Chapter 1: A Strange New Resident

The carriage opened, showing a dark silhouette of a man.

A bell rang, which drew the attention of a few men. One man emerged wearing a tophat and a red tie.

It was raining today, with a gloomy sky throughout the land.

My suit is wet. Jack said, which made hearts thump. By no means was this man handsome. His voice made me tremble.

As the man drew closer, I saw his eyes—pitch-black eyes and pale white skin. I dropped to my knees, frightened, but I didn't know why. Before I alerted my friend, it was gone. The man had brown eyes and tan skin.

My fear vanished as if I were seeing things—an illusion, if you may. Have I taken my medications?

He looked at me with a small grin, revealing his perfectly white teeth. A wave of comfort surrounded me, which seemed to remove all my uneasiness.

The man slowly walked away, or did he walk fast? I had no clue, as if my perception of time itself was distorted. He walked away until I saw no sign of him.

My clothes were battered in the rain, and I walked home as fast as possible, deserting any of my previous feelings. I was running faster! Until I was home, I saw my house as a simple utilitarian space.

A new neighbor moved in. I wondered who it was, and walking up the stairs, I saw the exact same carriage. The man walked out, and his shadow—his shadow wasn't his; it had eyes.

I walked inside, barely able to stay up, drowsy. Walking inside, my wife said, "It's time for dinner," but I fell down in pain. My wife came to my side, but it seemed as if time itself had stopped.

Through the corner of my eye, I saw the strange man in the tophat. My body had no strength, but he picked me up with ease. His finger seemed to be vibrating, and he tapped my forehead.

The man chanted strange words I couldn't understand,Ꝋ𐌍 ever repeating until eventually I blackout. Uponout wakiup, I i truly wondered whhappened.ed?

I was unaware of what just happened; it was as if my mind itself went blank, and my body was in shambles as if I knew something I shouldn't have known.

As I stepped outside, I noticed my right knee was in pain. How odd, I wondered. However, as I stepped outside, I noticed something...

The sky was completely red. I saw things. Am I delusional? I truly wondered, and in the next moment, as if the world shook in the distant sky, I saw a huge red eye looming over the town, casting a shadow. A red shadow?

Boom I heard it as I scrambled in fear, but it was gone. I fell to my knees. What was that? As tears ran down my face, my body was trembling—ah, yes, trembling—uncontrollable trembling, sweat throughout my body staining my white shirt.

A man approached me, my new neighbor.

How does it feel? He asked me with a strange tone and sparkling red eyes.

As my wife stepped outside, I hastily attempted to get up, but it seemed too late. His eyes glimmered with a pink tint, and my wife's attention was solely on the man in the tophat.

My wife seemed to be bewitched. I was far too late to stop him. The man asked with a sweet yet eerie voice, "Would you like to come over for dinner? and before I could say anything, my wife instantly agreed.

The man said, Perfect.

I had no choice; I had to go! If I didn't, I don't even want to imagine what else he'd do; for all I know, he could've very well kept part of my memory intact for fun.

and so we went to his house. Walking up, I felt disturbed, as if I were being watched by some unknown entity. The man walked up to the doll and opened it.

I didn't know how to explain the interior of the house; it was huge—huger than the outside of the house seemed to be—yet my wife paid no attention to it.

Along the house lay various strange-looking books with crossed-out names; each had strange textures and markings, and one of the books seemed to have a screaming face on it, which seemed impossible using our current workmanship.

Chairs with what seemed to be bones, even a door boarded up with nails, wood, and strange pieces of paper with red symbols on them.

I attempted to get out, but I saw a red eye above the door. We sat down to eat dinner, and I saw food I'd never seen before—food I can't describe.

I took a bite of the food, and my eyes were darkening. I blacked out to a man grinning.

When I woke up, I was in bed as if nothing had ever happened. Hell, even my wife was beside me, angry at me for waking her up.

That's when I noticed some writing on my wrist colored red, which I couldn't make out. I saw strange translucent shadows moving around, which seemed to glow a bit. They had no facial features but seemed to be looking at m-