24M, 6'1, 200mg Lamictal, Occasional Cigarette smoker So about 12 days ago I woke up with what felt like a bruised/swollen bottom right lip. Not any tingling, just felt tender. Over the next few days, the swelling went down except for in more isolated spots still on the bottom of the right lip that felt like small bumps (near the border but I think on the lip). there hasn't really been any pain, only annoyance from licking the spot and really drying the skin. Then about 9 days in a couple of white heads similar to the one in the picture popped up and rose to the surface very quickly. I popped them and a tiny bit of white pimple-like fluid came out. Now another tiny white head popped up and the skin is just extremely dry. Everyone I've asked to look at it doesn't think it is/was a cold sore but I cant figure out what else it could be. Thoughts?
Sorry for the shitty picture!

I sit alone in my room on the seventh floor, writing what will surely be my last will and testament. The heroin which allowed me to forget and to sleep for the last couple of years has lost its power to keep the screaming terrors away. The drug destroyed my body and mind, gradually eating away at them like a corrosive acid. Now I have become a slave to it. And yet, without it, I do not sleep for weeks, but instead continuously see the scenes from that terrible night running through my head on repeat as worsening waves of madness crash on the shores of my consciousness.
In the caverns under the town of Frost Hollow, I found the meaning of true madness. Ever since I escaped that den of horrors, it is difficult to tell what is real and what is only the feverish delirium of an unhinged mind.
Even now, they wait behind the door to this cheap, bare rented room. They drag their claws over the wood. I hear them hissing in that strange, ancient tongue, the one I first heard in the tombs of rock that had been undisturbed for countless millennia.
***
I had first heard rumors of an unexplored cavern from my friend, an experienced caver named Sonia who had explored caverns all over the world. I had been looking for some excitement in my life, some break from the constant monotony and boredom of simply working and sleeping. I had gone caving quite a few times over the year leading up to the trip, but I was not nearly as experienced and had never explored a supposedly virgin passageway of cavern before.
“How do you know no one’s gone down there?” I asked, curious. We sat across from each other at a local diner, getting some early breakfast before our planned descent. The sunrise was still another half-hour away, the sky flat and dark. We would be joined by Sonia’s husband, Phil, who would meet us there shortly after sunrise. I repressed an urge to yawn, chugging half of the steaming hot coffee in one long swallow. Sonia leaned close to me, her nearly colorless blue eyes reminding me of chunks of ice floating down a muddy stream.
“Phil’s friend just found it randomly,” she whispered before glancing around conspiratorially, as if she feared someone would care enough to eavesdrop on a conversation about a cave. “Well, it’s in the middle of a farm, and Phil’s friend, Jack Graysole, owns the entire property and surrounding woods. Jack says he noticed the cows kept going over to a certain spot in the field when it got really hot during the summertime. They would all gather around this little indentation in the grass. After seeing it a few times, Jack got curious and went to investigate what the cows were doing.
“He found a small hole in the ground, almost entirely covered by weeds and grass. He said he felt a cool breeze constantly blowing out of the hole, a breeze that smelled like burning matches and charred metal. After bringing out some shovels and digging down a couple feet, Jack realized that the hole wasn’t a hole at all, but the beginning of a steep passageway leading deep into the bowels of the earth.”
***
The owner of the land decided to unofficially call the newly-discovered cavern Graysole Caverns. Out of respect for him, this is also the name we all used. This is the story of how I found myself in the bowels of a strange subterranean tunnel, a tunnel where creatures beyond my comprehension slunk and hunted, skittering monstrosities who would be more at home in a nightmare.
After grabbing a couple coffees to take with us, Sonia drove over to Graysole Farms. Cows stood out in the grassy fields, huddled in tight circles as they repetitively chewed. The thin silhouette of Jack Graysole waited for us next to the herd. He had a face like a raisin, I thought to myself. I watched his thin, shaking body standing in the middle of an overgrown grassy field. Jack stared down blankly at something only he could see. Sonia and I started unloading some equipment from the car while we waited for Phil.
Once we had the backpacks loaded with some simple supplies, such as water, food, headlamps, rope, a couple extra batteries, some buck knives, and radios, we headed over to accompany Jack. We weren’t taking much, as we didn’t really expect to be down there for more than six or seven hours at the most.
Jack Graysole’s withered old face was as slack and expressionless as that of a corpse. He stared down at the ground as if he were in a trance, waving back and forth slowly on his feet like a plant in a light breeze.
“Jack?” Sonia called out as we approached. I could hear the man’s teeth chattering as we got nearer.
“Hey, what are you doing over here this early? You interested in accompanying us down there?” Sonia joked. But Jack might as well have been totally deaf for all the reaction he gave. Sonia glanced over at me with an anxious expression. I wondered if the old man was having a stroke.
I quickly walked over to where he stood, staring down at a black circular hole about three feet across directly in front of his feet. The entrance to Graysole Caverns stared up at us like a sightless pupil. As I drew within a few feet of Jack and looked straight into his blank eyes, I noticed something alarming.
His pupils were quickly dilating and constricting before my eyes. They would shrink to tiny pinpoints, then, a couple seconds later, rapidly expand until they became dark and serious. I could see his thready, rapid heartbeat pulsating in a vein on the side of his temple. Alarmed, I reached forward and put my hand on his shoulder.
Instantly, he came to life, like a man waking up from a nightmare. Shrieking, he looked at me with fully dilated pupils, reminding me of a panicked deer surrounded by wolves. His quavering old man’s voice shook with ineffable existential horror and mortal fear.
He took a step back away from us, seeming to realize where he was and what he was doing. He looked around, confused, then straight at me and Sonia. His eyes focused with anger and fear, as if we were demons here to drag him down to Hell. His eyes flicked back and forth between us constantly. Jack raised a trembling hand and pointed it straight at my heart.
“It’s you,” he said, his voice dropping to a harsh whisper. His teeth chattered despite the warm spring air. His skin looked deathly pale. “You’re the one who will bring an end to humanity, who will release the ruler of nightmares upon us.” He continued to point accusingly for a long moment at me, his face turning chalk-white. Then his eyes rolled up in his head. Slowly, he stumbled and fell backwards onto the soft grass of the field.
“Jack!” Sonia cried, running over to the old man. Jack’s breaths had started to come in slow, drawn-out gurgles, like a man with a slit throat trying to breathe. Frothy blood bubbled from his lips as they turned blue. Staring up at the endless expanse of cloudless sky, he exhaled one last shuddering breath and died.
***
Phil showed up only a couple minutes later. He found me and Sonia in a state of utter panic, both of us bent double over the still body of Jack. Sonia was on the phone with 911, and I was trying to give Jack chest compressions. The way his fingernails and lips shone with that cyanotic blue cast made me feel sick and weak. I knew it was futile, that I was simply playing with a corpse at this point, but I didn’t know what else to do. I felt if I didn’t do something, I might explode.
I heard the faint wailing of sirens approaching as Sonia’s panicked voice continued babbling to the 911 operator. Phil stood by her side, his tall, dark features searching and lost.
“Oh God, I think he’s dead!” Sonia cried over and over to the operator, as if she thought the operator could do anything about it. I didn’t hear what the operator said in response. As the ambulance pulled in, I gave up on chest compressions. I stood up and took a step back, looking sadly down on the kindly old man’s dead body.
The paramedics ran over. Phil, Sonia and I stood back while they worked on the corpse, trying to shock the heart back into life. But Jack’s open eyes stayed glazed as they stared sightlessly up into eternity.
***
The paramedics left. A couple police officers stayed behind to ask us a few routine questions. Eventually, after an hour or so, they left, too.
“What a fucked-up day,” Phil said, shaking his head grimly. “Do you guys still want to do this? Maybe it’s an omen from God telling us to go home.” Sonia and I exchanged a glance, then we both nodded at the same time.
“Definitely,” she said. “It’s sad what happened to Jack, but realistically, we don’t know what’s going to happen to this property now that he’s passed away. It might get sold or taken by the bank for all we know. This could be our one and only chance to explore this cave.”
“I don’t believe in omens. I’m still down,” I said, feeling slightly sick from the experience. I still remembered how Jack’s body had cracked under the weight of my chest compressions, how his ribs had snapped like bones shattering in greedy hands. “We’ll do it in memory of Jack. I plan to put this up on YouTube.” I pulled my GoPro out of my bag, turning it on. Phil groaned at that.
“Do we have any idea how far down this cave goes?” Phil asked. I felt a sense of relief now that the topic had changed from the death of the old man.
“I sent a little camera down on a rope, but it only went about a hundred feet,” Sonia responded. “It’s pretty steep at first, then it levels out. I couldn’t really see much after it leveled out, but it looks like it should be easy to climb down. There’s plenty of handholds, lots of jutting rocks.”
Phil put on his headlamp and small pack. As he crawled down into the hole, his tanned face looked up at us and gave us one last devilish grin. Once he had gone down a few dozen feet, Sonia started descending. She looked excited and happy. I noticed how she couldn’t stop smiling as she disappeared from view.
I watched their lights grow smaller and dimmer in the circular tunnel. I marveled at how perfectly circular the entrance was. It almost didn’t even look natural.
Taking a deep breath in, I followed my friends down into the dark.
***
“This isn’t too bad,” I said as I climbed down. The jutting rocks gave plenty of handholds and footholds for us. It wasn’t so tight that it felt like a coffin, either.
“It only gets easier from here!” Sonia called up.
“How do you know?” I asked. “You said you’ve never been here before.” She laughed.
“I know. Probably just wishful thinking,” she said. Far below us, Jack’s voice drifted up, faint and weak. He had already reached the bottom.
“The tunnel really opens up down here, guys,” he called. “It’s somewhat… bizarre, though.”
“What do you mean by that?” Sonia asked. I looked down, seeing Sonia and I would reach the bottom in seconds. “Forget it, I’ll let it be a surprise.” I heard her drop down. Slowly and carefully, I lowered myself down the last few feet. There was a short fall onto a smooth granite floor. I looked up, seeing what Phil and Sonia were so mesmerized by.
“Oh, wow,” I said, speechless. I blinked rapidly, wondering if the image would clear like a mirage. The tunnel was cut into a perfectly triangular shape, each side about seven feet long. The ceiling met in a point above our heads.
All along the smooth walls of gray rock, I saw thousands of black orbs peeking out. They looked similar to obsidian, but they were perfectly smooth and circular, each about the size of an orange. They were formed into interlocking diagonal patterns and followed the tunnel straight down as far as the eye could see.
“What is this place?” Sonia asked, taking a tentative step forward. I looked up, seeing the distant pinpoint of sunlight far above our heads. Our voices continued to echo off down the massive tunnels, disappearing in eerie waves into the thick curtain of shadows.
“Are you recording all this?” Phil asked me. I laughed, giddy.
“Of course! This is internet gold right here,” I said. “No one’s going to believe that this isn’t man-made, however. I can’t even believe it. Do you think Jack was playing a joke on us or something?”
“Jack had the sense of humor of a wet paper towel,” Phil whispered, shaking his head. “No, he wouldn’t do something like this.”
“Well, let’s go check it out,” Sonia said, taking a step forward. Her headlamp bobbed up and down rapidly, throwing dancing shadows through the triangular tunnel. It continued straight ahead, without the slightest deviation or curve, disappearing off into a dark point in the distance.
***
We walked as fast as we could, excited to see where, if anywhere, the strange tunnel led. Phil, always the conspiracy theorist, babbled excitedly.
“This has to be aliens, man,” he said, running his fingers through his dark hair. “I bet that scientists will find out this shit is millions of years old when we get back up and tell everyone. Maybe aliens came to earth in ancient times and made a bunch of stuff underground.” Gradually, as we walked, I noticed the tunnel opening up. The pointed triangular ceiling rose up higher above our heads and the walls moved outwards, as we were walking up a triangular funnel. At first, it was so subtle that I didn’t believe it when Sonia pointed it out.
“No, look,” she said, raising her hand above her head. “When we first started down this weird tunnel, my fingers were only maybe a foot away from the top. Now it’s a couple feet.” I was about to respond when our headlamps illuminated something standing in the middle of the tunnel.
“What the fuck is that?” I whispered, stopping cold in my tracks. Phil and Sonia looked up at the abomination at the same time. Its back was to us. It stood nearly as tall as the tunnel, which was now about twenty feet high.
The bottom half looked black and spidery with dozens of long, jointed legs. A bloody, white spine rose out of the mass of legs. Inhumanly long, skeletal arms stretched out in front of it. Its face was pointed away from us, but the back of its head resembled an enormous pointed skull with deep fissures like the cracks of an earthquake running through the bone. The abomination stayed as still as a statue, and for a long moment, I wondered if we were looking at some macabre work of art.
Then, suddenly, one of its insectile legs twitched. A moment later, the other legs started jerking and twisting. There was a sound like bones shattering as it rose up to its full height, turning around to face us.
Its face was like something from a nightmare, melting and reforming constantly like dripping candle wax. I would see a black eye appear on its forehead, then a grinning mouth on its chin, then the features would get sucked back into the folds of melting flesh. After a few moments, two enormous eyes appeared on its face, dark and cold like craters on the surface of the Moon. The mouths and noses disappeared back into the dripping skin, and only the two lidless eyes remained, emanating a cold, reptilian consciousness beyond the ability of my mind to comprehend. I felt terror radiating from its body like freezing waves.
“Free me,” it cried in a gurgling voice that seethed with insanity. It had a shrieking, metallic ringing behind every word that gave it an alien quality. “Free me, and I will give you the waters of eternal life. Within me, I contain the seeds of immortality. Within the nightmares, we live forever, always together, never alone.”
“Who are you?” I asked, terrified. The black reptilian skin of the enormous beast glistened as it knelt down, its massive face drawing near to mine. A sideways mouth burst out of the liquified flesh, showing hundreds of fangs growing like tumors from its white, bloodless gums. The fangs varied in size from only a couple inches to long, sword-like projections that stabbed into the creature’s flesh, causing white blood glittering with rainbows to fall like raindrops all around me.
“I have many names,” it hissed, its thousand voices rising and falling in crashing waves of sound. “I was present at the beginning, when this planet was no more than dead cliffs and endless freezing oceans. Those holy ones who search for us, the ancient ones, call me Niralahoth.”
“How do we free you?” Phil asked, looking terrified. He held Sonia’s hand tightly.
“By letting me into your mind and body,” Niralahoth cried, shaking the cavern. “I was thrown down here, cursed and forgotten. I cannot leave this place of shadows within this body. But in the body of another, my consciousness can be free, and the seeds of new life can spread beyond this prison.”
“There’s no way anyone’s going to do that,” I said, my eyes widening as Niralahoth’s reptilian skull turned towards me in fury. “I mean, you’re asking one of us to give up our individuality, our lives, right?”
“I am asking you to become one with me and gain power undreamt of by mortals,” it cried. “I have within me the fountain of life, the waters that send death away screaming.” I glanced anxiously at Phil and Sonia, wondering if we would have to run.
“The answer is no,” I said. “I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, we can’t do that,” Phil said, backing me up. “But, anyways, I think our trip has ended. It’s time to turn around…”
“You will never return,” Niralahoth cried, skittering away from us. “If you will not accept salvation, then you must accept death.” Within seconds, it slunk away from us, backpedaling on its many skittering legs into the shadows.
***
All around us, a rumbling started.
There was a pounding that crashed through the rock tunnel, as if an insane blacksmith were hammering on a massive anvil. The ringing of crashing rock started off slowly, with a few stones smashing down around us with heavy blasts of sound. Within seconds, the cacophony sped up, rising into a constant stream of destruction. The black orbs were spinning in place all up and down the tunnel, their glossy obsidian surfaces flashing with sparks of blue light.
“It’s collapsing!” Phil cried, running back in the direction we came, holding Sonia’s hand as she tried to keep up with him. I could only stare for a long moment, not sure what to do. It seemed that the direction Phil was heading stood closer to total collapse.
“Wait!” I cried, but my voice was drowned out in the destruction all around us. I felt a rock smash into my shoulder, sending me down to my feet. I heard Phil give a scream of pain, then another stone came down and smashed into my forehead. I remember seeing everything spinning around me as the world went black.
***
I awoke to find my headlamp still shining straight up in the dusty tunnel. Large chunks of the tunnel had slid out of place and crashed to the stone floor. The granite chunks that had fallen looked unnaturally smooth, most of them in the shapes of cylinders or cubes and varying in size from that of an egg to that of a small car.
My head throbbed. It felt as if a tight belt of fire were wrapped around my temples. Groaning, I put my fingers up to my forehead. They came away slick with blood.
Slowly, I started pushing myself up on my feet. I was relieved that nothing seemed broken. I had a deep gash running from the center of my scalp down to my left temple and some shallower cuts on my shoulders and back, but I knew none of that was life-threatening.
“Sonia?” I whispered, my voice coming out weak and strained. I reached into my pack and found a bottle of water. I chugged it quickly in one long swallow.
“Phil?” I cried again, this time stronger. I heard a soft weeping nearby. Staggering, I followed the sound.
Sonia was bloody and covered in cuts and scrapes, sitting next to Phil’s prone form. I saw Phil’s right arm pinned under a massive slab of granite. His arm disappeared from the elbow down in a spreading puddle of thick, dark blood.
“Oh God, Max, I think he’s hurt really bad,” she wept. Phil’s eyes rolled wildly in his head, his face pale and bloodless. I looked down the way we had come, seeing the entire tunnel blocked by large slabs of stone, many with strange, black orbs peeking out like the lenses of cameras.
***
I don’t know how much time passed. My phone died after a day, and then we were counting the endless darkness in breaths and tears.
Phil swam in and out of consciousness as his arm putrefied and blackened around the crush site. After a couple days, Sonia and I agreed that something had to be done. We told Phil we would need to amputate his arm. He was half-delirious, but he came back long enough to understand us and nod weakly.
We made a fire with Phil’s pack, trying to find fuel to throw in it to get it roaring. As it grew, I saw one of the black orbs near the flames abruptly ignite, as if it had been covered in gasoline. Blue, almost colorless flames rose from its surface. We started throwing the small black orbs on the fire until it rose high in the air. I sanitized the buck knife with the flames and pulled a rope tourniquet tight around Phil’s arm. He was conscious but seemingly insane, talking to himself more than anyone else.
“How are we going to get the car started without a key?” he gurgled to someone only he could see. “We need to look around. It has to be here somewhere.”
“Phil, can you hear me, bud? We need to fix your arm. We need to get you out of this mess. OK?” I said as comfortingly as I could. Phil’s eyes rolled wildly, but they didn’t meet my own. I sighed and looked over at Sonia.
“Let’s do it,” I said, giving a grim nod.
I pulled the buck knife out, slicing quickly down through the flesh next to the tourniquet. His veins throbbed like fat worms as the blackened, necrotic skin split easily under the blade, releasing a rancid-smelling gas that hissed out of the wound.
I couldn’t believe how hard it was to slice all the way through the arm. It felt like I was stuck in that hellish task forever. Phil’s eyes rolled in his head as his skin turned the color of clotted milk.
“God, Jesus, make it stop,” Phil whispered over and over, exhaling ragged, pain-filled breaths. The blood spurted from the blackened, dying tissue all over the dust-covered cavern floor, covering my hands in its warm, slick embrace.
After what was probably only three or four minutes, but felt like hours, I had sliced all the way down to the bone. The infected tissue of his arm spurted great gouts of orange pus mixed with rivulets of blood. The hard part was over.
Standing up, I took my steel-toe sneaker and stomped down on his arm as hard as I could. Phil cried out in a powerful voice, as if all the agony and suffering in the world was contained in that one shriek. The bone snapped under my weight with a sound like a tree branch cracking. A moment later, Phil rolled away from the rock that had pinned me in place for so long. Something alien and spongy was shoved into my face, a mass of destroyed red tissue pulsating in time with a runaway heartbeat. At first, shell-shocked and revolted, my mind couldn’t comprehend that I was looking at the stump of Phil’s mutilated arm. I hardened my heart and forced the giddiness and madness to the back of my mind. The time had come to cauterize the wound.
“Sonia, give it to me,” I said with a tremor in my voice. I reached out a hand towards her, a hand stained with Phil’s blood. It looked as if I were wearing a wet, crimson glove. Sonia only stared blankly at me for a long moment, however. A surge of anger ran up my chest.
“Sonia, toughen the fuck up! He’s going to die if you just sit there!” I swore at her, hearing my deep, angry voice bounce around the caverns. Sonia pulled back, as if she were struck. Inwardly, I cursed having a woman as my only able-bodied companion in this situation. She was a competent enough caver, but what would happen if violence and blood came over us? What would happen if, or more realistically when, we needed to fight?
Grimly, Sonia leaned forward and yanked the burning black orb out of the roaring fire, handing it to me on the end of a buck knife that had just barely pierced its hard, strange exterior. The handle of the knife felt coarse and splintery under my filthy skin. I put it to the spongy stump of Phil’s arm. The stump twitched violently. Phil tried to pull away as black smoke rose from the burning flesh.
There was a smell like bacon sizzling. The searing meat of Phil’s arm blackened and crisped under the heat of the orb, which had become no more than a cylinder of glowing blue embers by this point. I felt simultaneously sick and giddy. I didn’t know if I wanted to laugh or vomit. I felt like I was on the verge of some kind of madness, that the stress and insanity of the experience had started to shatter my mind.
His eyes rolled back in his head and he appeared to go into a seizure for a few seconds. With a long exhalation of breath, he finally, mercifully, lost consciousness. It’s hard to admit it, even this close to the end, but a small, sick piece of me was jealous of Phil. Most likely, he would be dead soon, maybe within hours, while Sonia and I would slowly starve and dehydrate like animals over a period of weeks. I looked at her lithe body and soft skin, seeing the feminine curves of her hips and chest. She was a beautiful woman. I knew Phil to be a lucky man. At least, before this trip, he was.
I watched her body, wondering if I had what it took to eat her or Phil if I had to. Did I have an iron heart that would allow me to slice into my friends and consume their raw, cold flesh? Perhaps, by that point, it would be hunger and madness driving me forward, and I wouldn’t even hesitate. I shuddered at the very thought.
***
I fell asleep that night, having strange dreams of massive gods with melting faces sitting in judgment in a circle around me. We had very little food or water left. No one knew we were down here. Rescue was not coming.
When I awoke, I found myself alone. Phil had died from his injuries while I slept, the black streaks of septic shock spreading up his arm towards his heart. His eyes stared sightlessly up at the rock ceiling.
“Sonia?” I called out, my heart racing as I sat up. “Where are you?” My headlamp was growing dim. I looked in my pack, realizing I was on the last of my batteries. I saw a silhouette walking out of the darkness, the thin, pale form of Sonia. She was trembling badly.
“I saw them,” she said. “Niralahoth and its priests. The priests aren’t human. They look reptilian with sideways mouths and too many eyes.” She shuddered.
“Why would you do that?” I asked. Her eyes grew distant.
“You know we’re not getting out of here alive,” she said. “Not on our own. I wanted to see what it offered. It says that if we take a piece of its nightmare into us, we will gain the power to leave this place, that it simply wants to see the surface and spread its nightmares there.” I shook my head.
“Insanity,” I muttered. “We’d be better off dead.” Sonia nodded.
“My thoughts exactly,” she responded grimly. I didn’t realize what she meant until the next day, when I woke up and found her hanging next to Phil’s body, her tongue swollen and blue as it poked out of her cyanotic lips. And then I was truly alone.
***
Soon after Sonia committed suicide, the last of the batteries for the headlamp died. I had run out of food and had only a small sip of water left. I don’t know how much time passed in the darkness, starving and raving, following the tunnel by running my hands over the walls. I heard many things skittering in the darkness, and a few times, I heard the demonic voice of Niralahoth as it split and distorted.
“You are on death’s door,” it hissed. “Will you not drink from the fountain of life?” I couldn’t tell where the voice came from in the maddening blackness. It seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. I had lost nearly all of my sanity in that pit of shadows by this point. I tried laughing constantly to keep my spirits up, and when that failed, I simply cried.
“I’ll do it,” I wailed. “I’ll do it. Just let me see the sky again. Get me out of here, Niralahoth.” Everything went deathly silent all around me, then a laugh rang out like the grinding of glass.
In front of me, I saw a tornado of fire descending from the ceiling, surrounding the massive, spidery form of Niralahoth. It rose its skeletal arms upwards, as if it were Zeus calling down lightning. In the sudden brightness, I saw the fiery form of snakes slithering and centipedes skittering forwards in that tornado, each massive creature sculpted from flames in the spinning cyclone of energy. Niralahoth reached into the tornado of fire with its sharp points of fingers and plucked something small from it. The fire instantly dissipated. In its hand, I saw a tiny, swirling orb that looked like it contained a firestorm within it.
“The nightmare seed,” Niralahoth gurgled as it skittered forward towards me. I could only stare, open-mouthed and starving. I hadn’t slept for days, it felt like, and everything seemed slow and unreal.
In a blur, its skeletal arm shot out and forced the orb into my mouth. Despite the fire raging within it, it felt freezing cold. As it touched my tongue, it gave off a sensation like frostbite all throughout my mouth. I screamed and tried spitting it out, but it seemed to have a mind of its own. It started liquifying, dripping down my throat.
I felt something cancerous and sick spreading throughout my body, radiating out from my heart and stomach to every inch of it. I tried to scream, but it caught behind my teeth. I fell to my knees, clawing at my face as that insane, alien laugh continued resounding all down the tunnel. I fell unconscious and woke up under a beautiful sky in the fields of Graysole Farms.
***
Soon after, I realized that my life would never be the same. Everywhere I went, I could hear the wailing voice of Niralahoth. Behind the trees, I always saw skittering shadows, creatures with long, spidery legs that stalked me every day and night. I slept with every light in the house turned on, yet when I woke up, they would all be shut off, and I would find myself in darkness, next to something in the bed with far too many legs and a face that dripped like burning wax.
I sold everything I owned and tried to move far away, to give as much distance between myself and those cursed caverns as I could, but the nightmares followed me like a shadow. I realize what a fool I was in those ephemeral moments of madness. Sonia was much wiser than myself; I should have killed myself or died rather than allowing that thing inside of me.
Even now, I can feel it creeping through my heart, spreading through my blood. I feel it trying to crawl its way out of my throat, the thin, black legs peeking out at the back of my esophagus.
I only hope that, when I finally jump and feel my bones shatter against the concrete far below, I will kill whatever is inside of me. For I fear the consequences for the world if it were to escape.

The lymph node on the left side of my neck swells up to the size of a golf ball. It’s hard, painful and swells up when I eat. I first noticed this in August 2022 and have been to the doctor a few times. I was told that it was just a swollen lymph node, nothing cancerous that they could find on the ultrasound. When my lymph node starts to swell, my acne flares up, especially alongside my jaw and the bottom half of my face in general. I think this could be the cause of my acne as my skin doesn’t respond to medication so I always had a feeling it was internal. Has anybody experienced this, and what came out of it?
Also, I’m not sure if this is a silly question but does doing lymphatic massages trigger saliva glands to produce more saliva? I guess what I’m asking is, how do I know if I’m doing it correctly?

For context: I'm a 21 year old male/63 kgs/5"11. The first case of cellulitis happened to me in september on the face near my lip and it got swollen and just a traditional case where it gets swollen, red and itchy at first and turns into a balloon and then I visited the doctor and she gave me oral antibiotics and it went away after 3-4 days. However, that was just the first time and it kept arriving on my face, stomach, back and now neck, it has happened 7-8 times in the past 8 months now so I am thinking that something is seriously wrong for this to keep recurring so often. I have no idea why this keeps happening since I am a vegetarian, I dont drink nor smoke so I dont have any bad toxins as such and I am heavily into fitness as well and dont eat a lot of junk food as well. Also, even after it goes it always leaves a scar which really bothers me and affects my confidence since the black scar is always visible in all my photos so could anyone help here please on why it keeps happening and whats the long term solution to this since I am currently in a lot of pain as well.

My cat Loki went in last month for a swollen and scabby chin, it got bad so fast! My vet shaved the affected area cleaned him all up, gave him a shot and sent him home with antibiotic wipes. We were back at the vet 2 weeks later because although his chin was better he had ‘spots, like perfect tiny bumps ’ show up on the backs of his ears and he started having scabby sores on the bridge of his nose. So we were advised to start using the wipes on the ears and nose as well as the chin. So everything was going great, his chin/lips are perfect and his nose is perfect and we were almost in the clear for his ears and then today we notice that there’s tiny bumps on his back at the base of his tail! Ugghhh and our vet is gone until Wednesday. So I got a refill of the wipes to keep working on him till he can see the vet again later this week. But I am starting to suspect this isn’t just ‘cat acne’ any ideas? Hopefully the vet will have some answers!
Side note: we have 3 cats and 2 dogs. No one else has this issue. All 5 animals are on flea/tick/worm preventative monthly and all are up to date on shots, cats are inside only.

I first started noticing that something was wrong around 3 months ago. At the time, I was working from home and would usually light a scented candle while I worked, which usually helped me relax and stay focused on my work. I would usually burn through a candle a week, but over time, the candles started to take less time to fully burn up. At first, I thought that this was because of a change in ingredients the company that made the candles used, but the problem persisted after I switched candle brands, which I once again blamed on the candle manufacturers.
I kept this belief for another week until the first incident. While getting up from my computer desk, which faces away from the candle, to take a quick bathroom break, I caught a glimpse of the lit candle. A two-inch layer of molten wax rested on another three-inch layer of solid wax, the wicks rising out at first and being somewhat visible through the molten layer, finally breaking the surface and being slowly burned away. The flames flickered as I swung the door open and walked out of the room. When I returned 10 minutes later, the molten layer was gone, and the wicks had been shortened so that the flames rested right above the solid layer of the wax. At first, I thought that the glass jar that contained the candle was leaking, but after a short inspection, I was only able to find two small drops of candle wax that had solidified right next to the candle on the bedside table. I still had 2 hours of work left to do, but I was too lost in thought and was unable to do any work for the rest of the day.
Every night before I go to sleep, I like to read for at least 30 minutes, and while reading, I usually light a candle. Around 4 days later, I had mostly forgotten about the incident and went back to using candles. Due to my naivety, it returned.
I fell asleep while reading with a candle lit on my bedside table. I woke up to loud slurping noises. As I opened my eyes, the brightness of the light I had not turned off almost blinded me. As my eyes tried to readjust to the light and focus on what was in front of me, I saw a somewhat humanoid dark gray to light blue blur that contrasted with the white paint on the walls behind it. Another gray line stretched from the shape's head to the candle on my bedside table. I could feel my heart skip five consecutive beats. I opened my mouth and tried to force out a scream for help, but the pressure I applied to my throat was way beyond what it was able to handle, leading me to only produce a light wheezing sound. I tried to sit up or to at least prop myself up, but my muscles failed me. Trying to push myself up with my arms felt impossible. As I stared at the figure that had suddenly appeared in my room, my eyes finally managed to focus, making it possible for me to see the intruder who was now staring at me. The figure was a man at least 7 feet tall, fully naked; he looked bloated; his eyes were bloodshot and looked like they would pop out of their sockets; at any point, his skin was a grayish light blue.
HIS LIPS
His lips extended from his mouth like an elephant's trunk, which had been split in half. The lips extended from the man's face to the candle; the flames had been put out. He was using his lips as a makeshift straw, slowly sucking up all the molten wax from the candle, which had fully liquified while I was asleep. I laid in bed, unable to move, unable to scream for help, staring until he emptied the jar. His lips retracted back to his face, the molten wax solidifying on their tips and cracking, flakes of wax falling off the man's lips and falling to the floor. The man grinned, staring at me. The ridges and gaps between the teeth were filled in with wax, making it impossible to make out where one tooth ended and the next one began. The man opened the door he was standing next to, but instead of walking out of the room, he stepped behind it. His face peered at me from above the door, and then once again, like he had done to drink the wax, the man puckered his lips, which stretched from his mouth and floated to me. I shook and tried to roll over away from him. I wanted to get up and run, but my fear had taken over my body. Tears flowed from my eyes. He kissed me on the cheek, leaving flakes of wax and light moisture. He retracted his lips and lowered his head behind the door.
I don't remember falling asleep, but when I woke up, I saw the empty glass jar, which at one point contained the candle. Even though I had hoped that what had happened was a dream, it wasn't. I still had flakes of wax on my cheek, and on my bedroom floor, the wax in the jar had disappeared. I called the police, but they were unable to find anyone in my apartment; they also could not find any evidence of a break-in.
After the break-in, I started looking for a new apartment to move to, thinking that the man was tied to the building I was in, but even though I had thrown out all of my candles, I could not stomach spending another hour in my apartment, constantly looking over my shoulder or walking around with my back pressed up against the wall to not allow it to creep up on me. Thankfully, my friend Emma was able to let me stay over at her apartment while I looked for a new one for myself.
Me and Emma have been friends since we were 8, and we've been there to support each other when times get rough. This isn’t the first time I've had to stay over at her house for an extended amount of time; in fact, I have had to stay over at Emma’s as many times as she has had to stay over at my apartment, whether it was because of evictions after losing a job, breakups, or a candle wax drinking squatter. I didn't even know if it was human. I mean, sure, it looked like one, but human lips are not supposed to do what his did, and somehow it didn't have a reaction to molten wax being poured down its esophagus. I didn't tell Emma about what happened—the details at least—I just told her that a man had broken into my house and was watching me sleep. The only people I told the truth to were my therapist and the cops, and all of them disregarded what I told them as my mind making things up after a traumatic event.
For a while, I believed what they said—I mean, why wouldn’t I?—but then I started seeing him again. For a few days, I thought it was my mind playing tricks on me again like it had done during the night of the incident. For split seconds out of the corner of my eye, I would see the outline of a tall, bloated figure. At first, they were hours apart, but after a while, it became constant. He was standing in each room I passed, in every single dark corner I glanced past, and then he spoke.
“FeeD MeEeee”
It stood in the kitchen, peering over from a small gap between the fridge and the sink, where the trash can that had been knocked over onto its side usually stood. His voice was raspy, and every word that came out of his mouth was distorted as if he were gargling water, but still, I could somehow clearly make out each word he said from over 15 feet away.
“Please just leave me alone I… why are you following me?”
I shouted at the figure, the same fear that had taken over my body during the night I saw him for the first time paralyzing me, making it impossible for me to move anything other than my eyes, eyelids, and mouth.
“i’M sTarviNg, I nEEd You To FeEd ME”
It replied again. Now, stepping out from behind the fridge, he stepped directly onto a rotten banana. Its mushy brown content’s seeping out of the peel under the pressure of his decomposing foot, which was covered in scabs, and took up the same grayish light blue color as the rest of his body. He mostly looked the same; his bloodshot eyes bulged from their sockets, but now his tongue was swollen. It peeked out from between his bloated, cracked gray lips; it stared at me, waiting for an answer.
“Ok, I’ll.. I’ll feed you, but please just... leave me alone.”
I replied, the tone of my voice shifting into high-pitched squeals with every quick breath I took. He looked satisfied by my response. He somehow squeezed his bloated body back into the gap that was at least four times smaller than him. After peering over at me from above the fridge, he bent over backwards, his spine releasing a series of sickening cracks until he was fully obscured by the fridge, and then he vanished.
Still barely in control of my body, I limped over to the couch tucked away in the back corner of the living room, it took me at least 10 minutes to steady my breathing and 20 more to fully regain control of my body again but as soon as I did I ran out the house and to the nearest store, during the 15-minute walk he stared at me through dark windows and the backs of cars, peered out at me from gaps between leaves in the trees and bushes, he even followed me into the store staring at me from the middle of deserted isles before disappearing right before my eyes were able to fully catch him, once I finally got the candles I randomly picked four off of the shelves and rushed to the self checkout.
When I arrived home, I had 2 hours before Emma got off work. I didn't want to feed it while she was home, and I didn't want her to see it. I pulled out two of the candles from the black plastic bag and placed them on the kitchen table, the first a light blue candle named “Garden Rain” and the second a red candle named “Juicy Watermelon." I pulled out a lighter from one of the drawers Emma used after her stove stopped lighting on its own and lit each of the 6 wicks on the candles. As soon as I started seeing the wax melt under the heat of the burning wicks, I dropped the lighter onto the table next to the candles and ran out of the room. I could not stomach seeing that thing again; even just thinking about it made me shudder and hyperventilate. The paralyzing fear that seeing him caused me made me want to vomit.
At least 30 minutes later I started to hear it drink even though the living room and kitchen were separated by a wall, even though I had closed the door I could still hear what at first started as slurping sounds which were followed up by loud gulps, then it stopped, and once again 30 minutes later it started drinking, as the slurping started once again I heard the door to the apartment crack open, it was Emma, as she stepped through the door I saw her carrying two large brown paper bags of groceries in her hands, she was headed to the kitchen.
“Hey let me grab those for you”
I said running over to her, my voice shaking.
“Oh, thanks. Are you… okay, you look scared?”
My eyes shot wide open in a mixture of fear and surprise. I said the first thing that came to mind.
“Yeah just umm… I didn't expect you to come home so early and I got a bit spooked”
“shit sorry, I know I should have called you, work let me off early today,”
I started to turn away from her walking to the kitchen.
Trying to keep her away from the kitchen I told her to wait for me in the living room because I wanted to talk to her about something. I didn't know what I would talk to her about but that was a problem for future me to resolve, somehow it worked.
“What's that sound?”
She called out to me while walking towards the living room couch. It took me a few seconds to come up with an excuse.
“I think it’s the sink, or the pipes at least”
I opened the door to the kitchen with my eyes closed at first hesitant to look knowing what would be greeting me. slowly prying my eyes open I started to see its outline, my muscles started to lose strength as the details of the man came into my view, I felt the grocery bags start to slip from my arms, my knees buckled, face first I fell onto the kitchen floor scattering the groceries all over the floor, I mixture of a light scream and a yelp escaped from my mouth as my body made contact with the floor, Emma concerned for my safety ran into the kitchen, she didn't scream, using all of the strength and mobility I had left in my muscles I rolled over expecting to see her face drenched in terror, her body frozen still unable to move just like my body had done the first time that I saw him, but Emma looked concerned, the man was gone, she crouched down beside me.
“Oh my god are you ok? What happened?”
I looked around observing my surroundings.
“I um… I… I tripped on the little thing at the bottom of the doorframe”
I finally managed to blurt out another excuse, not being able to remember what the name of a door sill was. I started to sit up using a part of the energy that had returned to my body, pain pulsed through my chest and arms, Emma looked at me with a concerned face.
“You've been acting really weird since I got home, are you sure you're ok?”
“Yeah… I think I’m just having one of those days you know”
The confusion on Emma’s face said that she didn’t know and to be honest I didn't either, I guess my luck of pulling random excuses out of my ass ran out, Emma thought that she triggered some sort of PTSD response after barging into the house unannounced at first apologizing then trying to change the subject to stop my trembling which I was still unsuccessfully trying to hide from her.
“Did you buy candles?”
Emma asked picking the groceries apart from the garbage that spilled out the can that the man had knocked over, placing them on the table next to the now half-empty glass jars, the flames flickered above the inch or so of molten wax the man was unable to finish drinking.
“Yeah I’ve been struggling with work lately, they usually help me focus”
“Huh Interesting combination you’ve got going on here”
She looked at me and smiled slightly, I smiled back and chuckled to seem normal.
“Yeah even I don't know what I was trying to accomplish here, to be honest”
I tried to help Emma clean up the spilled groceries but she did not let me, she told me that I needed to recover like I had been in a car crash instead of having taken a little tumble. After a few seconds of silence, Emma spoke again.
“Anyway, what did you want to talk to me about earlier?”
A quick jolt of stress shot through my body, in a jumbled mess of lies and fear I had forgotten what I had told Emma, I sat there in silence for a few seconds unable to come up with an excuse
“I…umm… I don’t remember, it wasn't anything serious though”
“Damn did you hit your head too?”
She said once again proudly smiling at her joke.
At this point Emma picked up the last bag of potato chips from the floor and placed it on the table, then she opened the fridge and started loading the groceries into it.
“Anyway I gotta go get back to work’’
I blurted out after a few more seconds of awkward silence.
“Alright well good luck”
I walked over into the living room and sat down in front of my workstation, which now consisted of a laptop sitting on a small foldable TV tray that had just barely enough room left on it to fit a small USB mouse.
The last thing I remember, before I fell asleep, was me mindlessly scrolling through apartment listings while Emma watched a random 90’s horror movie I’m positive only had a budget of $500.
I woke up with a light stinging pain shooting through my dry throat, and a dim hissing sound caused by thousands of water drops striking the ground outside filled the room. I pressed the spacebar on my laptop, the brightness of the screen blinding me temporarily, after taking a few seconds to let my eyes readjust I managed to make out the time, 3:45 AM. A strong smell I was unable to make out the origin of assaulted my nostrils. Lavender.
The smell hitting my nose had the same effect on me that I would expect smelling salts would have on a weightlifter right before they set a world record. Before I knew it my legs were moving on their own at an almost uncontrollable pace, fighting back against my mind which was telling them to slow down after years of being used to navigating both mine and Emma’s apartment as steadily as possible to not bother the neighbors.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity I stood before Emma’s bedroom door, a faint, yellow, pulsating light radiated from a lamp and snuck out of a small gap between the door and the doorframe, reluctantly I pushed my left hand up against the door, my right hand grasping onto the door frame for a sense of stability, once the door was fully agape I scanned the inside of the room my heart skipping a beat for every humanoid shadow cast up onto the wall by the lights from the wicks which were set ablaze and were being slowly burnt away.
I walked into Emma’s room and made my way over to her bedside table to put out the candle, as I stepped closer towards her, her face became more defined, I could finally make out her features, she was awake, but no she could not have been, even though her eyes were wide open they never blinked, she didn't even move slightly, as I moved closer I finally managed to fully make out the expression of pure terror on her face, her mouth wide agape as if she was about to release a deafening screach, but she could not have, a single drop of solidified wax dribbled out of the corner of her mouth and clung to her cheek, my eyes traced the cream colored path back towards her mouth, first up her cheek then between the corner of her mouth and finally behind her teeth, there instead of her tongue or the roof of her mouth I saw a wall of wax which had filled in the entirety of her mouth.
I fell to my knees and hunched forward supporting my body weight with my arms, I was too late, I resisted the urge to vomit and got back up onto my feet, a mixture of tears and snot slid down my face and onto my lips, shaking now I slowly started limping over towards my phone which I had left on the couch next to where I had awoken just minutes before, just minutes before my life was destroyed because of my lies if I had just told Emma what I had gone through, if I had just told her what had happened on the night of the incident which now seemed trivial, even if she thought that I was crazy, I know that she would have complied just to make me feel comfortable.
It took me at least 30 seconds of repeated attempts to stabilize my hands enough to properly dial 911. “Someone broke into my apartment and hurt my friend” was the only reasonable explanation I could come up with that would not get the operator to hang up on me thinking that this was a prank call.
I sat there in the living room for an agonizing 10 minutes, crying, my sadness slowly transformed into anger towards myself, and my mind raced thinking of all the lies I’d told, I kept thinking that if I had just told her the truth she would not have been laying there in her bed, her body bloated, “every single orifice has signs of forced penetration and has been filled with what seems to be candle wax” is what was written on her autopsy report.
For a few days I was the main suspect in Emma’s murder, but due to the almost unstoppable crying and the unresponsive state that I was in when the police arrived, mixed with the lack of evidence of me having a way to produce 30 pounds of candle wax led to me being released out of police custody, but because I was the main suspect I was not told any details about what had fully happened to Emma, for days all I had to work off of was the image of her face frozen in terror, and a short glance I caught of her bloated body as she was being carted out on a stretcher.
I recounted every single word of our last conversations over and over again until they became permanently etched into my brain.
Emma’s parents originally wanted to cremate her, as that is what she had somewhat jokingly asked for whenever the topic of funerals came up, well she had joked about wanting to have had unpopped popcorn shoved down her throat before she was sent off to “scare the shit out of the guy cremating me” but due to all the wax which would have been impossible to get out of her body they were forced to bury her.
A few days before Emma’s funeral her body disappeared.
After Emma’s death, her parents took me into their home, after reading the autopsy reports and seeing her corpse they had thrown out every single candle they owned which made their home the safest choice I had, still, this did not stop me from buying a machete and keeping it under my bed, just in case.
I was laying on the bed in their guest bedroom The day that the police informed Emma’s parents about her disappearance, the bedroom is right above the front porch of the house, at first I heard them ring the doorbell which was followed up by 3 powerful knocks on the door, for about a minute I laid there on the bed listening to muffled voices exchanging distorted words I was barely able to make out which slowly transformed into distorted weeps, curious I lifted myself up from the bed, made my way over to the window and carefully lifted the bottom panel making Shure to not make too much noise, the distorted muffled sounds started forming into coherent words “We checked the security footage but the only strange thing we could see was a 5 second time jump” one of the officers spoke in a serious and almost monotone voice “which meant that the security guard who was the only person in the building had to climb down 2 flights of stairs walk through a 40 foot long hallway and then drag her body back up stairs and out of the building in 5 seconds” Emma’s mom let out yelp “ but don’t worry ma'am that’s actually good news because we know that her corpse is still somewhere within the building and was probably brought to the wrong floor by an intern, we’ve already warned all of the staff at the hospital to keep an eye out, and we also sent 5 officers to search the hospital”
I could not believe what I was hearing, my breathing quickened, but this time instead of fear I felt anger, that fucker stole her corpse and was probably in the weird separate plane of existence he always went back to after terrorizing me, cutting off chunks of her body, melting her, and drinking her.
I closed the window Emma’s mom's cries once again turned into a muffled rumble which was only possible to make out if you knew what to look for, I took a few steps back away from the window planning to lay back down, not wanting to bother Emma’s parents. I bumped into something, not something, someone, its fleshy towering form as solid as a wall sent me tumbling forward, I knew it was him, he had returned to take me too, to stretch his swollen cracked lips, push them down my esophagus, fill my lungs and stomach with wax. But despite all of that this time I was not scared, I was angry, and I was not going to stand there in terror like I had the last time I saw him.
I fell forward onto my knees my face missing the window sill just by mere inches, I put my hands onto the floor, lifted one of my knees, and rotated 180 degrees now facing the monster, to the right of him pushed up against the wall was the bed, light from the sun reflected off of the metallic button which kept my machete in it’s sheathe, the man started to stretch his lips, they were moving towards me, waving a wiggling through the air like a snake slithering towards me.
I dove towards the bed one of my feet pushing off of the floor and the other pushing against the wall which creaked under the pressure applied to it, I flew for a few moments before slamming down onto the carpet and sliding forward, the heat generated by my skin brushing against the carpet released a sharp stinging pain throughout my body, my outstretched arm landed just a few inches short of the machete, I quickly bent my arms, pushing my body up and crawled towards the machete. my fingers wrapped around the handle I spun around, my back pushed up against the bedside table, once again facing the man, he was still facing the window but his lips faced me and were just a few feet away from me, for what felt like minutes but was most likely no longer than a second, I struggled to hook my finger under the strap securing the machete into its sheath, as the lips inched towards me the man started producing gurgling noises, he was regurgitation wax.
I finally pulled the machete out of its sheath, I swung the blade at the man's lips, the blade was not met with any resistance as it sliced through the man’s lips which landed on the carpeted floor with an audible thud, the man did not have a physical reaction to my counter-attack, his lips kept creeping towards me, once again I slashed at the lips, still no reaction, I repeated this at least 3 more times.
I wanted to kill him, I wanted to take revenge for what he had done to Emma, but fighting back was pointless. I realized that no matter how much I tried to hurt it, I could not kill him, I could not get rid of him.
My rage dissipated and a mixture of fear and sadness crept in, and soon took over my body, I screamed for help, I screamed in fear, in agony, tears streamed down my face as the man's lips finally reached my face, he wasn’t met with any resistance as his lips snuck between mine, pried my jaw open and finally started to slide down my esophagus.
I heard the cops run up the stairs, they started banging on the door asking if I was okay only to have been met with muffled screams, hot wax started to pour down inside of me, the stinging pain of the heat made me want to plunge the machete which I had dropped onto the ground next to me into my stomach to create a gaping wound that the wax would hopefully funnel out of, the texture of the man's slippery, oily lips matched with the poison like flavor of the wax caused me to start gagging, I felt my insides bulging like at any moment my intestines would have been filled to the point where they would pop, I wanted to vomit, the drain myself of the filth I was filled with, but his lips had plugged my throat not allowing anything to get out.
Hearing my muffled screams the cops started kicking the door down, the man retracted his lips, the suction aided my attempts at cleansing my insides, I got onto my hands and knees streams of molten wax pouring out of me, solidifying on the the carpet, with another loud thud the door swung open slamming into the wall, the man was gone.
That’s the last thing I remember before I passed out, but according to one of the doctors who was in the ambulance that brought me to the hospital, I was still semi-responsive during the first 10 minutes of the ride to the hospital.
Approximately 13.4 pounds of wax were removed from my body, the doctors said that I was in a critical condition and some of them did not expect me to make it.
One of the officers who was there the day the man attacked me took a report of what had happened to me, due to the unmistakable evidence of what had happened to both me and Emma, and the fact that this was the 3rd instance of me reporting something like this the police finally started investigating who this man might have been.
Around a month later I was discharged from the hospital and once again have been staying in the living room of Emma’s parent's house.
I’ve been seeing the man again, candles were not allowed in the hospital I stayed at, which means that he’s probably very hungry, he’s close to attacking me again, I know it, he wants to finish what he started and I don't know if I have the power to fight back, I’m not sure if defeating him is even possible, I’m tired.
I’ve been seeing Emma too, her bloated, reanimated corpse often appears to be standing next to the man. If I let him take me will I get to join them? I’ve tried asking but they don’t answer, they just stare, I can’t keep living in constant fear, always looking over my shoulder, I miss Emma.

Bit of a longer into, skip down 2 paragraphs if you want to jump straight to the story
First of all, thanks for all of the (mostly) positive feedback on my first story, you guys are the best!
A little more description on me, for my reviewers who requested to know more. I'm Avery, 5'4, have slightly bushy brown hair down to the middle of my back. I'm on the olive completion side (my mom is Greek). As I said before, ittybittytittiecommittee, B cup breasts and a firm butt that I tone with a lot of cycling in my spare time. And yes, i shave everywhere(;
Two days after my incredible first experience with my Platoon Leader, my 6'1, muscular hunk that we'll call Matt, things had been awkward. I couldn't help but hope that things would progress further, but at the same time, I was aware of the complications of continuing any relationship with him. At work, we continued as normal, he's my boss' boss, and I go back to my daily job as a truck driver (88M life). In the evenings, it's been another story. He's been texting me and I've been longing for more but super hesitant to go for anything, but my god, I want more of him.
After 2 days, its Friday night and he asks me over for dinner again. "Just dinner", and nothing else so we can hang out and figure things out. I get dressed, wearing a cute little floral romper that is practical yet fashionable, and hoping to avoid a repeat of having to borrow clothes again, I pack an overnight bag, just in case.
Matt welcomes me to his house, meeting me on the front porch just like last time, ever the gentleman. Butterflies right from the get go. Thanks Matt.
When I walk inside, I see that he's prepared a chicken alfredo with broccoli. Can't say I'm not impressed, this man must have really been listening when I told him about my favorite comfort foods while we were in the field!
Over dinner, we make it through small talk and he finally asks the elephant in the room, "what are we doing?" I stutter out some mumbled stuff about me messing with his career as I'm in my last few months, getting ready to get out, and how this probably isn't a good idea and then I flip the question on him, trying to stop myself from rambling my way into killing any chance I have with him. His response melts my heart, "I'm trying to convince a beautiful woman to take a chance on me these next few months until I can come out and tell the world, that's my girlfriend"
Did he just ask me to be his girlfriend??? Was not prepared for that one. My mind is spinning with every conceivable way this won't work and yet there he is, with a reassuring look in his smile that he's going to find a way. He leans across the table, takes my and and kisses it, before asking me to be his girlfriend.
I quickly sputter out something along the lines of a yes before he leans across the table, kisses my lips as he holds my cheek in his hand and I confirm my yes with a firm reply from my lips to his. We part after a few moments and he just sits there smiling at me like a goofball and i fall for him. G.I. Joe has a softer side. Its perfect.
After we finish eating he asks if he can give me a present as he is now my boyfriend. I oblige him of course and he leads me upstairs to his bedroom, where I find the room well lit with candles and smelling of violet. On the bed is a note that says "one free massage"
I see that he's definitely put a lot of planning into this whole asking me out thing, and I'm once again blown away by the man. I ask him what I should wear for my massage, and he replies with "panties only"
I smile slyly at him as I unbutton my romper and let it slide off my shoulders, across my braless chest, and down to the floor, leaving me in just a pale purple thong. I proudly record the look on his face as I can tell that he likes what he sees. I lay face down on the bed and I feel cool lotion being planted down my spine, causing a rush of sensation as he straddles me to rub my back.
He massages my shoulders, paying close attention to the knots he finds along the way, before working his way lower, to the tight muscles right at the base of my spine. His hands feel incredible as they firmly trace their way across my bare skin and I can feel from his "growth" as he straddles me, that I'm not the only one at least slightly turned on by his touch.
He works his way lower, massaging my firm butt cheeks and the backs of my thighs before I feel a finger brush between my legs, over the thin strip of now damp fabric that has buried itself between my cheeks. He knows what he's doing, he can feel my arousal, and it's not long before he's massaging my butt while slipping a finger under my thong to tease at my vagina.
After another minute or two, he rolls me over and kisses his way down my body to my thong, taking it in his teeth and pulling it down my legs before tossing it to the nightstand. He spreads my legs slightly and brings his head between them, lightly kissing the crease where my legs and pelvis meet, right along my bikini line. So close to where I want him and yet so far.
I take my hands and run them through his hair, guiding his head to taste me. He runs the tip of his tongue between the lips of my vagina and settles on my clit, making small quick circles on my swollen nub as i gasp and moan. He continues as i hold his head there, my hands gripping his hair and begging him not to stop. He inserts one and then a second finger inside me which only adds to the pleasure building from his tongue on my clit.
After a few minutes i can't take anymore, my center entering sensory overload, begging for a orgasm to break, but not quite going over the edge. I pull his face to mine and kiss him deeply, grasping his butt and pulling him inside me as his weight presses down on me. I taste myself on his lips and it is purely erotic.
He thrusts deep inside me as I wrap my legs around him, not letting go. He picks up speed and I beg him not to stop as my orgasm finally breaks and my inner walls grip tight against his shaft.
I feel him swelling even larger and I know he's nearing his own orgasm quickly after so much time devoted to foreplay. I ask him where he wants to cum, knowing that anywhere is acceptable to me. He says he doesn't want to break apart so I grasp his hips, urging him deeper as he finds his release deep inside me.
I am utterly spent and overwhelmed by my Matthew and his performance. He rolls off of me and lays next to me on his side, his head cradled against my shoulder. I feel him leaking out of me as he softly kisses my lips again and again until sleep overcomes us.
In the morning, I finally go back out to the car to grab my overnight bag, and get ready to go on an actual date that he has planned for us. The thong from the night before stay on his nightstand, something to keep as a souvenir (;
More details about our date and more in the next story. Thank you for all the feedback! For those of you wondering, I'm about to start my ETS leave, Matt and I are still dating, and these are true stories about how we've both broadened our horizons as a couple, both sexually, and in terms of growth as a couple. Feel free to message with more feedback, or drop something in the comments! ♡Avery

Bit of a longer into, skip down 2 paragraphs if you want to jump straight to the story
First of all, thanks for all of the (mostly) positive feedback on my first story, you guys are the best!
A little more description on me, for my reviewers who requested to know more. I'm Avery, 5'4, have slightly bushy brown hair down to the middle of my back. I'm on the olive completion side (my mom is Greek). As I said before, ittybittytittiecommittee, B cup breasts and a firm butt that I tone with a lot of cycling in my spare time. And yes, i shave everywhere(;
Two days after my incredible first experience with my Platoon Leader, my 6'1, muscular hunk that we'll call Matt, things had been awkward. I couldn't help but hope that things would progress further, but at the same time, I was aware of the complications of continuing any relationship with him. At work, we continued as normal, he's my boss' boss, and I go back to my daily job as a truck driver (88M life). In the evenings, it's been another story. He's been texting me and I've been longing for more but super hesitant to go for anything, but my god, I want more of him.
After 2 days, its Friday night and he asks me over for dinner again. "Just dinner", and nothing else so we can hang out and figure things out. I get dressed, wearing a cute little floral romper that is practical yet fashionable, and hoping to avoid a repeat of having to borrow clothes again, I pack an overnight bag, just in case.
Matt welcomes me to his house, meeting me on the front porch just like last time, ever the gentleman. Butterflies right from the get go. Thanks Matt.
When I walk inside, I see that he's prepared a chicken alfredo with broccoli. Can't say I'm not impressed, this man must have really been listening when I told him about my favorite comfort foods while we were in the field!
Over dinner, we make it through small talk and he finally asks the elephant in the room, "what are we doing?" I stutter out some mumbled stuff about me messing with his career as I'm in my last few months, getting ready to get out, and how this probably isn't a good idea and then I flip the question on him, trying to stop myself from rambling my way into killing any chance I have with him. His response melts my heart, "I'm trying to convince a beautiful woman to take a chance on me these next few months until I can come out and tell the world, that's my girlfriend"
Did he just ask me to be his girlfriend??? Was not prepared for that one. My mind is spinning with every conceivable way this won't work and yet there he is, with a reassuring look in his smile that he's going to find a way. He leans across the table, takes my and and kisses it, before asking me to be his girlfriend.
I quickly sputter out something along the lines of a yes before he leans across the table, kisses my lips as he holds my cheek in his hand and I confirm my yes with a firm reply from my lips to his. We part after a few moments and he just sits there smiling at me like a goofball and i fall for him. G.I. Joe has a softer side. Its perfect.
After we finish eating he asks if he can give me a present as he is now my boyfriend. I oblige him of course and he leads me upstairs to his bedroom, where I find the room well lit with candles and smelling of violet. On the bed is a note that says "one free massage"
I see that he's definitely put a lot of planning into this whole asking me out thing, and I'm once again blown away by the man. I ask him what I should wear for my massage, and he replies with "panties only"
I smile slyly at him as I unbutton my romper and let it slide off my shoulders, across my braless chest, and down to the floor, leaving me in just a pale purple thong. I proudly record the look on his face as I can tell that he likes what he sees. I lay face down on the bed and I feel cool lotion being planted down my spine, causing a rush of sensation as he straddles me to rub my back.
He massages my shoulders, paying close attention to the knots he finds along the way, before working his way lower, to the tight muscles right at the base of my spine. His hands feel incredible as they firmly trace their way across my bare skin and I can feel from his "growth" as he straddles me, that I'm not the only one at least slightly turned on by his touch.
He works his way lower, massaging my firm butt cheeks and the backs of my thighs before I feel a finger brush between my legs, over the thin strip of now damp fabric that has buried itself between my cheeks. He knows what he's doing, he can feel my arousal, and it's not long before he's massaging my butt while slipping a finger under my thong to tease at my vagina.
After another minute or two, he rolls me over and kisses his way down my body to my thong, taking it in his teeth and pulling it down my legs before tossing it to the nightstand. He spreads my legs slightly and brings his head between them, lightly kissing the crease where my legs and pelvis meet, right along my bikini line. So close to where I want him and yet so far.
I take my hands and run them through his hair, guiding his head to taste me. He runs the tip of his tongue between the lips of my vagina and settles on my clit, making small quick circles on my swollen nub as i gasp and moan. He continues as i hold his head there, my hands gripping his hair and begging him not to stop. He inserts one and then a second finger inside me which only adds to the pleasure building from his tongue on my clit.
After a few minutes i can't take anymore, my center entering sensory overload, begging for a orgasm to break, but not quite going over the edge. I pull his face to mine and kiss him deeply, grasping his butt and pulling him inside me as his weight presses down on me. I taste myself on his lips and it is purely erotic.
He thrusts deep inside me as I wrap my legs around him, not letting go. He picks up speed and I beg him not to stop as my orgasm finally breaks and my inner walls grip tight against his shaft.
I feel him swelling even larger and I know he's nearing his own orgasm quickly after so much time devoted to foreplay. I ask him where he wants to cum, knowing that anywhere is acceptable to me. He says he doesn't want to break apart so I grasp his hips, urging him deeper as he finds his release deep inside me.
I am utterly spent and overwhelmed by my Matthew and his performance. He rolls off of me and lays next to me on his side, his head cradled against my shoulder. I feel him leaking out of me as he softly kisses my lips again and again until sleep overcomes us.
In the morning, I finally go back out to the car to grab my overnight bag, and get ready to go on an actual date that he has planned for us. The thong from the night before stays on his nightstand, something to keep as a souvenir (;
More details about our date and more in the next story. Thank you for all the feedback! For those of you wondering, I'm about to start my ETS leave, Matt and I are still dating, and these are true stories about how we've both broadened our horizons as a couple, both sexually, and in terms of growth as a couple. Feel free to message with more feedback, or drop something in the comments! ♡Avery

I have mast cell disorder. It had been relatively stable for about six months (low dose dailies and paying attention to what I’m getting into). Then my kiddo caught an upper respiratory virus and gave it to me, and now that I am sick— I’m reacting again. No idea what the triggers are. Just brushed my teeth a little while ago with a toothpaste I’ve used for 15 years without problems.. and suddenly my tongue and lips are bright red, my tongue is swollen, my neck and throat and ears began to itch, my neck has hives, my arms have hives, and my heart rate started to go up. WTAF. This is probably the first time I’ve been sick since Christmas, so I’m guessing that whatever virus this is (negative for flu/rsv/covid) is causing the sudden spike in mast cells.
Anyways, just frustrated. I was really hoping that maybe, just maybe, I was going to be fine now.. guess that’s not the case. I’m very much over my body trying to do whatever it is doing. I’m so tired of being careful. I’m just so.fucking.tired. mentally bangs head on table

Sanae was sitting on the Moriya Shrine's steps, reminiscing. She missed dreadfully all threesomes she used to have with Kanako and Suwako, but since she had grown breasts and pubic hair they didn't seem interested anymore. "Maybe I should buy a razor from Rinnosuke..." she sighed.
Suddenly, Kanako walked out of the shrine, massive tits bouncing with purpose. "Sanae! I have an assignment for you!"
"Kanako-sama!" Sanae hurriedly pulled her hand away from her crotch. "What do you want me to do?"
"I want you to go to the outside world in the past and kill Hitler before he becomes dictator of Germany."
"Okay!" Sanae saluted her goddess and flew away from Youkai Mountain.
Kanako sighed, watching her shrine maiden depart. "Why did she have to grow up? That ass is just too big."
After about five minutes, Sanae realized two things. First off, she had forgotten to pack any tampons. This was a bit of a problem, considering that she had just hit her period and was leaking menstrual blood all over Gensokyo. She imagined the shocked faces of villagers when the red, gobbety splatters hit them, and licked her lips. Secondly, she had no idea on how to go back in time. The dilemma bothered her for about seven hours, during which time she munched on random mushrooms she found in the Forest of Magic. Watching Alice masturbate, however, she suddenly knew what she had to do. The dollmaker's moaning of "Sakuyaaaaa... Sakuyaaaa" while she fucked a life-sized maid doll made Sanae realize that elegant Izayoi was the one person who could help her. Sanae threw up the mushrooms, dismissing the dancing onions about her vision, and made off for the Scarlet Devil Mansion.
The sun peeked gently over the horizon, illuminating the calm waters of the Misty Lake. Fairies danced happily and played on the shores. Remilia walked Sakuya around on a leash.
Sanae alighted gently on the Scarlet Devil Mansion's front lawn. Hong Meiling started to approach her, a cheesy kung fu movie line forming in her throat. Her mistress, however, waved a hand, and Hong Meiling stood back. "Hello there, delicious Sanae-san~," purred the little vampire. "Won't you stay for breakfast?" Sanae suddenly realized how distracting her swollen love lips' discharge was, and crossed her legs hurriedly. "Um, well, I just wanted to ask a favor from Sakuya-" "If you let me have a little taste, I'll make her do anything you want." Remilia was drooling already. The menstrual blood of a living god was even better than a virgin's.
What had at first seemed a problem was now an advantage. "Of--of course!" Sanae giggled nervously, sitting down cross-legged. Remilia's nostrils flared violently, but her tone suddenly shifted. She whipped Sakuya's bare, gleaming ass with a cat o' nine tails. "Sakuya! Make me some tea immediately." "Arf arf!" The maid scampered off on all fours. A milisecond later, she returned, clutching an antique china cup with murky liquid in between her perfect teeth, and offered it to her mistress. Remilia placed it on the ground, and crooned "Sanae-san, please squat over the cup." Sanae did as she was told, and let a trickle of her sublime sanguinary slobber stream into the steaming tea. "That's enough," Remilia moaned, as she poured the tea over herself, letting a little into her mouth. "Sakuya, lick it off." The maid's tongue ravished the little vampiress, who moaned in ecstasy. "Ungh.... Sakuya, do whatever Sanae-san desires. And don't bark at her." Sakuya immediately stood up and bowed.
Sanae, mildly bewildered by the fetishistic antics before her, had been staring off into space. "Oh! Yes! I would like you to send me to the year 1904!" "As you wish."
The world melted around Sanae for a moment, and she passed out.
When Sanae woke up, she was at the Scarlet Devil Mansion. The sun had just risen, the fairies were frolicking in the air, and Remilia was still walking Sakuya around on a leash. "Wow, things really don't change in Gensokyo," she remarked.
Sanae flew off to the Hakurei Shrine to ask the miko there to let her into the outside world. When she walked through the torii, though, she did not find Reimu Hakurei. Instead, she found a MILF.
"How may I help you?" asked the sultry, curvacous miko, her bare hips jutting out of her modified hakama and her massive breasts hanging out the sides of her shirt. The Hakurei miko furrowed her brow when she looked closer at Sanae, and asked "Are you a shrine maiden?" "Yes! I am a shrine maiden from the future," Sanae responded cheerfully, wiping the drool away from her mouth with the detached miko sleeve that gave her away. "Will you let me through the Hakurei Border?" "Yes, that is my duty." The Hakurei Miko shrugged, then bowed, showing off cleavage that could have held Makai. She parted the border like the goatse man did his ass.
Sanae flew through the gap in the shimmering border. Her journey across the world mystified people across Eurasia, causing some to herald the apocalypse. Only one of the doomsayers were perceptive enough to connect the rain of blood with the virtuous girl in the sky; he went on to write a book that was banned in 45 countries describing how the Book of Revelations was just a manifestation of John's repressed fear of his sister's vagina. The book would have won a Nobel Prize, if it hadn't simultaneously offended and aroused all of the judges.
Sanae landed in Adolf Hitler's backyard after about 13 hours of flying. Covered in bugs and blood, she passed out on the lawn. Her last thoughts before falling asleep were "Wasn't I supposed to kill somebody? I can't remember who..." Her green eyelashes fluttered one last time, and her nubile frame slumped into the grass.
Adolf Hitler was going to pretend to be dead again. He had taken up this habit after his father had sent him to technical school, instead of art school, but so far the method of protest hadn't had any effect. Sighing, the 15 year old boy walked out into the backyard, noose in hand. Before his eyes, however, had appeared an incredible sight: a girl!
Not only was this the first female his own age Hitler had seen in months, this one had green hair and bizarre clothes. "What... who is this?" he asked himself in wonderment. He marveled at her perfect, exotic form. "This is... a goddess! I have to take care of her!" Displaying wonderfully German masculine instinct, Hitler picked up Sanae with no effort at all and took her into his house. He didn't even wrinkle his nose at her stench, which was now resembling that of a graveyard. Instead, he pressed his nose to her, and breathed in deeply. "So delicious..."
The goddess' eyes slid open, displaying lovely spring green irises. "Doku... atashi wa?" she asked sleepily. "Ack!" She pushed herself out of Hitler's manly arms, and started to run away. "No! Don't go, my goddess!" he shouted at her in German. Sanae stopped. "Goddess, did you say?" she asked in perfect German. As a child, Sanae had idolized Asuka Langley Souryu from Neon Genesis Evangelion, and had learned German to better emulate her. Sanae even insulted a local boy, then pretended to be comatose while he masturbated over her. He was mostly okay with the arrangement, since he had humiliation fetish. He didn't really like having to wear his mom's flesh and fight monsters, though.
"Yes! A goddess sent from the heavens to heal mankind!" Adolf's brown eyes glittered with the glory of it all. "You are the most beautiful thing on this entire earth," he spoke fervently. Sanae immediately pressed her body against him. Finally, she was the goddess! Not just a living god, not just a shrine maiden, but a true goddess! Fuck Kanako's desires, she thought to herself. What about me?? Delirious with the glory of finally being a goddess, she started ripping off her clothes. "You will be my greatest disciple!" She praised this boy, and immediately began to grind her slippery, bloody love-spot against his rock hard paintbrush.
With great speed, she undressed Adolf Hitler, whose body was rippling with muscles from hours spent painting landscapes. Sanae pushed him down to the floor and shoved his 12 inch long, veiny groinstick into her seething, stinking vagina. "I am unworthy of such a wonderful goddess," he moaned. "You are the most worthy out of any being on earth," she countered, impressed by his glistening form and unflinching adoration. She held down his arms with her divine power and rode him like a magnificent stallion. Sanae's moans and screams could be heard throughout the entire continent, toppling great cities, while her stench caused every person within 1000 miles to drop unconscious. Hitler's family and house was blown away by the power of their fucking, which lasted for seven days and seven nights. Every five minutes they came simultaneously in an eruption of ecstasy. Soon they were floating in a lake of fuckfluid, embracing each other even more. They did every position, from the cowgirl they started with to fisting to the inverted Mormon. Their clothes and Sanae's hymen lay in tatters, having been used for all sorts of purposes.
But, Hitler, devoted as he was, was only human; so Sanae called upon the gods to make him divine. Hitler grew a massive, manly beard, and his dick became a pulsating fire hydrant. It was the finest wang in all of Germany, or indeed in all the world; and Sanae was immensely satisfied with it. So satisfied, in fact, that she fucked him for another week, during which the world wept in ectasy as it engaged in a billion-strong orgy.
Meanwhile, in the Suwa region of Japan, two goddesses were very concerned. First off, they were inexplicably fucking, when before they had been rivals. Secondly, a living goddess heretofore unknown was calling upon them to cause this bizarre sexual happening. They didn't recall lending any power to her; yet, here they were, scissoring like a sorority in Santa Cruz.
"Kanako," Suwako moaned, "do you remember anybody like this?" "No, Suwako," after which Kanako orgasmed for the 653rd time. "Aaaaaaaaaaaahgngngh. We should probably stop her before everybody, hah, dies of exhaustion," she said while Suwako started sucking on her engorged clitoris. For a couple minutes, the conversation stopped ike that, since it was difficult for Suwako to talk while servicing Kanako's orgasmo-tumor, and after that they did 69 for a joyous hour.
"We... need to go to Germany...." Suwako gasped out between orgasms, though her wandering hands seemed to have different ideas. Kanako only nodded, doing nothing to stop Suwako's tiny child's hand from entering her anus. They flew to Germany, copulatingly furiously the entire time. It took a month for them to reach Germany, because they kept stopping to participate in the orgies going on below. Flying over Siberia helped a bit, but populated areas near Hitler's home took up weeks. During this time, over half of the world's population had died joyously, while the rest kept fucking the corpses. It was mayhem.
When they finally arrived, Sanae and Hitler were swimming around in the lake formed of their blood, shit, piss, and cum. The fluid bathed them and entered every orifice, lubricating them for each bizarre activity they attempted next. "You! Living god!" shouted Kanako, her hands caressing Suwako's petite lips. "Stop doing this immediately! It is not a joyous act of love, but carnal sin!" Sanae and Hitler swam over, and began to start a fourway. What little resolve to end the incident that Suwako and Kanako had worked up melted at the feeling of Hitler's enormous girth entering them and filling them with his semen. They fucked and fucked, and the world burned.
THE END

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Mu Lan Rou, an Inner Disciple with long, raven black hair that cascaded down her back like spilled silk, stood before Ji Wuye.
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Her deep crimson eyes, normally vibrant gems, were narrowed in displeasure as she appraised him.
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A pronounced crease marred her normally smooth forehead, and her full lips were pursed in a deep frown. With her arms crossed tightly over her chest, she impatiently tapped one delicate foot clad in soft shoes, the rhythmic sound echoing through the hushed training courtyard.
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"You..." she uttered finally, her melodious voice carrying a biting edge. The entire audience seemed to hold their collective breath, the air thick with tension. "Your footwork is downright sloppy, and your posture, not to mention your abysmal grip on the sword, is painfully lacking."
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Mu Lan Rou's reprimands lashed out like a whip's sting. Several disciples winced openly at her harsh criticism. She radiated displeasure like scorching heat from a blazing forge.
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"I can't believe I'm actually engaged to someone as inept as you," she whispered the last words, a venomous hush that barely reached the ears of the assembled audience.
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Only the intended recipient, Ji Wuye, caught the essence of her disdain-laden proclamation.
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With a slow inhalation, he offered a small, remorseful nod of acknowledgment. "You're right, Senior Sister Mu. I still have much to learn. Thank you for your candid guidance."
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Maintaining an outward expression of calm humility despite the lashing her words had dealt his pride, Ji Wuye turned and strode away, leaving a frowning Mu Lan Rou and a courtyard thick with unresolved tension in his wake.
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...
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Time passed, and in the wake of recent unsettling events, the morning group exercises were canceled outright. Now, in the abandoned eastern courtyard where the brisk winds carried the astringent scent of cold damp stone, Ji Wuye could be seen diligently training alone as usual.
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His tanned, muscular back glistened with exertion as he performed punishing repetitions of rock squats. He carried hefty boulders on his back, stabilizing them with both hands to prevent them from falling.
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Yet Ji Wuye's mind was clearly elsewhere, his brow furrowed in consternation despite his arduous efforts.
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‘She never spoke to me directly before all this...’ he pondered, recalling the jarring deviations from the timeline he had previously experienced.
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In that existence, the aloof beauty Mu Lan Rou had never addressed him, neither accepting nor declining their arranged engagement.
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He had blindly assumed her silence was equal to tacit acceptance, perhaps even an indication she was inwardly attracted to his appearance and his undying effort courting her up.
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But events had taken a strange turn when her formidable father, the Sect Elder abruptly canceled their betrothal pact without explanation.
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Mu Lan Rou had simply...left.
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Slipped away without a single word. Remaining as frostily untouchable as ever in her silence, only to later inexplicably fall for his hated rival, Du Chen, despite Ji Wuye's earnest efforts to improve himself and please her.
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"How utterly foolish I was!" Ji Wuye growled suddenly, carelessly shrugging off the massive boulder on his back. It crashed to the paved ground with a jaw-jarring thud, kicking up a cloud of dust.
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Sinking to the ground, he rested his back against the callous stone as he gazed up at the brilliant azure sky through the gently swaying aspen boughs. The crisp, damp scent of loam and moldering leaves filled his nostrils.
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Mu Lan Rou, one of Du Chen's romantic companions, had been the object of his ill-fated infatuation in that former existence.
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But his affections had been spurned, or rather, he realized now with bitter clarity, he had failed to accurately assess her mindset and inclinations.
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How could someone as exceptionally talented as Mu Lan Rou not have her pick of attractive, powerful suitors from across the Jianghu?
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The pangs of that canceled engagement had filled his heart with envy, hatred, and scornful resentment toward Du Chen - the rakish genius who Ji Wuye had assumed stole his beloved from his naive grasp.
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"I was simply pathetic. Truly and utterly pathetic," he admitted aloud, an uncomfortable admission he would never have uttered against his swollen pride in the past.
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Shaking off the distracting memories, Ji Wuye refocused his mind and returned to his training, rising lithely to his feet.
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His calloused hands gripped the thick, roughly-barked logs tightly, the coarse surfaces rasping against his calloused palms as he lifted the immense weights. A full-body tremor ran through his straining muscles as he took a measured step forward, the weights bowing his frame.
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Yet Ji Wuye's eyes remained calm and composed, unwavering in his determination - a marked contrast to the mooning distraction his former self would have displayed. "The path behind has been swept clear," he intoned with finality. "The current me walks a different road entirely."
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Gone were the trivialities of romantic folly that had once dominated his mindset. Round and round the courtyard Ji Wuye plodded, his movements confined to a tight, repetitive cycle as he powered through the grueling regimen.
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"This focused repetition is more than enough to stimulate…"
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...
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Time languished as Ji Wuye's grueling training regimen continued unabated. The vibrant azure of the mid-day sky gradually darkened to indigo, the brilliant yellow sunlight transmuting through shades of molten amber and fiery crimson before dipping below the distant mountain peaks.
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As before, Ji Wuye's sweat-slicked form lay in an ungraceful sprawl upon the paved courtyard, his chiseled torso rising and falling with each deep, ragged inhalation.
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Calloused hands clenched and unclenched slowly as he recovered his depleted strength. After several moments, his half-lidded crimson eyes flicked upward, scrutinizing the wispy clouds drifting across the dimming heavens.
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"Status," he murmured tonelessly, triggering the manifested spiritual display only he could perceive.
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STATUS SCREEN [->] Name: Ji Wuye [->] Level: 13 [->] Strength: 42(+1) [->] Agility: 41 [->] Qi: 36 [*] Skills: - Quick Adaptation(F) - Healing Art Primer(1st)(E) - Cloudsoaring Steps(1st)(E) 

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A faint glow flickered in Ji Wuye's crimson eyes as he registered the marginal increase to his strength attribute. A wry smile ghosted across his lips as he remarked, "Slow, but steady progress. At least there is some improvement."
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An inward comparison to the stats he had trained by this point in the now-altered timeline brought a sense of grim satisfaction.
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There was no way his complacent former self would have maintained such punishing diligence in training.
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No, he would have still been reveling in the pursuit of idle pleasures - carousing with beautiful woman and indulging in long bouts of languid slumber, secure in the arrogant assumption that his innate talents and striking looks would ensure success regardless of the effort expended.
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A fleeting sense of self-satisfaction washed over Ji Wuye as he reflected on the steady results of his arduous work.
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But the subtle sound of approaching footsteps instantly put him back on alert. Instinctively, his body tensed, coiled like a venomous serpent prepared to strike at any threat.
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Only after a steadying breath did he recognize the familiar setting of the abandoned courtyard rather than the confines of the Tower.
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Shaking his head at his ingrained wariness, Ji Wuye smoothed his expression and rose fluidly to his feet, turning to face the newly arrived figure.
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An expression of genuine surprise lit his features as a familiar face appeared in the courtyard gate.
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"Hmm? Brother Ji?"
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30M 6 foot 195lbs drink(8 drinks a week) chew nicotine gum. No prescription medication and no drug use. On 5/16 I woke up with a slightly swollen lower lip and no other symptoms. Not thinking much of it I went about my entire day as normal and the swelling in the lip was stable. Woke up several hours into sleeping that night with both lips extremely swollen and swelling in my cheeks and jaw. Was admitted to the emergency department at 4am on 5/17. They noted all my vitals were in normal ranges, took blood and then gave me Benadryl and epinephrine. Swelling was not responding much so about an hour later they gave me Zyrtec and prednisone. They gave me a CAT scan and based on that ruled out SVC syndrome. They used a small probe through my nose to confirm that my airway in my throat was clear, which they told me looked perfectly fine. I was admitted to the hospital from the ED on the afternoon of 5/17. They continued to monitor my vitals every few hours, and they stayed within normal ranges. On 5/18, I woke up with horrific throat pain and difficulty swallowing. The swelling in my lips was gone but now my tongue and temples, (where there had not been swelling previously) were now swollen. They told me the throat pain was most likely from my tongue swelling and gave me 2 different types of medicine to ease the sore throat. By evening of 5/18 i was able to swallow broth and water comfortably and swelling was going down. At this time I began feeling muscle pain in my flanks, shoulders, and buttocks.They ran additional blood tests to determine if there were possible genetic explanations for my condition. On 5/19 the swelling had continued to improve, but there was new swelling in my forehead and around my nose. They told me all my blood work, including for genetic predisposition to this condition, had come back totally normal. I was discharged from the hospital and instructed to continue taking prednisone once daily for 3 more days and Zyrtec twice daily for 3 weeks. They diagnosed me with idiopathic angioedema, and referred me to an allergist. They told me the most likely cause for my condition was exposure to something novel that I have an allergy too, some sort of insect bite, or that it could just happen sort of the from nothing. My questions are; is it likely that this reaction was an allergic reaction if I was never itchy at any point and it did not really respond to anti histamines. Does this condition sometimes just happen to people and if so, is there a good way to prevent it from occurring again?

September 25th, 2023 Phoenix, Arizona
It's been fifteen years since I made it away from the creature in Manistee National Forest. My therapist said that I need to write about it, but every time I do, I don't know how to start. She told me to go through some old things from that time in my life and see if it starts any gears moving in my mind. I found a journal I kept that I'd completely forgotten about. I flipped to that day of the camping trip 15 years ago and wrote an entry for all the days we were out there.
I'd just graduated with a bachelor's in Journalism and mass communications. It'd been years since I'd seen my best friends and we decided to go camping. I'd write in my journal every day. I would write at the end of my day or a few days later if I didn't have time the night before.
My hand is shaking just writing this part, and I haven't gotten to the actual meat of the story. Ugh, Meat. That word makes me shutter.
I'll type the journal entries here:
September 25th, 2008, Manistee National Forest, Michigan
It's a beautiful day here in Manistee National Forest. The sun is shining through the leaves of the trees, and a light breeze is rustling the leaves. The scent of pine needles is strong in the air, and the sound of a nearby creek adds to the moment's serenity.
We've set up camp, and our tents are scattered about, creating a small community amid this natural wonderland. My friends, Remy and Will, are already starting a fire, laughing and joking as they work together to build a blaze. I feel a sense of nostalgia wash over me as I watch them, remembering the countless times we've been on adventures like this one.
I look around, taking in the beauty of our surroundings. The trees are tall and robust, their branches reaching up towards the sky like reaching arms. The underbrush is a patchwork of ferns and wildflowers, swaying gently in the breeze. There's a small creek not far from our campsite, its water clear and calm, perfect for swimming or washing up.
I make my way over to the fire, joining Remy and Will. "Hey, guys," I say, my voice filled with excitement. "This place is unbelievable."
Remy looks at me, his signature grin spreading across his face. "Yeah, man. I can't believe you talked us into this. You know how Will here hates camping." We both laugh while Will just rolls his eyes.
"Well, I figured it'd be a great way to reconnect," I say, glancing at Will. "You know, since graduation and all." An awkward silence hangs between us for a moment, and I can feel the tension that's always there whenever we're together. There's this invisible barrier we can never entirely break through since I left for college.
Remy leans in close, lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "So, Landon, have you heard from anyone else? You know, old friends and whatnot?" He glances knowingly at Will, who shifts uncomfortably beside the fire.
I feel my cheeks flush red as I look at Remy. "Well, uh, not really. You know how it is. We all sort of went our separate ways after high school." I change the subject to focus on something other than the tension between us. "So, have you guys been out here before?"
"Nah, this is Will's first time," Remy says, nudging him playfully. "But I've been wanting to bring him out here for ages. I've heard these woods are teeming with wildlife. You know, bears and shit like that." He laughs, but there's a slight edge to his voice.
Will looks unconvinced. "Yeah, right. Bears in these woods? You just want to scare me."
"No, seriously," Remy insists, his eyes sparkling with excitement. "There are black bears out here. We could even go on a hike and find some. You know, get up close and personal with nature."
I glance at Will and then look back at Remy. We should stick to the campsite for now. You know, just enjoy the weekend and relax." Will says.
"Ah, come on," Remy whines. "This is the perfect opportunity. You might never get another chance to see a bear in the wild." He looks challengingly at Will as if daring him to refuse.
I decide to change the subject again, not wanting the tension between them to ruin our weekend. "Hey, guys, you want to help me gather some wood for the fire?" I ask, gesturing toward a fallen tree nearby.
Will looks relieved at the change of topic. "Sure, I can help with that." He stands up and follows me to the log while Remy remains by the fire.
We spend the next hour chopping wood and stacking it by the fire. The air is filled with the rhythmic thud of axes striking wood and the sounds of nature around us. The sunsets cast the forest in a warm, golden light. It's a beautiful sight, and for a moment, it feels like we're all part of something larger than ourselves.
Will and I continue to work in companionable silence, our minds drifting to our thoughts. It's odd how things change after high school. We used to be inseparable, but now our lives have gone in such different directions. I can't help but wonder if we'll ever find our way back to that closeness we once shared.
As the sun dips below the horizon, we join Remy by the fire. He sees the wood we've stacked with approval and pulls a few logs from the pile to keep the fire going. The flames leap to life, casting flickering shadows across our faces and dancing along the tree limbs overhead.
"So, Landon," Remy says, his voice taking on a more casual tone now that gathering wood is done. "How's life been treating you?"
"Oh, you know. Work's been good." I pause momentarily, trying to find the words to explain how different our lives have become. "It's just weird, you know...we don't see each other as much anymore. Our lives have taken us in different directions, you know?"
Remy nods, his expression somber. "Yeah, I know what you mean. It's hard to keep up with old friends sometimes, especially when you're both so busy." He glances at Will, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "But it's good to have you both here together, even if it is just for the weekend."
I feel a pang of guilt as I look between them. I've been neglecting them, focusing too much on my life and career. I've always considered them my best friend, but maybe that's changed over the years.
We decide to go to sleep after hours of reminiscing around the campfire. The stars twinkle above us, and the sounds of the forest lull us into a peaceful slumber. As I lay in my sleeping bag, I can't help but wonder about the weekend ahead. I feel a sense of camaraderie with Will and Remy, but there's also an underlying tension that I can't quite put my finger on.
Suddenly, I heard what I assumed was an animal moving just outside the campsite. I stood up quick and looked around but saw nothing. Will and Remy were asleep, their breathing slow and steady. The air felt tense, and the forest seemed to whisper secrets that I couldn't quite make out.
I decide to walk over to the edge of the campsite to see if I can spot anything. As I step carefully through the underbrush, I notice another noise like before, like something moving fast. I look up, trying to catch sight of it, but I can only get a blur moving out of sight. It moves so fast that it's hard to see where it went.
I return to the campsite, shaken by the experience. Will and Remy are still asleep. The air feels tense, and the forest seems to whisper secrets I can't quite make out.
I decided to get back into my sleeping bag and hoped it was just my eyes playing tricks on me. But as I close them, I feel the same sense of unease creeps back in. The air feels thick like something is watching us, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. I can't help but wonder if there's something or someone out there that we should be worried about.
I'm going to try to get back to sleep.
September 26th 2008
We woke up and made some eggs and bacon that we'd brought in a cooler. The air was cool and crisp, and the forest took on a different hue since last night. There was an edge to it, a tension that we couldn't quite shake. As we ate, we talked about our plans for the day.
After breakfast, we packed our camp and started hiking deeper into the woods. The trees grew thicker, and the underbrush more dense. The air felt heavy with the scent of pine and damp earth. I couldn't tell if it was my paranoia about last night, but I could've sworn I kept seeing something darting just in the corner of my eye. I sighed in relief when Will mentioned it, too.
"Are you guys seeing that?" Will asks in a shaky voice.
My head quickly turns to him, and we make eye contact, a silent understanding of our fears.
"What are you talking about?" Remy snapped
"I keep seeing something dart out of my vision," I say
"That's what I'm seeing too!" Will says in an excited relief that quickly turns to fear once again.
We kept hiking silently as the woods grew denser and the air grew heavier. I could feel the tension in my shoulders, my muscles tensing up.
"I swear to god something is following us." Will whispers as he looks over his shoulders.
Remy laughs, trying to sound more confident than he feels. "Guys, come on. There's nothing out there; it's just nerves." But the way his eyes dart around, I can tell he's not entirely convinced.
We continue to hike deeper into the woods, the air growing heavier with each step. The underbrush is so dense that it's hard to see more than a few feet in front of us. I can feel the sweat starting to bead on my forehead.
We find a small clearing and set up camp again. We brought some firewood with us, so Remy started a fire immediately. The sun is beginning to set and I can tell Will is still on edge about what we saw while hiking. Remy keeps himself busy with the fire, and I can tell Will's uncertainty makes him weary.
"I'm going to take a shit over here so no one disturbs me," Will says as he points toward some bushes and gets up.
"Need any help?" Remy asks playfully, but Will does not react.
Remy and I silently sit by the fire before I ask, "Will seems a little on edge. Is everything okay?"
Remy looks at me, his eyebrow arches in confusion, "Do you not know?"
I stare at him in silence, shaking my head, confused.
"Dani and Will broke up last month. He's not really doing great right now." Remy informs me
The news shocks me. Will and Dani were inseparable in high school, almost annoyingly so. We would never be able to hang out with Will by himself. Dani made his way into our friend group by force through Will.
"Oh shit. I had no clue." I say
Will walks over as he rubs hand sanitizer between his hands. "What's for dinner, boys?"
Remy pulls out the cooler and opens it. He rummages a little bit before pulling out an ice pack. He looks confused and flustered as he frantically tries to find something in the cooler.
"It's empty," Remy says as he slowly looks up at us.
"Stop fucking around-" Will begins to say before we hear the rustling on the outskirts of the clearing, we all quickly turn our heads toward the direction.
There's a sudden silence as we all realize what's happening. Something, or someone, is stalking us.
Will stands up and screams, "Who the fuck is there? Come out, you fucking coward!"
Silence fills the forest as all animals and wind stop suddenly. Will's face melts into fear. We all sit in silence as we wait for something to happen. When nothing happens after a few minutes, Will turns around slowly and makes eye contact with me. Suddenly, something large, like a black wolf but far more significant and almost human as it stood on only two legs, quickly jumps out behind Will and digs its large knife-like claws into both his collar bones. It pulls Will back into the forest, and we hear his cries fade the further he is dragged.
Remy and I stare at the empty space that once held Will in horror. My heart is pounding out of my chest, and I feel like I can't breathe. Remy turns to me, his eyes wide with fear, "We have to go now. We have to leave."
I nod in agreement, unable to find my voice. We both stand up and quickly gather our things, looking around wildly as we decide which direction to go.
As we grabbed things, I heard a large thud outside the clearing where Will stood. Afraid to look, I signal for Remy as he stares at something in horror behind me. I'm still too scared to look, but I force myself. I couldn't tell what it was at first. There, tossed carelessly, lay a pile of skinned human limbs, a torso, and a head. The fleshless appendages were jumbled together in a chaotic mess, bones jutting out at odd angles and sinew glistening in the dim light. The head, stripped of its skin, bore vacant, eyeless sockets, its teeth bared in a permanent, macabre smile. The sight was horrifyingly surreal as if a butcher had gone mad in some twisted nightmare. The air was thick with the metallic scent of blood, a stench so overwhelming it made me gag. I couldn't tear my eyes away from the ghastly scene, every detail etching itself into my memory with sickening clarity.
Before we could say anything, a loud, lion-like roar filled the forest and echoed into my skull. I swear I felt the vibrations of the sound inside my head.
Remy grabs my arm, and we start running deeper into the woods. I can hear the beast behind us, getting closer with each passing second. My heart is racing, my lungs burning for air. I don't know what's chasing us, but I know we have to keep running.
We run for hours through dense forests and across open fields. The sun begins to set, casting an eerie glow over the landscape. I try to keep my bearings, but I'm disoriented and terrified. Remy trips over a fallen log and lands hard on the ground, wincing in pain.
"Keep going," he gasps, struggling to get back up. "We have to keep going."
I don't want to leave him to limp, but I know we can't stay here. I nod, taking a deep breath to steady my racing heart and force myself to keep running. Behind me, I can hear Remy pushing himself up, his footsteps scrambling over the leaves and dirt.
We continue through the forest, the shadows growing longer and darker around us. The trees seem to close in, forming a dense, impenetrable wall that traps us within. I try to remember the way back to the car, but I'm so disoriented now that I'm not sure I could find it even if I tried.
I stop hearing the Monster behind us, so I stop to catch my breath. Remy runs up behind me, limping. He falls onto a rock, sitting down as he struggles through wheezing breath. He pulls out his inhaler, takes three big puffs, and holds it in. He struggles until he finally releases and coughs. I look at him, and he glares back at me. He's scared.
"I don't know where we are," I whisper. "I don't know where to go."
"We have to keep moving," Remy says, still slightly wheezing from his asthma attack. He pulls himself up onto his feet and offers me a hand, but I look away, still needing to catch my breath.
"I don't know where to go," I whisper, my voice barely audible over the sound of my racing heart.
Remy hesitates for a moment, his brow furrowed in thought. "Listen," he says, his voice quiet but steady. "If we stay here, we're dead. We have to keep moving."
He takes my hand and pulls me to my feet. I can feel the warmth of his skin, and it somehow grounds me. We walk again through the dense underbrush, our footsteps muffled by leaves and dirt. The darkness around us is almost complete now, but I can still see Remy's figure as I check on him behind me.
"Do you even know where we are going?" I ask
Remy stays silent as he continues to limp behind me. I focus on the sounds around us, hoping to find some clue as to where we are or where we should go. The forest presses in on us from all sides, blocking any possible escape. My heart is still racing, my breath coming in short, ragged gasps.
"Okay, we have to stop." I hear Remy say behind me. I look back and see that he's already sitting on the ground, carefully taking the shoe off the hurt foot.
He winces in pain as he struggles to get the hiking boot off. When he finally gets it off, he peels the sock off to expose his swollen ankle.
"Ah fuck!" Remy says in pain as he realizes his injury is worse than he thought.
I walk over to him as he rests his head back onto a rock in defeat, "I can't keep going."
I sit beside him, hopefully comforting him, but he looks offended.
"You can't stay with me, Landon. At least one of us has to get out of here." Remy says between breaths.
I ignore him and rest my head on the rock next to his. Before I knew it, he was snoring. I knew the pain wouldn't let him sleep for long, but he needed it. I also drifted off eventually.
September 27th, 2008
I was awoken by Remy's winces as he tried to sleep. I looked at my watch, and it was 3am. I knew we were both exhausted, but I couldn't help but feel restless. I decided to stand up and stretch, wincing as my sore muscles protested. I looked around, trying to find some sign of civilization, but the forest seemed to stretch endlessly in all directions.
I nudged him gently. "Hey, let's keep going," I said softly. He opened his eyes blearily and looked at me. He looked around for a second in confusion and then remembered the day prior as he let out a long sigh.
I put his arm around my shoulder and lifted him so we could keep walking. The pain in his foot was unbearable, but I knew we couldn't stop. After what felt like hours, we stumbled across a dirt road. It was faint in the moonlight, but we could make out the tracks from a car or truck.
I slowly let Remy down to sit as I decided to follow the road to try and find help. It was still pitch black all around me, but the moon lit the road.
After assuring Remy that I would be back, I went on my way. The dirt road wound through the dense forest, the trees pressing in on either side like they were trying to keep the light away from me. I tried to focus on putting one foot in front of the other, but my mind kept drifting back to Remy, wondering if he would be okay.
I was so lost in thought for what must've been hours as the sun started rising. I didn't notice the sound of something big following me from the forest edge. My mind must've been racing so much that I didn't notice. I couldn't hear the giant footsteps when I stopped. Only when I started walking again did the Monster continue to follow from the tree line.
I turned toward it, my mind tired and exhausted as I screamed, "What the fuck do you want?! Come get me; I'm right here!" I was too tired, both physically and mentally, to fight or run anymore as I accepted the same fate as Will.
I heard it move some more, and I closed my eyes and braced myself for what was coming. I heard something quickly leave the tree line and land before my feet. I waited, but nothing happened, so I slowly opened my eyes and looked down at my feet.
I saw another human body, limbs, head, and torso torn apart. I could see Remy's shirt torn within what I can only describe as 'Meat.'
I screamed as I realized this was Remy's remains. I fell back onto my butt and frantically scooted myself backward, away from the Monster that I knew hid behind the brush in front of me.
The creature slowly stands from a squat, fully revealing itself. It must have been over seven feet tall, jet black, leather skin and fur. Its face was like a wolf, but its teeth went on forever like a great white shark. It stood there, breathing heavily, staring me down. I didn't know what to do. I sat there forever, thinking about the pain I was about to be in. I thought about Will's screams as he was yanked into the forest.
Suddenly, a loud bang from a rifle fills my ears from behind me. I close my eyes, and my ears start to ring. I've never felt more disoriented in my life. Moments seemed to slow down as I opened my eyes and saw the Monster gripping its shoulder as it roared in my direction and ran further into the forest, away from the edge.
Time is still moving slowly. I look back and see an older man with a short military-grade buzz. It was white with age, and his full but kempt beard still had sprinkles of pepper.
Suddenly, time returned to normal as I observed my surroundings. I saw the pile of meat that Remy once inhabited, and I quickly made my way to my feet, backing away from the man with the rifle.
He cocks his head, looking at me curiously as I approach him cautiously. "Are you... okay?" he asks, lowering the rifle slowly to his side.
I stare at him in disbelief, unable to make myself say anything. He looks at me with understanding eyes and then gestures for me to follow him. I do as he says, walking slowly behind him as he starts back down the dirt road.
I look behind me at Remy's pile and stop, "I can't leave him here like this." I say, "We have to at least bury him."
The man lets out a sigh of annoyance but comes around after a few seconds and helps me bury Remy off to the side of the road.
I stand in silence in front of the pile of dirt as the man waits impatiently a few feet away. I start to think of all the memories all three of us had. I wished I could return to get Will, or at least whatever remained of him, and give him a semi-proper burial like Remy.
"We'd all met in fourth grade," I say out loud to the man waiting for me.
He looks back at me in surprise.
"We had Ms. Birtch. She was so mean, we called her Ms. Bitch." I chuckle to myself.
"Look, we gotta get out of here now. I know you just lost your friend, but we can come back later to reminisce." The man says as he looks at me, annoyed.
I look up and realize he's right. I kneel and place my hand on the dirty pile before getting up and following the man further down the dirt road.
We walked for about 30 minutes, and the sun glared in our eyes as it rose. The old man's name was Steve, and he seemed to be a former soldier, but he didn't talk about it much. He had a way of making me feel safe and protected. He led me to a small cabin nestled in the trees off the dirt road. The cabin was quaint and well-maintained, with a small garden out front and a few chickens scratching around in the dirt.
"This is my home," he said as he opened the door and gestured for me to enter. "Please, make yourself comfortable."
I enter the home and immediately ask, "Do you have a phone? Mine doesn't have service out here."
He shakes his head, but I follow him as he enters the kitchen. He opens the old white fridge door and pulls out a milk carton. He places it on the dining table and fetes a glass from above the sink. He grabs another one and gestures it toward me. I look down at the milk and shake my head no. He only grabs one glass and sits at the table as he pours himself a glass of milk. He takes a long gulp and places the glass back down. He gestures for me to sit, so I do.
"I don't have a phone here," he says, "but I know where we can get to a radio to get you out of here." The man says as he takes another sip of the milk.
I look at him, confused. "What do you mean get me out of here?" I ask, still sitting down at the table.
He looks past me, so I turn around and see a picture on the wall. It's the man but much younger. He was surrounded by three children and a woman. It must be his family.
"Does your family live here too?" I ask
He stops, moves his gaze back to me, sits back in his chair, and sighs.
"They used to." He says in his grizzly voice.
I waited for him to expand, but he never did.
"Did that... monster... get them?" I ask hesitantly, not wanting to offend the man who saved my life.
He gets up from the chair and goes to the window above the sink. He stares for a long time before speaking. "I guess technically they're still here."
I get up and stand next to him, looking into his backyard. It seems overgrown, as if it has not been tended to in years. The grass was growing between brick paths, and bushes reached across the path like thick underbrush. Everything was unkempt except for one square. In that square, there were four headstones. The man's family.
"Yes," the man says as I look at him, "that monster got them."
I helped the man do chores for the rest of the day until the sun went below the mountains.
The rest of the night was spent planning how to get to the radio tomorrow morning. He said it was in an old radio tower up in the mountains.
The man told me I'd need to rest for tomorrow, but as I slept in the cot in the living room, I couldn't stop dreaming about the Monster and what it did to Will and Remy or what it would do to me.
September 28th 2008
As expected, I didn't get much sleep, but when the man shook me awake, it was still dark out. He told me to dress warm, as the radio tower was a ways up the mountain and the air would be cold. I dressed quickly in the clothes he had laid for me, and we set off into the darkness. The stars were visible, twinkling above us as we hiked through the woods. The man led the way, moving silently through the darkness, his hand resting on a walking stick.
The man was more talkative today as if he hadn't had anyone to talk to in years. I learned his name is Gary, and he and his family lived in Boston. They decided to take a no-technology vacation out here four years ago. They rented the cabin he brought me to, which Gary now owns. He came from money, so that was never the problem.
When I asked why he lived out here, he paused briefly before saying, "I can't leave my family." That was the last thing he said before we reached the tower.
It took about an hour and a half to make it to the tower. It was overgrown, and Gary told me it had been years since he'd last climbed it. When we reached the top, the first rays of sunlight began to peak over the horizon. The radio tower was ancient and rusty, and the steps leading up to it were rickety at best.
"So, what's the plan?" I asked as I carefully made my way up the steps.
The man stayed silent and kept climbing the winding stairs. Something seemed off like the man had changed.
Gary looked down at the tree line below us. I looked too and only caught a blur as the creature ran off and the bushes swayed in its place. Gary grins and looks at me, "Go down."
Surprised, I stare at him, confused. He grabs me by the shirt and pulls me closer, "Go. Down." His hot, stinky breath envelops my face. He pushes me back, forcing me to grab the railing to keep myself from falling. When he sees that he failed in pushing me, he snarls and continues climbing the stairs faster, skipping a step.
I hear the Monster's roar right below us as I see it climbing up through the metal grate. I freeze, not knowing what to do. Then I hear Gary's voice over a PA system. It rings loud into my ears before he talks, "Kid, I said get the fuck down. You don't need to be another victim of this thing!"
Still frozen, even more confused by his words, I look down again and see the Monster climbing the metal poles that held the structure up. I watched the creature scale the radio tower with an eerie, almost unnatural agility. Each movement was swift and precise, powerful claws gripping the metal rungs effortlessly. The tower seemed to shudder under its weight, a low creaking sound accompanying each ascent. I could see its eyes glowing with a feral intensity, focused on something far above. The sight was both mesmerizing and terrifying, a primal fear gripping me as I watched this Monster get closer and closer to me.
Finally, I snap out of it when Gary's voice fills the sky again, "Let's fucking go, you mangey half-breed!"
The creature seemed to move faster at his voice like it knew him personally. As it finally made it to me, it leaped toward me on the stairs, but I could move to the side and almost dodge it completely. It jumped so far that it nearly flew off the side of the tower. As it reached for the railing to save itself from falling, it snatched onto my elbow, slicing it so bad I could see the bone.
Grabbing onto my wound, trying to keep my skin from peeling completely off, I started running back down the stairs. The Monster looks down at me, and I can tell it's about to pounce on me, but Gary's voice distracts it again, "You don't want that little shit, you mutt! Come get some seasoned meat!" The Monster starts climbing toward Gary again.
Gary starts laughing. A laugh only a person who has given up on everything could. It slowly turned to sobbing as I heard his last words, "I love you, Mary, Lilly, and little Amber. Margaret, I'm sorry, but I can't live without you-" Just then, the Monster made it to the top, where Gary was in a little structure attached to the tower.
Everything was silent. I started sprinting down the stairs, almost to the bottom, when my hearing went and I only heard a ringing. Again, things moved in slow motion as I looked up and saw an enormous explosion coming from the structure Gary was in. The ground started to rumble as things went back to average speed, and I tried to make it down in time before the whole rickety structure collapsed.
It must've been adrenalin that got me out in time. The tower began to crumble and toppled in the opposite direction of me.
I stood there, waiting for the Monster to emerge, but it never did. I sat down, still holding my wound as it seeped warm blood all over me. I sat there, knowing help was not coming, accepting my imminent death for what felt like hours.
I must've passed out because the next thing I remember was having water thrown onto my face as I lay on the ground. A man and a woman were tending to my elbow wound and, in my delirium, snatched my arm away and began running from the rescue team. I ran for what felt like hours before passing out. I later learned that I ran only about 50 feet before passing out. Now I'm in the hospital tending to my elbow.
How will I ever live with this? How could I go on?
September 25th, 2023
I only remember a little after that. I remember telling authorities about the Monster and how it mauled Will and Remy. I also told them about Gary, and they were able to find all three bodies, well, what was left of them. They never saw any sign of the Monster, though.
After telling them the unbelievable story, I have to admit, I would have a hard time believing I was a suspect in all their murders. After years of trying, they could never find any evidence against me.
After many attempts to end my life, I decided I wouldn't let that Monster win; even after it was out of my life, I refused to let it be the reason I go.

Hi. So about three weeks ago I noticed my upper eyelid on the right side was slightly hooded, but I assumed it was nothing. A couple days later I woke up to a lump under the skin of my right upper eyelid just bleow the outside of the brow. I believe it could be my lacrimal gland.
It’s been getting larger and firmer. It’s more swollen when I wake up and as the day goes on I start getting headaches and blurry vision. The headaches are usually around the right eye and in the back of my head. The blurry vision happens in BOTH eyes, one at a time, randomly for 10-15 seconds and worsens as the day goes on as well with the left eye having double vision occasionally. I also have a feeling of something being in my eye for a few seconds occasionally in the right eye.
My guess is the issues with my left eye vision are caused my eye strain since the right one has the lump. But I have no clue really.
My eye doctor ruled out a stye or chalazion but did say I have mild blepharitis. She referred me to an ophthalmologist but they are booked two months out.
I am also getting nauseated and feeling unbalanced at times.
Any ideas of what this could be? When I lift my eyelid the bump kind of goes toward my eye and pops out. It’s lumpy and veiny and red with a purple spot.

Hi loves!! Currently on day 8 of being bp free which is an absolute MIRACLE…. But my face/glands are still so swollen!!! And the water retention in my whole body is pretty intense too…. When will this go down? I’m so scared and temped to say “screw this, it’s never going to go away, let’s bp then…”

Is there swelling visible when it’s anaphylaxis? I struggle with most of what I eat causing almost immediately pretty uncomfortable and bad throat tightness, sometimes scratchy, but I don’t think ever wheezy. It certainly feels like my throat is closing, but air gets by fine and nothing ever looks super swollen. I know I have had bad acid reflux in the past but I also will sometimes get facial itchiness and / or lip spasms with these symptoms and it’s pretty intense but never noticeable hives. I have been diagnosed with MCAS and just started Pepcid for it. Zyrtec gave me a bad allergic reaction. I can’t tell if I’m having a mild reaction accompanied by intense GERD or a moderate reaction that I need to manage better because of anaphylaxis risks. I don’t really have any guidance on MCAS I’m waiting to start seeing a Dr for it in July but my gastro and neurologist who has studied MCAS but agree I have it. I just want to know if anyone has any advice based off their own personal experiences. I know nobody is doctors I just want some guidance because it’s been really difficult dealing with this and trying to figure out what’s wrong.

Hello everyone I hope yall are having an excellent day. About 6 months ago I had to take our girl in to have her anal glands expressed. It cost a little bit more than I would have liked and my vet had suggested that it’s easy enough for me to teach myself to do. Does anyone have any good resources or particularly good YouTube videos to recommend to teach myself to do this? We are taking her in for some allergy issues today actually and she just started scooting again today. So if they are in fact swollen again it seems like it’s time for me to learn lol. I already give her gland-ex although sometimes there is small gaps in days when I’m waiting on it to be delivered. I appreciate yalls help!

I’ve always kinda been easily overheated since young, but once I hit 18/19 it got a bit worse. Not too much, but it was just more annoying. This is around the time I started hrt (ftm) so I presume it had something to do with it? I’ve looked it up before and some people have similar experiences, so I went on.
I’m 21, 192 lbs (I’m trying to lose weight) and found that I’ve been sweating an insane amount. It’s not really even from my arm pits, it’s from my back, neck, crotch and forehead. I was working today, cleaning in a somewhat cool area (produce) as even then I started to drip sweat. I didn’t exactly feel hot either, a bit warm maybe but not enough to have That much sweat. Maybe it felt worse to me than it was, but my hair felt soaked and it was dripping down my hair and on my neck and ugh.
As of now it’s stopped. But I know once I’m moving again it’ll start.
Is there any ideas what this is? I’m anxiety ridden and looked it up, and it said it can play with heart failure. My resting heart rate right now is 84 - 88 and I don’t really notice anything else wrong. Body is sore but I’m assuming it’s just work. The side of my neck (near left gland) is sore but not swollen, so my mother said she thinks I’m getting sick as that started and now the sweating got worse. Gradually it’s been increasing it feels like, or I’m sick, i genuinely can’t tell..
I’m going to see my doctor also, I’m just so scared