username;;scrungus
kalon name;;Leliana
kalon gender;;Female
ghost story;;Footsteps leading to and coming from places unknown. Hands that seem human, but not quite. Movement that seems slightly unnatural, almost mechanical. Eyes that watch from everywhere you don't expect. This is the tale of the Imago.I was walking through the sparse woods, almost approaching home. At least, I thought I was. It was a while before I realized, "
It shouldn't take this long to get home." I assumed that I took a wrong turn somewhere. I did know these woods well - I walked through them almost every day - but I was, apparently, not immune to getting lost. I glanced up to check the position of the sun, only to realize it was almost dusk. I did know the story of the Imago - the winged, insect-like beast that haunts those who are alone in the woods at night - though I dismissed it as pure superstition of the locals, most likely started as a story to stop children from playing in the woods at night.
I heard a slight gust behind me. Probably the wind, or a bird taking off, or something. Right? I glanced around slightly, just to make sure nothing would attack me. I continued walking, perhaps somewhat quicker, until i stepped on something hard and unpleasant to stand on. I looked down at it, and saw it was just a rock. I picked it up, because it looked cool - some sort of red granite, I guess - and continued on my way. A few mosquitoes hovered around me, before being swatted away as I walked.
A while later, after walking along for a bit and humming the
song that was stuck in my head, I stopped and noticed something. When I looked around, my surroundings were more that of a swamp than a sparse forest - and my humming seemed to be echoing more than it should, or rather something seemed to be echoing it back. But that couldn't be it, right? there were no songbirds in this area... Or at least, the area I should have been in. All I could do was scoff at how slightly off-key it was - although, that could be due to the frankly odd shape of the trees. I looked around again - this area wasn't familiar at all - in fact, there wasn't even a swamp anywhere near my house! I began to wonder how I didn't question any of this earlier.
My mind unhelpfully brought up the subject of the Imago again, and how it lured its prey into a strange, unsettling area, that you could only enter if it invited you in. "
Great," I thought, "
Now I'm going to start getting paranoid." Still, though... It all added up... But it was just myth, wasn't it?
[
music.]
That's what I thought until I heard someone whisper, just barely audibly, "
Give it back." I dismissed it as my imagination - just confusion and paranoia caused by being lost in a strange area. I heard it again, a little clearer this time. "
Give it back." I was either insane, or I was really caught by the Imago. I decided for the time being, perhaps because I was not in the best state of mind at the moment, to go with the latter.
"Wh-who are you? What do you want back?" I called out.
"Give it back."
"Give
what back?"
"G͏͔̼̘̙͎̜̲͚̳͉̙͙̩̹̣̬͟I̢͢͏̳͖̭͚̫͇͇̜̤̖̤͉̞̹̩͕̞͢V̶̶̛̺͍̖̻̦͓̰̟͘E҉́҉̪̻͎̻̪͔̕ ̡̲̦͙̗̰̠̹̠̬̗̘̘͙̀͘B̧̢̮̫̳̣̤̺̤͚͈̱̦̜͢A̷͢͏͙͍̞̖̱C̨̢̛̛̯͓̰̪̭̜̯̱̼͔̬̣̠̻͎͕̲̱͝K̛̮̯͎̯̫̫͈̺̫̤͕̟͙̯̙͢ͅ ͏͏̭̦̜̪̞̗͙M̩͎̘͘Y̶̶̧̛̟͉̗̲̲͚͇̣̣̰͍̼̻̱̪ͅͅ ̠͈̥̥͘͢H̢̻̝̥̗̤͕̞̲̜̙̹̺͟E̷̖̰̗͙̳̳͙̜͙͖̣̥̤̞̕͟͢A̢̡̜̰̩̤̝͖̼̗͈̮̣̱̯͜ͅR̷̴̸̷͍̰̺̹̝͞T̶̛̯̝̗̤̖̤̫͙̘̟̦̱̜̲͎͚̕͝.̶̸̻͎̦̺͖̙̺̖̼̭̱͎̫̯̀͟͡"
The suddenly screeching, almost mechanical voice caused me to flinch.
"I-I didn't take your heart! I don't know what you're talking about!"
"G͜͠I̷͡V͜͠͏̡̡E͢͡ ̸̧̢̧̕I̡͜͝T̷̡̛̕҉ ̡͡͠B҉҉͞A͘͠͠C̶͢͠K͏ ҉̴̨͢G̨̧̛Į̛͞V̷̡͞҉̢E̵͢ ̢̀I͘͡͝T̵́́͢͡ ҉̀͟B̸̴A͏̸͜C̴̡K̢̡͞͡͝ ͞͝G̶̴̨͟͝Í̶V̶̡̕͜E̸ ̡̕͟I̶̕͜Ţ̷̸҉ ̨̕B̶̷̨̀Á͢͝C̴̸K̷͠͞"
I looked around and spotted the beast - even more grotesque than one would have you believe. My heart stopped as I fully realized.
It's real.I grabbed the first thing I could think of, the reddish stone I had picked up earlier, and lobbed it at the monster - the Imago - before sprinting away. The swampy area seemed to melt away in an almost surreal way, and I was returned to the sparse forest I knew very well.
I looked around to make
completely sure that I was safe. I hadn't even noticed in the hectic sprint that I had cut my leg open. Thankfully, I looked at the landmark ribbons tied to the trees, and realized I was quite close to my home. I looked up, and realized it was dawn. Soon, I got home and patched up my leg with some gauze, and thought for a bit. While it is possible that the reddish stone I picked up may have been this...
thing's heart, or whatever, it was more likely that the stone just distracted it long enough for me to escape. Now, every night, I lie in fear that the Imago may come back for its heart.
After all, the real world is where the monsters really are.
