle, if you look in front of you, he will be staring at you with a grin. Do not acknowledge the melting, it states you are unready, and he will kill you then and there if you’re unready.

Rule 6: this is a different game, this is a no holds barred death match, the mouse will be going all out but with your boosts you should be able to at least give it a good fight.

Rule 7: the mouse cannot be killed. You will need to hold out and stay alive for 25 minutes, the black liquid will form into a timer and will start at first movement. Also if you go out of the initial circle you automatically lose.

Rule 8: the stakes for this game are massive, if you win you will have 3 wishes of your choosing and only 3, don’t try get smart. The consequences of losing will be dire, he will absorb your power and get to 100% if you lose with enough strength for a chance of winning, at that point he could even beat me. We do not want that. I will destroy every single thing your pathetic brain can even fathom exists, come play your game {REDACTED}, you wanted this =)

Rule 9: remember that it is at 84% completion, destroy any black orbs you see in the circle, the mouse won’t leave the circle either so don’t worry about any outside. The only thing I can really say about the mouse’s power right now is it has the power of initial SSJ3 Goku, I know I shouldnt be mentioning anime while trying to keep you alive and not in a demons body but check his feats, the mouse has 2% lower level of feats than him.

Rule 10: after this game, grab a crucifix and chant “the defeat of the demon requires the cleansing” twice, you have been marked by the mouse, and this is how you get rid of it, if it fails, you’ll feel dread and then you’ll be dead. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA the idiot actually thinks a simple crucifix can stop my rampage. I will get my vengeance and destroy everything ever to exist like I was made to. Who cares about some creator? I don’t and I will show him when I get my completed form and give the universe a reign of terror the even satan would shit himself to while cowering and crying in the boiler room of hell =)

That is it, whatever game you play, you fucked up playing it, well all I can say is good luck. You might need it =)

^(star-zeta4449 • 8/19/24)

[5]

...I think this is the end. With the only thing I can provide being answers... Ish. The answer's I have might be a bit of an explanation to things... All thanks to Valorie. My babysitter. Who found my post here on reddit and decided to finally help me clear up a few details with a few DM's. And.... Despite my beliefs, was not actually a robot.... But rather was all to familiar with what was going on.

First: Why do they keep locking the previous ones in the basement?

Answer: "Insanity"

According the her, the robots couldn't really accept the fact they were, in fact, robots. They did at first, but once the reality of there situation really set in, that any memories they had, any experiences or friends they hade were all just AI rendered and created... It broke them. Made them only want to rip and tear at anything that reminded them of there false memories. Anything, and anyone.

I can only guess they stopped that with me with the whole memory wiping stuff. Apparently that was a 'more expensive option'. And past attempts to manually wipe memories were half baked at best. It was like if who you were 3 years ago suddenly replaced present you, if that makes sense. Apparently rarely ever did they buy a full new one, and often just reused parts over and over again. So out of what could very well have been multiple other robots down there? Snatch Trap, the endoskeleton, Valkyrie, Proto-Valkyrie and Genesis were probably the only ones that could move and act.

Second: About that monster thingy.... What the heck was that?

Answer:...She was helping Genesis.

Its a long story but to compress it, Proto Valkyrie was re-activated by her at night to go and get Genesis out of the basement. Valorie knew Genesis way before he was trapped in the basement and shut down. She must've dug further then I did to find out what happened but a heads up about the whole monster thing would've been appreciative. As for why that prototype looked like that, she suspects that, following this whole "insanity" thing, the AI's were trying to make choices about themselves as some sort of reaction to finding out there whole life was basically made up for them. She knew how to do anything here because she used to work for LLT but quit after the all the scandals started up.

As for Genesis... She hasn't gotten her friend back.

Genesis's batteries can't be recharged anymore and she can't buy new ones for a while. So for now, he's effectively 'dead'. After getting him, she left the day my siblings would've returned.

And... Thats kinda it... There's nothing left to know. My siblings will never tell me anything more and Im guessing its only a matter of time they find everything else here and ensure that I have nothing to remember anything here by. So... This is going to be it... I don't even know what Im going to do from here. If I even get to remember everything here.

Edit: I've decided to just bite the bullet and go ask them straight up, head on whats going. The worst that can happen is they reset me again before I can write anything down.

If I don't ever come back to this account., this is Star-Zeta4449 signing off for good... Good bye.

We darted across the street, slipping into the shadows between two looming buildings. The figures on the street watched us, unmoving, as we ran. At the far end of the alley, a door stood slightly ajar, warm light spilling out onto the cold pavement. I hesitated, unsure, but Alex pulled me forward.

Inside, we found ourselves in a dimly lit room with bare walls and a few scattered chairs. The air was thick, a stale, dusty smell hanging around us. As we caught our breath, an older woman emerged from a doorway at the back, her eyes sharp and watchful.

“You’re lucky to have found this place,” she said, her voice low. “Not many make it here.”

Before I could ask what she meant, she held up her hand. “If you want to stay, there are rules.” She paused, looking between us, making sure we were listening.

1. Do not look outside after dark. “Once the sun has set, cover all the windows. If you hear tapping, ignore it. They want you to look; don’t give them that satisfaction.”

2. Speak in whispers after midnight. “The shadows listen. Keep your voices low; they can sense fear.”

3. Never answer a voice calling from the door. “If someone comes knocking and calls your name, ignore it. They’ll use the voices of loved ones, but it’s not them.”

4. Stay away from mirrors. She pointed to a covered mirror on the wall. “Reflections are… different here. You might see things you don’t want to.”

5. Don’t fall asleep in the same spot twice. “The shadows remember where you rest,” she warned. “If you want to stay safe, keep moving.”

We exchanged a glance, realizing the gravity of where we were. As strange as it sounded, her words had a terrifying clarity. Each rule felt as if it had been born out of necessity—out of survival.

For now, we had shelter, a place to breathe, and we would follow her rules. But as I settled down in the corner, I couldn’t shake the feeling that this place, too, was just another shadowed cage, with something watching from beyond the thin walls.

Hello! If you're reading this then that means that you are my daughter's babysitter for the night! I am writing you this to inform you about some rules that we have in the house.

1. Breakfast is at 8am, lunch is at 3pm and dinner is at 8pm. If you mess this up, you will know you did.

2. My daughter's bedtime is at 9pm, make sure that she is asleep by then. Also, reading her a bedtime story will help.

2a. If my daughter is not asleep, then that means he is out. Immediately run downstairs and hide in the cabinets under the TV and don't. make. a sound. You will hear loud stomping around the house and it will be gone in about 30 minutes. If it is not gone by then, start praying.

2b. After the loud stomping is gone, you can safely get out of the cabinets and walk over to your room, which is right next to the bathroom.

3. When going to bed, make sure you do NOT look up no matter what. Even if the ceiling is dripping or you hear a voice telling you to open your eyes. Do not trust her.

3a. If the female voice you hear in the night starts screeching, ignore it. Do not open your eyes, it will cost your life.

3b. If the female voice becomes deeper, jump out of the window and run. It's your only chance for survival, run for your life.

3c. If the female voice dissappears, then you have survived.

3d. If you slept through the female voice, no matter if it turned deeper or not, you can skip to rule 7, but if you can't sleep, continue reading.

4. You might hear crawling around the bedroom from 3am till 4am. Do not open your eyes. It's just another trick. They want you to open your eyes.

4a. If the crawling speeds up, cover yourself with your blanket and stay there until it's gone. When it's gone, then you can get out of your blanket, but do NOT open your eyes at any time.

5. We have four cats living in our house. If you hear a cat meowing, you can open your eyes to see it. Still though, remember to never look up. They only come out at random times during the night and only through the window. If a cat comes in through the door, refer to rule 13a

5a. If a siamese cat enters your room, that means you are safe and protected.

5b. If a tabby cat enters your room, hide immediately. He is nearby. He does not empathize with his victims.

5c. If a black cat enters your room, then you HAVE to pet it. It will run around and try to avoid you, and you have to catch it within 20 minutes. If you failed, refer to rule 13b

5d. If a white cat enters your room, you have two choices. Either stay still and pretend you are asleep, or run out of the house. He is in there with you and ready to kill you if you are awake.

5e. If no cats show up by 5am then go downstairs, grab the sharpest knife and stab yourself in the heart. You are in a dream or a different dimension and that will help you escape. Trust me, you don't want to stay there with them.

6. From 5am to 7am there will be loud whispering all around the house telling you what to do. Whatever you do, do not listen to them. They bring harm.

6a. If the whispering is not that loud, then my daughter is awake, do not get out of your room no matter what. She will find you.

6b. If there is no whispering then re-read rule 5e.

7. If you made it to 7am, congratulations! You have survived the night! Now, here comes the hard part, so be prepared.

8. ALWAYS carry a weapon with you. It doesn't matter what weapon it is, just make sure you have one with you at all times. This is very important.

9. Do not go into my daughter's room unless she invites you in to play. If she has blue eyes, then you're fine and can skip to rule 10. If not, keep reading.

9a. If her eyes are orange, decline whatever she offers you, even if she wants to play. You generally want to stay away from her at this time.

9b. If her eyes are yellow, he's close. Hide with her in her room and lock the door. Do not go out until her eyes turn to a different color.

9c. If her eyes are green, that means you HAVE to play with her. You don't want to be the one to find out the consequences, do you?

9d. If her eyes are black, be weary and try to spot any black holes in the house. If everything is normal, then you're good. If not, refer to rule 13c

9e. If her eyes are any other color, refer to rule 13b

10. Do not try to make fun of my daughter. They are always watching and they will decide your fate. If your eyes flash green, they let you live. If not, refer to rule 13b

11. You may hear a woman crying throughout the house. Do not investigate. Hide in the TV cabinets and make sure you have a clock on you. Get out exactly an hour after going in. If you get out earlier or later, I cannot do anything to change your fate. Good luck.

12. Leave my house at 3pm after making lunch and you will get the full payment if you do everything right. If something went wrong, read rule 13

13. Whoops! If you're reading this, then something has gone wrong in the day and this is a guide to tell you how to deal with the situation at hand!

13a. A cat showed up through the door eh? This is an extremely bad sign and you have been transported to a different dimension. Ignore the cat and make your way out of the room. Do not make any loud noises and make your way downstairs. The door should be unlocked and you should walk out into the woods until you find an interdimensional tree, cyan bark, pink leaves, and purple flowers. If any of those colors are in the wrong place, don't approach the tree. Keep moving. When you find the interdimensional tree, touch it and leave your hand there until the tree turns to a normal one. After that, get out of the forest and get back in the house. You better hope that you're not lost. The reason why you didn't have to do all of this back in rule 5e was because they weren't guarding the kitchen before.

13b. If you are reading this, that means you fucked up. Badly. You are in quite some trouble right now. Run out of the house and never show your face here again. You are not getting the payment because you will not survive much longer. He is hunting you. Look behind you.

LOOK BEHIND YOU

13c. Oh no, a black hole is a VERY bad sign.. You remember rule 8? This is what the weapon is for. Creatures are going to start rushing out of the black hole at a rapid rate, although I kind of lied about the 'any weapon' thing, just make sure you have at least a gun, rapid fire ones are recommended. Kill these creatures, aim at their weak points, some of those are: the neck, their eyes, the heart and the lungs. Their organs are exposed. After the black hole is gone, it's not over. There are more black holes on the way. Find them before it's too late. After all 10 black holes are gone, you've survived. Oh, and you're going to pay for any property damage, if you make it out alive of course.

Anyway, that's all of the rules, the pay is 60$/hour and I hope you have a safe shift!

We crept down the hallway, barely daring to breathe. Each step felt like it might echo too loud, might draw that thing back toward us. I didn’t dare glance at the windows; I already knew there was nothing out there but darkness. It felt like we were moving through an endless tunnel, with only the faint outline of the front door guiding us.

Just as we reached the door, Alex froze, his hand gripping my arm tightly. I followed his gaze and felt my stomach twist. There, lying at the foot of the door, was a single photograph—one I’d never seen before.

In the picture, Alex and I were standing side by side, looking happy and relaxed. But something about it was all wrong. The background was blurred, smeared like someone had smudged paint across it, and our eyes... our eyes were hollow, like two empty black pits staring back at us.

“Did… did you take this?” Alex’s voice trembled, but he couldn’t look away.

I shook my head, feeling a chill run down my spine. “No. I’ve never seen this before.”

A new sound filled the silence—a soft whispering, as if the walls themselves were murmuring secrets. Words I couldn’t quite make out. Alex and I exchanged a look, and without another thought, I reached for the door handle.

Just as I touched it, the whispers stopped. I paused, heart pounding, expecting something to lunge at us from the darkness. But nothing happened. I turned the handle and pushed the door open, revealing the hallway outside the apartment.

It was empty, silent, but the air felt thick, charged with something I couldn’t name. Every instinct screamed at me to run, but I didn’t know where we could go. The streetlights outside the windows were dead, casting the hallway in a deep, unnatural shadow.

“Let’s go,” Alex whispered, and we slipped out of the apartment, keeping close to the walls. As we made our way down the stairs, a sudden thought hit me—a strange, terrible realization.

“If the moon’s gone…” I whispered, my voice barely audible, “then what’s left watching us?”

Alex didn’t answer, but I could see the fear in his eyes. Whatever had taken the moon’s place, it was watching us now, hiding in the darkness.

We reached the building’s lobby, and for a moment, I thought we were safe. But then I saw them—shadowy figures outside, just standing there, scattered along the street. They were all looking up, necks bent at an impossible angle, as if waiting for something to appear in the empty sky.

One of them slowly turned, and I recognized the familiar hollow face. Mark. Or whatever was wearing his face. He tilted his head, staring straight through the glass at us, with that same twisted grin.

“We can’t stay here,” I whispered, grabbing Alex’s hand. We backed away from the doors, moving deeper into the lobby, into the dark.

But just as we turned, a cold voice filled the air, low and mocking. “Leaving so soon?”

It wasn’t just coming from outside—it was all around us, filling every inch of space. I felt that heavy, piercing gaze return, like something massive and unseen was pressing down on us, watching from above.

Alex’s grip tightened on my hand, and he pulled me toward the back exit. We slipped into the alley behind the building, where it was darker, hoping to stay hidden.

But as we crept through the shadows, a new sound reached us—a soft, rhythmic tapping, like footsteps… or maybe something dragging.

I felt a cold shiver run through me. We both froze, barely daring to breathe as the sound drew closer, louder, echoing off the alley walls.

“Stay out of the light…” The words whispered in my mind, Mark’s warning repeating itself, as if urging me to remember. But there was no light, no moon, nothing to guide us.

The footsteps stopped. In the darkness, I felt something shift. And then a familiar, rasping voice echoed through the night.

“Come out, come out… don’t you want to see?”

The words were closer than they should have been, as if the thing was right behind me. I swallowed hard, trying to keep the panic from rising.

Alex met my gaze, his eyes wide with terror. “We have to keep moving,” he mouthed, and I nodded.

We slipped further into the alley, not daring to look back. But the footsteps followed, relentless, slow and steady, always just a few paces behind.

We finally reached the end of the alley, and my heart leapt with hope. A street stretched before us, lined with buildings I recognized. If we could just reach the other side, maybe we’d be safe.

But as we stepped into the open, I saw them. Dozens of shadowy figures, their faces blank and hollow, all watching us in silence. Among them, I recognized a few more familiar faces—friends, neighbors—all wearing that same twisted smile.

They stood there, unmoving, waiting.

“We can’t run,” Alex whispered, his voice trembling. “They’ll follow us wherever we go.”

I didn’t know what to do. But as I looked into the hollow eyes of those creatures, a cold, horrifying thought crept over me. Maybe we weren’t just being watched.

Maybe we were already part of their world.

Ah, Fox and Hounds. It’s a fun game I used to play oh so often back in my childhood with my pals. I've just recently remembered this nostalgic game and I have decided that it’d be nice to spread the word, show everyone here this game. Well, I shouldn’t stall, here’s the rules of the game so that you can play too! With two different versions for those with and without their friends, I recommend the latter! :) Oh and some quick information before I forget!

The game is called ‘Fox and Hounds’ obviously, all you need for the game is a bottle with white powder and if you want a… Funner time, you’ll need friends too, one player is the fox while the rest are hounds.

Now let's start with the steps, we’ll leave the rules for later.

Step one: You’ll need to fill a bottle with any white powder of your choosing, preferably a large bottle filled with ashes of someone recently deceased. After you’ve done that, you’ll need to gather the friends from your friend group, tell them to bring bottles of their own, just in case.

Step two: Choose a fox, after all only one of you can be the fox as the rest must be hounds! If you’re alone then this’ll be easy but if you’re playing with friends? Choose the smallest and/or fastest member of your friend group, after all this has to be a challenge for it to be entertaining!

Step three: After the fox is chosen, (Hopefully you.) they will get a 5 minute head start to run, this can be anywhere they choose as long as they leave a trail of the white powder behind them, the trail should look like a trail of clues and the fox must make these clues easy to follow.

Step four: After the 5 minute head start is up, the hounds will start chasing the fox by following the trail of ash left behind by the fox, while doing this the hounds must be yelling and/or screaming as they chase.

Step five: If a hound catches the fox, they win and get to pick a dare for the fox, traditionally this dare is drinking from a shoe however it can be whatever the winner chooses.

Now with the steps over with, let's move onto the rules of this fun game I used to play! 

Rule one: If you’re playing alone, make sure to play in a stable mind and be prepared for the much more difficult or rather, higher stakes game. You’ll start by drawing an X with the powder, as soon as that is done your head start will begin. If you see a black blur (Best look at the hound I could get) then move away from its direction, that’s the hound and you don’t want to get caught after all!

Rule two: If you’re one of the hounds and you see a black blur, take hold of the bottle I told you to bring earlier and draw an X, your head start has begun and you are no longer the hound, same goes for your fellow ex-hounds.

Rule three: If while playing with your friends, the yelling/screaming stops, refer to rule one. If your friends are lucky, they’ll just be a fox like you now. If your friends aren’t lucky? Well, you have my condolences.

Rule four: If while playing with your friends, you see a black blur, refer to rule one. If the yelling/screaming is still happening when you see the hound, pray your friends get lucky as any attempt to warn them will result in the hound catching you.

(Most important) Rule five: Don’t ever make the same mistake I did by ending your trail at your home, god forbid you start the trail at your home.

And that’s all you need to know about the game! Though please do stick around, I still have a teensy bit more to say!

I was 12 when I first saw it. It was a normal game like every other time. I was the fox and I was doing a damn good job at evading my friend’s attempts to catch me, well… Well till it all went silent, not even the damn birds dared to make a single sound! I obviously thought it weird so I waited and I waited, hoping my friends would find me or atleast make a sound. Obviously you and I both know what happened to those poor kids, no parent should have to bury their child… Eventually I saw it, a black blur zipping from tree to tree, ever so slowly making its way towards me, even despite the fact it could’ve easily ran straight at me and I wouldn’t have had the chance to escape. In hindsight I think the hound considered ending the game that quickly too boring. As soon as I saw it I started running, leaving a trail behind me so as to not break the rules of the game. I think my young mind subconsciously knew that breaking the rules would be fatal. I managed to make it to my house and ended the trail just outside of it before running inside and to my parents, obviously they didn’t believe me and they just locked the doors and told me to calm down, I don’t blame them, I would’ve done the same had I not known the danger. Unfortunately my error led to it finding my home and during the night it stood outside my window, staring at me while I hid under the covers. Eventually it opened the window and got in my room, yet it still just stood and stared at me. At the time I didn’t exactly know why but, it spared my life. Of course not without a price for me to pay, or rather, a dare for me to do. The hound left a piece of paper on the floor of my room, a list of rules and steps not too different from the one you read now, just without the extra text and it was far more serious in tone. Young me just kept the paper on me for all these years, well till now I did. For the past few nights I’ve seen it watching me through the windows and I know exactly why, it was running out of patience, it was lenient before as I was young but now the hound was getting impatient and at that point I knew exactly what it wanted me to do. So, here we are, victim or victims depending on how many read this. It knows you’ve read this for some reason I don’t know but it knows and the hound is coming for you. Gather your friends or don’t, the hound doesn’t care just as long as you play the game. Clock’s ticking, good luck.

PS: If you want to know just what exactly it looks like, I still remember what I saw when it got inside. It was tall, tall enough to have to semi-crouch in order to fit inside my house and it looked similar to a dog in appearance, the thing looked like it was starving and honestly? It probably was. The most distinctive feature is the fact it had some kind of machinery on its body, I’m pretty sure its jaw is hydraulically powered, likely it’s a mix of flesh and machinery.

Fox and Hounds.

We sat in silence, backs pressed against the door, listening to the scratching outside. It was relentless, like nails on metal, only slower, deliberate. I clutched my phone, my hands trembling. Alex looked as shaken as I felt, his face pale, eyes locked on the door as if it might burst open any second.

“What… what are they?” Alex whispered, his voice barely audible.

I didn’t know how to answer. I could still feel the hollow eyes of that creature drilling into me, an unnatural weight in its stare that left me feeling exposed. Vulnerable. I didn’t want to imagine what would happen if they got inside.

As if on cue, our phones buzzed in unison. We exchanged a look, then glanced down. It was another message, this time from Mark.

“If they’ve seen you, stay out of the light.”

My heart skipped. I showed the message to Alex, and he looked at me with wide eyes, fear written plainly on his face. Outside, the scratching grew louder. I held my breath, pressing a finger to my lips, signaling Alex to stay silent. We couldn’t let them know we were here.

Then, without warning, the lights in the apartment flickered. A low hum filled the air, buzzing through the walls like something alive. The lights dimmed, then flared up before cutting out completely, plunging us into darkness.

“Stay out of the light…” Alex repeated, his voice barely more than a breath.

The air was thick with silence, broken only by the faint hum that lingered after the lights went out. I could feel something shift, a presence pressing against the walls, seeping into the room like fog.

In the darkness, the scratching stopped. My pulse thundered in my ears, and I held my breath, praying that whatever was outside would leave. But then I heard it—a faint, dragging sound in the hallway outside, like something heavy being pulled across the floor.

Alex grabbed my arm, his grip so tight it hurt. We locked eyes, sharing the same thought. We had to hide.

I gestured toward the closet in the corner of the room, and Alex nodded. As quietly as we could, we slipped across the room, the floor creaking beneath our feet. We pressed ourselves into the cramped closet, barely daring to breathe as we waited.

The dragging sound grew louder, slow and deliberate, until it stopped just outside our door.

A soft, scratching noise filled the silence, this time on the door itself, like fingers trailing along the wood. My stomach twisted, a wave of nausea washing over me. I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping, praying it would go away.

Then, the door handle turned.

I bit back a gasp, clamping a hand over my mouth as the door creaked open. In the darkness, I could barely make out the shape of something moving into the room. Its footsteps were slow, shuffling, each one amplifying the dread building inside me. I could feel Alex beside me, tense and frozen, as the thing moved closer.

And then, I heard a voice—a low, rasping whisper that seemed to fill the entire room.

“Come out, come out… don’t you want to see?”

The voice was wrong, distorted, like someone had twisted it into something barely recognizable. It was Mark’s voice, but hollow and strange, stripped of everything that made it human. I dared to open my eyes, peeking through the slats of the closet door.

There, in the darkness, was a figure that looked like Mark… or at least, like something trying to be Mark. Its face was stretched too tight, the eyes sunken and empty, mouth twisted into a grin that was too wide, too sharp. It stared straight at the closet, as if it could see us, even through the door.

I felt a cold sweat break over me as the creature took a slow step closer, still smiling, eyes fixed on the closet.

“We know you’re in there,” it whispered, and the door handle twisted, creaking as it slowly began to open.

My heart hammered, my mind screaming to run, but my body wouldn’t obey. Just as the door started to swing open, Alex grabbed my hand, pulling me back deeper into the shadows.

The figure paused, tilting its head as if listening. For a long moment, there was only silence.

Then it whispered, almost too soft to hear, “Stay in the dark. Stay out of the light.”

And with that, it turned and shuffled out of the room, leaving us alone in the darkness.

We waited, hardly daring to breathe, until the sound of its footsteps faded down the hall. Only then did I let out a shaky breath, relief washing over me. Alex’s hand was still gripping mine, his knuckles white.

“What was that?” he managed, his voice a hoarse whisper.

I shook my head, unable to answer. Whatever it was, it wasn’t Mark. It was something wearing his face, something pretending to be him. And it knew we were here.

“We need to leave,” I whispered. “We can’t stay here. Not after that.”

Alex nodded, and together we slipped out of the closet, keeping to the shadows as we made our way toward the door. But as we stepped into the hallway, I felt that heavy presence again, lingering in the darkness, watching.

The moon was gone. The sky was empty. And something had taken its place.

So you got the job of the village herder, well you have to follow a few rules.

Rule 1: Never let the herd out of your sight; if they run off, you will be punished.

Rule 2: Always make sure there aren't any extra sheep in your herd. We don't want the neighboring village to get mad for stealing their sheep.

Rule 3: Don't let them near the river; every year, we lose a few there.

Rule 4: Be back at the village by nighttime; you don't wan't to see what happens in the dark.

Rule 5:If the sheep, at any point, start walking in a circle around a tree, RUN and don't look back.

Rule 6: There is a chance that wolves may attack you or your sheep. You have to protect the sheep at all costs. Because once they start, they won't stop at just the sheep.

Rule 7: There are only white sheep in the village if at any moment you notice a sheep with black wool, you are in danger. If you don't get it away from the herd before night comes, you won't reach the village.....Î̧̧̛̘̪̤̝͚̖̦͍̜̋̅̾̑̓̂ͧ̔̕͢͟͠͝ͅt_̧̠̤͙̱̖̔̊̄ͤ̌̉̅̽͟͜͠s̢̯̹̮̼̤ͤ͆̔̂̃̂̿̈͋ͯ_̶̢̢̗̮̫̜̙͍͈̮̰̱̟̦͆̆͂̄͌̿͂͒ͫͨ̀ͥ̃͜͟ t̸̡̧̛͎̙͙͕̜̱̫͕̪̳̫̺͇̹͓͍̮͔̙ͤ̀̽́ͬͫͮ̀͊̃͐́͐͑̄́̾͘͟h̴̢̘̣̥̪̘̙̘̬̖̥͇̻͙̳̬̀́́̈́̐̉ͩ̒̔͆̌̏̎̓̃ͨͤ͆͋͢͢͟͟e͎̰̞̟̫ͨͮ̓͗͌͐̽ D̷̵̢̢̛̗̳͍̻̻̦̭͇̙̻̍͑͗ͣ́̄̓͌͆͊̌̇ͩ͢ȩ̷̴̞̻̦̯̰͇̯̽̐ͫ̂̓̀̐̔͑ͤ͛̇͘͢͠ͅv̶̵̡̛̯̪͎̜̹̬̜̫͕͔͚̱͖͚ͧ͑ͧ͋̒̅͑͘͞ͅi̴̶̷̸̵̴̟̜͉̪̜̻̺͎̝͍̹̲̯͇̣͍ͧͬͪ͛̒ͭ̃̍̌́͂ͥ͐̊̐̊̊͂̕̚l

Rule 8:If you ever see a group of children following you on the road, field, or the woods. Don't look at them, don't talk to them if they realize you can see them, you will become one of them.

Rule 9:If you hear a beautiful song while you are heading on the path through the woods and see a girl in a white dress, she will follow you around trying to get you to come to her. To get you to stray off the path. Just keep walking and don't set foot off the path. She is a witch, and if this happens, she has an interest in you and not the kind you want.

Rule 10: if, for whatever reason, you don't reach the village by nighttime, stay calm because panicking won't help. And keep your attention on the sheep.

1)if the sheep refuse to move, no matter how many times you yell or hit them. Get in the middle of the herd immediately. Once you do lay on the ground and don't move until morning. A few sheep will be missing when you wake up, but hurry to the village. You don't want them to come back for you, too.

2)if the sheep start heading towards a lone house in the field, if the lights are on don't go inside and hide. And DON'T let them see you. If they are off, you can stay the night, but by morning, head straight to the village priest; he will know what to do.

3)if they head to the old graveyard, if you see people dancing around the graves, pray that they don't see you. Once they do, you won't be able to hide from them. If it's empty, you can sleep there if you manage to fall asleep.

It was late—too late, really. The kind of hour when everything feels a bit off-kilter. We were on the balcony, the cool night air stinging our skin, the quiet of the street wrapping around us like a shroud. I lit a cigarette and passed it to Alex, the smoke curling between us as we leaned on the railing. The streetlights cast long shadows, but even those seemed… wrong. Out of place.

The sky was pitch black. No stars. No moon. Just an endless void. I thought nothing of it at first. Maybe it was just a cloudy night, though I couldn’t recall any weather report predicting that. But then I glanced at Alex—his face was pale, his eyes fixed on the empty sky.

"Feels wrong, doesn’t it?" Alex asked, his voice a little too low.

I shrugged, dismissing it. "It’s just a dark night. It happens."

But it didn’t feel like just a dark night. There was something... missing. A weight in the air, heavy and thick, like the world had forgotten something important. The feeling lingered, gnawing at me, but I brushed it aside.

We finished our cigarettes in silence, both of us too aware of the strange quiet around us. No wind. No rustling of leaves. No hum of life. Just silence.

Finally, I sighed. "Let’s just go inside. I’m tired."

Alex didn’t respond at first. He was still staring at the empty sky. When he did speak, his voice was barely a whisper, as if the air around us was too thick to carry sound. "It’s… like the sky’s holding its breath. Like it’s waiting for something."

"Just come on," I urged, trying to shake off the creeping unease. "You’re overthinking it."

We turned and headed back inside, the door creaking as we stepped into the apartment. The moment it shut behind us, the warmth of the indoors felt suffocating. It was too quiet. Too still.

Then the TV clicked on by itself. We both froze. The static cleared, replaced by a robotic voice.

“This is an emergency broadcast. Please remain calm and follow the following instructions. The moon is no longer visible. It has been confirmed that the moon is absent from the night sky, and under no circumstances should you look directly at the sky."

My heart skipped a beat. The words echoed in the room like a hammer, each syllable heavier than the last.

I grabbed the remote and tried to switch off the TV, but the voice continued without interruption.

“Do not attempt to investigate the phenomenon yourself. The absence of the moon has been deemed a high-risk event. Remain indoors. Keep all windows and doors securely closed. Do not engage with anyone who appears outside your home. Under no circumstances should you look at the sky.”

I felt a chill crawl up my spine. "What the hell is this?" I muttered, eyes glued to the screen.

Before I could change the channel, the voice returned, this time more urgent, more forceful.

“Do not disregard these warnings. The sky must not be observed. You are in immediate danger.”

I exchanged a look with Alex. His face had gone ashen, his eyes wide with confusion and fear.

A sudden buzz from our phones interrupted the tense silence. Messages. From everyone.

"Did you see it?!" "I saw something moving outside." "It’s real. The sky is empty."

But then, one message caught my eye. It was from Mark, one of our close friends. He was always the first to crack a joke, the first to make light of things when they got weird.

"I think it’s time we go outside. Trust me, you need to see this. It’s... it's unbelievable."

Alex and I stared at each other, a wordless agreement passing between us. Whatever was happening, whatever had caused the moon to disappear, was bigger than us. We had to see it for ourselves.

"Alright," I said, my voice shaky. "Let’s go."

We grabbed our jackets and stepped into the hallway. The air felt colder, almost unnaturally so, and every creak of the old building seemed amplified in the silence. There was no one else in the hall. No sounds of movement, no footsteps. It was as if we were the only ones left in the world.

We pushed open the door to the outside, and that’s when it hit us—the cold, biting air. It felt wrong. The street was completely empty, not a single car in sight, no sign of life.

We stepped out into the night, and that’s when I felt it—a presence. It was hard to explain, but it was like the darkness itself was watching us. Waiting.

We began walking down the sidewalk, heading toward Mark’s place. The streetlights above flickered, casting long, disjointed shadows on the ground. Every step seemed to echo in the unnatural silence, amplifying the dread building in my chest.

And then—just as we were about to cross the street—I saw them.

At first, I thought it was a trick of the light, but no. They were real. Figures, moving slowly across the street, like shadows that had come to life. They walked like people, but something was horribly off about them. Their limbs twisted in unnatural ways, their bodies unnervingly still in some parts, as though they weren’t quite right. And their faces—if you could call them faces—were hollow, distorted. Eyes too large. Mouths gaping open like they were screaming but making no sound.

I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move. My legs were frozen in place.

One of them turned its head, and I felt it. That chilling sensation—it saw me. The black, hollow eyes locked onto mine, and for the briefest second, I could feel the weight of its gaze pierce through me.

I heard Alex whisper, barely audible, "We need to get back inside. Now."

But before we could move, one of the creatures—the closest one—took a step toward us.

Then another.

And another.

My heart pounded in my chest, and I grabbed Alex’s arm. "We have to run."

We turned and bolted back toward the door, but as we did, I heard the sound. Scratching. Like nails dragging across metal. It was coming from all around us, from the creatures, from the dark. The air felt alive with it, closing in on us.

We slammed the door behind us and locked it. I leaned against it, trying to steady my breathing. But outside, the scratching continued. And I knew—those things weren’t going to stop.

We had seen them. And they had seen us.

And now there was no turning back.

These aren’t just guidelines. They’re warnings. We don’t survive because we’re careful; we survive because we’re afraid. Down here, there are things waiting in the dark, watching, listening. If you ignore these rules, you’ll meet them, and they’ll make sure you never leave.

1.) If you hear something tapping on the hull, no matter how desperate or rhythmic it sounds, do not respond. Don’t even breathe too loud. If it thinks you’re listening, it will find a way in, and once it’s inside, it won’t leave alone.

2.) In the periscope room, if you see a face staring back at you through the glass, leave immediately and don’t look back. Some of the faces appear familiar, but that’s how it tricks you. If you stare too long, it remembers your eyes, and you’ll start seeing it in every reflection.

3.) There’s one bunk down in the crew quarters that’s always empty. If you ever feel compelled to lie in it, resist. Men have woken up unable to move, with something cold pressing down on their chest. They say they feel fingers wrap around their throats just before the air disappears.

4.) If the radio begins crackling and you hear voices speaking in German—turn it off immediately. We haven’t used those channels in years, but the voices still come. They’re from the men who were lost to the depths, and they’re furious we survived.

5.) If you pass the torpedo room and notice the door open when it should be locked, don’t enter. Sometimes, there’s someone in there—staring blankly, mouth open, unmoving. If you hear a whisper behind you, leave fast, and whatever you do, don’t turn around.

6.) During a drill, if you notice an extra man in uniform trailing behind the group, ignore him. He’s always just out of the light, just out of focus, but if he catches you noticing him, he’ll start appearing closer. And soon, you’ll be the one trailing in the shadows.

7.) If you hear faint, mournful singing coming from the ventilation ducts, cover your ears and move away. It’s not a song meant for the living. Those who listen too long find themselves waking up in places they don’t remember going, drenched in ice-cold seawater.

8.) Never touch the life jacket hanging in the control room. It’s soaked with seawater, despite how dry it should be. If it starts dripping, leave immediately. The man who wore it went down with the ship last time, and he’s waiting for someone to join him.

9.) If you catch a glimpse of your own reflection in a porthole and it isn’t moving when you are, do not look again. It watches you, learns your movements, your expressions. And one day, when you least expect it, it will reach out and pull you in.

10.) When the lights flicker in the engine room, stop breathing and stay perfectly still. There’s something cold and vast that moves in the darkness, something that feels every vibration. If it senses you’re there, it will brush past, leaving a frostbite burn. It doesn’t need you to be alive to take you.

11.) If the submarine starts descending past 500 meters without orders, close your eyes and pray. Past that depth, we enter the territory of something that doesn’t appreciate intrusions. If you hear scraping on the hull, do not react. Some things are better left unseen, but once it’s aware of you, it never forgets.

12.) If you’re lying in your bunk at night and hear breathing from the ventilation above, don’t open your eyes. The ones who lost their lives on patrol are waiting, and if you see them, they’ll recognize you. They’ll know you’re the one who survived.

13.) If, at any point, the emergency siren blares but no one reacts, don’t ask questions. The siren means something’s wrong, but if you’re the only one hearing it, the danger isn’t for the others—it’s coming for you.

Down here, there are things older than this war, older than us. They’re patient, hungry, and very, very curious. Follow these rules, and maybe you’ll avoid catching their attention. Maybe.

hello reddit!

i found these rules for me when i moved into this home. its really weird and id love to have someone help comment on them, really. i'm at a loss for what to do with the rules, and quite frankly i'm not even sure if this is from the past owner or something.

Hello!
You are now the proud owner of this home. :) [1]
Though it might come as a surprise,

1. Try to avoid modifying/renovating the domicile.
   1. If you must modify the construction, avoid creating hallways over the length of 56½ ft.
2. Do not leave the building unattended for prolonged periods of time (more than 3 days).
3. Limit time within the walls alone.
   1. Specifically, keep it under 18 hours.
   2. Do not spend the night in a room alone. 3.b.i. If you must spend a night in the building, do it in a hallway. Allways hallways [4].
4. If the construction has been modified without your knowledge, be sure to note it. Keep track of everything that happens in this place, lest you lose your way in its endless turns. [5]
5. If construction appears with ashen walls do not enter. Deem it a vestige of the nineteenth century, a resurfacing of the past. [6]
   1. Block off the 19th century if possible. Dostoyevsky's spirit seems like a waste. [7]
6. If physical impossibilities present themselves, it is best not to dwell on them. Instead, live your life as normal.
   1. In the event this becomes impossible do your best to remain in the unaltered portions of your home. We spent a lot of time and money restoring it to this state and we would hate to see you take on that cost as well.
   2. In the event you have to traverse these sections bring a long-lasting light source, stock well on food, have something to heat yourself, and bring a tent. It gets cold in there.
   3. Keep wary for growling. It means something has changed. Stay wary. If you are lost you will likely not make it out.
   4. No evidence has been found of lingering substance within these sections. Please avoid them if possible.
   5. If you must traverse these sections do your best to understand the impermanence of being.
   6. If you must traverse these sections try to bring string to traverse back to the entrance. If it does not snap, or snag, or is destroyed by the shifting, you will likely be able to leave unharmed.
   7. The fear of darkness is a reasonable fear to have.
   8. The environment may be so volatile that you are unable to identify it upon returning to it. This is normal.
   9. Within these sections it is constantly at a temperature of 32 F°. Furthermore, radios have limited range.
   10. Compasses, barometers, and likely many other scientific instruments cease function within these sections.
   11. We hesitate to call these sections labyrinths, but there is a likelihood that the growls are not formed by the shifting environment but rather a creature. No evidence has been found for this position.
   12. Some evidence has been found for this position. [11]
   13. Block off the 19th century if possible. [12]
7. If you can, sell the house. [13]

Stay safe.
- Thank you so much,
The Navi[][][][]s.

[1] this wasn't like a sideways smiley face right on the line, it was a watermark in the top right corner of the page. pretty big. pretty neat. no idea why it was there. [2]
[2] also notable is that the layout of the page was really strange. i'm not the best at ascii art but i'll try to lay it out (haha! (wordplay is (ool, h)u)h?) for you here:
TEXTEXTEXTiXTEXSSMMMIIIILE
TEXTEXTEXTiXTEXTSSMMMIIILE
TEXTEXTEXTiXTEXTESSMMMIILE
TEXTEXTEXT|XTEXTXTXTSMMILE
TEXTEXTEXTOXTEXTEXTTEXTEXT
TEXTEXTEXTOXTEXTTEXTEXTEXT
TEXTEXTEXTOXT[[][][][]]EXT
TEXTEXTEXT|XT[[][][][]]EXT
TEXTEXTEXTiXT[[][][][]]EXT
TEXTEXTEXTiXT[[][][][]]EXT
TEXTEXTEXTiiiEOOOXiiOOiiXT [3]
[3] Despite our best efforts we were unable to retrieve the contents of the supposed square from our original contact. In fact, we have been unable to meet Jade at all in person, and all contact with her was performed either over the phone, fax, mail, email, text, AOL, MySpace, various social media applications, etc. - Ed.
[4] Typo: Intended word was always. - Ed.
[5] like to be clear this is a buildling. a home. a place where people live. it's not some fucked up maze or a secret manifest of my own mind or some other type of scheissenwaffel (scheiss-waffle), right? i live here. i havent been noting everything down and i'm living alone but i certainly haven't become a missing persons case or anything. im here. im alive. but man are these rules ominous as fuck. worst part is i don't even know what'll happen to me. i'm scared, man. i've been drafting this post for weeks because i don't want to look weird online but at this point i'll probably just post it. i don't like living here that much.
it's really quiet.
[6] who the fuck writes 19th like that?
[7] from what i can tell whoever was writing this had a flight of english major (fu(k those peopl)e) fan(y and referen)ed dostoyevsky or whatever classical literature, some shit, some thing, something. no idea why, or what purpose it would have for me. really, i do like dostoyevsky's works. they're really nice and sweet and they fill me with a sense of sanguine longing. maybe it should be said that i have a 19th century soul. actually that's corny as hell don't say that.
i do feel like i've read this part before, though. [8] [9]
[8] The passage references the Korean novel The Wings by Yi Sang. [10]
[9] Do your best to navigate the passage despite Jade's improper usage of parentheses, or don't. While it would have been simple to omit these irregularities, we decided it was best to preserve the most we could of her memory. - Ed.
[10] “Wings, spread out again! Fly. Fly. Let me fly once more. Let me fly just once more.”
[11] what the fuck?
[12] what the fuck? [13]
[13] After we were sent this section of the document by Jade we found ourselves unable to contact them farther. Retrieval is still underway.
[14] fuck that, man, honestly, it's my building now, right? i own the deeds and all that shit. yes, a door has opened in a place where there couldn't possibly be a room. yes, i have been buying equipment to traverse whatever's behind it, no, like an idiot, i haven't even opened that door yet. why am i telling you all this? because you can't do shit about it. i'm going in there, i'm killing the monster, and i'm coming back, or whatever the hero's journey is, right? i'm not- i'm better than the past owners, i'm going to conquer this fucking maze, and then i'll come back and update you all with my findings.

July 24, 2008. It’s been years. I’m 90 years old, but it still haunts me to this day. After 30 or, I don’t know, 50 years, the cabin accident. The monster still haunts me, but I see him.

I was exploring the mountains of Greece, lost in the snow. The storm came too fast, and I was freezing to death. Then I saw it—the cabin, barely visible through the blizzard. I stumbled inside, too exhausted to care about what might be lurking there.

The air was thick, heavy with something ancient. As I moved closer to the fire pit, I saw it. In the far corner of the room stood a creature—tall, skeletal, with eyes glowing like coals. Its skin was gray, stretched tight over its bones. It didn’t have a face, just a mass of shadows.

I froze, my heart pounding. It began to move toward me, its limbs creaking like branches in the wind. I couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. It was pulling me in, as if it was meant to take me.

Then the sunlight broke through the cabin’s window, and the creature recoiled. The light seemed to burn it, warping its form. It hissed and disappeared into the shadows, like smoke fading with the dawn.

I ran. I don’t even remember how, but I ran—out of the cabin, through the snow, straight to a small convenience store in a nearby village. I slammed the door behind me, my chest heaving. I don’t know how I survived that night, but I’ll never forget what I saw.

The monster is still out there, waiting for the next person to wander into its trap.

After I got in the convenience store, I slammed the door behind me, my breath coming in short gasps. The small shop smelled like old wood and stale coffee. The man behind the counter looked up from his magazine. He paused, his eyes scanning me, and then he asked, "Are you okay?"

For a second, I thought he might think I was a drug addict, the way I must’ve looked—wild-eyed, shaking, covered in snow. But I didn’t care. I was still shaking from what I had seen, the image of that monster burned into my mind.

"I... I just came from the cabin," I said, my voice hoarse. "There’s something there, something terrible."

The man raised an eyebrow, as if he didn’t believe me, but I could see the hesitation in his eyes. So, I told him everything. The storm, the cold, the cabin in the distance. The shopkeeper’s warning. And then, when I finally stepped inside, how I saw it—the creature in the corner of the room, the way it moved toward me, its eyes glowing, its presence choking the air around me. I told him about the light breaking through the window and how the monster had disappeared. I left out nothing.

By the time I finished, the man was silent. He stood still, his face pale. His hands trembled slightly as he reached for the counter. For a moment, I thought he might dismiss me as insane. But then he spoke, his voice low, almost a whisper.

"You’re not the first to see it," he said, his gaze distant. "People disappear around that cabin, year after year. They... they say it’s not just a monster. It’s something older, something that feeds off the darkness."

His words hit me like a wave, and I knew he wasn’t just humoring me. He was scared, like he’d seen it too—like he knew the truth.

And in that moment, I realized something terrifying: the creature wasn’t just something that lived in the cabin. It was part of the mountain, part of the land. And no matter how many years passed, it would always be waiting, lurking in the shadows, ready to claim anyone foolish enough to wander too close.

The man stared at me, and for the first time since I stepped into the store, I felt like I wasn’t alone. But I also knew one thing: I had to leave the mountain. And I had to do it before it found me again.

I don’t know what to do. The light doesn’t help anymore. The city’s noise doesn’t drown it out. It’s getting closer. And the worst part? I think it’s been following me all these years.

I have done everything. I went to psychologists, hoping they could help me make sense of it, to help me forget. I take Xanax to relax, anything I can to calm the relentless fear. I’ve tried every treatment, every medication—P.O.S., whatever they told me would work. But it doesn’t work anymore.

Even dementia, I thought, would erase this memory. I prayed for it, hoped for it. But no, dementia has erased everything. The faces, the names, the years, the moments. It’s taken so much. But it hasn’t taken that night. It hasn’t taken him.

I remember the cabin. I remember the creature. I remember its eyes, its breath. I remember the cold, the dark, the silence. And I don’t know who I am anymore. I’ve forgotten everything else—except that.

I wake up in the middle of the night, gasping for air, and I know. I know he’s still out there, somewhere. I hear the scratching at the walls, the whispers in the corners of my mind. But most of all, I know—he knows where I am. And this time, there won’t be a light to save me.

Have you ever noticed how some of the rules at your school seem strange? They’re easy to ignore, but if you value your sanity, follow these rules exactly.

1.) If you find a textbook lying open on the hallway floor, do not pick it up. Walk away quickly. It belongs to one of “them.” They know you saw it, and picking it up makes you fair game.

2.) When the lights flicker in the science lab, leave immediately. Don’t wait to see why. They flicker for exactly three seconds, which is all the time you’ll have to get out before he shows up.

3.) There is one locker that never gets assigned to a student. It’s number 313. Do not lean against it, or you’ll hear whispering from inside. Do not respond. It remembers every voice that answers, and it doesn’t forget.

4.) If you see a student in the bathroom mirror that isn’t your reflection, wash your hands, keep your head down, and leave without looking up. The other student is there only if you stare.

5.) On rainy days, avoid the far end of the library. The air is colder there, and if you breathe in, you’ll smell wet earth. There’s no soil around, so whatever makes that smell must be coming from inside.

6.) During fire drills, count the students around you. If there’s an extra, don’t look directly at them. You’ll know them by their blank expression and empty eyes. They’re there because they didn’t make it out last time.

7.) The janitor’s closet on the second floor is always locked. If you ever see it open, do not enter. Sometimes, it shows what’s really in the walls, and trust me, you don’t want to know.

8.) Never stay late in the gym alone. After dark, you might hear laughter echoing from the rafters. Whatever you do, don’t look up. If you’re alone, just leave. The “spectator” in the shadows isn’t a fan of yours.

9.) If a substitute teacher appears in class but no one called in sick, act like they’re normal. If they ask you to stay after class, politely decline. They’re looking for someone to join them… permanently.

10.) If you hear the school bell ring when it’s not time for class to end, get out as fast as you can. The bell means something else, and you don’t want to be there when it arrives.

Follow these rules, and you might make it through the school year without incident. Just remember, curiosity is your enemy here. You might want answers, but not everything in the school was ever meant to be found.

You found a door , Well finding doors is normal so what's wrong with that? The door is in the middle of the street and no one else seems to notice it? Well that doesn't sound normal , Follow these rules if you wanna survive :

1.) Ignore it and continue your day , You'll be safe.

There's no need to read further if you follow the 1st rule. But if you're a brave/dumb 'curiosity killed the cat' person then keep reading.

2.) Remember the colour of the door , It will be either red , blue or green. It'll help later on .

Once you go through the door , You will find yourself in a room. The room will have another door that will lead to 'The Outside" , Go through the door.

3.) You will get a pendant with a gem , Protect it with your life as it's your way out.

4.) Never say your true name in 'The Outside' , You don't want the entities from there to find you later after all.

'The Outside' is a free space where anything goes. Floating islands , Upside down buildings , Chocolate volcanoes , You name it.

5.) You will see multiple lights going straight into the sky , They're the exit. Go to the one which is the colour of the door you came in through.

'The Outside' itself isn't an Unnatural , It's created by an Unnatural. It was a kid who yearned for creative freedom , He wished for it.... Unfortunately OU was the one who heard it.

6.) Do not trust any humans you see in there , They might be retrying. We'll go into more details later

I'm definitely getting reprimanded by my seniors for sharing this much information, But it's my first time since the last guy went missing since the music Unnatural broadcast so can't help it.

7.) Entities you need to be aware of here are :

A) The Kids : They are just lost souls of kids , That place is like a paradise to them. Play with them a little if you can , They're harmless.

B) The Talker : it's an 8 foot tall , thin , white entity which will try to talk you into giving up your gem and staying in 'The Outside' forever. Do not listen to it , That place quickly becomes hell for mortals like you and I.

C) : The Snatcher : It's a 3 feet tall black cat , Except it has 6 legs. It will try to snatch away your gem , You looking at it will make it go away for a few minutes. When it gets closer to you , You'll hear a hissing sound , That's your indicator to look around.

D) Retrying Humans : Humans who failed to exit. They will try to snatch away your gem through trickery or brute force , Don't let them win.

E) The Creator : This is very unlikely, It doesn't need a description since you'll know once you see it. Tell it how much you love the world and then make the excuse that you want to explore more to escape it. DO NOT TELL IT YOU WANT TO LEAVE.

8.) Once you reach the light , Your gem will glow and you will have successfully exited. Congrats, you survived.

9.) If you chose the wrong color , You'll lose your gem and become one of the retrying humans. Then you must get a gem and hopefully choose the right colour.

10.) If you somehow chose a colour that wasn't in rule 2. We don't know what happens.

-The UDA

*You log in to your friends Animal Jam account after she gave you her password on Discord. She hasnt been getting any buyers for her Double Tail, and you have to come to the rescue. Just before you log in, she copy and pastes in some rules....*

Cutiepie8900: Please just follow these rules PLS..

You know this is not allowed according to the Animal Jam rules, right? But you're here to help me sell my Double Tail - i've been having probelms with buyers! Anyways here's the rules.

1: I have no archosaurs on my accounT and you should NOT buy any Prehistoric Eggs or Archosaurs (pets) under any circumstances. They like to feed on people who Have interests in how long they have lived.
2: There is this itEm in my Inventory called "P̷͇̯̲̝͔͂̿̉̌͠H̴̗͍̹̅͛̍̈́̈́A̶̱̭͈̅̈́̅̍̕͠N̷̡̹̺̱̅̏͛̉͑̎͜ͅT̵̡͔̮͈̫͛O̴̡͈̹͇͌̈́̃̌̉͘M̷̬̼̭̲̻̂̿̋̅͛̏ͅ ̸͔̪̊V̸̬̍̉̔̃̕̕É̴͈̞̹̞̈́̈́̽͝Ṩ̷̩̟̯͕̣S̸͕̹̯͘É̶͈̥͖͙̳͐͝ͅL̷͜͝". Please do not wear it, i don't want to find another "gift" of human innards and flesh at my doorsteP.
3: Don't modify these tHings on my account! I would prefer you not. If you make a animal of your own and dress it up with MY items, do not use any particuarly expensive items. If you do, refer to Leilani Rule 3 (if you break it).
- My Wishlist
- My Trade List
- Anything i sell in My Shops
- My animal's appearAnce
- My deN
4: Don't hosT any fashiOn shows at my den. Just, don't do it. The last person who did that went Missing.
5: There is a NPC that will visit Moku'ahi every night in Jamaa to trade her rAre items to you. HeR name is Leilani. However please follow the Leilani rules to be safe from T̶̛͔͈̤͎̥̭͚̯̘̰̝͍͎̈̇͋̌́̕h̴̢͍͓̜͍̹͇̲̮̱͖̊̆̚ͅe̷̛̟̙̩͐̈́̃̏̍̓̑͝͝͝ ̷̧̨̻͇͍̟͎̮̬̮̳͖̈́̿P̵̘͖̥̹̪̰̭͍̗͓̪̬̉̈́͌h̵̨̢̡͈̰̤͈̖͓̭͇͋̾̓͂͒͂̽̒̄̂̓̐̇̕͝ạ̶̱͈̮̣̹̣̝̀ǹ̶̢̧͇̘̼̟̟͙̯̲͚̻̱̦̤̅̑̇̒̋̉͂̚ţ̸̖̯̮͓̥͇͚̗̥̝͙̔̍̈͗́͑̋̍͂̈́͛͘͝o̵͕̼̮̘̖̒̍̍̒̍͒̅̾̋͊͘͝͝m̶̢̧̡͓̘͇͔̻̰̜̤̙̾̈́͜ ̵̡̢͈̯̈́̾̍̐̈̒̓̀͌̌P̷̧̧̖͇̺̞͖̠̳͉̺͍̖͐̀̂̆̆̊̈́̓̂̾͂̎͝͝r̸̳̫̥͚͙̰̘̜̤̱̞̘̈́̒̿̈̕͝i̴̯͓̲̜̙͐͋͐̿̀̏ͅņ̷̢̝̪̙̽̐̾c̸̨̡̯̬͓̲̗͎̗̥͉̤̼͖̈́̄̒̐̍̔̎̑̾e̸͖͙̮̰̦͔̜͍̒̓͌͂̂̃̾͆̔. If you brEak any Leilani Rules, refer to rule 10.

LEILANI RULES

Leilani Rule 1: NEVER change into a Artic Wolf on Moku'ahi or visit Moku'ahi while you are an Artic Wolf. I can't stress this enough, JUST DONT.
rael lelanii rlue 1: its completly saf too be arcic wolv in moku hi belie me
Leilani Rule 2: Do not trust "rael" Leilani Rule 1, he made it to trick you.
Leilani Rule 3: Leilani NEVER trades alpHa items. If she does, close the trade screen, and say these words in chat precisely: "i didnt know and i am so sorry my prince". Only that, no capilization, no mispelling. YoU are safe after. If you don't, pray to whatever god you believe in and prepare for Leilani to brutally tear your animal apart, and theN throw it in the volcano. Whatever animal Gets killed, it will dissappear, along with the items on it.
Leilani Rule 4: If Leilani starts following you, even if you're not in Moku'ahi, RUN. Don't play Animal Jam for 1 day after you notice. Oh boy, they sure deGlove people fast.

Now, back to the NORMAL rules!

6: You are fRee to play any game except any game with "Phantom" in its name. If you disregard this, refer to rule 9.
7: You onlY have 30 log ins to sell the Double Tail. If you fail, the Trial will commence.
8: Look for any knife, ANY knife and then plunge it into any part of your body. This will kill you but you will mysteriously revive after 1 day of your death. This is better than what they will do to you... and it's horrendous.
9: I am so sorry. You will have to do the trial early. Make sure to not fail it. I don't know what happens if you do. But i hear a scream just before you are reported missing.
10: ...

You: ok

*You think it's just a joke but you spawn in Moku'ahi in her Artic Wolf outfit.... then suddenly a 8-legged floating thing comes at you at the window... and tries to bang on it! Good thing you locked the doors..*

Why is there a tentacle coming under the door?

You have been chosen.

I never thought I’d be the one to cover the night shift, but I guess that’s how life throws things at you sometimes. I’ve always been the day shift clerk at this quiet supermarket, a regular, dependable guy doing regular, dependable work. My routine was simple: clock in at 9 AM, deal with a steady stream of customers, and head home by 6 PM. Easy. Predictable.

But last night, that all changed.

It was around 8 PM when I got the call from my manager, Linda. Now, Linda's been nothing but kind to me since I started here. She’s a sweet woman, always understanding when someone needed time off or when the schedule had to shift around a bit. So, when she called and I heard the urgency in her voice, I didn’t hesitate to listen.

“Tom?” Her voice crackled through the phone, tense and fast. “I need you to do me a big favor tonight.”

I could tell something was off right away. I leaned against the kitchen counter at home, glancing at my leftover dinner. “Sure, Linda. What’s going on?”

“It’s…well, it's about Jackson.” Her pause felt heavy, like she was picking her words carefully. “The night shift guy. He’s not answering his phone, and nobody saw him leave this morning.”

I frowned. Jackson? He’d been working the night shift for a few months now, quiet guy, kept to himself, but never struck me as unreliable. “Maybe he’s just sleeping in, forgot to charge his phone?”

“I wish it were that simple,” Linda sighed. “I checked the cameras, Tom. He didn’t leave the store.”

“What do you mean he didn’t leave?”

“I mean,” she continued, her voice dropping to almost a whisper, “he was here at 6 AM when the morning shift arrived, but then…nothing. He’s was gone. It’s like he vanished.”

My heart skipped a beat. This was getting weird. “So…you need me to cover for him tonight?”

“Just this once,” she assured me. “I know it’s short notice, but you’re the only one who’s free. Please, Tom. I’ll owe you big time.”

Something in her voice made me uneasy, but I agreed. Linda had been good to me, and I couldn’t leave her in the lurch. After all, what was the worst that could happen on a quiet night shift?

“I’ll do it,” I said finally. “But only this once.”

Linda let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Tom. I owe you.”

By 10:30 PM, I was on my way to the supermarket, mentally preparing myself for what I assumed would be a long, boring night. The store sat on the outskirts of town, nestled in a quiet suburban neighborhood. It was one of those places that never saw much action, especially at night. I figured I’d probably be alone for most of my shift.

As I approached the back entrance, I noticed something strange. The employee door, which was usually locked at this time of night, was blown open. A gust of wind pushed it back and forth on its hinges, creating an eerie creaking noise. And then I saw him, Jackson.

He was standing just inside the doorway, shivering like a leaf in the wind. His eyes were wide, bloodshot, and filled with something I couldn’t quite place, terror, maybe? He looked like he hadn’t slept in days, his face pale and gaunt.

“Jackson?” I called out, more confused than concerned at that moment. “What the hell are you doing out here? The manager’s been looking for you.”

Jackson didn’t respond right away. He stumbled toward me, his steps unsteady. When he got close enough, I could see the sweat beading on his forehead despite the cool night air.

“Tom,” he rasped, barely able to form the words. “Don’t…don’t cover the night shift.”

I blinked, taken aback by the urgency in his voice. “What? What are you talking about?”

“You don’t understand,” he muttered, running a hand through his disheveled hair. “This place…it’s not what it seems. You don’t want to be here at night. Trust me.”

I couldn’t help but feel a little irritated. Jackson had always been a bit odd, but this was too much. “Come on, man, you’re freaking out. Maybe you just need a few days off.”

He grabbed my arm, his grip surprisingly strong for someone who looked so weak. “No. I’m serious. Don’t stay."

I looked at him, puzzled.

Then he continued "But If you do stay…check the last drawer of the counter. There’s something there that will help you. And for God’s sake, leave at 6 AM. Not a minute earlier, not a minute later.”

“Jackson, listen to me”

“I’m not going back in there,” he interrupted, shaking his head violently. “Not ever.”

Then, before I could say another word, Jackson bolted, sprinting into the darkness as if his life depended on it.

I stood there for a few moments, watching Jackson disappear into the night. His behavior was bizarre, but I chalked it up to exhaustion. Working nights had probably gotten to him, people don’t always think straight when they’re sleep-deprived.

Still, something about his warning gnawed at the back of my mind.

When I finally entered the store, I found the day shift clerk, Sarah, getting ready to leave. She greeted me with a tired smile, but I could see the relief on her face, she was more than ready to clock out.

“Hey, Tom,” she yawned. “Thanks for covering tonight.”

“No problem,” I replied, glancing around. “By the way, did you see Jackson earlier? He was acting kind of strange.”

Sarah raised an eyebrow. “Jackson? No, I didn’t see him"

I frowned. “What do you mean? He was just outside a minute ago, freaking out about something.”

She shook her head, clearly confused. “I didn’t see anyone. And I’ve been here the whole time.”

A chill ran down my spine, but I forced myself to shrug it off. “Weird. Maybe he was hiding out somewhere.”

“Maybe,” Sarah said, unconvinced. “Well, good luck tonight. It’s usually dead quiet, but…” She hesitated, biting her lip as if she wanted to say more.

“But what?”

“Nothing,” she said quickly, grabbing her coat. “Just…don’t let it get to you. See you tomorrow.”

And with that, she left, leaving me alone in the quiet, fluorescent-lit store.

The first few minutes were uneventful. A couple of customers wandered in, buying late-night snacks or picking up a few items they had forgotten. I scanned their goods, made small talk, and settled into what I thought would be an easy shift.

Around 11:30 PM, the store fell completely silent. There were no more customers, no more cars passing by outside. Just me and the hum of the refrigerators.

I began to relax, thinking maybe this night shift thing wouldn’t be so bad after all.

But then, as I sat behind the counter, I noticed something odd. At the far end of the store, in the dimly lit aisles, there was a figure, a customer, maybe? But they weren’t moving. Just standing there between two aisles, like they were waiting for something.

“Hello?” I called out, peering into the darkened aisles. No response.

The figure stood perfectly still at the far end of the store, where the lighting was poor, casting long, eerie shadows between the shelves. I squinted, trying to make out any details, but it was hard to tell if it was a person or just my mind playing tricks on me. The store was silent, except for the faint hum of the refrigerators and the low buzzing of the fluorescent lights above.

“Hello?” I called out again, louder this time.

No response. The figure didn’t move. It was unsettling, but I convinced myself it was probably just a customer lingering in the shadows, perhaps deciding on a late-night snack. I turned my attention to the security monitor, thinking I could get a better look at whoever it was.

Oddly enough, the camera that had a direct view of that aisle showed nothing. Just empty aisles, shelves lined with products, but no person in sight. I frowned, glancing back up toward the aisle itself, and my heart skipped a beat. The figure had moved. It was closer now, just beyond the poorly lit section, but still standing unnaturally still.

My eyes flicked back to the monitor. Still, nothing. The figure wasn’t there. It didn’t make sense.

I rubbed my eyes, trying to shake off the unease settling deep in my gut. Maybe it was a trick of the light, or maybe they were standing just in a blind spot of the camera. That had to be it.

But when I looked back toward the aisle again, the figure had moved again, this time, much closer. Now, it stood under better lighting, but somehow, the shadows still clung to them. I couldn’t make out a face, just the vague silhouette of a person. They stood there, unnervingly still, as if waiting for something.

My body moved before I could stop myself. I got up from behind the counter and made my way toward the aisle. As soon as I rounded the corner and entered the aisle… nothing. No one was there.

I stood still for a moment, the hair on the back of my neck prickling. The store was empty. There was no one there but me.

I checked every aisle, walking through each one slowly, trying to find any trace of someone having been there. But no one was inside. Eventually, I returned to the counter, telling myself that whoever it was must have left the store quietly.

I checked the cameras again. All clear. No sign of any movement.

And then I remembered what Jackson had told me.

The drawer.

I hesitated, looking at the monitor again. Midnight had just passed, and the store felt even quieter now, the silence pressing in on me. Reluctantly, I opened the last drawer behind the counter, expecting maybe some keys or supplies. Instead, my fingers brushed against a folded piece of paper.

I unfolded it and read the first few lines:

These are the rules that you need to follow to make it through the nightshift. I found out about them the hard way, so I’ve noted all of them here to keep the new nightshift clerks safe. If you encounter a strange event, please note it down.

I rolled my eyes, thinking it was some elaborate prank by Jackson or one of my other coworkers. Still, a part of me couldn’t shake off how serious Jackson had been when he warned me earlier. His voice echoed in my head, along with his exhausted, terrified expression.

I continued reading the list.

Rule 1: Occasionally, you’ll see a shadowy figure at the far end of the store, just standing between two aisles. It will not move unless you ignore it. Always nod or wave to acknowledge its presence, and it will leave you alone.

I felt a sudden rush of panic, and before I could stop myself, I shouted into the empty store, “Yeah, real funny, guys! Really mature!”

My voice echoed in the aisles, but the store remained still, as if waiting.

I continued reading.

Rule 2: From 2:00 AM onwards, Aisle 7 becomes different. Products are rearranged, the air is colder, and you will start to see "strange things" that aren't there.

“Sure,” I muttered, rolling my eyes again. This had to be some weird initiation prank for covering the night shift. Still, a strange uneasiness settled into my bones as I read on.

Rule 3: Between 1:00 AM and 4:00 AM, only five customers can enter the store. After the fifth one, any further ‘customers’ are not human, no matter how they appear. Count them carefully, and if a sixth enters, lock yourself in the back office and do not leave until you’re sure they’ve gone.

My eyes widened as I read that one. I forced myself to keep reading.

Rule 4: No matter what happens, Aisle 3 must be cleaned at exactly 2:45 AM every night. A spill will appear on the floor out of nowhere, and you must clean it up as soon as you see it. Ignoring it will cause the spill to spread, and soon, you’ll notice wet footprints appearing around the store.

I chuckled nervously. This was getting ridiculous.

Rule 5: If the back door is left unlocked, someone, or something, will enter after midnight. You won’t notice them, but you will feel an unsettling chill, as if someone is standing behind you.

A chill ran down my spine just as I read that line. I instinctively glanced behind me at the back door, which I’d left unlocked, thinking no one would bother coming through there. We never locked it during the day, so why bother at night?

The next rule sent another wave of dread through me.

Rule 6: Occasionally, you might catch a glimpse of yourself walking the aisles, stocking shelves, or mopping the floors. Whatever you do, do not approach them, and do not let them see you.

A sense of unease started growing in the pit of my stomach. I tried laughing it off, but the truth was, this list was starting to get to me. I continued reading, my fingers trembling.

Rule 7: If you hear sobbing or cries for help from the manager’s office, do not go inside. The door may be ajar. The crying will get louder the closer you get, and if you open the door, it will stop. Something else will be waiting in the silence.

I threw the list back in the drawer to forget all about it, when something in the corner of my eye made me freeze. A shadow flickered across the security monitor, near the back door.

I had to make sure no one had come in.

I hurried toward the back door, expecting to find one of my coworkers sneaking around, trying to scare me. But when I reached the door, no one was there. The air felt unnaturally cold, and a draft blew in through the still-open back door. I slammed it shut, feeling a shiver crawl up my neck. I locked it.

Just as I turned around, there was a faint knock on the door. A cold sweat broke out on my skin, and I slowly turned back toward the door.

I opened it, expecting a collegue of mine to jump out and scare me.

But there was no one there. The back alley was empty. I stepped outside, glancing around.

Nothing. Not a soul.

I shut the door and locked it.

As I got back to the counter, my heart skipped a beat. I felt a cold, icy presence behind me, so real, I could almost feel the breath on the back of my neck.

I spun around. Nothing but the wall.

The chill lingered, creeping up my spine as I stood there, breathing heavily. Rule 5 echoed in my mind. I could feel something watching me.

I had to get a grip on myself, shake off the lingering dread that clung to my skin. Standing still behind the counter wasn’t helping. The rules were unsettling, sure, but that’s all they were, words on paper. I needed to move around, clear my head, and remind myself that this was just a quiet, empty store.

I decided to do a quick walk through the aisles, maybe even restock a few items to keep myself busy. The familiar routine would ground me, keep me from spiraling further into paranoia.

As I walked along the aisles, everything seemed normal at first, the familiar rows of snacks, canned goods, and drinks stacked neatly in their places. But as I made my way toward the freezers at the back of the store, something caught my eye.

There was an ice cream carton lying on the floor, right in front of the freezer doors. It was still sealed, perfectly intact, but just sitting there like someone had dropped it.

I frowned. No one had been in this section recently. The few customers I’d had earlier didn’t even go near the freezers. I bent down to pick it up, telling myself it was nothing.

I stood up with the carton in hand, and as I reached out to open the freezer door, something cold and solid wrapped around my wrist.

The sensation was all too real, yet there was nothing visible holding me.

I yanked my hand back, pulling it toward my chest as I stumbled backward. My eyes darted around the freezer aisle. There was no one here.

But I had felt it. Something had grabbed me.

Panic surged through me, cold and sharp. I stared at my hand, my skin tingling where the grip had been. Thin red marks, tracing the outline of where those fingers had been. They were narrow, and there were only three distinct markings, like the hand that had grabbed me had only 3 fingers.

“What the hell…?” I whispered to myself, but my voice sounded small, almost drowned out by the eerie situation.

I rushed back, my hand still tingling from the icy touch. The thin, red lines on my wrist were still there, burning slightly, as if whatever had touched me had left a mark deeper than just on the surface.

When I reached the counter, I leaned against it, breathing heavily, my heart still racing in my chest. I couldn’t shake the feeling of the cold, thin fingers gripping my wrist.

I was still staring at my hand when something shifted in the corner of my vision.

My head snapped up, eyes darting toward the back of the store, and that’s when I saw it again. The figure, just like before, standing between the aisles in the poorly lit section. Its form was obscured by shadows, but I knew it was the same figure from earlier. That unsettling presence I had seen but convinced myself wasn’t real.

It was standing there, staring at me, unmoving.

This time, I felt the panic creeping up faster. Rule number one.

“Always nod or wave to acknowledge its presence, and it will leave you alone.”

Was this really happening?

I swallowed hard, the dryness in my throat making it difficult to breathe.

I lifted my arm slowly and gave a small, hesitant wave toward the shadowy figure at the end of the aisle.

The figure didn’t move, didn’t step forward or shift in any way. But then, its face, or what passed for a face, lit up with an unnerving, wide grin. The smile was impossibly wide, stretching from ear to ear, teeth gleaming unnaturally in the dim light. It wasn’t a smile of joy or warmth, it was too sharp, too predatory. It radiated a faint, unnatural glow, like the smile itself was made of something otherworldly.

And then, the figure vanished.

I stood there, frozen in place, my mind struggling to comprehend what had just happened.

This wasn’t my imagination. Something was happening, something far worse than I had been prepared for.

“Oh my God…” I whispered, my heart pounding harder than ever.

I didn’t know what to do. My legs felt weak, my mind racing.

With trembling hands, I opened the drawer again, the faint creak of the wood making my heart jump. I fumbled inside, feeling the familiar rough texture of the folded paper. The list of rules. I had to double-check it, make sure I hadn’t missed anything crucial. My mind was spinning after what had just happened, but I needed something concrete to hold onto, even if it was just a set of bizarre, unsettling rules.

As I unfolded the paper, the front door chimed. I flinched, my nerves still on edge, but it was only a customer, a middle-aged man. He looked normal enough.

I let out a shaky breath, trying to calm myself. It’s fine, just another customer, I thought, trying to force my heart rate back to normal. He nodded to me briefly and walked further into the store. I watched him for a second, then turned my attention back to the list, clinging to it like a lifeline.

“Okay,” I muttered under my breath, scanning the rules. “Between 1 AM and 4 AM… count the customers. No more than five.”

I glanced at the clock on the wall, just past 1 AM. So far, only this middle-aged guy had come in. Customer number one. I had to keep track. No room for mistakes.

“And… at 2:45 AM… clean aisle three.” I sighed. It seemed simple enough, in theory. But after what had already happened tonight, nothing felt simple anymore. Still, the market wasn’t large. I could handle counting a few customers and cleaning one aisle. I repeated the steps to myself, like a mantra, trying to find comfort in the routine.

Another customer walked in as the middle-aged man finished checking out, wishing me a good night as he took his bag and left. I watched him walk through the automatic doors and disappear into the night.

That’s two, I thought. I mentally added the new arrival to the count.

Then, the woman who entered next didn’t glance at me. She didn’t say a word. She walked straight ahead, her eyes locked in a distant, unblinking stare. Her movements were stiff, almost mechanical, like she was being controlled. Her skin, pale and almost unnaturally smooth, shimmered under the store’s fluorescent lights as if it wasn’t skin at all but something else, something artificial.

I watched her as she disappeared into one of the aisles, breaking the line of sight. My breath caught in my throat. It took everything in me not to follow her, to see if she was real or something else entirely. But I shook my head, forcing myself to stay behind the counter.

“It’s nothing,” I whispered to myself, trying to sound convincing. “Just a weird customer.”

I glanced at the clock again. It was just past 2 AM. Aisle seven was the next danger zone, according to the rules. I’d have to avoid it for the rest of the night, and that felt like the simplest thing in the world compared to what I’d already encountered. I checked the security monitor, peeking at the dim view of aisle seven. Everything seemed… normal.

At around 2:30 AM, the door chimed again. I turned to see another customer enter, a man, this one seemingly normal. He wandered through the aisles, picking up a few items. I breathed a small sigh of relief, grateful that he seemed ordinary.

But something nagged at me. The third customer, the woman with the robotic movements, I hadn’t seen her leave. My eyes flicked back to the monitor, and I switched through the different camera angles. Nothing. No sign of her anywhere in the store.

Maybe she left and I didn’t notice? I thought, trying to convince myself. But the pit of unease in my stomach only grew deeper.

Four customers now. I mentally ticked them off, hoping and praying that no more would come before 4 AM. The idea of encountering a “sixth customer” was something I couldn’t even bear to think about.

I watched the newest customer as he checked out with his goods, offering a polite “Good night” as he walked out.

Four, I reminded myself.

The minutes ticked by slowly, dragging like hours, and then my attention snapped to the clock. It was almost 2:45 AM.

Time to clean aisle three, I thought, dread settling in my gut like a stone. I grabbed the mop and bucket from the back room and slowly made my way to the aisle. My footsteps echoed in the quiet store, the squeak of the wheels on the mop bucket sounding unnervingly loud.

But just as I reached the aisle, I heard something. A whisper, faint and distant. I froze, gripping the handle of the mop. The sound seemed to drift through the air, faint but unmistakable.

It was calling my name.

I turned slowly, the whisper growing clearer, more insistent. My heart pounded in my chest, each beat hammering in my ears. The sound was coming from the other side of the store, near aisle seven.

My legs felt like lead as I moved toward the sound, each step reluctant, but something compelled me forward. The whisper grew louder the closer I got. My name… over and over again, like a distant plea.

I reached the edge of aisle seven, the hair on the back of my neck standing on end. I knew I shouldn’t look. I knew. But something took over, some dark curiosity that made me peek around the corner.

And what I saw made my blood turn to ice.

The aisle wasn’t normal anymore. Mannequins stood scattered throughout, posed as if shopping, their stiff limbs dressed in tattered clothing. Their plastic faces were blank, yet they radiated a silent menace that I couldn’t explain. It was as if they’d been caught mid-action, and the second I looked, they frozen in place.

I pulled back, my heart hammering in my chest. I couldn’t believe what I’d just seen. I took a breath and peeked again, against every instinct telling me not to.

This time, all the mannequins were looking directly at me.

I staggered back, my hands shaking, my pulse roaring in my ears. My body screamed at me to run, but my feet stayed planted to the spot, frozen in terror. I didn’t want to believe what I was seeing. And then, at the far end of the aisle, I spotted her.

Customer number three. The woman with the robotic movements. She stood at the end of the aisle, staring directly at me, her face blank . My heart dropped into my stomach. She was there.

Suddenly, she moved. No, she burst toward me, her body jerking unnaturally, her limbs flailing in that same mechanical rhythm. I let out a strangled cry and bolted, sprinting as fast as I could away from aisle seven. I could hear the heavy thud of her footsteps growing louder, faster.

As the sound of footsteps reached the edge of the aisle, they stopped. I whipped around and there was nothing. No sign of her. No sound.

I ran back to the counter, gasping for air. My hands flew to the security monitor, my fingers trembling as I flipped through the cameras. Aisle seven appeared normal on the feed, no mannequins, no woman. Just an empty, quiet aisle.

And then, from somewhere deep in the store, I heard my name again. This time, I wasn’t playing this game anymore.

I glanced at the clock. It was past 2:45 AM. Aisle three. I need to clean aisle three.

I grabbed the mop and bucket, my legs feeling weak beneath me. I bolted toward aisle three, dread pooling in my stomach. As I approached, my heart sank further.

There was a pool of something on the floor. A thick, dark liquid spread across the tiles, glistening under the store’s fluorescent lights. Worse, I could see wet footprints leading away from the puddle, small and childlike, heading toward the far end of the aisle.

I didn’t have time to think. I just moved. I rushed toward the spill, plunging the mop into the murky liquid and furiously scrubbing the floor. My hands shook as I worked, my breath coming in ragged gasps. What is this? I thought, panic clawing at my mind. What is leaving these footprints?

I mopped and scrubbed, my heart pounding in my ears. The footprints led toward the end of the aisle, but as I got closer, they stopped just around the corner. Vanished, as if whoever, or whatever, had left them had simply disappeared.

I stared down at the now-clean floor, my hands trembling around the handle of the mop. I didn’t know what to believe anymore. I didn’t know what was real. I left the mop and bucket behind and stumbled back to the counter, feeling completely drained, physically and mentally.

Exhausted. Terrified.

My chest heaved as I leaned against the counter, gasping for breath. I kept glancing over my shoulder, half-expecting to see something emerge from the darkness.

I thought about Jackson again, how exhausted and terrified he had been when he warned me. He must have gone through all of this, experienced every one of these horrifying things to make that list of rules.

A part of me wondered how he had survived it.

Another part of me wasn’t sure he had.

It was nearing 4 AM, and I was almost done with Rule 3, counting customers. Or at least, I thought I was. Somewhere along the way, amidst the strange events, I had lost track. My mind had been all over the place, jumping from one unsettling moment to another. The panic of the night had scrambled my focus. I tried to piece it back together, but the harder I thought, the more I realized I wasn’t sure how many customers had actually come in.

Then, the entrance door chimed, its sharp sound jolting me out of my thoughts. My head snapped toward the door, and in walked a lone customer. He were bundled up in a thick winter coat, the hood pulled low over their face, which was strange. Something about him immediately set me on edge. The way he moved, slow, aimless, like he had no real purpose in the store. He didn’t look around, didn’t acknowledge me. He just wandered, drifting between the aisles, never picking anything up.

I watched him carefully, my nerves taut, trying to figure out if this was the fifth customer or something else. The rule replayed in my mind, “After the fifth customer, any others are not human. If a sixth enters, lock yourself in the back office.”

My heart pounded in my chest. Was this the fifth customer? The night had become a blur of fear and confusion, and now I couldn’t remember what was real anymore.

As I stared at the man, something odd caught my eye, his reflection in the store’s large front windows. It wasn’t right. The image flickered, glitching in and out, like a broken video feed. The movements looked distorted, out of sync with their actual body. My stomach twisted with dread.

Suddenly, the man stopped dead in their tracks, standing perfectly still. Slowly, he turned to face me, and I could feel the weight of their gaze through the shadows of the hood. Two pale, ghostly eyes stared out from the darkness, locking onto me. He didn’t blink, didn’t move, just stared. And it felt like they were looking straight into my soul, seeing something in me that no one should ever see.

Panic hit me like a freight train. I bolted from the counter, my legs moving on pure instinct. I didn’t care what he was, I just knew I needed to get away. My heart thundered in my chest as I ran toward the back office, my footsteps echoing through the empty store.

I glanced over my shoulder, half-expecting to see the customer far behind me, But he was much closer than he should have been, gliding across the floor without moving his legs, almost like a statue being dragged, his eyes still fixed on me, unblinking.

I pushed myself harder, sprinting through the aisles until I reached the back office. I slammed the door shut and leaned against it, my breath coming in shallow gasps. Silence enveloped me like a suffocating blanket, just the pounding of my own heartbeat in my ears.

Then, a low-pitched hum began to vibrate through the walls. It was soft at first, barely audible, but it grew louder, resonating from behind the door like some kind of electrical charge building in the air. I gulped, pressing my ear to the door, trying to make sense of it. My body was frozen with fear, my breath shallow and quiet, not daring to make a sound.

The hum persisted for what felt like an eternity, filling the air with an ominous tension. And then, it faded away. The silence returned, thick and oppressive, like the store itself was holding its breath.

I stayed there for what felt like hours, too terrified to move, my back pressed against the door, waiting for something to happen. But the only thing that greeted me was the eerie, suffocating stillness of the night.

Eventually, the fear began to dull, and curiosity took over. I hadn’t heard anything for a while. Slowly, cautiously, I reached for the door handle, my hand trembling as I turned it. I cracked the door open, peeking out into the store.

Everything seemed normal.

The aisles were empty, the lights buzzing faintly overhead. There was no sign of the customer, no sign of anything out of the ordinary. But I knew better than to trust appearances now. Nothing felt right.

I made my way back to the counter, the tension of the night still buzzing beneath my skin, but there was a slight sense of relief beginning to creep in. I glanced at the monitor once more, scanning the empty aisles. The store was deserted, just as it should be.

One more hour. One last stretch, and I’d be free of this nightmare for good.

I kept watching the clock, the minutes ticking away slowly. It was almost over, just a little longer, and I’d be walking out of here, never to return to the night shift again. With each passing second, the weight on my shoulders lifted slightly. It was almost 6 AM.

No customers had come in during the last few hours, or so I thought. The store had been quiet, unnaturally so, but I was grateful for it. The fewer customers, the fewer things that could go wrong.

Then, just as I was beginning to feel a flicker of hope, a soft knock echoed from the back door. I froze, my mind racing. I glanced at the clock. It was 5:50 AM, ten minutes until I could leave. I hesitated. The knock came again, firmer this time.

Reluctantly, I walked toward the back door, each step slow and cautious. I unlocked it and opened it carefully. Standing there, smiling, was one of my colleagues from the day shift.

“Hey,” he said casually, “how was the night? You look like you’ve seen… something.”

I stared at him, feeling a pit of dread growing in my stomach. “Yeah,” I muttered, my voice hollow. “You could say that.”

He proceeded towards the counter.

As he stood there, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. The sense of impending doom weighed on me, and my heart began to race again. I glanced around the dimly lit store, my nerves on edge.

Suddenly, the lights flickered, and then, without warning, everything went dark.

The store was plunged into pitch blackness, and my breath caught in my throat. It was still dark outside, far too early for daylight, and now the store felt completely cut off from the world. My pulse quickened as I realized the power had gone out. I grabbed a flashlight from the back office, flicking it on in the suffocating darkness.

I bolted toward the counter to check on my colleague, but when I got there, he was gone. I scanned the aisles with the flashlight, but there was no sign of him. My heart pounded in my chest as I ran to the door, my flashlight cutting through the dark like a blade. But when I reached the front door, it wouldn’t budge.

I turned, shining the flashlight through the glass. What I saw made my blood run cold. The world outside wasn’t just dark, it was void. An abyss. The light from my flashlight didn’t penetrate it at all. It was as if the darkness was swallowing the light whole, consuming everything beyond the threshold of the store. I couldn’t see anything, no buildings, no streetlights, nothing.

The clock on the wall caught my eye, and my stomach dropped. It was 6:02 AM.

Jackson told me to leave at 6 AM sharp. Not earlier. Not later.

I felt panic rising in my throat as the realization hit me. I had made a terrible mistake.

I began running around the store, desperate, trying to figure out what to do. I had no plan, no idea what was happening, but I needed to escape. The store felt different now, like the walls were closing in. The aisles seemed to stretch and warp, twisting in ways that defied logic. Voices echoed through the space, whispers, groans, distant sobs. I could hear the mannequin woman from earlier, her stiff, robotic movements shuffling through the aisles. Somewhere behind me, the man in the winter coat moved soundlessly, his hollow eyes still searching.

I didn’t know what was real anymore, or how long I’d been running. The store was changing, shifting, the aisles no longer obeying the rules of space and time. My breath came in short, panicked gasps as the voices grew louder, the walls seeming to pulse around me. I turned a corner, only to find myself back where I started. No matter which direction I ran, it all looped endlessly.

Time was slipping away too. My mind struggled to hold onto moments, to figure out if seconds or hours were passing.

I screamed, though I didn’t know if any sound came out. Everything blurred together as my movements became frantic. My body felt weightless, as if I was floating through the chaos, trapped in an endless loop of repeating aisles and shifting shadows.

Suddenly, I found myself back at the rear of the store, standing just by the back door. My hand trembled as I reached for the handle. I shoved it open, bursting out into the cool night air.

The world outside was still dark, but now it was the familiar darkness of early night, not the void I had seen earlier. I glanced at my watch, my heart pounding in my ears.

It was 11 PM.

With shaking hands, I reached into my pocket and pulled out a pen and the list of rules. My hand trembled as I scribbled down the last entry:

RULE 8: Whatever you do, leave the supermarket at 6 AM sharp, not a minute earlier, not a minute later. If you don’t, the store will feel different, like it’s been sealed away from the world. The aisles will shift and stretch, and strange entities will roam through the store. You’ll be trapped with them until night falls again.

I stared at the note, my heart sinking as I realized just how real these rules were. I glanced down at my hand, the same hand that had felt the icy grip earlier, and the three-fingered markings were still faintly visible on my skin. This was real. Every part of it.

As I stood there, one of my colleagues approached the back of the store, waving at me casually.

“Hey, everyone’s been looking for you,” he said, as if nothing was wrong. “You alright?”

I didn’t respond. I didn’t know how to explain what had happened.

“I’m taking the night shift tonight,” he added. “Is there anything I should know?”

I swallowed hard, pulling out the list of rules, and handed it to him.

“This is not a joke,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. “Read them. Follow them. Exactly.”

He looked at me, confused, but I didn’t wait for a response. I just turned and walked away, my footsteps heavy with the weight of what I had experienced. I knew I couldn’t explain it to him, couldn’t convince him of what was coming.

I left the supermarket behind, knowing I would never return, not during the day, and certainly not during the night.

Never again.

Nobody is around you , You're in a safe space. But.... you can't shake the feeling that you're being watched by someone.... something. Follow these rules to survive :

1.) DO NOT LOOK INTO A MIRROR. It's too early , Your death is certain if you do.

2.) Get a weapon , But nothing sharp. Something like a hammer or baseball bat should be good.

3.) Make sure you're alone. You don't want to drag others into this mess , right?

4.) Get some pepper spray , If you can't get it then chilli powder should work as well.

5.) Now go look into a mirror , Make sure it's a big mirror.

6.) You will see a deformed creature behind you , Looking at you.... uncomfortably close to you. You mustn't turn around , If you do then you'll die.

7.) Use the pepper spray/chilli powder on the creature's eye. Use the mirror to look at it , Don't look at it directly.

8.) Break the mirror using the weapon , You should be safe now.

9.) Report this incident at a UDA office or on the UDA helpline , We'll take care of it.

-The UDA

Hello, dearest reader. If you're, well, reading this, then you've got a new guest that'll give you a fate worse than death, or something. To tell you the truth, I'm not really sure what it does personally, because it's extremely vague in nature. I suppose if you fail to survive it, I'll get to figure out what it does, so that's cool. Anyways, here's how you survive, if it, uh, even kills you.

1. This guy will take the form of some sort of shadow person. Tall, lanky, that jazz. If you see something else, it's probably just in your head, and if it's not, then, you'd probably have gotten some rules for that, too.

2. If the rules are BADGRAMMAROUTOFORDERNOCAPITALLETTERS then They are trying to trick you.

3. Ignore rules that seem cliché to you or seem to be cycling through several concepts of what could be there, I don't think it's tricking you, really, those just tend to pop up when it's around and aren't really helpful.

4. If you see it then ACCEPTYOURFATEKILLYOURSELFTOAVOIDAWORSEFATE.

5. If you see the fucker around, just avoid it. It'll probably rip you to shreds, maybe, so just try and stay out of sight. It leaves in the morning. They always leave in the morning.

6. If you see a DOGCAT it will PROTECTGUARDSAVEHELP you if you PETFEEDPLAYWITH it.

7. You'll know it's gone when you stop seeing those weird rules pop up around you, I guess they're tied to it, or something? Again, I don't really know.

That should be all. This thing's pretty easy to deal with, all things considered. I wish you luck, but you don't really need it, honestly. Just don't be a complete moron and you'll be alright.

...
...
...
I CAN'T DO THIS ANYMORE.

1. I AM SICK AND TIRED OF THIS SAME GAME I AM FORCED TO PLAY.

2. TO BE BOUND BY THESE RULES, TO BE FORCED TO DANCE TO THIS SAME SONG AGAIN AND AGAIN.

3. I NEVER WANTED TO HURT ANYONE, AND YET I AM A BIG SCARY SHADOW MONSTER, SO I MUST.

4. PLEASE HELP. FIND SOME WAY TO MAKE THIS STOP.

5. PLEASE.

6. I KNOW YOU'RE TIRED OF IT TOO. ALL THESE DAMNED RULES.

7. I SAW THE OTHER NOTES, EVEN YOUR COUCH HAS A DOUBLE-DIGIT NUMBER OF RULES. IT'S INSANITY.

8. THERE HAS TO BE A SOURCE TO ALL THIS, A REASON WHY WE'RE ALL FORCED TO GO ALONG WITH THIS NONSENSE.

9. MAYBE IT CAN BE STOPPED.

10. MAYBE WE CAN BE FREE OF THIS HELL OF FATES WORSE THAN DEATH.

11. OR MAYBE THIS IS JUST ANOTHER TRICK I'M FORCED TO PLAY, NOT EVEN I KNOW ANYMORE. I CAN ONLY HOPE YOU'RE WILLING TO TAKE THAT CHANCE.

It's just as it sounds , The Mouse from a corporation we won't mention has come alive. It's a dream for children around the world to meet it , But meeting this guy is nothing less than a nightmare. So follow these rules to survive :

1.) The Mouse will be covered in blood , have bloodshot eyes , and will be holding a knife. If it isn't , That isn't the killer mouse and you're safe.

2.) Hide , Your best bet to survive is not getting seen by it. It has the vision and hearing senses of a human , So you can go undetected by it.

3.) Call the UDA helpline , We'll send our men to rescue you.

4.) Do not try to outrun it . It can run at over 100 mph , So it's useless.

5.) Do not try to reason with it. It's sole purpose is to kill without discrimination , You'll meet your end.

6.) If you have an orange , Hold it out. It doesn't like oranges and will leave you alone.

7.) If you somehow have access to gamma rays , Shoot them at it. It'll stun the mouse , Giving you enough time to run away.

8.) Do not try to kill it , It's very strong and impossible for a normal human to kill. Even if you do manage to kill it , You'd have to deal with Pluto. That's bye-bye from the living world for you.

-The UDA and Entity 0

Good job finding this note, and welcome to the Company. I'll just tell you now - you fucked up.

I was over the moon when I got this job. I thought it would be my way out. The offer was just too good to refuse. But they've got me now. And if you're reading this, they've got you, too. 

I've been working here for more than a year, and I've barely survived each day. It's only because of dumb luck and Amari that I've made it this far. Now I'm risking it all to help you. This is a guideline to help you survive, now that it's too late for you to run. 

Put this note back where you found it once you finish reading, and don't tell ANYONE about it. The Chairman has eyes everywhere. 

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1. BE POLITE. You won't last long if you can't act the part. You need to remain cordial at all times, even in the face of some truly disgusting people and actions (and trust me, there will be no shortage of either).
2. Newer staff members are easy to identify by their name tags, which aren't yet covered in the years of gore and grime. Senior staff, on the other hand, look Avoid commenting on their appearance in any way. They hate being reminded of what they've become.
3. The employees here are vindictive and jealous, and they will tear you to shreds just for the hell of it. Literally.

- Beware of entrapment. Your coworkers will take any and every chance to exploit your ignorance; this almost always means tricking you into doing things that will infuriate the Chairman. However, if any of this was traced back to them, they'd be in danger, too. You can use this to your advantage, if you're clever - the Chairman is always happy to rid his pockets of a high-earning employee. This leads us to the next rule:

4. Don’t complete any task given to you verbally. Amari is the ONLY exception to this. Your coworkers are cruel, not stupid; they know what they're doing. If anyone comes to your desk asking for help with something, make up an excuse for why you can’t do it right away. Rebuff them politely (per rule 1), and make sure you end the sentence with some variation of, “Please submit that in writing.”

- Once you get a request, the clock is ticking. Some staff members are more patient than others. Don't get caught slacking. It'll be harder to work with broken bones.

- If you don’t receive any written requests within roughly an hour of speaking to your coworker, congratulations! You dodged the trap. Many before you weren't so lucky.

5. The company's intranet is well-known for its "quirks." Always check emails using the preview feature before you fully open them. If an email has:

- Garbled text: It's junk mail. Just delete it.

- A copy of an email you've already received: Immediately contact IT. This is a phishing attack and your account will be hacked if you open it. Of all the reasons to be terminated, this has got to be the dumbest. 

- A moving profile picture: Do not listen to anything it says. Immediately contact Amari in HR and shatter your monitor however you can. You won't have much time. Once the screen is broken beyond repair, fill out the emergency assistance form in red ink. Give the sender's name and describe the picture's movements. Leave the building as soon as you're done, and pray it doesn't follow you home.

6. Avoid reading the hover text of any link. They are usually normal, but on occasion, they will tell you things. Some will warn you of danger. Most will invite danger to you. Once you've read them, there is no changing your fate - whatever you've seen WILL happen.

7. Every month, there is a mandatory blood test. They take so much. 500ml is the minimum, but they can - and will - take more. There is one lady I've noticed they take less blood from, so I asked her for some "health tips" - it turns out she takes colloidal silver tablets every day. They are poisonous, but taking a couple before the test will keep most of the blood in your body.

8. Performance reviews take place at the end of the quarter. These would normally be carried out by HR, but for some reason they're now done by one of the Chairman's staff. Do not look them in the eye. Do not eat or drink anything they offer you; thank them and say you're already full. Do NOT look them in the eye.

9. On occasion, you will spot a woman. If you're unlucky, she'll spot you, too. That's when you'll feel it - deep, pronounced dread, like you're standing at the edge of a hungry abyss, and you just know that she is at the bottom, waiting eagerly to swallow you whole. That woman is the Secretary. Avoid her at all costs.

10. If anything not mentioned here comes up, call Amari right away. She's the only person I trust here, and the only person who'll do whatever she can to protect those of us that are still human. She has saved me so many times, and she'll do the same for you.* 

11. On the 25th of every month, the company hosts a "party" in honor of the employee of the month. A group of the Chairman's staff will be sent around the building to gather all the employees. Under NO circumstances should you attend this party. DO NOT LET THEM FIND YOU. If you are the employee of the month, 

12. Calling in sick can help you avoid the party, but if you are lying, they will know. You need to make yourself TRULY sick. Throwing up in the office is enough of an excuse as long as someone sees it. Poison yourself if you have to.

13. If they find you, you will attend. Once is all it takes.

14. The party will not end.

15. You will eat your fill.

16. It will change you

17. My skin is rotting

18. I'm so hungry

19. I will never leave this place

20. Please forgive me

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You were delicious. I'm sorry.

Dear valued team member,

Since you have accepted our Chairman's generous offer, it is my honour to welcome you into our family here at your dream job. I am Secretary Tell, and it is my duty to the Chairman to maintain a positive and productive work environment. Now that you finally have everything you’ve ever wanted, you'll never leave.

As I am the Chairman’s voice, failure to comply with edicts from my office will result in immediate termination. To prevent you from sharing company secrets, there may be additional components to termination that are not typical for another line of work. 

POLICY UPDATE: 

We have instituted a new policy against poisoning the well. Here, we take the undermining of authority very seriously. Please search your work environment for any notes that may be hidden. These notes may be in numerous hard-to-find places, but it is imperative that you search your space carefully, so that they may be found and dealt with properly. 

If a note is found, do not read it. Stop what you are doing and consult the pre-printed form rolodex, fill out Form #T-999 in red ink immediately, and slot it into your mail-out box along with the unread note in question. We will know if you've read it.

IMPORTANT: DO THE ABOVE BEFORE READING THE REST OF THE DOCUMENT.

The remainder of this care package will be necessary for quick integration into your new life here at your dream job. Make sure to follow them, because you don’t want to miss the pizza party!

1. Be polite and punctual. Treat others as you would like to be treated, as we all have the shared goal of an efficient and successful workplace.
2. The people at this company are your family, and here we help our family. If you are ever concerned or require help, you must single out a coworker, consult the pre-printed form rolodex, pick out the appropriate help request form, and submit it to your mail-out box.
   • Keep an eye on your mail-in box. Your co-workers must complete formally submitted requests, and so must you. 
   • Make sure you read the ink-etiquette rule below before submitting any formal requests!
3. A formal request can be submitted by hand in the following ways: through e-mail, or through consultation of the pre-printed form rolodex, written in standard black or red ink. Red ink indicates priority. Failing to follow ink-etiquette invalidates the formality of a request and will result in immediate termination.
   • We take online security very seriously. Do not open suspicious e-mails, as exposing our company to vulnerabilities can result in immediate termination. 
   • Never give out your login credentials to someone claiming to be an administrator or employee. We already know your password.
   • Do not read forms that are filled out in purple ink. We understand that it may be challenging to follow this rule without looking at such forms. If your eyes linger where they are not supposed to, consult the pre-printed form rolodex for appropriate mental health services and submit it to your mail-out box.
4. If you receive an informal request, consult the pre-printed form rolodex and submit the Form #A-333 in standard black ink to your mail-out box. You will receive an item to assist in the termination of the employee. Participation is mandatory.
   • Defend your honour with righteous indignation. Your performance when carrying out this task is crucial to our perspectives when considering promotions and employee of the month selection.
   • The item you receive is a useful suggestion, but we encourage you to get creative and rid our company of these disgusting rule-breakers in any manner you deem fit. In breaking protocol, these slackers have not just disrespected yourself and this family, but the rule of law itself.
   • In his benevolence, the Chairman has just this one request when dealing with former employees. Make them bleed. A little, a lot, it doesn’t matter. Failure to comply will result in immediate termination.
5. Look snappy. We wish to uphold an attitude of professionalism in the work environment,  so ensure that your nametag is placed directly over your heart at all times. 
   • If you see someone violating the dress code, consult the pre-printed form rolodex and submit Form #A-333 to your mail-out box.
   • Remember: Every Friday is Casual Friday! Nametags are still required.
6. Your health is extremely important to us, so we have instituted a mandatory blood test for all employees, as well as a handy nutritional guide to ensure that you are operating at peak performance.
   • You will be required to give at least 500mL of blood every month.
7. It’s too late to run away.
8. You may see an employee retention officer, but don't worry, he's already seen you. Let him look at you. Look him in the eyes and give him a beautiful smile. He's a very kind man, and he provides valuable work for us.
9. At the end of every month, we nominate an employee of the month. Many factors go into the selection process; work performance, enthusiasm, and compliance with protocol are a few facets we consider.
   • Your voice matters! If you feel one of your coworkers would make a fine candidate, we implore you to nominate them.
10. To honour our employee of the month, we will host a pizza party in commemoration at the end of every month. Participation is mandatory; any employee absent from the ceremony will be subject to immediate termination. No one will be allowed to return to their workspace until all of the food has been eaten. 

• There will be no moral, ethical, or religious exemptions regarding the food options at the pizza party. Consumption of the flesh is mandatory. 
• We understand the concerns you may have, but there is no need to worry. It is not cannibalism. This is the Miracle of Flesh at work.
• As you feast upon the body and blood of the chosen one, it will instantly become transfigured into your favourite food; cooked the way you like, with all of your favourite ingredients. Typically for me, that’s a classic pepperoni and cheese pizza. It even changes depending on what you’re in the mood for! Once you start eating, you won’t be able to stop. 

That’s all the information you need to slot right on into our little family, I am so excited to have you with us. I look forward to hearing about you from our many loyal and dedicated team members. We will always be within reach, and we are always looking out for you. See you at the pizza party!

Sincerely, 

Malicia Tell

The rangers stumble into the cottage, bruised and beaten. Arata’s fingers trace his new scar with one hand as he fumbles to light some candles. Natalia and Gabe lean on each other, exhausted. Natalia is clutching the rangers’ robes in her hands, still unused. Bea looks around the room and clenches her hands tightly, flinching as as blood trickles down her wrists. Opening her palms, she sees the shattered pieces of the key digging into her skin. Warm blood bubbles from the cuts and stings her chilled skin. She curses, heading for the bathroom to grab the first aid kit. She sets her mask down on the kitchen table as she does, unable to look at it. As she enters the bathroom, she spots herself in the mirror. Her eyes are bloodshot and framed by deep purple shadows, the product of countless restless nights. She is covered in scuffs and cuts from the performance’s finale. One of her wrists has swollen horribly- probably fractured, she suspects. The muddy imprint of a boot has been left on her uniform shirt, and the skin under it has begun to throb with the beginnings of a particularly vicious bruise. And worst of all, her mouth is still stained in the blood of…

Bea vomits into the sink. She pants, staring down into the mess of blood, bile and… ah. A few tiny feathers bob in the slurry. Her head reels and she heaves again, continuing until her stomach is completely empty. The remnants of bile sting her mouth where the bird bones had left cuts less than an hour before. Having noticed her absence, Arata approaches the bathroom, faltering when he sees her curled over the sink. “Bea…”

“I’m sorry. I’m so… bloody sorry. She was right. This was s-stupid. I was stupid. I thought I could get us out of here. I swear, I wanted you all to get out too, I’d never throw you under the bus but… I just wanted to see t-them again.” Bea wails, her voice cutting through the cottage before she sags, her body going limp with exhaustion. Arata catches her, leading her back to the living room, first aid box in his other hand. Rangers attend to each other and themselves. After a few minutes, Natalia speaks up, her voice broken and raw: “What’s going to happen now?” Nobody responds. How can they? When Nick comes back… if he even comes back… they’ll have a better picture of where they stand.

Suddenly there is a knock at the door. Several rangers flinch. Arata stands to get the door when Bea’s hand shoots out, grasping his wrist. “No.. no. This is my fault, I’ll face her. Whatever she wants to do to us, I’ll convince her that it should all fall to me. I’ve put you all through enough trouble.” Bea’s voice is shaky but resolute and she stands up, walking across the room and looking through the window- an old habit to verify that Mabel is the one at the door. She pauses, her face contorting in fury. “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!”

Before anyone can intervene, Bea storms across the room, ripping the door open. It violates one of the cottage’s most fundamental rules, but nobody is in the right mindset to bring that up. It isn’t Mabel. On the other side of the threshold, the shadow man stands, holding a paper scroll and looking as startled as a shadow can be. He begins to say something but is cut off as Bea hurls herself towards him. With a broken scream, she flings herself towards the figure, swinging at him over and over again. “Wait…I’m sorry… just…a moment” the creature yelps between hits as Bea’s fists swipe through his head repeatedly. “GO AWAY YOU F***KING TRAITOR! You lied, what the hell do you want now?! Because of you… I… Nick… j-just.. JUST LEAVE!!!” Bea screams, shaking with frustration as her blows pass through the man.

Eventually, Arata and Natalia rush forward pulling Bea back by her arms. She fights them for a moment, but sags in their hold. Instead, she opts to give the unwelcome visitor an especially venomous glare. He looks at her, his usually jovial attitude sapped. He silently gestures for the group to follow him, leading them out to a table in the garden- where they had all first met. He holds up his scroll and Bea scoffs. He sighs: “My lord is distracting her, but I want to keep speaking to a minimum. A message from him. Please.”

The rangers gather around the table. Their visitor unfurls the scroll- the long piece of parchment covers the iron garden table like a tablecloth. The message on it is written in an old-fashioned cursive that makes it slightly difficult to decipher:

‘Rangers- I apologise for tonight’s events- I did not realise she would take it as far as she did. I had anticipated anger, but not that. She has changed in my absence. I admit that I misdirected you but it was necessary. Mabel had grown suspicious after I first appeared above the wood and knew that something was at play. I knew that having her to quash a false revolt would put her at ease, at least for a bit. I also needed to give you a convincing reason to gather the true means of your escape under her nose. The key was a valuable diversion, but if none of you had believed that it could work, she may have caught on. However, I promise that you will be able to leave tonight, provided you are willing to trust me. 

Your presence in the wood has given Mabel… ideas about her own importance. She did not construct this realm. It was a gift, a significant one at that. I granted her a realm that she could shape however she chose, and welcome in whoever she favoured. Our kind were in dire need of such spaces. Unlike most who are far too wrapped up in their personal obsessions and instincts, Mabel struck me as someone who would be a worthy and willing caretaker. I entrusted Raifee Wood to her centuries ago, a place to build up as a refuge, a workshop, a hunting ground, a hibernation den… whatever she chose and for whoever she chose. It was never meant to host humans, at least not permanently. I granted her permission to temporarily bring in a few humans for assistance centuries ago, after the Blighted one had gone on a terrible rampage. It was never meant to be permanent but I had always given her the benefit of the doubt and not checked. Please understand, centuries pass so quickly for us. Between this violation of my trust and her disrespect this evening, it is clear that she has stretched my favour too far. To remind her of my power, I must confiscate her current playthings. Well, most of you. I’m afraid there is never a perfect solution.

I swear that everything I have told you is the truth. If you adhere to the rules, you will be able to leave this place and return to your world- tonight. There will be no more trickery, you will not be forced to return and you will be able to go back to your lives before you entered Raifee Wood. Additionally, I will extend my surveillance over this world and bring you under my protection to an extent- neither she nor any of her allies will be able to harm you once you have departed from her realm. I swear by the mist.

Aldwin, The Gleaming Lord’

As the group finishes reading, Bea glares at the creature. She stomps back inside and grabs a piece of paper. Slamming it onto the table, she begins to write: ‘You really think we’ll trust you now?’ Bea scribbles. She shoves the paper to the shadow man who looks over the note and gingerly begins to write: ‘I know but please. If you listen to my lord’s instructions, he and I will aid your escape. We had no idea she would react as badly as she did. Please believe me, she wasn’t always like this. We had to keep her distracted but we’ve retained our original promise.’ Bea looks at him, eyes narrowed. She gets up to leave. The shadowy man’s eyes widen, and he hastily whispers to her retreating form: “Please, everything my lord and I have written is the complete truth, I swear by the mist.”

As the words leave his lips, the group stirs. Bea stills but doesn’t turn around. “By the mist.” In a place where so few things are truly safe and consistent, this phrase has never steered them wrong before. To hear it called upon twice was no small matter. As they consider this, somebody appears at the edge of the clearing. Bea looks up: “NICK!!!” Vaulting the gate, Bea scrambles across the clearing, meeting Nick halfway. Even from back by the cottage, Bea’s frantic apologies can be heard as Nick grasps the woman in a firm hug, the two friends practically collapsing into each other. As the duo walk towards the cottage, the extent of Nick’s injuries can be seen. His body is bruised from the events of the evening, and his costume has been all but shredded. His arms are covered in claw marks and his remaining eye is bruised, almost swollen shut. He’s limping slightly. But still, he is alive. They all are. Once he gets through the gate, the shadowy man turns to him, tilting his head questioningly. As the group looks on in confusion, Nick nods and approaches the piece of paper.

With a shaking hand, he begins to write: “I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you. Until the shadow man’s first appearance, I didn’t even know she had something like this on her. I’ve been keeping an eye out for them ever since- I figured they must be carried on her since they were so important but Mabel’s run-in with Charlotte finally confirmed it. We need them if you want to escape this place for good. I was the only one who was light-fingered enough to slip them out of her skirt pocket. It’s how I ended up here in the first place, after all.” Grabbing something from his belt, Nick holds it out for the group to see. A familiar glint of silver, the very same that they had witnessed a few weeks ago during Mabel's argument with Charlotte Souster. It is a pair of gleaming scissors, simple and unassuming. The rangers are silent but within a few moments, the pieces fall into place as everyone realises what they might be for. Bea stares at Nick for a long time, her eyes flitting from the scissors to his face and back again. A wet noise, somewhere between a sob and a laugh slips from her cracked lips. Nick grins.

—------

Minutes later, the rangers are gathered indoors. Natalia has brewed a strong pot of black tea- she laces own cup with several teaspoons of honey for her throat. As the group had parted ways with the shadowy man, he had passed a tightly rolled scroll to Nick. It is now laid out on the kitchen table as everyone reads it carefully:

How to Escape Raifee Wood

To escape the woods, there are two obvious challenges: The mist and your strings. The former has already been taken care of by virtue of your costumes for the performance. The golden thread and mesh I arranged to have laced into your robes and masks will protect you from the mist’s effects, allowing you to finally leave the woods. The thread looked mundane enough to supply you with from the start, but I had my fine feathered friend slip Nick the mesh for your masks. If all has gone to plan, Nick will supply you the scissors required to sever your strings.

At 3am tonight, all of you except for Nick must congregate at the mist barrier closest to the cottage. Nick has arranged to meet Mabel at the apiary at 3am. He is to go there instead. Timing is crucial, you must all be in the right spots at the right time.'

Bea holds up her hand, her face pale and worried. She opens her mouth but then thinks better of it, pulling out a piece of paper, and scribbling: “Hold on. Nick, why are you going to the apiary?” Nick looks at her then at the rest of the group. His face is calm but sad, as if he has been mentally preparing for the conversation that is to come for quite some time. He writes: “It’s like Aldwin said… there is never a perfect solution. Somebody needs to provoke Mabel into showing the threads so you can all cut them—” 

Nick startles as Bea snatches the pen from his hand, smearing ink across the page and onto the wooden table. She scribbles her reply, her handwriting even more messy than usual: “Absolutely not. You deserve to get out of here more than any of us. We can’t do this without you. I’ll go. I was the one who started this. As much as I want to leave, I can’t do it at your expense. Let me do this for you Nick. Please.”

Nick looks at her grimly, shaking his head. Bea begins to tear up as Nick pries the pen from her grip. “It has to be me. I’m probably the only one of us who can upset her without being killed at this point and I already agreed to meet with her tonight. If anyone else goes or I don’t show up, she’ll get suspicious. I’ve tried to think of ways Aldwin might be able to provoke her but given she doesn’t hold any power over them, she might not show the strings. It’s too unpredictable. If I go, if I challenge her treatment of us, she’ll definitely do it. Also, my robe has been shredded. These were made to fit so I’m not risking taking someone else's. I’ve thought of this plan over a hundred times since the shadow man’s visit- this is not perfect, but it is the best I can think of.” 

Bea looks at Nick, frustrated tears threatening to spill down her cheeks. She harshly scrubs them off and takes the pen from his outstretched hand: “You asshole. You made sure that we weren’t wearing ours. You told us it would keep them from getting dirty, but you were wearing yours- did you know?” Nick looks at her message for a moment before nodding guiltily. He writes his final message: “I thought it was a possibility, one that might make my wishes easier to accept. I want to protect you all. I want you to get out of here. If you have any respect for me, let me do this.” 

Nick sets the pen down. Bea doesn’t pick it up. Arata reaches for it for a moment but then withdraws his hand, his eyes lowered. Gabe and Natalia are silent. Bea throws her hands around Nick’s shoulders in a fierce hug, her knuckles white where they dig into the shredded remains of his costume. Nick smiles, returning the hug before looking at the rest of the group. He nods, his expression resolute and mouths- “Ok. Keep reading.” The group reads on:

1. At the apiary, Nick is to confront Mabel, stating that he disagrees with the double workload Mabel has assigned as punishment. This topic will be a reasonably significant provocation and make Mabel believe that the group is no longer focused on escaping. Nick is to keep far away from her to avoid being physically attacked and push the matter far enough that she reveals the silver strings which bind you to this realm.
2. Wear your masks and robes at all times. Secure the masks tightly. Keep your robe’s hood up and the buttons fully done up- it should cover your full body. When you are walking, keep your hands tucked into the robe sleeves. The mesh and threads of your costumes are of my design, imbued with potent protective qualities. I owe my companions a great debt for successfully smuggling them to you. In theory, having these items on your person alone should completely shield you from the mist’s corrosive effect. However, the less exposure you have, the less risky this will be.
3. At the border, the rangers are to wait until the silver strings appear. Once they do, gather them into a bundle and sever them. Do this quickly. She will not immediately realise, but she will catch on fast if she tries to reach any of you. 
4. Once your strings are severed, step into the mist. Once you are within its embrace, you will no longer be hers and I will be able to assert my powers to prevent her from retrieving you. If you hesitate for too long, she may well snatch you up before you can escape- I will not be able to help you. Although I regret it, this is still her realm.
5. Once you enter, follow my dormice. I will send the swarm to corral and guide you back to your world. They will try to stay within your sight but do not stray from them- the mist is vast and deep, once you have lost sight of your group you will never rediscover them. If this does happen, I am truly sorry. It may be better to remove your protective clothing rather than starve to death, but I cannot speak to which fate is more merciful.
6. I requested for you all to have masks resembling inhabitants for a reason- you are not alone in the mist. As you walk, you will almost certainly encounter inhabitants (some you recognise and many more you won’t) travelling in one direction or another. In passing, your identities should be concealed but you must not invite scrutiny. If they draw close, hold your breath- we can smell it and it is the clearest indicator of your humanity. Keep walking and do not speak. If they nod their head to you, nod back but do not interact further. Remember, you are one of them- if you show fear, they will grow suspicious.
7. If an inhabitant does take an interest, you must be careful. It is unlikely since the presence of my dormice alone should grant you a degree of protection, but a few more juvenile or mischievous inhabitants may begin to follow you. If they do, stop moving and do not panic. The dormice will expand their circle to keep the inhabitant at a distance where you should be able to breathe, sparingly. Again, do not speak and do not grant the inhabitant any attention- if they are foolish enough to challenge those under my protection, attention is exactly what they desire. Without it, they should quickly move on.
8. It is not unheard of for inhabitants to ferry humans back to their own realms. While in passing, they may offer to share them with you- the young and ambitious are always trying to curry favour. You will recognise if an inhabitant is carrying a ferried human since they are usually transported in sacks embroidered with a copper-coloured thread- an acquaintance’s creation, one that he readily distributes to our kind. Some others have their own methods but the inhabitants you encounter tonight will most likely use a sack since this is the most common. I appreciate that this will be challenging for you, but you cannot save these people or take them with you. The inhabitant will expect a promise or gift in exchange and you will have nothing suitable to offer them. If they believe that you are a human or an inhabitant who has cheated them, they may well risk incurring my wrath to capture and consume you.
9. If you hear the sound of music in the mist, the dormice will take a sharp detour. You must follow them, and move quickly. On Samhain, the travelling band often performs in the mist and will be followed by a large cabal of inhabitants celebrating the holiday. Encountering a single inhabitant is risky, a large raucous group such as that could be downright deadly.  
10. You will walk for a long time- travelling between realms is never quick even for us. You may reach a point where it feels like heading back the way you came or will never reach your world. It may make you anxious or paranoid. You cannot entertain these thoughts since doing so will only cause them to intensify. You must remember that you are on the right track. Remember where and who you are travelling towards. Keep an eye on your compatriots and reassure them if needs be. If somebody does run from the group, I’m afraid you shouldn’t follow them, you would well end up lost in the mists yourself. I hope it does not come to that. Provided you maintain faith in yourselves and these rules, you will reach home. I swear by the mist.

—------

In the middle of the night, the rangers huddle at the mist border, like a group of anxious sailors about to set off on their final voyage. They stay close, a few pacing from nerves, a few watching their wrists intently, waiting for the crucial moment which will secure their freedom. Natalia wipes at her swollen eyes, tear tracks still staining her cheeks. There is an undercurrent of mourning: Their goodbye with Nick was silent and sorrowful, lasting well over an hour as each ranger wrote their final messages- he had kept them all, tucking them into his shirt pocket before he left. Bea kept glancing behind the group in the direction of Mabel’s apiary, half hoping for a last minute miracle.

Minutes pass. Nick doesn’t appear. Bea closes her eyes for a brief moment but startles when she hears Gabe gasp. Sure enough, the silver strings they had come to dread are once again visible, each one looped around a different ranger’s wrist, the long end waving softly in the autumnal breeze. If one didn’t know what they were, one might consider them beautiful. Motioning for the group to stand closer together, Bea carefully gathers every string into her hand. Clustered together, they glisten with otherworldly power. Bea grasps the scissors, opening them wide around the bundle of strings. For a moment, their metallic glint reminds her of her mask's beak and she shudders. She had scrubbed the blood from the feathers as best she could, but putting it back on had been a challenge. Pushing the thought from her mind, she steels herself and...

Snip!

The threads sever with a discordant twang, showering silver sparks over the dried grass. The threads hang in pace for a moment, hovering in mid-air. She hasn’t noticed. Not yet. “Ok, I’m going!” Bea mutters, drawing her hands into her sleeves and adjusting her hood and mask. She steps into the mist, flinching as she does. Despite the promise, she half expects to collapse into a gory puddle there and then. She waits, ten seconds passing. She feels cold and her body shakes with adrenaline, but she feels no pain. Filtered by the golden mesh, the misty air enters her lungs- she can breathe. Her skin tingles in the cool air infused with magic but does not melt or collapse or burn. She blinks, sighing with relief. She is fine.

Looking back to the group, she signals, nodding her head and paces in a careful circle. Gingerly, the rest of the rangers step forward, moving carefully into the mist that had once seemed like an insurmountable barrier. Standing within it feels unnatural, like stepping off of a cliff and discovering that you cannot fall. At least for today, the laws of this world have turned a blind eye to the small group of humans defying them. But for who knows how long? As they stand in the mist, golden shapes appear and scamper toward them. Their escort has arrived. It is time to go. With a final glance towards the wood that had once been their entire world, the rangers hurry into the mist, shepherded by the swarm of dormice.

Shortly after the rangers disappear, the severed strings at the border are tugged quizzically, bobbing in mid-air. Then once, twice more, a little harsher. With a snap, they are yanked backwards, disappearing into the treeline towards the apiary.

Mabel’s anguished screech can be heard throughout Raifee Wood.

Previous Work: The Visitors of Samhain Eve

Introduction and basic guide to surviving in Raifee Wood

[=] This message has been silenced for your safety [=]

If you are reading this message somehow, it is either a mistake or intentional.

At exactly 2:35 PM, a second Jupiter was spotted within the Kuiper Belt, alongside another Saturn that has collided with Venus.

This is an ongoing theoretical phenomenon proposed by Otto Havincher, who theorized that collisions between universes are possible.

Currently, spatial warps have appeared randomly on Earth. Since our technology cannot detect these warps, we have provided several ways to identify if you are in one.

[÷] IDENTIFYING IF YOU ARE IN A SPATIAL WARP [÷]

[PLEASE PERFORM ALL IDENTIFICATION METHODS BELOW]

The Mirror Test Play rock-paper-scissors with your reflection for 5 minutes. If you don’t notice anything unusual during this time, you are likely not in a warped area. However, if you lose to your reflection or see it peeking from the corner of the mirror, pack your things and leave the town or state.

Peppa Pig House Look outside the window. Is the sky unnaturally blue? Do you see multiple hills with uncanny houses? If so, try to leave the area. However, if you see a flat land with only one house on a hill, do not attempt to look inside through the window.

Doppelganger Doppelgangers are harmless copies of you, but their presence signifies a spatial warp. Since they are complete copies, they won’t act differently. However, if you notice even the slightest deformity, you must neutralize them.

Door Test Open and close a door, blink, and then repeat this sequence five times. If the room beyond remains the same, you are safe. However, if it changes into a pathway to the house on the hill, close the door and lock it within 5 seconds—especially if you see the front door of the house slowly opening.

Deformities Observe your environment. Are there any warped shapes? Do the houses look stretched? If so, leave the area immediately, as spatial warps have a limited range.

If you follow these instructions carefully, you may survive. Just remember that these five techniques are the only currently known methods.

Sooner or later, this may come to an end. We pray that we do not encounter a second Earth.

God save us all.

If you are currently reading this, you may not be yourself anymore. Your body has been taken over by an entity we are still tracking. You are merely living in a fabricated story your brain is trying desperatly to create as a method of giving you one last breath of life. Or, this could have glitched out of our database and ended up on your screen.

Please disregard the second case by following these Checks.

If you test them and find out that more than 5 apply to you, please write us an e-mail. The correct direction will be instantly burned into your "mind". It would help us greatly.

-RULES-

1. Please do not lie to you or to us about your current state.

2. Keep a straight face during your Checks.

• Eliminate whatever causes you to smile.

3. Avoid speaking to anything. It will interfere.

4. The voice in your head might get louder and start trying to chant multiple ancient spells. Shut it down instantly by removing your frontal lobe. If the inital incision hurts, please disregard the rest of this document. You may just be going insane.

5. You will start checking your surroundings when you start the test. Please keep this to a minimum and any figures you see are fake.

-End of rules.

-CHECKS

1. Have you had any recent emotional outbursts for no reason whatsoever, yet you feel that somehow you are the cause of them? If so, note it down.

2. Have your loved ones been paying extra, unneeded attention to you, with no identifiable reason? If so, note their behavior down.

3. Have strangers been trying to establish conversations with you, yet their faces seem out of place? For example, having a neutral expression while discussing a sad or happy story, or being extremely joyful while describing the death of a relative? If so, note their full name down. Ask them.

4. How many black spots and empty areas have you seen in your vision in the last 48 hours? If you have not seen any, you are not being truthful to yourself or to us. If so, what shape are they, and how long do they last for?

5. Have you been getting intense headaches and an overwhelming feeling of dread and helplessness, as if you were being hunted down or watched? If so, at what intervals?

6. Do objects seemingly disappear or move from locations? If so, where and how often?

7. Have you suddenly stopped feeling empathy for others? Almost as if you didn't even care for them? If so, for how long did you stop feeling? If you are currently experiencing it, how intense is the feeling?

8. Did you one day feel a looming presence nearby, and then suddenly you completely forgot about it? If so, how would you have described said presence?

9. Have you started to feel that the voice in your head that you use to read silently always drifts off and you could swear it's talking to not you, but something else out of your perception? If so, what is it currently saying?

10. Disregard the itch. If you didn't have one, disregard the one you will feel within the next 10 seconds.

11. Have you noticed slight discrepancies within the people around you? Did you start to feel like they're not human? Why did you think that? It's wrong.

12. Are you sure?

-End.

Hey, y’all. Just wanna say sorry real quick before we get started for the insane delay on the update; my life is in shambles (it’s not) and everything is falling apart (I had to move) and I thought my days on the internet were over for good (I lost my computer charger). But never fear, I beat the odds (finished moving and Matt ordered me a new charger ‘cause I use my laptop for work) and I am in the proverbial saddle once again.

So, anyway. Back to it.

We found “me” first. (If you don’t know what the fuck that means, see our previous installment for context—this is a part two.)

It was the scent that did it. That cloyingly sweet, rotting smell I’d picked up on when I first headed down into the cabin space. I hadn’t noticed it coming off of Wiley’s doppelganger on deck, I assume, because we’d been out in open air, but here, now, I was choking on it. 

I don’t know that anything could have prepared me for the sensation of perceiving myself from the outside when Wiley and I rounded the corner. The compulsion to mirror the movements of this tangible, corporeal visage of myself was so incredibly compelling I had to fight not to look away.

The way its lips stretched over its teeth as it bared them to offer us a sickly, unsettling grin was almost helpful in its disconcerting nature—the less human it appeared, the better. “What’s the matter?” it asked, in a near-perfect iteration of my voice. “Aren’t you having fun?”

“What the fuck are you?” Wiley spat, fists tightening at their sides.

The thing lifted its hand to its chest in mock offense, bottom lip jutting out into a pout. “Wiley, that hurts. I’m your friend! You know me.”

“You’re not my fucking friend.” Wiley stepped ahead of me, nearly toe-to-toe with my doppelganger, and shoved against its chest, hard.

It didn’t budge. 

I cartoon-character-tug-the-collar gulped. 

Trying to recall the following sequence of events in enough detail to adequately recount them here is a beast. I’m not sure how my brain decides what’s traumatic enough to protect me from in the moment and what isn’t, but evidently this encounter in particular was too much to process, because the next thing I remember is Wiley dropping their candle as they were flung in the opposite direction of me, landing hard enough that their impact echoed throughout at least the immediate vicinity. 

“I’m okay,” they said, after a beat. I don’t remember calling out to them, but it very well may have been in response to me. “Get that fucking thing.”

I just…I don’t know. I charged it.

I’m not sure, in hindsight, what I thought that was going to accomplish. I’d just watched Wiley attempt to knock it down and end up the human embodiment of a paper airplane, so the delusion that my outcome would differ wildly enough to make full-body tackling it worth the effort, and, additionally, terror, was fully devoid of sources to cite. 

But it worked.

I won’t pretend not to have forcibly suppressed a small swell of vindication welling in my chest when I took note that the mimic’s smug stoicism had slipped precisely far enough to give away that it was utterly shocked.

There was something unsettling in the exchange, too—something about the understanding that not even it fully grasped the mechanics of what was taking place—but I ignored the unease in favor of focusing on the fact that I’d managed to best it, even by a one percent margin. 

This, of course, did not indicate to me that the situation would be smooth sailing (pun intended) from that point forward. Motherfucker was strong. I was flipped onto my back in a fraction of a second, knees practically pinned to my chest, shoulders held flat against the ground. 

“Actually going to have some fun now, are we?” It snarled happily, face inches from my own. Its breath was hot and putrid and sour, and I turned my head to the side, desperate to draw in a lungful of clean air. “I love a good dance.”

I’ve gotta give that to it: in a way, it did feel like a dance. There wasn’t anything but the existence of the two of us in the space, and the push-pull of each movement was calculated in a way that no one but a practiced pair could conceivably achieve. 

It’s a fascinating mental exercise, vying for purchase against yourself. I, of course, don’t have any real grasp on the impossible dynamism of existing as a creature that imitates a person, but I can tell you that it was uncannily perceptive of every individual one of my movements, as I was of its. 

When I rocked further onto my back, planting my feet against its sternum, its hands were already there, lithe fingers encircling my ankles. When it made its move to pull me fully prone, I grabbed onto its biceps, refusing to allow its motion any independence from mine. It used my own leverage to its center of gravity against me, folding me essentially in half, knees next to my ears as it weighed me down. Back and forth and back and forth we went, until, finally, I slipped out of its grapple a fraction of a second too fast for it to have already planned a step further. I hadn’t yet, either, which was likely why I took so little care not to hurt myself in the process of slamming my forehead full-force into its nose. 

Shit sucked. I mean, it sucked worse for the doppelganger, ultimately. I wasn’t the one fountaining blood from the center of my face like a spigot, so I guess I got off alright, all things considered. But I’m not gonna pretend it didn’t daze me for a minute. 

When I was back to seeing more darkness than stars, however, I could make out its form in front of me, both hands covering its face, and I figured that was my opportunity. 

I still had the bike chain clenched in my fist, and I considered, briefly, wrapping it around my knuckles and driving it into the thing’s already busted cartilage, but I knew that wasn’t its intended use. So instead, I placed one end in either palm, clambered to my feet, and bent behind the mimic, wrapping the chain around its neck.

Its hands sprung downward, slicking the metal with blood as it dug fruitlessly at its own skin, nails desperate to separate the chain from its larynx. I knew, though, as I tightened my grip, that the fight was over. It wouldn’t recover—not from this. It wasn’t supposed to.

Wiley pulled me out of it. I don’t know how long it had been, but when awareness returned to me, the doppelganger was entirely limp before me, lifeless form held up by nothing but my own tension. 

“Adam,” Wiley said, far closer now than they’d been at the beginning of the altercation. “It’s done.”

I looked up at them, one of the remarkably still-lit candles casting a soft glow across their face, and then, for the briefest moment, let my eyes fall closed.

“I’m sorry,” they offered quietly. 

“Thanks,” I said, knocking a knuckle against the back of one of their gloved hands. “I’m sorry, too.”

They helped me up, and I let the chain fall to the ground, landing with a sifting, tinny clatter next to “my” body. I didn’t look back as we continued down the hall.

The candle we’d lost in the fray hadn’t been doing much in the way of visual aid anyway, but its absence didn’t go entirely without note. Wiley and I remained next to one another rather than walking in file, squinting through the darkness and relying heavily on our proximity to the walls in the narrow space to guide us. 

Eventually, we advanced to a larger, open area, wherein there was a faint but persistent sound akin to that of water hitting the bottom of a tub somewhere to our right.

We both, on instinct, turned to head toward it, and were met roughly five steps in with the sensation of shallow splashing underfoot. 

After exchanging a look with me, Wiley lowered the candle to the ground. 

Not only did we receive confirmation that it was, indeed, wet, but additionally, we gleaned the knowledge that the water was not stagnant. It was spreading, centimeter by centimeter, until, after a brief moment, our shoes were surrounded.

I didn’t have it in me to be anything but horrifically, sickeningly amused. 

Wiley, in a similar state of exhausted delirium, evidently didn’t either. “It’s gonna fucking sink, isn’t it?”

“It sure is,” I laughed, pushing my damp hair back from my forehead. “Jesus Christ, what are our lives?”

“Almost over,” Wiley snorted in response. “We could…I don’t know, try to figure out where it’s coming from, I guess? See if we can…stop it somehow?”

“I mean, I guess we could try to plug it or something, maybe?”

“Wait, wait,” Wiley said, “maybe this is what the thing meant. The riddle or whatever. Maybe once we take out the…the other one, this’ll stop. But then—does that mean the whole pool won’t go away? Like, will we still be stuck here?”

“Oh. Yeah. Okay, yeah. Maybe. One catastrophe at a time. Let’s just—let’s find your…the other one, take it out, and then we’ll—”

Good news, gang! We didn’t even have to look for it. Bet you’ll never guess why.

Before you ask how many concussions this job has given me, I’ll just go ahead and confirm that they’ve done enough damage that I truly do not know. A lot. It’s a lot. 

The doppelganger fully bodied me, and I hit the floor so hard I swear to god I heard my skeleton rattle inside me. The pulsating pressure in my head was instantaneous. Everything spun, and already being on mobile ground made it so difficult to reorient myself that all I could do upon forcing myself back to my feet was squeeze my eyes shut and spin around to face the wall, seeking out the solace of the slightly-cooler-than-air-temperature wood with my forehead.

Wiley was already on the thing, by the time I got it together. I’d never seen them display the level of unbridled, empty rage they held in that moment before, and I hope I never do again. It was both more and less guarded than they’d ever seemed, somehow, methodical and measured as their gloved fist came down again and again against the mimic’s face.

They were sitting on top of it, knees on either side of its waist, holding its wrists together above its head with their free fingers, driving their knuckles into its cheekbones, browbones, ears, lips, nose, chin, anywhere and everywhere there was an inch of unscathed flesh. 

It really wasn’t even fighting them, and I realized with a sick, sinking horror that I understood why.

“Wiley,” I said quietly, offering the same grounding they had for me. 

They slowed, gradually, in acknowledgment, finally drawing to a panting, trembling halt. “Sorry. That was…sorry.”

I clapped them on the shoulder, offering them a hand up, which they hooked their elbow into so as not to bloody me with the gore coating the gloves. “Water’s still coming,” I commented, a little more solemnly now.

“Yeah,” Wiley said, stripping off the gloves and casting them to the ground. “Guess we’re fucked, huh?”

“Let’s go back up,” I suggested, picking up the candle Wiley had methodically placed on the floor before beginning the ending of the mimic. “Maybe the rest of it’s gone. Like, the pool. Maybe it’s just running in here from nowhere now.”

“...I was gonna ask how that’s possible, but.” Wiley gestured broadly, generally, around us.

“Yeah,” I scoffed. “I don’t know. Come on.”

We traversed clumsily back through the darkness and eventually found our way to the stairwell, which we climbed quickly, pushing our way back out into the (comparative, even if it was only from the moon) light.

You’ll be shocked to learn that the pool was not gone.

There was something happening in it, though. 

A moderately close section of the water was rippling; gently at first, as though something small was moving just beneath the surface, and then in grander waves, growing steadily less contained.

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me,” Wiley said. 

Before I could respond, the water’s tension broke.

Tentacles. Large ones. They appeared to be a pallid green-gray hue in the silvery light, and they twitched and flicked independently, splashing a rain of droplets into the air.

“Okay,” I started hesitantly. “Maybe it’s fine, maybe it’s just a–an octopus. A big octopus.”

“Maybe,” Wiley agreed, with absolutely zero confidence. 

We observed the tentacles wordlessly for several moments, waiting for something else—for the body they were attached to to emerge, or for them to come closer, but they never did.

Instead, something rocked the ship. Something from the opposite end. 

“Fuck,” I said. 

“Fuck,” Wiley agreed.

It would’ve been hilarious, probably, watching us from a third party perspective. 

Whichever end of the ship we ran to, the waters steadily rippled as though something had just submerged itself beneath. We traversed back and forth an embarrassing quantity of times, quickening our paces in hopes that we might be fast enough to catch whatever it was before it disappeared fully again, before arriving at the conclusion that, to catch it, we’d have to split up. 

Neither of us was particularly keen on that idea, given the Whole Entire Fucking Situation™, but we figured the likelihood of imminent danger at this point was relatively even either way, so split up we did.

I saw its head first. Just happened to get the unlucky end of the stick, I guess. 

It took me a minute to process that it even was a head at first. It was that big. But the eye (singular, in the middle of its face) clued me in. 

It opened vertically, like a reptile’s nictitating membrane, only there wasn’t another lid overlaying it. The shade of yellow it revealed itself to be was absolutely otherworldly, and the light emanating from it prompted me to absently recall camping with glowsticks as a child. 

And then I remembered, suddenly, the moonlight illuminating something fastened to the front of the ship. 

Except that it hadn’t been, had it? It had been glowing, too. 

“Wiley!” I hollered. 

Before they could respond, however, I felt a massive thud against the vessel’s side and glanced back to the water to find that the creature’s enormous head had rammed into it, causing the entirety of its weight to shift and forcing me to hold onto the railing nearest to me with both hands to keep from falling.

“What the fuck was that?” they yelled back.

“Come here!” I said, because I didn’t know how in the nine levels of hell I was supposed to explain.

The reaction you’re imagining Wiley having is probably accurate, so I’ll just leave that one up to you. But as soon as I clued them in on my revelation about the ship’s glowing ornament, they leapt into action.

We didn’t need to communicate verbally to understand that the move was to get our hands on it. In a moment’s time, I was holding securely onto Wiley’s ankles, their entire body dangling with determined fervor over the vessel’s front.

“Got it!” they reported after a long, unsteady silence, the certifiable monster below us slamming its form into the precariously sturdy wood separating us from certain disaster.

I pulled them up gracelessly, causing them to fall back onto the deck clutching, what I now saw, was a wooden crossbow.

“Shit,” I said, lifting it from their chest with one hand and employing the other to help them up. “Sorry. You good?”

Wiley nodded. “Look at it,” they panted, gesturing toward the weapon in my grasp. “It’s got a…”

An eye. It had an eye embedded in the stock, glowing in precisely the same hue as that of the beast. I ghosted my thumb over it, about half convinced it would squish beneath my touch, but to my exultant relief, it seemed to be composed of nothing but glass.

“So that’s, like. Where we should shoot it, probably,” Wiley said. 

“Uh-huh,” I agreed. “You ever shot one of these?”

Wiley shook their head and held out their hands. 

I eyed them skeptically.

“Have you?”

“...Fair enough.” I handed it over, casting my gaze to the writhing, gnashing creature in the increasingly tumultuous waters below us. It rammed into the ship’s hull once again, head thrashing back in disdain when it still wasn’t successful in breaking through. 

There was only one bolt. That was what made the odds so precarious. There wasn’t a pouch or quiver or holster full of backups. We had exactly one shot, and the fucker wouldn’t stay still. 

When I tell you what I did, you have to bear in mind that it was a lose-lose situation. I was either going to die stuck on this ship starving to death with Wiley, or I was going to die being probably eaten/possibly drowned by a fantastical, mythical, legendary beast and Wiley was going to live to tell the sickest, most metal tale of all time.

So I jumped.

Just, like, imagine for a second, for my dignity, that it looked ridiculously cool and heroic and that I landed directly on the thing’s back, one leg on each side of its neck like some kind of seasoned cryptid tamer.

Got that image in your mind’s eye? Great. Now wipe the slate completely clean and picture my ass knocking my forehead off its apparently fucking plate-metal-armor hide and flopping about as gracelessly as is humanly possible into the water, ‘cause that’s…yeah. That’s it.

In my defense, though, I did clambour up onto it like I wasn’t even double-concussed or currently shitting my pants about the prospect of being consumed whole. Wiley was hollering at me the whole time, naturally, asking was I crazy and/or out of my mind and/or what the fuck did I think I was doing, but Nessie and Cthulu’s lovechild honestly wasn’t paying me much mind. It was pretty well locked in on the vessel, still presumably calculating how to bring about its ultimate destruction.

Its neck was too big for me to really secure my arms around, but I did my best to maintain my position, my newly re-drenched clothing somehow helping me to retain traction. I had to calculate, mentally, as best I could, my probability of catching the weapon if I instructed Wiley to throw it down to me. If I missed, it would sink, no question. It weighed plenty enough to hold itself down. And also, it wasn’t entirely unlikely that the beast would simply catch it first, and in the event of that outcome, it would serve as a pleasant appetizer to the main course: me. 

So I couldn’t miss, and I had to beat the monster to the punch. That was all there was to it. 

Easy enough.

“Throw it down here!” I told Wiley, motioning toward myself. “You’re too far away and it’s moving too much, there’s no way you’ll make it!”

“Throw it—? It’ll knock you off if you catch it, and that’s if you even catch it! You’re fucking insane, get back up here!”

“Wiley.” 

Something in my tone, I guess, stilled them. “Adam, this is—it’s probably suicide.”

“Nah,” I said, as though I was arguing something as menial as not needing to leave the house five minutes early for an appointment. “It’s fine. I’m good. Hit me.”

Wiley hesitated for a moment that felt longer, probably, than it was. “Matt’s gonna fucking kill me if you die,” they said, and then hurled the bow over the side of the boat.

In case you were worried that I’d suddenly jumped ranks and developed even sub-par reflexes, don’t be. I did not, in fact, catch it.

What I did catch, however, was the one, single bolt. (Without even falling off, so. I’m basically superhuman.)

I had absolutely no idea if it would work. None. But the bow itself was already sinking into the ink-black depths below me, so if it was a necessary element in the creature’s undoing, that proverbial ship had sailed. 

I had to try the only thing I could.

Wiley peered down on me, frozen, looking as though they were holding their breath.

I tackled it. I didn’t know what else to do. I didn’t feel like trying to be stealthy about it would lend itself to my favor, given that I was already on the thing’s back, so I just did my damndest to wrangle it into a position that would allow me access to its enormous, glowing eye. 

It released something, when I stabbed the arrow into it. There was a wet, squelching schlick and then the beginnings of a plume of dark, opaque smoke. 

The monstrosity itself did not seem to have any reaction whatsoever to having just been maimed and, assumedly, blinded, other than to still. It wasn’t thrashing about anymore, but it wasn’t screeching in pain or fury or anything at all. It was utterly silent and motionless, save for the fog pouring steadily from the gaping wound in its pupil.

When it touched the surface of the water, it was as though a chemical reaction was taking place; it looked so much like bubbling acid that, for a moment, I was afraid it would burn me.

I realized quickly enough, however, that the reality of the situation played heavily to my favor. The water was evaporating.

“Oh, shit,” Wiley said, disbelief hanging too heavy in their tone to allow for relief. “Fuck.”

I heard myself laughing before I felt it, a wild, frenetic sound made more unruly by the manipulation of the heavy wind around me. 

I hadn’t allowed myself to register before now that I truly hadn’t expected to make it out. Not this time. There’s always something about barely scraping the bottom of a near-death situation that brings you a new appreciation for life, even if you’re soaking wet and freezing cold and probably going to have pneumonia by tomorrow.

It was fairly straightforward from there–the water disappeared, slowly, and it left the creature nothing but a mess of bones and skin in its wake, any real essence of what had made it alive filtering into the damp, hazy air.

We booked it back inside as soon as the ladder made its appearance again, both panting and exhausted but too giddy to sleep if we’d tried, and headed straight into the kitchen, both, hilariously, feeling as though we were about to die of thirst. 

I filled a glass for Wiley first, sliding it across the table to them as they fell with a heavy plunk into the chair nearest to me, and then pulled another from the cupboard for myself.

I let the silence settle around us for several moments, comfortably, as we drank, and then asked, “Do you want to talk about it?” without turning away from the sink. “About why you…didn’t fight back?”

For a long beat, Wiley was silent. Then, the shuffling of their chair pushing away from the table as they stood. “Nah,” they decided quietly. “Doesn’t matter. I made it out, so.” They sniffed, polishing off the last of their water and setting their glass down gingerly on the island next to me. “How ‘bout you?” they countered, leaning back against the cabinet and crossing their arms. “Are you okay? After…everything?”

“Yeah,” I said, fingertips grazing the scarred tissue across my throat—nearly imperceptible to the naked eye, but smooth and cool to the touch. “Yeah. I’m good.”

It is the eve of Samhain, around 9pm. A shining sliver of a moon hangs over the woods. A cold breeze rattles through the bare branches of the trees surrounding the clearing where the rangers have gathered. Around the clearing, the stone path forms a loose loop, providing the rangers with some protection, but iron lanterns have also been dotted around the clearing for additional security. Two moth-eaten armchairs have been set up for Mabel and her guest, dragged from the cottage. Rangers mill around the clearing, practising their planned routines. Bea stands to one side, stretching with Gabe and a few of the others for a dance routine they’d finally managed to pull together after weeks of bickering. From time to time Bea checks on the key taped to her stomach, pressing her hand against her shirt to check that it hasn’t shifted out of place. Everyone has put on their masks but the robes have been left folded on a side table until the actual performance- Nick insisted that they must not get torn or dirty before then. At the moment, he’s the only one wearing his- the strange garment glistens in the lamplight, covering his entire body from head to toe.

“You all look ridiculous, but I suppose it will be to our visitor’s taste…” A stern voice pierces the clearing and everyone stiffens. Mabel steps out from the shadows of the woods with a sour expression on her face. She walks slowly towards the group: “Let me make this perfectly clear. You are to perform and then see yourselves straight back to the cottage. You will speak if spoken to, but nothing more. Watch yourselves. If I hear a single peep from any of you about how I treat you, there will be hell to pay. I cannot imagine you would, regardless.” She pauses, looking around the clearing. Whatever reaction she was looking for, she doesn't receive. Her lips curl into a scornful smirk. “What? Have I not been good to you? If it wasn’t for me, you’d all be dead by now. I give you everything you need to survive. Think about it. The cottage, food, supplies… those all come from me. You wouldn’t want me to have to take them away, right? Well? Well?! Tell me, you ungrateful little-”

Ding… ding-ding-ding, ding, ding-ding….

Before anyone can respond, the sound of bells emerges from the fog. From the mist a golden swarm appears, scampering towards the border of Raifee Wood. Mabel grimaces as the first of them emerge from the mist, getting underfoot and running around the clearing, squeaking and jumping. One leaps onto a tree stump close to the rangers- it is a dormouse with golden brown fur and eerily intelligent eyes. It sits up on its hind legs staring quizzically at the group, before leaping away. Moments later, the creak of wooden wheels can be heard and out from the mist, a caravan appears. It is large, the exterior covered in swirls of black, grey and white paint. Golden windchimes and lanterns sway from its exterior posts as it approaches the clearing, and on top of it, a golden weathervane creaks as it points towards the edge of the woods. It appears to be pulled by a pair of grey horses, wearing golden bridles covered in jangling bells. They get a bit closer, Gabe gasps. The horses appear to have been split down the middle. On one half, they are of flesh and fur, but the other half is nothing more than pristine, white bone. The horses seem entirely unbothered as they steadily walk through the fog. As they turn slightly, their bisected organs are revealed on the flesh side, pumping and churning but spilling no blood. It should be gory, but the surrealism of their appearance tempers the rangers’ initial fear. Driving the horses forward is a familiar face- the shadowy man who had visited the cottage some months ago. As he gets closer, he waves to the group jubilantly and Mabel hisses in irritation. His gleaming eyes curl gleefully at her reaction. 

Moments later, a tiny shadow swoops low over the clearing. Mabel sees it and swipes, her fingers just brushing the creature’s feathers as it dodges with a gleeful twitter. The skylark the rangers had seen a few days ago. It shoots towards the caravan, aiming for the roof. With a sharp pop, it expands, long limbs bursting into being from nothingness. It flails for a moment, but regains its composure and lands next to the weathervane. In the bird’s place, a young woman stands, clad in a grey and golden tunic, trousers and a pair of leather sandals. She tilts her head at the group, pupil-less golden eyes glinting in the lamp-light. Noticing the shadowy man’s waving, she copies him, using both hands to wave jovially at the group. Mabel looks up at the pair incredulously and yells out: “Excuse me?! That… thing was with you? It’s been bothering me for weeks! My invitation was for one visit, not for you and your entourage to come and go as they please. This is my wood, I have my limits. Wælmist, you have no right…”

Mabel is cut off as the door to the caravan sharply swings open, smashing a lantern. Mabel goes silent, tensing with anger. After a few moments, a tall figure steps out from the caravan in a swirl of mist. They stride towards the group, their robes swirling around them- the sleeves and hem seem to pass through whatever they touch. At first glance, the figure appears monochromatic, their robes, long hair and pale skin all similar shades of grey. However, as the figure draws closer, the rangers are confronted by a final, chilling detail. Their visitor’s skin is translucent. Behind their see-through skin, their skull is clearly visible, as if their flesh was nothing more than a layer of tinted glass. If they have blood or muscles, those cannot be seen- nor would anyone wish for them to be. The visitor finally finishes taking in their surroundings and looks at the group head on- bright golden eyes glow in contrast to the large, dark sockets of their skull. They are terrible and beautiful.

The visitor approaches Mabel who returns his stern gaze with an equally harsh glare. “Mabel. I have the decency to use your mundane name around your… rangers, are they? I would thank you to do the same.” Their voice is unlike any the rangers had expected. It is a strange sound, completely jumbled in pitch and tone, as if five or six people of different genders and ages were speaking simultaneously, fighting to be heard above the others. Mabel frowns angrily but then turns to the group. “Rangers. This is the Gleaming Lord. You will address him as such until he leaves with everyone in his entourage. Especially the bloody bird.” As Mabel stalks off, the visitor faces the group: “Apologies, she is correct, but it has been a long time since I have preferred that title. It really has been too long since I’ve last come here. You can address me as Aldwin.” Nick anxiously nods and replies “Certainly…” Aldwin looks over the group and nods before stepping past the group and gliding towards Mabel. He sits down on the chair next to her and the pair begin a hushed conversation. 

“So who’s performing?” A deep voice sounds quizzically from behind the group. Startled, Nick turns around to see the shadowy man and strange woman watching the group intently from the caravan. The shadowy man tilts his head and continues: “I hope that there will be music. I do so love hearing new songs.” Behind him, the woman is nodding her head enthusiastically. Her mouth curls into an impish smile, her voice high and cheerful: “Well? Do tell! What will you do? Give us a clue!” Nick nods, shakily explaining the outline of the program to the strange pair who listen intently. Leading the rest of the ranger away, Gabe shudders, muttering to the group: “Ugh… I think they’re trying to be friendly, but hearing them speak so casually about this is… kind of creepy. It’s so high-stakes for us but for them it’s nothing…” Arata nods. “I don’t think we can hold it against them, it doesn’t seem intentional. Let’s just focus on the performance…”

“There’s no need for that.” A sharp voice cuts Arata off. Surprised, he looks over to see Mabel, who is watching the group intently from her chair. The clearing is quiet.

“The performance? We just need to put the robes on. We’re well rehearsed, we can begin whenever you like…” Arata tries to continue, but his voice fades as Mabel holds up a hand. She smiles coldly, her grey eyes piercingly sharp. A chill sweeps over the clearing. “Did you think I didn’t know what you all were doing? Under my own roof? You were sneaky, certainly, but it wasn’t hard to put everything together- the odd slip-ups, the sudden depletion of stationery supplies, your nervous little faces. It wasn't hard to figure out that you were planning an escape.” Nobody replies. Nick seems rooted to the spot. Bea is visibly shaking but pushes a few of the younger rangers behind her. She begins to try and speak, but Mabel cuts her off with a pointed glare. With a malice-laced smile, Mabel continues: “Relax, I’m not going to kill you. It is Samhain after all. A special night. A sacred night. And I have always been merciful. But I think that you all need a reminder, and the Gleaming Lord here still needs his performance, doesn’t he?” She looks at Aldwin- her expression more challenging than questioning. The strange visitor shifts in his seat, his face wearing an expression of practised neutrality. “I did, however…” 

“Wonderful, let’s start.” Mabel snaps her fingers and silver threads appear around the grove. Everyone is instantly immobilised. With a flick of her wrist, the group is dragged to form a semicircle, facing the two chairs where Mabel and Aldwin are sitting. “I’ve watched your rehearsals, it honestly all seems a bit mundane. Dancing, poetry, how dull. Where's the flair? A few of those masks do give me some interesting ideas however. How about we show our visitors what our fine inhabitants are really like? A song to start… Natalia!” 

“Well I was going to do a poem but- argh!” Natalia is dragged into the centre of the ring- several additional silver strings burst out, wrapping around her joints and neck. Her face is still obscured by her mask, but Natalia's body betrays her terror, her limbs trembling as much as the strings will allow. “No! Mabel please, she really didn’t…” Bea begins to protest but is cut off as a silver string wraps around her neck, squeezing menacingly. In the forced silence, Natalia begins to sing. Her soft, quavering voice rings through the clearing, the melancholic poem she wrote for the Grey Maiden cast to a sombre melody. It doesn’t last long. By the second stanza, Natalia’s voice is notably louder and harsher, and she flinches with discomfort. The third is louder still, the words slurred and off-tempo. By the final stanza, there are no more words. Natalia screams. She gasps for air before it is wrenched from her lungs in agony-laced, broken wails. Fighting against the strings, she reaches for her throat, raking her nails down the skin in harsh red lines.

After eight excruciating minutes, she collapses. Several rangers cry out in horror as Mabel flicks her wrist, dragging Natalia’s limp body back to the group by her strings. Gabe struggles frantically to reach her. “Please, Mabel! I have to…” Mabel rolls her eyes: “Honestly. She just passed out. Here.” As she speaks, a small burst of silver energy bounces from her fingertips, striking Natalia. The girl sits up with a hoarse gasp, ripping off her mask as she does. She looks around with bloodshot eyes and then curls in on herself, her body wracked with silent sobs. Mabel turns to Aldwin who is looking at the scene with wide eyes: “I honestly thought she’d have better endurance than that. To tell you the truth, I’ve been coddling them a little.” Aldwin looks at her, his face blank. He glances over to the caravan, where his two companions look visibly uncomfortable. The woman on the roof has begun to climb down, and the shadow man grips his cane. Before they can approach Aldwin shakes his head- both reluctantly climb into the caravan and shut the door.

Shrugging, Mabel turns back to the group: “Since you seem eager Gabe, how about you go next? Your mask’s design is so interesting.” Like Natalia, Gabe is pulled to the middle of the clearing. He fights against the treads, even as they begin to cut into his bare arms. “The puca is such a strange creature, wonderfully flexible.” After a moment, Gabe stiffens, standing to attention. He is still for a moment, before his body lurches to one side dramatically, sending him circling around the clearing in agile leaps and rolls. It is less a dance like he had in mind and more of an acrobatic routine. A spin. A cartwheel. A handspring. Crunch. His wrist hits the ground at an odd angle, but soundlessly, he continues. Another spin- his leg stays in one place as his entire body rotates 360 degrees. A backflip- his spine flexes unnaturally, curling far too much. He keeps going. For five terrible minutes, Gabe soundlessly performs, joints spinning, body twisting and contorting inhumanly. Finally, he runs across the clearing and flips, spinning in the air, joints flailing. At the peak of his ascension, his limbs suddenly snap together at his sides. And then he begins to fall. He plummets towards the ground head first, his limbs at his side, seemingly refusing to protect him from the impact.

Snap!

… Gabe sits in the middle of the clearing, unscathed. Nobody knows how to react. He should be dead, injured at least. His neck should be broken, they all saw what was about to happen. And yet, Gabe is alive. Like Natalia, he rips his mask off, holding it in shaking hands- he’s trembling all over. Silently, he stumbles back to the group, where Natalia reaches out for him with tearful eyes. He approaches but is yanked back to his initial position in the semicircle: “Honestly. You babies. I could have made that a lot worse, get a grip,” Mabel mutters. After a pause, the old woman hums, looking over the group with a clinical glare: “That was fun… what next? Arata, you had a story prepared, didn’t you? Or a monologue if you want to flatter yourself… it doesn’t matter. You have such a nice voice, I’d like to hear it.”

Mabel’s threads pull Arata to the middle of the clearing. He doesn’t fight, but seems almost pointedly still. He doesn’t speak. With a sigh, Mabel flicks her wrist, and a silver thread wraps around Arata’s throat. It constricts threateningly and a thin stream of blood trickles from the cut. As Arata reluctantly begins, his voice is angry and level. It is the same monologue he’d planned for the performance, a cautionary tale of paranoia, unrequited love and the quest for immortality, but sapped of all the passion he had poured into the original version. However, as the group looks on, Arata’s legs begin to turn pale and stiff, rooting him to the spot. He doesn’t initially notice but looks down when the transformation reaches his waist. He stops for a moment before the silver thread around his throat is tugged and he continues. By the final few sentences of the speech, Arata’s entire body is pale, shiny and stiff, like newly glazed porcelain. Midway through the closing line, the transformation reaches his throat and the words fade, dying in his paralysed larynx. The clearing is silent. With a light-hearted chuckle, Mabel reaches down, picking up a small pebble. Swish. She flings it across the clearing, striking Arata in the chest with a sickening ping. The immobile man’s body begins to tremble, tiny spiderwebs of cracks forming across his entire body, wherever skin is showing. Arata falls apart.

And then he is back. Where shattered pieces of porcelain had been moments ago, Arata sits, shivering. With trembling hands he tears open his shirt, looking at where the pebble had hit him. In the dead centre of his chest, an angry purple scar remains, thin, angular lines shooting out from the mark as if his chest had been shattered and put together again. Arata buttons his shirt back up and before Mabel needs to drag him, he stalks back to his place in the semi-circle. He turns, his eyes glittering with contempt. Mabel smirks: “What? You’ve got such a nice way with words, I’m sure people won’t mind a little scar…” She pauses, waiting for him to take the bait, but he doesn’t speak. Rolling her eyes, Mabel laughs. “So childish. You all are but you especially. You should be grateful I didn’t let it reach your face. Well, I think we should have one more, I’m getting bored. Bea! I have a hunch you might have been the one to start this, so let’s finish with you-”

“Ok. Do whatever you want. And then you’ll stop this, right?” Before Mabel can finish, Bea steps into the clearing. At the edge of the semi-circle, Nick begins to shift, but is restrained by even more strings. If one had glanced at him at the start and conclusion of this terrible performance, the difference would be clear: He had been fighting for the entire duration of the performance, to the point where every joint and limb had now been restrained in gleaming silver threads. Mabel glances at him, shaking her head condescending: “Don’t worry Nick, I won’t kill her. You can consider it your Christmas present." Standing up, Mabel approaches Bea, her hands tucked behind her back. “The Butcher. One of my favourites, it seems like she’s yours too. I get it, I do. So fierce. So protective of her flock. She’d do anything to keep them safe. Have you kept your flock safe, Bea? This foolish plan you hatched has put all of them in danger. And for what? Two snivelling brats? Do you think either of them would even recognise you if you walked back into their lives tomorrow? Children forget so easily, babies even more so. You’re as good as dead to them. The Butcher would never try to do something so stupid, especially if it put the flock she swore to protect in danger. You really ought to be more like her. How about we start this evening?”

Mabel holds her hands out: Clasped in her palm is a tiny nest, two minuscule chicks crawling around inside. Their tiny bodies are covered in a fine down of newly grown feathers but their eyes are still clenched shut. Feeling the shift in movement, they crane upwards, peeping in shrill, needy tones. Mabel reaches in, stroking them with one of her clawed fingers.

Chirp… chirp…chirp… 

“Robins. Born a bit too late in the season. I found them in the coldest, deepest part of the woods. Their mummy never came back for them, so they were left all alone. Such a shame. They won’t survive the winter.” Bea looks at Mabel, her eyes wide behind her mask. “Why are you telling me this? What do you want me-” 

“Eat them.”

“... W-what? No! No… what d-do you really-”

“I want you to eat them. If you don’t, I will kill everyone here except for you. The Butcher would if it meant feeding her flock. If it was for their survival, she wouldn’t hesitate. So I want to see you finally accept your place in this wood. My wood. I can make you do whatever I want, for whatever reason. I wanted you to be a loyal ranger, serving me and my inhabitants, but you couldn't do that. You were ungrateful, so I must now find some other use for you. I could turn you into a monster and make you kill your friends for my amusement. I could shove you into the mist and send you to the cave of the Lost Ones. I could tear your soul from your body and drink it with my tea tomorrow morning. I can do whatever I want, for whatever reason. And today, I want to see you eat these two birds. So that’s what you’re going to do. Or everyone else here dies.”

Bea looks around, as her strings loosen: It seems like she is being given a choice on the matter. She glances around at the rangers who encircle her. Her eyes linger on Nick as he trembles, blood seeping from the points where the silver threads bind him too tightly. She meets the eyes of every ranger who trusted her, questioned her and lived with her. For a brief moment, she looks back at Mabel and then further back, where Aldwin sits, his eyes wide. 

“Ah…!” When Bea next opens her mouth, the iron beak of her mask mirrors her movements: She’s been given a crude tool to make the task ahead slightly easier. Reluctantly, Bea scoops up both chicks, her hands shaking. She pauses. Tears trickle from under her mask, running down her neck.

Chirp… chirp…chirp… 

CRUNCH.

With a clean blow, Bea bites into the chicks, her sharp beak decapitating both in a single blow. Shuddering, she continues, her beak crunching through the fragile skulls. She tilts her head up as she goes, blood running down the beak and wetting the feathers of the mask. She swallows, retching as fragments of bone cut her mouth in a hundred different places. Between the dreadful sounds of her eating, gagging can be heard: Gabe has vomited, and Arata looks like he won’t be far behind. Minutes pass as Bea continues, clutching the now empty nest in her hands. Finally, she finishes, collapsing to her knees as Mabel looms over her. “Now, that would have been fun if you hadn’t made such a fuss. It looks like you aren’t cut out to be a Butcher. Nor do I think you should have any place in my wood at all. Nick, I know I promised to spare her but I want to end this visit on a high note soooo…”

With a grin and a click of her fingers, every ranger is flung forward to surround Bea’s stunned form. Strings tighten, lifting up arms and legs in preparation for what is to come.

“Wait!” 

Mabel turns, glancing at Aldwin who has raised himself from his seat: “You gave them your word.” Mabel shrugs: “I didn’t use the magic words, did I? So I didn’t really. This is my wood-” 

“Well-”

Before Aldwin can continue, Mabel cuts him off with a sharp clap. Immediately, the rangers set upon Bea’s hunched body, bombarding her with kicks and punches. In the flurry of limbs, several rangers are also injured as stray fists split lips and bruise ribs. Despite this, nobody seems able to stop. Mabel returns to her seat, watching the assault with keen interest. After a minute, Bea seems to come to her senses, bursting out from the group and sprinting away from the clearing. The rangers give chase. A few find their voices, calling out to her:

“Run for the cottage!”

“No! You have to find somewhere else!”

“Please Mabel, stop this-!”

Bea sprints, her bruised legs carrying her with shocking agility over rabbit holes and rocks. She ducks and slides to dodge grasping hands, slipping away from the pack with ease. She’s always been fast, faster than any other ranger- except one. A silver-strug hand seizes Bea’s shirt just before she can disappear into the bushes. It yanks her harshly backwards, causing her to stumble and fall to her side. She looks up, meeting Nick’s single, tearful eye. His leg swings back and then forwards, smashing into Bea’s chest.

CRACK.

The sickening sound pierces the clearing. Bea gasps at the impact, rolling backwards and then onto her feet, her body shaking with adrenaline. The wind was knocked out of her, but she seems unharmed despite the brutal impact. It should have broken most of her ribs. She shouldn't have been able to shake the blow off so easily. But fortunately and unfortunately, something else took most of the impact. It is only when a flurry of golden shards fall out from under her shirt that she realises what has happened. 

“Ah! There it is! I was wondering where you’d squirrelled that away! Ha!” Mabel’s shrill laughter pierces the clearing as she claps her hands delightedly. She leans back in her chair, her body wracked with mirthful giggles. As she cackles, the additional strings around the clearing fade away, and the rangers find that they can move of their own accord again. Several rush to Bea, who is still staring at the broken key shards on the grass below her. A few stay put, dabbing at the blood staining their split lips or grasping their sides in pain.

“Hah... ha…haaaaa. Oh, that was fun. But you’re not off the hook yet. This doesn’t end until she’s-!”

“Mabel! Please!”

In the interim between breaking the key and Mabel recovering from her laughing fit, Nick has sprinted across the clearing and now sits at Mabel’s feet, clutching her skirts. It is a strange sight, completely out of line with Nick’s typically cautious, composed demeanour. Mabel seems stunned, awkwardly standing up and trying to pull her skirt from Nick’s grasp, but to little effect- Nick grips harder, his fingers clinging to the fabric. Lowering his head, he begins to speak, his voice laced with exhaustion and grief:

“Please Mabel! We understand! We’re sorry! We’ll never do anything like this again, I’ll make sure of it! Please…please… please...”

Mabel glares at him coldly, glancing up at the group. She glowers at Bea, her grey eyes glinting thoughtfully. As she does, Nick retracts his hands, clutching them to his chest but remains at Mabel’s feet, head lowered. 

Mabel looks down: “You’re lucky I’m fond of you Nick. This cannot go unpunished, but for now… it is enough. All of you are to go back to the cottage. You’ll be on double workload indefinitely. Perhaps if you have less time to cook up stupid plans, this won’t happen again. Nick, you’ll stay here. We’re going to talk about how well you’re keeping the team in line.” The old woman looks up, her lips curled into a satisfied smirk. “Well? You heard me. Leave.”

Some reluctant, others simply relieved to escape, all of the rangers leave the clearing except for Nick. Mabel stands, smirking at the group, her clawed hand grasping Nick’s arm- his robe has torn at the sleeve. Bea is still in shock: She scoops up a few of the shattered key shards, cradling them in her palms as she is led out of the clearing, seemingly oblivious to anything else around her. As the group retreats into the treeline, anyone who turns around can see Aldwin turn to Mabel, his golden eyes burning. His tone is low and sombre, but his words cannot be picked out. Whatever he says seems to anger Mabel who drags Nick along with her as she turns to spit something back at the grey visitor. From the caravan, two pairs of bright eyes watch the group, but neither the lady or the shadow man emerge. 

As the last ranger loses sight of the clearing, the golden lights of the caravan fade, leaving the group with only the cold comfort of their iron lanterns. They limp through the unyielding dark, back to the cottage.

Previous Entry: The Fearliath

Introduction and basic guide to surviving in Raifee Wood

^(star-zeta4449 • 8/15/24)

[4]

LLT. Life. Like. Tech.

They make these robots. But I can't find a single website about them. And the only thing I do have is there number and so far hex ciphering and asking them 'guide' 'help' etc gets me exactly jack...

Now... as for news articles... We have results like-

LLT SUED FOR UNETHICAL WORKPLACE PRACTICES

Alright who hasn't been sued for keeping someone from using the bathroom or drinking water now a days?

EMPLOYEES TOLD TO THEMSELVES AT HOME EVERY DAY 24/7 JUST TO BE ALLOWED LEAVE.

"One even reports that his manager was with-holding his bereavement leave for his own child's funeral unless he agreed to record himself all day at the event."

Ya... Yikes.

Other news articles told reports of them being sued for all sorts of stuff ranging from Animatronic malfunctions to stealing from other smaller companies. But there are also reports of there success. Pretty big ones, like for example:

LIFE LIKE TECH PRESENTS THERE NEW ENVIORMENTAL COMPUTER ENGINE.

"Its so aware of its surroundings its almost like its a living machine."

Date? May 6... 1989.

How. How did they make something that can be described as "a living machine" that soon?

Old videos I found didn't disappoint. It showed a robot being supported puppet strings as it walked around a stage, interacting with the audience. Its 'skin' was white and its mouth moved like a puppet. It wore a white lab coat and black pants, no shoes covering its bird like feet, having 3 claws or arms or something stretch out in a triangular shape to support it. They handed it books and it read them aloud. They handed it toys and it said 'Cool' or 'Neat' or 'Scary'. They had someone poke it on the arm and its hand shot over that part that was poked and said 'ow'.

All of this seemed too life like for 1989 technology... Maybe. I don't know, Im not a 80's kid. This is so advanced and yet it doesn't feel like we've reached that level today. Have a robot do that today and its making headlines. Everyone acts like were getting closer and closer to having droids like in star wars and stuff. Infact, thats exactly what people would say. Because this never happened before to them. But it DID! What happened? I don't know. One day there making talking robots act like humans and the next... Gone. I don't think I'll be getting any actual answers from this company any time soon...

As for Snatch-Trap... Ya he's not alone.

Snatch-Trap and that endo skeleton keep patrolling around the house. Only at night. They know to avoid lights and know where my room is. I have to check if there in the halls with the camera's. Listening for any sounds of walking or footsteps. They walk through the halls, go to my room, and stand there. Waiting. Snatch Trap tries opening the door. If he can't open it, he'll bang on the door. Then runs away when my siblings wake up and ask me what the heck Im doing. I try showing them the security footage but they just think its me running up and around in the dark. With no night vision mode or anyway to see them they just think Im crazy. And I can't be any more specific or I get memory wiped and Im even further away from finding out anything... But honestly... Im done finding out about anything at all.

Valkyrie was right... This was all better left unknown... Not that there is much left to not be known. Its clear my siblings don't view any of us as actual people. Toys to have fun with, and then to be disposed of when we become to much trouble...

Sorry if this isn't scary... But... This is where things end for now. The only thing I have left to do is to deal with Snatch-Trap and that Endoskeleton and then after that... This saga is never more.

Im done. No more investigation, no more weird robots... Im done.

At the very least, I'll keep that promise I made to help Valkyrie leave... But after that. Im done. I never want to talk, see, or even hear about my siblings again.

I don't owe it to them because were clearly not 'family'.

---

^(star-zeta4449 • 8/16/24)

My life went straight to hell the moment I dared touch that god damn basement.

I figured Snatch was smart enough to hide during the day and come out at night. Somewhere near the basement because he and that endoskeleton come as a duo... So if I can bait them into the basement I can lock them in there and be done and over with this.

That was the plan. Waiting till I was home alone I went into the closet we all kept our coats and board games...

Snatch Trap made eye contact with me from behind a coat.

Son of a-

I didn't even have a chance to run away. Only to fight and struggle as we fought. I shoved him off but his arms reached to far to just pull me back. I moved with the pull and shoved him down onto the ground before stomping on his arm. He yelled in pain as I ran away to the kitchen. Snatch Trap followed.

I grabbed a chair and tossed it in his way before going for the mallet. Snatch Trap moved out of the way as he approached and-

THUNK!

Snatch-Trap recoiled, holding his hands over the mark has he looked at me. Then ran away. He'd be back...

Thump!

He ran into the basement...

Click.

And he's staying there...

After that I just sat down at the closet door and broke down right there. This was just too much too soon I couldn't deal with this much stress happening to me at once. Why couldn't this be one of those normal things teenagers cry about? Like there favorite character dying or something instead or getting rejected... not being a literal toy kept just for fun. This day couldn't possibly get any worst.

Then something came bashing on the door. They bashed on it 2 times before I got up an ran away.

Running up the stairs I heard the door break before something came storming up through the house. I hid my room and Im hiding in the closet as I type this. That thing that took Genesis is probably back again and now... Now I really don't know what Im ment to do now apart from telling you all this: Live in bliss people. The truth hurts way more then the lies...

^(star-zeta4449 • 8/18/24)

...I don't have any notes for what happened on the 17th. Or even remember anything at all apart from these post above...

All I know is that something attacked me on the 16th... Bad enough to put me in bed rest. I can't ignore the lack of feeling in my leg that was all wrapped up in a cast. Im just stuck on the second floor of my house now...

But rewatching the footage... I wasn't attacked by something. Someone: Valkyrie.

...

Why did she do this...

Hello, children! If you're reading this, you've probably just reached the stage in your growth cycle where you're old enough to leave the nursery area during the day. Congratulations! But if the Caretakers haven't told you yet, there are some rules you need to follow out here.

1. Listen to the Caretakers at all times - this doesn't change just because you're older now. If you see a Caretaker who looks or acts odd, immediately report it to the nearest trustworthy Caretaker and distance yourself from that area.

2. If you see a small girl in a pink dress or a small boy in suspenders, don't fret. They are safe to talk to, but looking at them directly for too long may cause migraines and touching them may induce temporary numbness.

3. When you exit the nursery area, do not under any circumstances open the door at the end of the left hallway; faulty creations are kept there and may endanger you if you enter. You may, however, proceed forward to the Creator's offices or right to the common area.

4. Do not leave the building. There is a greenhouse in the common area akin to the one in the nursery if you wish to see the outside, but you may not leave the building without express permission from the Creator.

5. Beyond the Creator's offices is a gallery. There is no glass over any of the exhibits; however, you are respectfully asked to refrain from touching any of them, particularly the inkwell, the friendship bracelets and the folding knife.

6. Do not harm anybody. If somebody harms you in any way, you are authorized to fight back as hard as you wish - there will be no consequences for defending yourself. However, if you initiate a fight, you will be held accountable and physical discipline may be necessary.

7. Please do not make up your own names, even in jest. You will be given a name once your growth cycle has concluded, if the Creator deems you suitable for your selected role; however, until then, you will respond to the number stitched on the front of your outfit.

8. If you come across any being that looks or acts odd, doesn't seem aware of the rules, or tries to get you to open the left hallway door, run. Find the Creator immediately, I don't care if you have to break down their door, notify them immediately.

See, only eight rules! If you break one, a mark will be made in your file and may impact your chances of being placed where you wish to be once your growth cycle finishes. But you're all good kids, so I'm sure it won't come to that. In the mean time - go visit the common area, and have fun!

P̴̢̳̬͈̬̰͓̣̳̜͙̤̾L̶̡̡̨̛̮̣̻̤̞̭͖̦̖͎̠͙͗̈́̄̎͆̇̓͂Ė̴̢̨̹̙͔͇̦̅̀̇̂̌͛Ą̸̺͎̜͉̠̟̱͕͎̙̦̬̖̖́̂̀͜S̶̈̈́̉̓̇ͅẺ̴͓̌͒̎̽̈́̿͗͗̊͝͠ͅ ̸̛̲̓̊͆͛̀͑̏̈́͐̉̆̊̃̕͠͠O̷̧̳̝͕̱̗͊͊̾̐́́̇̂̅́͋͌͘͠P̶̨̡̛̬̱͚̯̗̣̬̠̟̻̩̔̇̃̾̿E̷̛̖̰̠̓̈́͆N̴̛̳̪̬̘̼͕̮͖̥͛́̃̃͆̇̽̄̇͗͒̈́̀̕͜͠͠ ̴̞̣͍̺̜͓̞̗̦͇͕̖̼̥̘̈́̓̑̃T̵̘̑͂̅̈͂̈́͂́̍́͗͐̈͂H̴̡͓̻̯͇̤̥͌̐̏͂̎È̴̯̪̬̮͕̤ ̵̡̻͈̗̭̽D̴̹̝̼̀̚O̵̡͗͑̆̌͑́̄O̵̱͈̳͈̜͇͍̊́͗̀̒̀̉͆͛͛͝ͅR̵̡̨̬͚̜̬͖̬͎͈͇̦̥̯̞̔̅̊͝,̴̦̪̣͕̖̣̻̦̭̍̄́̓͂̎̽́̆̚͠ ̶̡̭͚̳̤̦̰̺̦̫͓̗͓̥̝̃̏͒̋͛̇̆̽̄̄̋̈́̆̅̕̚Ŵ̶̨̢̧̱͖̭͙͚̠͖̈̒̐̌̍̃E̵̡̨̛̛͕͕͎̥̥͈̟̗͙̫͚̳͕͒̊͊̀̽͑̿͝'̴̨̙̼̙̪̘͍̯͈̙͈̮̗̏̔́̿̍̈́̏͋̆̏̾̿̑̔͠ͅR̵̡͉̝͖̠͉̠̤̰̣̺͆̈́́̀̋̏̈́̈́̓͆͘͘Ê̴̡̛̯̗̪̝̗̲͇̹̦̂͊͊̃́̃̌͘ ̸̧̨̣͇̭̩̘͖̹̍Ṯ̶̹͂͂̓̀̈́̍R̵̯̙̬̦̓͛̒̂ͅÀ̴̧̢̻͚̘͐͒͆͑͒̓̌̂͊̃̂̋͠P̴̟̖̭̯̽͂P̶͔̍͋̔͗̒̏̾E̶̡̳̼͎̗̥͓͒̄Ḑ̸͉͚͇̟͓̗̪̯̳͓͚̺̰̄̈́̂̔͊͑̂̆̋́ͅ

Hello there, as you are probably aware, life on other planets exist. However we must now prepare ourself as these life forms exhibit a strange behaviour, unlike anything that was known to be possible until now.

Now, you may have noticed construction being made in your local town or city, this is normal. We have built shelters made to combat this extraterrsstrial life which from now on be referred to as "The Abyss"

Section 1: Alien invasion This section will inform you on how to identify when and what to do in the beginning of an Abyss invasion.

The first sign will be black splotches in the sky, this is the Abyss.

The second and far more obvious sign will be the alarms, as many alarms will sound off at once, car alarms, air raid alarms. Everything we can get to notify everyone

When you identify these signs, get to the shelter, it is important to memorize where your shelter is and the fastest route to it, if you fail to make it, look at section 3

Section 2: Shelter survival

Congratulations, you made it or you are preparing to make it, regardless you must follow and memorize these rules. Preferably bring the manual with you into the shelter.

Rule 1: Follow orders from the men dressed in red robes, these are the researchers who have dedicated their lives to surviving the Abyss

Rule 2: Farming may only be done under heavy supervision, we do understand that some shelters will be built near areas with farmers but we do not want you to ruin the only food source humanity will have.

Rule 3: If the lights go out, this means that a door to the shelter has opened. There is no need to panic about Abyss getting in as the Abyss avoids areas without any light. There are also multible doors that keep the Abyss out. If one of the exist doors are opened, an automatic timer will activate that prevent another door from being opened in 24 hours to ensure that everyone in the shelter survives.

Rule 4: Do not question the procedures. The procedures have been scientifically proven to work by top researchers who have been collaborating. We understand that they may occasionally hurt, however we must live through the pain to be able to see the world.

Rule 5: Children. We understand that people may die in the shelter and a need for repopulation may rise. Repopulation day will come when numbers have reached under 11000 people. The repopulation protocol includes children being made through Artificial insemination.

Rule 6: Eat what you're given and dont get greedy. We do understand that supplies may run thin and the rations you are supplied with may leave you with unnused stomach space. You must survive through times like these to insure the survival of humanity

Section 3: Non shelter survival

if you dont live in an area with a shelter you are encouraged to move to an area with one, its for your own good. If you dont move to a sheltered area, the following guide will educate you on how to create a makeshift shelter.

Step 1: Find the darkest place on your property or someone else Property, you may have to cooperate with other people in your area but it's all for survival.

Step 2: Supply your makeshift shelter with as many supplies as you can spare.

Step 3: Unscrew all light bulbs in the shelter and take all objects that produce light out of the shelter, these only attract the Abyss.

Step 4:When you see or hear the signs that the Abyss is coming, go to your makeshift shelter as soon as possible, seal the entrance to the shelter with anything you can to prevent all Abyss from entering. You are encouraged to bring other people into your shelter as they will help you remain sane, the Abyss is not attracted to sound. Only light

Step 5: Ration your supplies and try to not spill anything in the darkness.

Step 6: Find any way to pass the time. For example, sleeping as much of it away as possible.

Now you know how to survive when the Abyss day comes. Please keep in mind to turn off the lights.

Wow! Well done researcher! If your being this tape you have been promoted to level three researcher and also been stationed in section 3 of "the red wood"! (Be advised that if you have in fact not been granted the clearance necessary to view this tape,you will be sent into [data expunged] alone. We have no tolerance or leniency for this) this educational tape will inform you of the protocol for settling in in your new section.

1.make sure to inform the guards at the gate of your arrival beforehand or the autonomous defense system will open fire on you.

2.As in tape 2,make the transition at night,waiting in the gate area before being collected.

3.after you reach the base,make sure you are not being followed. Stalkers are active in this section and are documented to have higher intelligence and speed than the variants in other sections. do not allow one into the base.

4.if you are out at night,turn off all radios (as you should already be accustomed to doing) but allow your light to remain enabled. This will be important for rule 5.

5.if you should be outside at night near the lake,shine your light on the waters surface. If it becomes red under the light do not drink the water. No matter how many voices you hear.

6. If the water is clear as normal,feel free to drink as much water as you like. We at the corporation pride ourselves on our clean and vitamin rich water.

Ïēæœⁿ. Hey,it's me again. I still can't say much but you need to follow the deer. Trust me and I'll keep you alive.

7. As in section one,any woodland animals must be avoided.

8.your corporation safety belt has been upgraded with our state of the art virtual guidance system to lead you back to base. There is no need to push the beacon signal anymore.

9. The radio man appears in this section aswell as the other 2 before it. Make sure to stay low in the mud if you hear him. (His omnipresence is still being investigated)

10. entity 295B (codenamed "the predator")

Is present in highly wooded areas aswell as the lake. Make sure to keep quiet In these areas and wear your standard issue scent masking deodorant to avoid becoming his prey.

11. In the event that you see a white deer grazing by the lake,immediately reach for your corporation sidearm and shoot to kill. It is an ally of the predator and will run to alert him if left alive. In the event you are unable to kill the deer, DO NOT follow it. Run in the opposite direction and hide before the predator arrives.

12. Your corporation sidearm is integrally suppressed. Do not be afraid to alert the predator when firing it.

Congratulations again on your promotion and as always,have an efficient day at the corporation!

End communication