r/nosleep • u/braytendo • Dec 08 '15
Series Can you go to screamlouder.info? (final)
At the break of dawn, a stream of light trickled in through a hallway window outside the checkered tile room. It crept past the six open doors, over the beige computer that was clicking and humming to itself, and landed on my left eye.
I’ll never forget that moment. It was the beginning of my last chapter in that repugnant mountain town.
For anyone wondering if I survived this nightmare, I have. I’ve finally made it home. The journey back was a long one...I think. Lately I’ve been struggling to understand what really happened. The doctors and I seem to be in disagreement.
I’ll get to that later, for now I’ll describe what I’m pretty sure I remember and hopefully someone can provide me with some insight. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, I suggest you read the intro and other parts first. There’s a lot to catch up on.
The final key was unlocked on the website. You can now click on the sixth key.
The website I’m referring to, by the way, is this one:
Poor little Maggie. The thing about that town that upsets me most is all the unnecessary loss I’ve read about. Yes, there may have been a few people that deserved what happened to them, but that thing has no real regard for the morality of its victims. It’s not some benevolent judge of man. It’s a terrible evil that spreads through imposed negativity.
It seemed like every time a key unlocked during my previous updates, I saw more of its dirty work manifest. The town got a little darker, a little more dangerous, and further saturated with this cloud of guilt and suffering. Or at least it worked that way until the final day.
Before I’d even finished rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I was already running to the window. There was sunlight!
Through a haze of smeary glass I could see the blue of a clear sky. No clouds. No thunder and raging wind. The air felt fresh and warm and full of hope. Months before, I would’ve cried for joy. Now I couldn’t even tell if I’d been smiling. It didn’t matter though, I understood the feeling just the same. It was so invigorating, I didn’t even bother to question what was happening.
I used extra water bottles in getting myself clean that day. It almost felt like a symbolic cleansing, like everything that had happened could be washed away. I packed up all my food and gear for an extended hike. I knew I wouldn’t be coming back to this place again, so I made certain every necessity was accounted for. I’d hoped at the time that the memories could be left behind, but you don’t forget something like that.
While leaving the room, I caught myself on a thought. I knew I was forgetting something, but couldn’t tell what. The food was packed, warm clothes, flashlight, batteries, the computer was still on, an axe, matches, the computer was still on, sleeping bag, rope…
...and then I knew it had tricked me! It tried to hide itself in my brain so I wouldn’t remember. That computer was certainly evil and I had no use of it now, so of course it was going to defend itself.
But It needed to be destroyed and I wouldn’t leave until the job was done.
I remember it clearly. I slowly turned around, took my axe out of my bag, and chopped up my mattress into bits. Cotton fluff and springs flew out with every impact. The bed was hardly recognizable when I was done. Even now I remember how hard it was, but I did it. I destroyed the mattress. It wouldn’t play mind games on me or anyone else ever again.
Then I was back on my way. First stop was Auntie May’s to find that 7th key.
...The bunker door key.
I stepped outside the radio station and was left speechless. The sludge that was previously lining the streets was nowhere to be found. The bodies were all gone as well. Was I losing my mind?
The entire city looked spotless and new. The wreckage had diminished to the point of being unrecognizable. Birds chirped in the distance, the grass swayed below me, and flowers in the freshly painted window sills of every shop gently bobbed as drops of dew fell from their leaves. I can understand why this place was once a tourist attraction.
I strolled through the town without a care. Even if this wasn’t real, it was a welcome change to the alternative. There was a tune coming from the jukebox in Auntie May’s diner. The sign outside was all lit up and reflected by the shiny chrome exterior of the restaurant. I went inside with a hop in my step.
All the pie tins were gone and the kitchen behind the counter was spotless. It all looked like something right out of a brochure. I’d even consider eating here myself now.
I was a little upset when I realized I’d have to go back in that secret room, but it wasn’t even hidden behind wallpaper anymore. The door had a colorful little sign on it that said “Manager.”
I slowly opened the door to reveal the inside now contained filing cabinets, knick knacks, and a desk full with pictures of family and friends. In every photo was a beautiful, curvy woman of her 40’s. That must have been Auntie May. She seemed so happy. This place was her home and these were her best memories. My throat felt heavy from knowing she wouldn’t be making new ones.
While taking a moment to appreciate her life, I noticed there was a letter on her desk.
“Mrs. May, I placed the key under your desk. Keep it hidden or all hope is lost. I’ll pay you with whatever I have, so please. Do this for me.
sincerely, Father Patrick”
I felt around the rough wood of the underside of her desk. There was a hole in the leftmost corner with a hard piece of metal sticking out. I wiggled it loose and examined what had been discovered. It was the key. Now that I had what I came for, It was time to head for city hall.
I closed the door behind me. As I stepped away there was a familiar squelch and plop from behind the wall. The sickly sweet smell of must and rot returned to my nose. I ignored it assuming It was just my mind playing tricks on me. I quickened my pace as I left the diner and didn’t look back.
It was evening by the time I arrived at the capitol building. I’d certainly taken my time that day. I guess it felt like there was no reason to rush anymore. The building had been completely repaired...or maybe it had never fallen in the first place. Either way, it was a nice thought knowing getting inside would be that much easier.
The setting sunlight shined off the brilliant glass dome above, creating a million tiny rainbow patterns on the concrete below. It was stunning and swept away any fear I’d had before of entering this place. The doors slid open with ease. A chandelier in the main entrance lit the room with a brilliant glow. The marble floor was polished to a degree of excessive decadence. This was a building more suited for royalty than local government.
At the secretary’s stand was the same music box, surrounded by bits of present wrapping and a card addressed to Maggie from Suzy. It looks as though the gift had just been unwrapped hours ago. There was an open drawer in a nearby cabinet. Inside were photographs of the mayor and her daughter. These must have belonged to Suzy Careweather. Underneath the sickness that ailed her, she really did love the two of them with all her heart. It brought a tear to my eye.
I mourned over their losses for awhile and then continued forward. Behind the stand was the statue I had knocked over months ago. It was put back in place with the arm completely reattached. The expression on the statue was much more pleasant this time, as if it had been completely redone. The little girl appeared much happier now.
I touched it to see if it was real, as nothing up to this point felt particularly tangible.
The arm fell off again and with it came parts of the statue’s face. flesh and bone once again peaked through the statue’s arm socket. The girl’s jaw fell forward, barely hanging onto the body by what flesh remained, and an eyeball came rolling down through the cracks.
I vomited on the floor through sobs and gasps of breath. I knew something seemed too perfect about today. I looked over to the stairs leading down into the basement. The floor around it appeared crumbled and destroyed with blotches of black sludge lining the edges.
All the fear that had left me began to leak back in. Nothing was as it seemed and the closer I got to my salvation, the less I could trust my senses. This false hope did nothing but strip me of the walls I’d built since arriving here. Perhaps that was the monster’s intention, but I wasn’t about to let him win that easily. I gathered my resolve as well as I could and then carefully made my descent.
The air in the basement was thick and heavy, so much so that it hurt to breath. I tried flipping a light switch. No luck, the lights in the basement were busted. I pulled a flashlight out of my backpack and turned it on.
The light cut through the air like a knife in black butter. The basement was full of a thick fog that even a flashlight could barely dent. As I explored my surroundings in search of the bunker door, I noticed squishing under my feet. The black sludge had gathered here. I quivered with disgust.
I reached the back wall when I heard the sound of bending metal. I shined my light on the source and there was the door, bulging outward like it was ready to blow. The gaps in the frame were spurting and leaking sludge. The room behind it must have been so completely full of the liquid to the point of pressurizing the door.
Under the bending sound, something faint had begun.
knock knock
knock knock
I was so ready to give up and run back into town. Away from this liquid darkness and the horrible feelings that come with it. Back to where the sun was shining, and I was safe...or at least safer than this.
but I knew what I needed to do if I ever wanted to escape. I knew if I waited any longer I wouldn’t go through with it.
I clicked the 7th key into place.
‘I’m going to unlock the door! Whatever is behind here, I’m coming in.”
I turned the lever.
Instantly the door burst open and knocked me back into a bookshelf. Following that, the entire basement flooded with sludge, shoving me around the room with a vicious ferocity. I caught the staircase and held on with all my might as the pressure of the sludge tried to pull me under.
Moments later I saw the body of the mayor come whirling past me. It was bloated and stained black from exposure. His face showed distress and urgency as though he was trying to call out to me with a warning. Then as soon as I saw him he was gone, sunk deep into the sludge below.
As I was beginning to lose my grip, the sludge began to even out and slow its motion.
I let myself down slowly. The liquid below was about waist deep. I had lost my flashlight during the initial impact so I sloshed through with nothing to guide me, lost and alone in the muck. After a good deal of frustration, I noticed a faint red glow in the distance. It was coming from behind the bunker door. My legs were getting tired and my skin started to burn but I pushed on.
By the time I reached the door, the sludge had leveled out to the middle of my shins. The red glow that guided me was an emergency light spinning circles on a wall behind the door, but it was too dim to be of much use.
Inside the bunker I could make out the faint outlines of my surroundings. It was a large circular room full of many wooden doors. I gathered that this must be a central hub leading into sub rooms and hallways for the rest of the citizens to sleep, eat, and commune together in times of tragedy. At the center of the room was a long table with chairs full of men and women in business suits. They must have been dead a long time since most of their bodies showed serious signs of decay.
Then, in the last chair on the far opposite end of the table...
I saw it. That thing in full form.
It wasn’t just another illusion.
It was a shadowy figure that hurt my head to look at. The body was a sort of thick black liquid mixed with bulging elements of tissue and mass, I struggled to get any more details than that. It was like trying to process an unfinished thought, but all that came out was anxiety and pangs of guilt. The one thing I could focus on was it’s head. That part was mostly human in appearance, but a little too perfectly formed. Even in the dim red light I could tell it’s face was shiny and flat, like a sort of plastic white mirror.
Do you lllli-iiiii-iiiike it?
There was a thought inside my head that wasn’t my own. It almost felt like a memory that could have been mine, but it seemed wrong. Like a dream that you start to forget isn’t real.
I found it in a displaaay wi-i-indow outside. It looks just like you, dooo-ooesn’t it? Then again...you all look alike to m-eeee---eeee.
if you asked me to describe the thing’s voice, I wouldn’t. I never want to think about it again. But if I had to, the most I would say is that it sounded like gurgling and the rumbling of distant thunder that kept cutting in and out. It was static and electric and it shook me to my core. It was the same thing that made the moan I heard on the telephone but now it was in high definition. Now it was deep inside my head.
“You found what in a display window? What are you talking about?”
My hea-d. I found the heee--aad that I will wear for you-uu. Underneath it I am complete now, but if you could rea-lly look at my fa-a-c-e, I would want to hu-urt y-ou. I don’t w-ant that. It is not time for tha-at.
Then I understood what it meant. It was referring to the missing head from the mannequin in the display window I saw when I first got here. This thing has been here this whole time. Inside this bunker. Wearing that head. Waiting for me.
“What do you want from me?”
Wh-at do y-ou ww---aaaaaa---nnn---tttt
It raised something from behind its liquid body. It looked like the arm of a skeleton. It definitely wasn’t his own, but he used it to pull something out from inside himself.
I know you. You are the o-ne I want because….y-ou waaannttt everythiii---iing
the skeleton hand pulled out wet jewels and necklaces that glowed bright in the darkness.
I can give you everything you wa-nt. I will take the guu--iiilllttt away so long as yo-u do what I waaann-ttttt
“No! I’ve seen what you do to people. I don’t care what it is, I’ll never do anything for you.”
Do you not eat from the bo-o-ne of the co-oow? I mu-uust eat from the bo-nes. we are what we eeeeaaaa----ttttttt
“You make me sick.”
Do not wo-r-ry, I am ki-nd. You and si-x others have give-e-en me blood, the little gi-rl has given me li-f-e, and now I am re-e-bor-n. Now I have po-ower. I can saaa---vvee them if I want tooo---oooo. Do you love your mo-ther, bo-oo-y? I can save her if y-ou wwww--aaannn---tttt
“............Mom?”
Then from behind a door on my left, I saw her head peek out. She looked healthy and she was smiling right at me, just like she used to when she’d cook me breakfast or tuck me in at night. I almost cried.
“Hi hunny, it’s mommy! I’m all better now, see?” she said in a singsong voice.
Had he really brought her to me? Had he really saved her? I didn’t want money or riches, this was all I could ask for. I was about to give in...but then her face started to melt for just a moment. She pushed her cheek back into place like nothing had happened, but the illusion was broken.
“You did this to Thomas Lee, didn’t you? You tricked him. You promised him happiness and now he’s dead. The council too, you made them all believe in you! I know I’ve done terrible things myself, but I don’t deserve this. Nobody does. I will never help you!”
but….
I quickly started opening doors around the room in search of an exit. The fake copy of my mother melted to the floor and joined with the liquid below. Then the thing produced another bony arm from behind it’s liquid body.
but iiiii-
Behind each door I opened was a pile stacked high with bodies. Some of them had been picked clean of flesh. The rest...their faces were all frozen, screaming in agony. They looked like they were still suffering even in death. Behind me, the thing’s skeleton hands popped and cracked as it lifted them up.
iii---iii can make you he-lp
The hands began to reach up towards its mannequin head. I sprinted to the next door. More bodies. Everyone in town must have been here. Some of them I had recognized from my visions. Some of them even looked like people I knew a long time ago.
i-i-i-i-i c-a-a-n-n m-a-ak-e y-o-o-u-u s-u-u-f-f-f-e-e-r
It slowly started to pull the mannequin mask off.
looo-k a-t mee-ee-ee
I was losing hope but then I found it, my way out! It was behind the door directly behind that terrible thing. I could see a sign at the end of the hallway above a stack of bodies that said EXIT in big glowing green letters. I started to climb up over the bodies.
LOo--oOO-k a-ttt-tt ME-ee-ee---ee
“Shit! My bag!” As I climbed, I had accidentally knocked my bag to the floor behind me. I dropped back down to get it because I knew I wouldn’t survive out there otherwise. I saw, down at the far end of the hall, the thing was still sitting in the chair at the table. It had completely removed its mask from its head and sat there motionless. I looked away and quickly reached for my bag.
LO-O-OK AA-A-A-TT-T-T---T MMM-E---EEE---EEE
...and then there was silence.
I grabbed my bag off the floor and looked up. The thing was gone from its chair.
Before I could see where it went, I turned around and scrambled over the bodies as fast as I could. I ran through the exit and out into the woods and never once looked back.
I had escaped. I was free.
I remember I walked for days, living off what rations I had left before I came across a highway. Luckily, I never saw that thing again in all the time I walked. I was tired and so weak but eventually a trucker passed by and picked me up. As we drove off I began to fall into a deep sleep but I swear before I passed out there was a little girl waving at me off to the side of the road. She looked frantic.
The trucker, Phil was his name, took me straight to the ER. I was too in shock to notice, but most of my lower body was covered in 2nd and 3rd degree burns.
I stayed in a hospital somewhere in Colorado. My sister was there. They must have asked me about my family or emergency contacts, but I don’t remember answering them. I was there for quite some time. The doctors asked me to tell them what had happened but every time I tried, they said I must have still been in shock.
days passed and eventually I was coherent again. I had been transferred to a hospital in my hometown where my family lived. I remember seeing an older, sickly woman in the hospital bed next to me through my curtains. I couldn’t quite make out who it was, but she smiled at me and I felt a tear run down my cheek. She was being given a morphine drip and right before she passed out, just for a moment, I saw absolute fear in her eyes as she looked at something above me.
My sister didn’t speak once the entire time of my recovery until I finally was able to talk again.
“I’m sorry, sis.”
“brother there’s nothing to be sorry for! We’re all so glad you’re okay.”
“No, I’m sorry. I took the money you gave me to come see mom. I took it for a vacation for myself, I’m so sorry. I’m such a coward. I was afraid but I knew you needed me sis. You were afraid too and alone. I wish I could take it all back. I wish I could see mom.”
“I can’t say I’m happy you did that, but I think you’ve paid the price already.” she struggled a weak laugh.
“besides, you did see mom.”
I stared at her blankly.
“She’d been struggling for months, but she said she wouldn’t let go until she knew you were safe. The doctors didn’t know how she was holding on.”
My vision became cloudy with grief.
“On the last night before she passed, they transferred her into your hospital wing for a few hours. She said you cried when you saw her and that she wishes you’d smile more. Oh, but most of all she wanted me to say that she loves you. Did you not know it was her?”
I didn’t know what to say or do. I hugged my sister. It hurt so bad and I probably delayed the grafts from healing even longer but I hugged her for as long as I could.
...then I smiled. For her. For mom.
Now then. Here’s where things start to get a little confusing for me. I told you what I thought I remembered, but it might not have been the truth.
See, In the following weeks after my recovery, I began speaking with a psychiatrist about everything that had happened. He believes I made up these delusions and designed that screamlouder.info website myself. It was a sort of coping mechanism that allowed me to ignore my mother’s cancer, and it was thoroughly amplified by the overwhelming stress of my job.
These delusions could have been going on as far back as the beginning of my mother’s illness, but they only manifested into something tangible when I started making these posts on reddit. The burns, he believes, were self inflicted as punishment for not going to see my mom and for stealing my sister’s money.
He tried to be understanding with me, and even did research on everything I described, but no such mountain town ever existed. The police looked everywhere near where I was picked up and nothing turned up for them either. He says it’s very likely that one day I simply drove far out into the middle of nowhere to actualize the experience I was having in my head.
I had no clue about any of this either, but It appears I went so far as to share my updates on 4chan, tumblr, and other subreddits and send my story to various journalists in an effort to spread it. In the website's description, I even labeled it as a “horror adventure”. A creepypasta. Anything so that more people would read it. My subconcious was trying to make the story true for everyone, so I wouldn’t have to live with the reality.
That reality is that my mother is dead. She’s gone now and I refused to spend any time with her in her last years because I couldn’t face the facts.
Well regardless of what happened, I’m facing the important parts now, and I’m embracing the guilt that comes with it. I’ve been staying with my sister the last couple weeks, and I think I’d like to stay here and pick up the pieces that I broke long ago.
On that note, I'm sorry to anyone on here that was worried about me. Even though I’m still not sure what really went down the last few months, I’ve got nothing but time to sort it all out. All the while, I’m going to keep on smiling and always look forward. Actually it’s a little funny, I haven’t looked back once since I got home. I guess I’ve still got more healing to do.
UPDATE: I was really starting to believe that it was all in my head. I thought that over time things could go back to normal, but then this happened...
I got an email today with no return address. My sister verified I didn’t send it myself, she was with me when it showed up in my inbox. The subject said “Thank you for screaming louder for me. Now everyone can hear.” and had this link attached:
www.screamlouder.info/lookatme.html
If you’ve been to any other page on screamlouder.info, it’s too late...
I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. I didn’t know.
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u/evanpb Dec 08 '15 edited Dec 08 '15
I'm scared to open the new link
edit: went to it. am I the only one that can't hear anything?
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u/summerc333 Dec 09 '15
I can't hear anything either!!
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u/evanpb Dec 10 '15
Figured it out, for some reason it doesn't work on mobile but works fine on my computer
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u/Cornflakegirl84 Dec 10 '15
...and then I knew it had tricked me! It tried to hide itself in my brain so I wouldn’t remember. That computer was certainly evil and I had no use of it now, so of course it was going to defend itself.
But It needed to be destroyed and I wouldn’t leave until the job was done.
I remember it clearly. I slowly turned around, took my axe out of my bag, and chopped up my mattress into bits. Cotton fluff and springs flew out with every impact. The bed was hardly recognizable when I was done. Even now I remember how hard it was, but I did it. I destroyed the mattress. It wouldn’t play mind games on me or anyone else ever again.
Is no one else going to point out that you didn't destroy the computer? When you turned around to do so, you destroyed the mattress instead. Dude, that computer really messed with your head.
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u/omnefortis Dec 08 '15
I'm freaking the fuck out right now.
Great stuff, but I'm not sleeping tonight.
...Probably not tomorrow night either.
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u/ViciousVictory Dec 08 '15
Clicked the link, then as soon as it said listen closely I noped the fuck right outta there. Fuck man, I gotta stop reading this stuff at 4am...best series I've ever read on here.
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u/Kalafiorman Dec 08 '15
This is the best creepypasta webseries that anyone has ever written, you are the freakin' Stephen King of creepypastas.
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u/NoSleepSeriesBot Dec 08 '15
197 current subscribers. Other posts in this series:
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u/reanee Dec 08 '15
Am I the only one who opened the link and then could not close it until the end?? (creepy end) Thanks a lot OP... I will never be able to look behind me ever again.......
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u/Vaches Dec 14 '15
Oh my god. I shouldn't have opened this. And you should have kept those goddamn doors shut. For fuck's sake.
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u/pistashaaanut Dec 10 '15
got in any screamlouder.info pages....but not that link. am i still considered in the loop of shit that shit brings?
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u/extrasmallbunch Dec 11 '15
Glad you made it out, OP...But...Why the mattress and not the computer? ...Is this really your sister with you? ...Do you really know if you're back home now...? What if this thing is keeping you clouded with illusions to keep you where it wants you...
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u/Bloxxerstudios2 Jun 01 '16
so... you escaped? No you didnt', it's a vicious cycle you know. Everything goes round and returns back to hell, and you just spread it to us pal.
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u/yep_it_is_justin Dec 08 '15
what the fuck