"Log two, December 18th, 2022. My name is Tyler Abaddon, a college student attending Stanford University in Stanford California. I was born and raised in a decently sized city, called Midland Michigan. Although I left the city as soon as I received a scholarship thanks to my skill in Football while I was attending High School. I haven't heard from my family in almost a year. As much as I wanted to escape the city and never return, here I am, preparing to leave everything I know to check on my family, and especially to check on my brother. And make sure he's okay. He's had a lot of issues in his past, and Highschool must be really hard on him. But what kind of older brother isn't always looking out for his baby brother? See you soon"
I shut the tape recorder off and shoved it into my backpack. I saw my therapist a couple nights ago, and he told me if I was going to make such a long journey I would need to record myself every single day, record how I feel, or if I have any nightmares.
Which, while at first I wasn't too big on the idea, it was actually kind of fun. Lifting my backpack and throwing it over my back, I gazed around my dorm. The window was wide open, letting a soft breeze in, causing the curtains to rustle with the wind. I moved to shut the window, however upon closing the extremely pungent smell of Ax body spray wafted into my nostrils, causing a burning sensation.
It was only then I realized my roommate had been in the room this whole time, the only thing masking the sign of him being around being the fresh air. There he was, my roommate and best friend Erik Castimere. A really cool guy, although, I'm not sure how he got admitted into the university. While Stanford isn't some cushy Ivy League school, it was still rather prestigious and no offense to Erik, he just seemed to be a run of the mill stoner. Or at least that's how it seemed upon first look. Hell, Erik won The Kennedy Thesis Award his first year here. An absolute genius among geniuses. I aspire to be like him, but right now, I was annoyed by his natural silence as he just lay in his bed, his long hair covering his face.
"Oy Erik, how much of that did you hear man?" I asked him rather bluntly, I tried to be cool about it, but the annoyance was rather clear in my voice
Upon hearing me address him, he used his hand to brush his shaggy hair out of his face and gaze at me. No surprise, the guy was baked out of his mind. "Look man, it ain't like you revealed any major secrets man, you hate your hometown, yet you love your family, especially your little brother. And you're gonna spend your winter break going out to see them. No big deal"
His voice was soft and he spoke concise. I always had large misconceptions about stoners, however Erik really changed my mind about all that. "Yeah, I miss them, as much as I hate it, Midland's my home, and the Abaddon's are my family. What are your plans for Winter Break Erik?"
He simply shrugged, sitting up so he could get up off of his bed and stand straight. He groaned a bit as he stretched. "I don't have any plans, I'll probably just hang out here in the dorms. I ain't got no one to see after all, my family sees the worst in me, 'Oh you got into Stanford? How come you couldn't get into harvard' shit like that"
I kind of felt bad for him, he's expressed this to me many times and no matter how many times he says it, I can't help but feel bad for him. His parents didn't support him no matter what he does. But this gave me an idea, "Hey, Erik… you wanna come with me to my hometown? Spend Christmas with me and my family?"
Erik seemed to perk up at the idea, and couldn't help but smile. He just gave me a blank stare for a moment before answering with his signature laugh "Well, that would be wonderful man, thanks."
It was great to hear that Erik was down to go with me. Not only did I do a good deed, I got someone to come with me so that I would not be alone when facing my past. This was going to be great
"Log three, December 19th, 2022. After a long plane ride Erik and I arrived at MBS International AIrport after a six hour flight. We called for a Taxi which will arrive in just a few minutes to take us to my home in Midland Michigan… My dad hasn't answered his personal phone nor his company phone, which isn't a normal behavior of my father. Normally he answered all of my calls. Something has to be up. Maybe it's my paranoia or something but, it really just doesn't feel right. Something is wrong. And I'm going to figure It out."
I shut off the tape recorder and exited the airport bathroom. It's very embarrassing to do this in Public but I felt the need to, at this time at least. Erik was waiting for me just outside the airport. So I went to meet him. As I approached where I left him I saw the Taxi, he was already in it. So I picked up the pace and quickly slipped into the Taxi. "Ah there your friend is, where are y'all off to"
The driver seemed out of place, he had an accent familiar to someone from the Bronx Area. Like one of those stereotypical Taxi drivers you see in the movies. Except this guy absolutely reeked of smoke and alcohol, but I elected to ignore it so I could make it home "4904 Warblers Way in Midland please"
The driver laughed and nodded, closing the window between the driver's seat and the backseat. I guess that means he was taking us. Sitting back in my seat, despite my shirt, I could feel the rugged leather of the seat. I do not miss taking taxis, and I never will, it was only then I noticed Erik was reading a book "Erik, we left school, you don't need to keep reading. You know that right"
A smile crossed Erik's cheeks. But this was natural, I don't believe that he's high, not this time. But his smile still felt eerie. He turned his gaze to me with a chuckle, looking back at the book before looking back at me "No, this is my own personal story. This is a book on Demonology, recently I've been drawn to research this specific demon, his name is Baal Berith, he is absolutely fascinating as all his tales are contradictory, and yet, seem to align"
I won't lie, he had my interest at this point, so I took the bait "Is that so? What's so interesting about him"
He was definitely happy that I was interested in his little book and demon. He shut the book quickly, causing a loud sound as the pages clapped together. "Okay! So Baal Berith is fascinating. So there's Baal Berith and El Berith, in the Canaanite city of Shechem, they were viewed as two gods of that city, however the book of judges implies that Baal and Bel are the same person. This is when it gets interesting, the Jewish people began worshiping this being, and went so far as to create a cult surrounding him. He was compared to Beelzebub at the time, at least in Rabbinic Literature. By all means, he was a god to these people. So why is it, that in Michaelis' classification of demons, is he the fifth highest ranking demon in the hierarchy? And in Dictionnaire Infernal, he's in the highest Hierarchy of the demons as a prince. In fact, Baal Berith according to demonology was a prince of the Cherubim. He tempts men to commit homicide, and to be quarrelsome, contentious, and blasphemous. Truly a fiend to most religions. It's a fascinating thought that something like this exists."
I wish I never asked, yes it was fascinating but learning things like this always bugged me. I certainly believe in demons, however I don't like to think about them, not since… the nightmares, but this was different. Listening to this name, Baal berith, it sent a chill down my spine, and left me sick to my stomach, I couldn't quite place it, but it just felt so familiar to me. So important. But why? "Yeah, it's pretty great man. Fascinating."
He went back to reading and we spent the rest of the ride in silence. I didn't want to hear anymore. By the time we got to the house, it was getting dark, so I paid the clearly drunk Taxi driver and we exited the car. It had been so since I've been here. This neighborhood always felt like it belonged in a horror movie. The homes seem close… maybe on the surface, but there's just enough distance that no one will hear you scream from inside your house, and yet could hear you just enough if you were outside the house, but not enough for it to be too great of a concern. Everyone here was basically just your typical fat cat. Paying others to do their work, you could even smell the freshly cut grass, but how was that even possible, it's Winter, who's cutting grass at this time?
I needed to focus, I can't think about the neighborhood when my home is right in front of me. It certainly wasn't the nicest home, a lot of windows dotted all over the building, making it easy to peer in, but, it was what he was raised in. The white paint was fresh, they must've repainted recently, if I got close enough I'd probably be able to smell it. I gave Erik a small nod and we approached the house. It doesn't seem like anyone was home, but I had a key to the house. Once we entered, my suspicions came true. Something was definitely wrong, It was obvious, the thick smell of Rusty Iron filled the air as we entered, invading my senses and sending me back, falling straight onto my ass. It's so powerful. "What… what the fuck"
I was in shock. I couldn't believe it. What the hell happened here? Why was the smell so pungent? It actually hurt to smell. I looked over to Erik, and he seemed mostly calm, but I could tell he was bothered, as his body was tensed up. He noticed I had fallen over and helped me back up. "Yeah man, I'm glad I came instead of staying at school"
I wanted to get mad at him for telling a joke like this, but I couldn't. I was more concerned with what was happening in that house. With my composure returned and fear for my family in my heart I rushed in without a second thought, hearing Erik call out from behind me "Hey! Wait! Tyler" He ran in after me but the second he got into the house, the door slammed behind us. Which snapped me out of my trance.
"Wait what?!" I was in complete shock and fear once again, what the hell was going on, something wasn't natural, that same sick feeling was punching me in the gut. It was frightening, just like back in my nightmares. This felt exactly the same. I was trapped, always trapped.
I began pounding my hand on the door and trying to open it, but nothing worked, the door just remained completely solid through it all. We were trapped. I felt the panic begin to sink in, this truly was the worst thing that could have happened at this moment "Fuck! Fuck! FUCK! FUCK!! FUCK!!! FUCK!!!! FUCK!!!!!"
My panic was just getting worse, I couldn't handle this, but before I could do anything irrational I felt a hand on my shoulder. Turning to swing at whatever grabbed me, I stopped when I saw it was Erik, staring at me with concern. "Hey man! Pull yourself together! What's going on with you right now?!"
At that moment my eyes adjusted and I realized the door had never shut, was it just in my head? No it felt so real, something isn't right, but I just have to play it off. "Yeah, sorry dude, I'm perfectly fine, just, it's been so long since I've been here, I had a panic attack. Must've been the smell of blood, right?"
Erik gave me a smile and a nod, reassuring my fears that everything would be okay, but where was my family? "We should go to the police, Tyler" Erik suggested, ready to move on from the house, as was I, so I listened. Dialing 911 into my smartphone.
"Log four, After yesterday's events, I feel as though I've lost everything, my life was so perfect, I was the all star football player in High School, got grants through my playing and got into Stanford. Met one of the coolest people ever, and I guess it was all an illusion. Coming back to my hometown, I've found that both my brother and father have gone missing. My dad is believed to have broken out of the police station and is on the run from the police, under suspicion of two counts of murder and the forced disappearence of my brother. Everyone's gone. Typical. You know what, it's whatever. I knew this town was crap anyways. Erik has been trying to cheer me up, not to much avail. After all, I'm stuck in this city until the twenty eighth, I could purchase a new ticket to leave now, but I could barely afford the trip here. Maybe bad luck has finally caught up with me after nothing but amazing luck for the last 10 years of my life, and coming back here, nothing but bad luck for me, typical"
I ended the tape and sat from the bed. I contacted some people at my dad's company, and now Erik and I are staying at one of the employee housing apartments. I am not sure where to go from here. Erik went out to get some food, so I'm all alone right now. I was about to hop in the shower before I heard a knock on the door. I was hesitant to see who it was, but upon opening the door, there was no one there. It must have been some kid trying to pull a prank. I was about to shut the door when from the corner of my eye, I spotted a book on the ground. "What the hell?" I accidentally spoke out loud.
Lifting up the book, that's when it struck me, this book is so familiar. It was my brother's journal. From when we were kids. How the hell did it get here? Who brought this here? It's kind of strange, it feels sinister, and leathery, but not like a natural leather, it was smooth. I felt disgusting just holding it. I didn't even want to read it, but I felt like I had to, Opening the book, I began to read the first page
"He's not in my head, he's real, I felt him. He held me. He can't just be in my head, he's not in my head, he's not in my head, he's not in my head, he's not in my head, he's not in my head, he's not in my head, he's not in my head, he's not in my head!"
What is this? Turning the page my confusion only grew, it just kept repeating the name Mikey. What did Mikey have to do with this? Mikey wasn't even alive anymore when he got his journal from the therapist. "Mikey?" I asked out loud, that's when I heard a voice call out to me, snapping my attention to the door as it was opened
"Mikey? Who's That?"
It was Erik, he had just come back from the shopping trip, quickly hiding the book, I gave him a saddened sigh as I began the story "Mikey was a friend of my little brother's when he was in elementary school, they were probably the closest friend you could ever see, but his parents wouldn't allow him to come over to our house. But Mikey helped my brother whenever he could, defending him from bullies, helping him with schoolwork. It was adorable… but… one day we learned that Mikey was murdered, alongside his mother by his dad, before his dad killed himself."
Erik was just staring at me with a concerned expression, it was clear I maybe shouldn't have talked about who Mikey was. "Sorry for asking man" Erik said, moving to our mini fridge and putting his haul away.
"Log five. Another day gone, I haven't even left the apartment building, although Erik has been going out a lot. I don't blame him, I'm probably not the best person to talk to right now. I found my brother's journal yesterday. Although, I haven't been able to bring myself to read another page. It horrifies me, I'm worried about what I might find out if I keep reading it. I don't know. I'm gonna keep this short. I need to read it"
Shutting off the tape, I leaned down and reached under the bed, which is where I had been storing the book. I flipped to where I had left off. Nothing was changing, with each page, it was just the name Mikey written over and over again. It wasn't stopping, but halfway through the book, the pages, they started to appear as if they were stained with blood. It was horrifying, but, with each new page, the pages felt more wet, more fresh. That same sickening stench from the house began to fill the room. I was filled with panic but I couldn't stop reading. Until the last page… I was horrified of seeing it. I don't know why, The page was dripping blood off of it. This isn't normal, why am i still reading it, why haven't I called the police?
With the most apprehension I've felt in my entire life. I turned the page. It was solid maroon, with large words written, "Come find me." Underneath the words was a river with some trees. That's when it struck me, if this was my brother's journal… This was the forest behind our house. The river! I could find my brother! Help clear my dad's name, my luck was turning around. With a large smile I slammed the book shut and stood up, placing it on my night stand and swiftly exiting the house "I will. I'll find you"
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Opening the door to enter the apartment, I was shocked to see my best friend Tyler was no longer here. 'He must have gone out' I thought to myself, entering the room fully. I tossed off my shoes and went to lay on the bed when I noticed his tape recorder was still here. He didn't go anywhere without this. I lifted the tape recorder which was sitting next to my book of demonology on the nightstand. I knew I shouldn't listen, but I couldn't help myself, so I clicked play
"Log one, I just woke up, it's three AM, I had another nightmare. The same as before. I was back home. Standing over the dead bodies of my entire family, my mom, my dad, and… even my brother. A sickeningly sweet smell, like that of rusty iron constantly flooding my sense. My brother riddles with holes all over his body, as if he was stabbed repeatedly, my mother with a broken neck, and my father, horrifically bloated and twisted. The darkness does nothing but grow. It just keeps happening. It feels as though the walls are always closing in, but one thing keeps changing. There's someone in the corner. I always try to approach, but every step I take closer, I just get further away. But with each new dream, his appearance becomes more and more twisted. I promised myself I would never go back. For any reason, but I need to see my father, I need to see my brother. I need to make sure everything's okay. I'll go back for Christmas"
The tape ended, and I was confused. Why did he never tell me about these nightmares? I thought that I was his best friend. I could have tried to help him. I pressed stop on the recorder, but it just kept going, it wasn't stopping. In fact, it was playing faster. Garbled nonsense began spewing from it, I could barely understand it, but as it got faster I felt panic set into my heart. The walls around me began to close. Looking down at my hands I saw they were soaked in blood. The last thing I heard from the tape recorder before it shut off, was the name of that kid. "Mikey"
Once it stopped I realized everything was normal. My hands were clean, the walls weren't moving, but the panic wouldn't fade away. "Tyler… where the hell did you go?