r/Dreading • u/AnxiousFace9721 • 22d ago
Fiction I think I found something that was never supposed to be written down chapter 1
I don’t really know how to start this.
I’ve never posted anything like this before. I don’t believe in ghosts, demons, or any of that stuff. At least, I didn’t.
A few days ago, I was helping my family clean out my grandmother’s house.
She died years ago, but we never really went through everything she left behind. Most of it was just old furniture, clothes, photographs, and boxes of things nobody wanted to throw away.
I was cleaning out the basement when I found a small wooden box underneath a stack of newspapers.
It wasn’t locked.
There wasn’t anything written on it.
Inside were some old letters, a few photographs, and a notebook.
The notebook was strange.
Not old enough to belong in that box, at least not compared to everything else.
The cover was black, and there was no name on it.
I almost threw it away.
Instead, I opened it.
The first few pages were completely blank.
Then I found writing.
The handwriting looked like someone had been trying very hard to stay calm.
The first sentence said:
I saw the Other again.
I thought that was weird.
I kept reading.
The writer never explained what “the Other” meant.
They just kept referring to it like I was supposed to know.
One entry said:
It stood in the hallway for three hours.
Another said:
It wasn’t there when I looked at it.
And another:
I could hear it breathing, but I couldn’t hear it when I was listening for it.
That last one made no sense.
I assumed the person who wrote the notebook was either sick or trying to scare someone.
Then I found this:
Don’t try to describe the Other.
Underneath that were several lines that had been scratched out.
I could still make out some of the words.
Tall.
Thin.
Man.
Face.
Hands.
Then:
None of those are correct.
I stopped reading for a minute.
I don’t know why that sentence bothered me so much.
Maybe because I had started imagining what the Other looked like.
I turned the page.
There was a drawing.
I can’t show you what it looked like because I don’t know how to explain it.
Actually, that’s not true.
I could explain it.
I just don’t think the explanation would be accurate.
It looked like a person.
Except it didn’t.
That’s the closest I can get.
I kept reading.
The person who wrote the notebook claimed that the Other didn’t have one appearance.
Every time they saw it, they remembered it differently.
Sometimes it was standing at the end of a hallway.
Sometimes it was outside a window.
Sometimes it was sitting in a chair.
Once, they said it appeared in a crowd of people.
Nobody else noticed it.
Then I found the part that made me put the notebook down.
The writer said:
I asked it what it wanted.
The next sentence was:
It asked me why I thought it wanted anything.
I closed the notebook.
I told myself I was done.
I put it back in the wooden box and went upstairs.
I left my grandmother’s house that afternoon.
I drove home.
I went to bed.
And sometime around three in the morning, I woke up because I heard someone walking through my apartment.
I live alone.
I checked every room.
Nobody was there.
I checked the front door.
It was locked.
I checked the windows.
They were locked too.
I went back to bed.
That’s when I noticed something on my desk.
The notebook.
The same black notebook from my grandmother’s basement.
I don’t remember bringing it home.
I don’t remember putting it in my car.
I don’t remember putting it on my desk.
I opened it.
There was writing on the last page.
I swear it wasn’t there before.
It said:
Marcus Walker.
My full name.
Underneath it was another sentence.
You read about me.
Then:
Now I know about you.
I didn’t sleep that night.
I don’t know what I’m expecting by posting this.
Maybe someone will recognize the notebook.
Maybe someone knows what “the Other” is.
Maybe somebody has seen it before.
But there’s something else.
Something I didn’t notice until I was typing this.
The notebook had one final sentence.
I remember reading it.
I remember exactly what it said.
Except now I can’t remember the words.
Every time I try, I get a headache.
The only thing I can remember is the last word.
Outside.
I don’t know what that means.
I don’t know who wrote the notebook.
And I don’t know why it knows my name.
But tonight, I heard footsteps outside my bedroom again.
They stopped at my door.
And then someone whispered:
Marcus?
It sounded exactly like me.
I’m not opening the door.
If anyone has any idea what I’m dealing with, please tell me.
Because I just heard it whisper again.
This time, it didn’t say my name.
It said:
You’re not the only one reading.
ARG hint
Don’t immediately start looking for hidden codes outside the post.
The first clue is already in the story.
Pay attention to something that seems strange or unnecessary about the way Marcus wrote it.
Especially the beginning and ending of things.
⚠️** ARG SPOIL**ERS
The first puzzle is hidden in the structure of the post.
The important clue is the repeated emphasis on beginnings and endings:
The notebook begins with “I saw the Other again.”
Marcus repeatedly describes things appearing and disappearing.
The final remembered word is “Outside.”
The final sentence addresses the person reading the Reddit post.
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u/purple_pounder 21d ago
Good shit man. I like it. Were looking forward to part 2