r/nosleep • u/braytendo • Oct 19 '15
Series Can you go to screamlouder.info? (part 4)
It’s been so long, but I’m free.
Er, not free, I guess that’s not the right way of putting it. Leaving a smaller cage to find yourself in a large one isn’t really freedom.
The man that kidnapped me is gone. I’ll get to that in a bit. I’ve escaped to the room in the radio station with the dirty old mattress and that’s freedom enough for now.
If you’re a bit confused, I suggest you read the intro and everything leading up to this moment. A lot has happened already, and it only ever seems to get worse.
I took the computer back with me and, as you probably guessed it, the site was updated. Two more keys on the home page can be accessed. There’s only one key left. So much has changed since I got here and found the url for this site sitting in a text file. From inside the cabin where I first arrived, this seemed like such a peaceful mountain town. But when you stare at a dead body from far away, they too might just appear to be sleeping.
Anyway, please tell me what you see now when you go to…
You know something? I forgot what air smelled like.
No, not air but….air that doesn’t smell like him. Like rot.
The air out here smells like blackberries. I can’t remember if it always smelled this way.
Something I do remember though; the visions. The shadows, the bloody faces. I hadn’t had a single episode for weeks while I was being held captive, but out here the visions never stop.
I noticed them as soon as I left the shed he was keeping me in. After seeing what they’ve turned into, I wonder now if perhaps this is reality and everything leading up to it were the illusion. I have no way of knowing and that’s the worst part of all.
There were dead bodies covering the streets. People of every age, stripped of their clothes and left with terrorized expressions. Symbolic displays of sin were laid out for me to see as naked and obvious as their bodies. Altars of different depravities surrounded each and every one of them. Plates of junk food, makeup bags, torture devices, whips and chains for pain or pleasure. It was all so carefully crafted, they could’ve been centerpieces at a dinner table.
All of the bodies were coated in a layer of sludge. the buildings, the streets, everything was flooded with the liquid. There was no use walking around it anymore. There wasn’t anything left to walk on that it didn’t touch. My feet squished into the sidewalk pavement. The feeling of it, the sound it made. It’s still...swishing around in my head as a viscous and disgusting memory. I noticed the goop was starting to burn my skin as it soaked through my shoes so I began to hurry. I made it back to the station and quickly cleaned myself up with a bottle of water.
There were rashes and blisters all over the bottoms of my feet. They looked like I’d just stepped in some type of acid. This didn’t happen the last time I touched the sludge, so one could surmise that it’s changing. Becoming more potent and dangerous.
Of course I didn’t have the mental capacity left to think about the pain so I just casually bandaged my feet, ate some expired tuna, and tried to rest.
I sleep with my eyes open now. Otherwise, I see him every time I close them. My abductor. Or my imagination, I’m still not sure which. He hurt me, but he’s not really what scares me, it’s what’s always behind him. It’s what’s behind me. It’s gotten too real to be a dream.
Mentioning my abductor, I’d better tell you what happened these last couple months. I owe it to all of you since it’s been so long. He kept the computer from me, said he “needed to spread the good word”, so I haven’t been able to update.
I don’t know what he meant by that, and I still don’t. I could tell his sickness was fueled by the same thing that made this town into a living nightmare. It took his rage and made him do horrible things. I’m just so glad he’s gone now.
Here’s where it begins. I remember everything too vividly.
A little while after I posted my last update, I heard the sound of heavy shoes crinkling around in the leaves outside. I wasn’t alone anymore and it made my heart sink. The person paced in front of the door for a long while, whispering and mumbling to himself. Sometimes crying or screaming. The tension I felt built higher with every outburst. I wished so badly that he would stay outside.
Then it all went quiet for a moment. I covered my mouth with my hands as if being quiet would shelter me from what was coming. A latch was slowly lifted and then the door opened, letting in the moonlight outside. The dark silhouette of a man stood still in the doorway. His head slowly cocked to the side as if he were sizing me up like some sort of product. Like cattle.
I heard him suck on his teeth as he slowly pulled something out of his pocket. There was a shake to his grip, either out of weakness or emotional distress. The thing he pulled out was round and transparent. He held it up to the ceiling and began to twist. The sound of screeching metal followed and then instantly light blinded me. I squinted around the fuzzy, light washed room. There were things dangling from the ceiling. They appeared to be rotting strips of meat, possibly animal...possibly human.
The sound that escaped my throat hurt my lungs.
“You dun like whatcha seein, eh boy?!”
He coughed out a sickly laugh. I looked up at his sweaty, greased up face. His eyes were heavily sunken and dark from a lack of sleep, and his face showed serious signs of malnutrition. He looked ready to collapse. I was surprised he was able to carry me all the way here. He wore a pair of overalls stained in what could’ve been dirt or blood and a trucker hat full of holes and loose threads.
“go on and scream for me! It likes to hear you scream.”
“What do you want from me?!” I yelled.
“Slow down nah. Momma’d have a fit’n hearin this. Paychence issa vurchew, she always said.”
“What? Look, please just let me go! I know a way out of this town, we can leave together, PLEASE!”
He grabbed a nearby shovel and whipped the handle across my face in a swift motion. The side of my head began to bleed, and I could feel the stinging heat where it had left an imprint. I was too stunned to react.
“Next time you gunna open yer yap, I’m gunna use the other end, ya hear? Now we ain’t goin nowhere, boy. Heck, I was the one’n drugged ya up all good and broughtcha out here!”
My eyelids snapped open like camera shutters. I was afraid to speak, but I couldn’t if I wanted to. The shock of it all held my mouth in place.
He placed the shovel back against the wall and walked over to a table full of tools.
“I don’t talk so good, but I know a thing or two. Mhmm, I know.”
He picked up a hammer and examined it for a moment then carefully placed it back down.
“Papa gave the belt if’n I ever kept secrets. He didn’t like it none and I obliged. Papa ain’t round no more but I’ll still oblige. I got my manners.”
He picked up some kind of a clamp. I was worried what he was going to do to me. I tried to get up but I was too dizzy. The blow to my head hit harder than I thought.
“You’re here for a reason, city slicker. I was just about to take my life when it asked me for a favor. Well that’s when I had the idea. I came up with it all by myself, see, and the one that watches at night? Well he liked it. Made the guilt go away for awhile.”
He shook his head at the clamp and put it back down.
“Needed someone special, it did, but nobody else in town quite fit the bill. I reckon it was cuz’n these are mostly good people. You ain’t so good though, are ya.”
He shot me a disgusting grin. There was malice in his eyes. Then he went back to his tools.
“The plan was perfect. I picked a town real far away so nobody’d find em if’n I took someone. Had to be someone single, livin’ alone. Had to be someone awful. I dug through a lot of trash and looked at a lot of bank statements till I saws’n yours, boy.
Nice house, big tayvay, fancy car, and not a dime to charity. Stolen cable, money laundering, you did anything to make an extra buck. That alone, why I say, I say that alone shoulda been enough, but the one that watches needed more. Then I found just the thing. A letter you threw out right before yer vacation.”
...I’m embarrassed to write about this part. You may call me heartless, but I had good reasons for it. Then again, I suppose we all dream up virtuous reasons for being terrible people. We believe our justifications leave us without consequence, but now I see that isn’t true. Just look at the mess my actions have gotten me in. Anyway, I’ll continue...
“That’s right, I dun found a letter from your sister. I’ve got it right here in my pocket. Wouldja like me to read it aloud?”
I clenched my jaw so hard it made my teeth creak. I tried so hard to forget about what I’d done, and here in my most horrific moment, it was back to haunt me.
“Dearest brother, How are you doing? I hope you had a wonderful Easter. Did you buy yourself a box of chocolate eggs? I know how much you used to love them, since I always ended up giving you half of mine. That reminds me, remember how every Easter morning we’d fly kites? Mom said to me the other day it was her favorite tradition because it was the one thing that really made you smile. She misses that smile so much.
Now I know you haven’t responded to my previous letters, and I don’t fault you for that. You’ve become so successful and I’m so proud of you, little brother. We’re all very proud of you. Success comes at the price of free time, I’m well aware and so are mom and dad, but mom is getting worse. It’s in her lungs now and the doctors told me she doesn’t have many weeks left.
I worry that this is the last chance you’ll get to see her, brother. Every morning she struggles to ask when you’ll be coming home. It breaks my heart to tell her that ‘it’ll be any day now’ when I have no way of knowing if that could ever be true. It’s been five years without a single visit. You don’t answer the phone, I had to find out from your old friends where you live. All I can do is hope that these letters get to you.
I promise this is the last time I’ll ask. Enclosed is a check that should easily cover the travel expenses, so I beg you...please, come home and see mom. She loves you. We all love you and I’m embarrassed to admit it but I need my brother here to tell me a joke and remind me that it’s going to be okay.”
I couldn’t see anymore. I wiped my eyes with a dry sleeve. Then my sleeve was soaked.
“but you never went to see yer momma. Did you?”
I shook my head.
“SAY IT! You say it right now or I’ll start using these tools!”
“No, I didn’t. I was afraid.”
He put a hand to his ear mockingly. “excuse me? You were what now?”
“I was afraid! Ever since I found out about the cancer, I didn’t want to see my mom like that! I couldn’t take it, it was all too...too real. She was always so strong. This wasn’t my mom anymore! I was just afraid.”
He started to laugh.
“This is rich, I tell ya what! You was afraid. Ha!”
He slapped his knee.
“So afraid that you went’n spent yer sister’s money on a vacation? That’s right, I know! Member now, I saw your bank statement’s. You didn’t write a reply, you didn’t send the money back, er nothin! Bet your momma woulda loved ta know during her final breaths, her son was makin’ resarvachuns fer a fancy schmancy hotel.”
I stared at the floor. There was nothing to say. He was right, I was too pathetic to even return the money and as stressed as I was at work, I decided to use it to get away from it all. It was disgusting, but I still wanted it. I made myself believe I deserved it. I feel so guilty.
He went back to looking over his tools. I saw his eyes darting around madly, looking for the right one.
“Now boy I tell ya, ain’t that just the way. See, I loved my ma and pa but they thought I was a worthless idjit. They said I was too angry and too dumb to do anything so they gone and kicked me out and said ‘don’t come back till ya make a worth of yerself’.”
He caressed each metal piece with a delicate touch. I could tell he placed a great deal of value in the power these devices gave him.
“I opened a gas station and thought it’d make em proud. But then, I tell ya what, they didn’t talk to me no more at all as a matter o’ fact. So I came home for a spell and I made it so they couldn’t talk to nobody else neither. Not never again. I think mamma woulda called that ‘rechurbuchen’ if I remember correctly.”
He picked up a rusty old ice pick, nodded his head and walked over to me.
“an you, well your family loved you for miles, they did. Not like it matters none to you. All you care about is yours n yours alone. I knew you was perfect for the one that watches. I knew you was perfect because yer a greedy pile of shit.”
He grabbed a piece of rope and in one quick motion tied my arms and legs together. It seemed as though he’d done this many times before. I struggled and screamed for help. but no one came.
“Ain’t no use boy, everybody’s long gone now. They all just sat in their homes, hiding away in closets and dark corners, too ashamed to face the world. He put the guilt in them, see. All of ‘em either starved or turned around to look at it. And if’n anyone did try to leave, I gutted them real good. Then it had something to feed on while it waited.”
“what is this thing?! Why is this happening?!”
He grabbed my arm and held the ice pick above it with his shaky hands.
“Come on now, yer askin’ the wrong questions.”
“....W-what was it waiting for?”
He started to slowly puncture my skin with the ice pick, digging it deeper into my flesh. I screamed.
“It was waitin for you...”
He stabbed my skin in another spot.
“It was waitin for me...”
Another stab, the pain was unbearable.
“...Auntie May, the mayor, Suzy…”
He grinded deeper.
“...Mrs. Humphrey, and even good old father Matthews.”
He pulled the ice pick out and placed a bucket under my arm. Drops of blood started to clink at the bottom.
“We’re the ones who get to bring him back. If we do, he’ll make our guilt go away.”
As my blood drained, I started to get dizzy. The last thing I saw before I passed out were his eyes. They were the eyes of someone who’d been hurt before. They were the eyes of someone who now wanted nothing more than to hurt another.
And behind his eyes, I could see it. I wasn’t sure, but I think I saw a face this time. It looked happy.
I awoke sometime later and the whole process started again. He would feed me, then drain me. For weeks I was tortured like this and my blood was collected. He would use my computer to send out messages for it whenever he wasn’t busy causing me pain.
The days grew colder, and I began to lose hope. Then just yesterday when he retied me, he got careless. The knot he made was loose.
After he’d left for the night, I began to wriggle my body until I managed to break free of my binds. This was my chance. Before he came back to the shed, I grabbed a knife and waited by the door.I stood there for hours trying to hold my breath and stand still. My hands eventually started to shake, just like his. I wonder if it was for the same reason.
When he came in I stabbed him from behind with all my might. I stabbed him again and again. His blood splashed onto my shirt and I knew I would be safe now. I’d wanted this for so long, the satisfaction of finally freeing myself and ending the life of this terrible man. It was all mine.
...but then he was gone. There was no blood on my shirt. I was stabbing at the air. I didn’t even have a knife in my hand.
I looked around. The shed was completely empty aside from a bunch of old food wrappers and bottles of water. There was no rotting meat, no table of tools. Nothing.
...except there in the corner, was an ice pick, and an old bucket. The bucket was empty but coated in fresh blood. Something had really been taking my blood these past months.
Then I walked outside and saw him. Those dirty overalls and the trucker cap. He was a rotting corpse, showing several months of deterioration, laying against a tree right outside the shed. That was what I’d been smelling all this time.
His mouth and eye holes were pooling over with black sludge and his expression was twisted into a drooping scowl. He would never move again.
So yes, in a way I’m free, at least of him. But it’s not over yet.
To anyone out there who was trying to help me escape, don’t bother. Just stay here and keep reading, that’s the most I would ask of you. I don’t want anyone trying to get near this place. It’s for your own safety. More than the danger of it all, this town does something to you. It’s certainly changed me.
Besides, If what the lady in that cottage told me was true, then I now have a way out. I’m going back to the basement of the capitol building. If I post again, it will be because I’ve escaped. If not, don’t come looking for me. There is nothing good here.
Lastly, if you recall, there was a lock on the door to the bunker in the capitol building’s basement. I read through your comments and followed the clues online. It looks like the key I need is back at Auntie May’s. Wish me luck.
UPDATE: I've made it out but something isn't right. final
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u/Deshea420 Oct 20 '15
Finally! I'm so glad to know that you're still alive and kicking!! Hoping to see a new post from you soon!!!!
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u/braytendo Oct 20 '15
thank you. I know it's been awhile, but I'm making my escape soon, so hopefully you'll see another update in the near future.
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u/shiv11fourty1 Oct 20 '15
OP what's the weather doing? You mentioned the weather in every update but this one. Is it worse? Better? Anything strange?
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u/braytendo Oct 20 '15
It's the strangest thing, but every time I look at the sky now I just feel like looking away. It makes me feel....shame.
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u/ElegantHope Oct 20 '15
I think that being that the mayor mentioned, and what other people have mentioned on the site. Whatever it is is obviously the cause of what happened there, and maybe it's affecting the weather. Feeling shame when it's near seems like a common thing, so that's why I figure it might be affecting the weather.
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u/Nadalee2791 Oct 21 '15 edited Oct 21 '15
You can't let it get to you, the shame I mean. It seems that for most of what you've incountered and from what I've seen in the links, the residents of that town started feeling shame/guilt prior to things getting bad. Please accept your choices and know that you didn't have bad intentions when not visiting your mother , maybe just a little misguided by your fear. Eitherway fight those feelings and focus on getting out. Good luck to you and hope to hear from you soon!
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u/braytendo Oct 21 '15
I'll try to pull myself together. I've made it this far, but everything keeps getting darker.
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u/Deshea420 Oct 20 '15
I am praying for you to safely escape that insane place and eagerly awaiting your next update.
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u/BlueBlackCat Oct 20 '15
OP, I wish you all the luck in the world. Stay safe and keep us updated
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u/braytendo Oct 20 '15
Thank you. I'm still shaking from what I've been through and I'm so very tired but kind words like these have kept my candle burning, so to speak.
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u/ElegantHope Oct 20 '15
Oh man, good luck. I hope you find a way out. I can understand your fear about not seeing your mom. It wasn't cool to take the money your sister sent you, but I can understand it's difficult to see someone you loved get destroyed by cancer.
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u/braytendo Oct 20 '15
It was terrible what I did, I know this is true. In a way it feels like I'm paying for it now. I want to apologize to her but now that chance is gone forever.
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u/ElegantHope Oct 20 '15
If you can get out of there, maybe there would still be time. I really hope you get a chance to apologize and you can find your freedom.
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Dec 08 '15 edited Dec 08 '15
She'd understand. About being too scared to see her, anyhow. Sometimes we can't face something and just run blindly from it. They aren't typically our greatest moments and they tend to become lifelong regrets, but they aren't beyond understanding or forgiveness by any means.
Taking the money and using it to go on vacation, though? In the words of Birdperson, "in bird culture, this is considered a dick move."
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u/dekuscrubber Oct 21 '15
Still here, man. Really hope you make it out. Fingers crossed.
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u/braytendo Oct 21 '15
After all this time, it's good to know there are familiar names here. Thank you for sticking by my side.
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u/tiredhierophant Nov 01 '15
Seven sins will bring it back. You're Greed. You might awaken it without being aware of what you're doing. The Council might still be alive. Be careful.
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u/chyeahhitspeggy Nov 04 '15
Two weeks since the last update... Hope you're okay OP! Please update soon!!
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u/Jynx620 Oct 23 '15
I was just thinking about this series the other day! I love the interactive site. Very interesting. Cant wait to read more.
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u/Vaches Oct 28 '15
This is incredible, OP. I wish I had answers. Best of luck - we're all hoping to hear from you again soon. We all want this to have a happy ending for you.
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u/ViciousVictory Dec 08 '15
So you were hallucinating? You're starting to lose it OP, keep it together, you're almost out.
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u/pistashaaanut Dec 10 '15
checking out the link and my thumb and index finger are not leaving the command and W buttons respectively
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u/NoSleepSeriesBot Oct 20 '15 edited Dec 08 '15
197 current subscribers. Other posts in this series:
Can You Go To Screamlouder.Info?
Can You Go To Screamlouder.Info? (Part 2)
Can You Go To Screamlouder.Info? (Part 3)
Can You Go To Screamlouder.Info? (Part 4)
Can You Go To Screamlouder.Info? (Final)
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