Infestation of the mind - Part 1/3 - The first encounter.

Have you ever had your soul shattered into millions of pieces?

Not by brute force, but by a being that preys on its victims fear, slowly ripping away your sanity and reason to hold onto this life...

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I'm not sure why all of this started...it might be my sheer lack of faith in a god...or maybe its just because I've been a total and utter asshole to almost everyone in my life, and this is how "karma" gets back at me? Either way...it does not matter anymore, this thing will take my life tonight, I am certain of it.
I guess you could say that I am finding the strength to write down this story as a way to ensure my last words will be remembered, but most importantly to warn people of what dangers lurk in the darkness.But in order for you to fully understand my situation, I will first have to explain the events and first encounters that have led to this very moment.

My name is John and I live in a very small town with my wife Jenny, and until a few nights ago I had a pretty normal life. I have...or had a job as a journalist at a local newspaper with minimum wage and shitty working conditions, rules etc... but it brought food to the table for both us so I couldn't really complain. Jenny has been hammering at me to get a new job so I would be less stressed and just maybe we would be happier... Our relationship can be classified as complicated, we both love each other and have been married for the last 14 years, but that "spark" is no more... thinking back over the course of our marriage, maybe it started to fade because I never wanted to have children? I'm not sure what to think anymore...this thing has ripped my soul apart and my mind has experienced events I will never be able to put in words.
My life has been full of dramatic events, from people close to me leaving or people even closer dying off from diseases. So this life I lived with Jenny seemed natural to me, the confusion and stress made me feel safe... that is until a few nights ago when the shit really started to hit the fan.
It all started on a Wednesday evening at our home just as we were about to head upstairs after an exhausting day at work. We were melting into the living room couch watching our favorite series on the TV when I heard the loudest and most chilling scream in my life. It sounded like a woman in panic and pain mixed with the agonizing screeching noise of fingernails being scraped on a chalkboard. This sound immediately sent a bone-chilling feeling throughout my body and the hair on the back of my neck stood up as I lowered the volume of the TV. I sat in silence listening for the sound with Jenny asleep on my lap. I looked down at her wondering to myself how it did not wake her up, she has always been a light sleeper and tended to be the one waking me up in the mornings... It might just have been my imagination, so I didn't want to wake her and I just sat there..listening... It was probably about ten minutes of sheer silence, not even the bugs you would usually hear outside made a sound and I remember the feeling of fear washing over me combined with the awful smell of rotting meat. It was almost as if I was frozen in time, too afraid to stand up, but too stupid to just sit there...so slowly I lifted Jenny's head off from my lap and laid it down on the couch and carefully stood up not to make any sudden movements or sounds and started scanning the living room and the other rooms for where the smell might come from. I turned on every light but found nothing as I walked through the house, but I did start to notice the smell getting stronger as I got closer to the stairs leading to our room on the second floor. I stood there staring up the stairs with my left foot on the first step, I remember fighting with myself if I should just wake up Jenny and let both of us go upstairs and straight to bed...but I knew that I was the man of the house and I should go investigate before setting my wife in danger. Slowly I dragged myself up the stairs, feeling like each step took ages. It was not until I got to the very top step that I realized the smell is now much stronger and potent than before, I even had to place my hand over my nose and mouth to prevent me from vomiting.
We lived in a very odd looking building with an even odder room layout... The kitchen, living room, bathrooms and spare rooms were all on the first floor with just a single pair of stairs right in the middle of the house leading straight up to the door of our room.So technically it was the second floor, but with only one room.
As I stood on the top step of the chairs right in front of our bedroom door with my hand over my mouth, my heart sank to my ankles when I realized right on the door carved into the snow-white paint layer was my name... My name was on the fucking door! I immediately knew somebody was in the house with us, so I wanted to turn around and run downstairs to get Jenny so that we could get out of there...but just as I took the first step down...I heard that ear deafening scream again...This time much louder and almost like it came from right behind me. This obviously scared the living shit out of me and I ended up losing my footing and took a full beating as I fell down the stairs...

I woke up the next morning in our bed with Jenny bringing me breakfast looking all happy and excited to see me awake. A bit confused I greeted her "Good morning honey", but she never greeted back...Instead, she immediately asked me: "what happened last night? I woke up around 2 AM and found you asleep at the bottom the stairs. Is everything okay?" I just responded with "yes I'm fine, just lost my footing on the stairs and I guess ended up passing out". After that, she went on and on about how worried she is about me, and maybe I should go see the doctor just to be sure, so being the good husband I agreed and told her I'll make an appointment at the doctor's office and continued watching as she grabbed her clothes and headed downstairs for a shower.
Once she left the room, I just laid back staring at the ceiling repeatedly saying to myself: "What the fuck was that last night...Those screams and...and that smell"...

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I hope you guys enjoyed the first part of this story = ) Stay tuned for part 2/3 - The second encounter broke my soul.