Weird things are happening in town. I’m getting pretty sure everything’s connected to the mold, but of course I can’t be completely positive. It seemed so fucking ridiculous only three days ago but now I can’t think of another explanation. Too many coincidences not to tie in.
Our town is quite small - population around 4,000. Lizzy and I have been staying in a motel about three miles from it, only going in for groceries, so we didn’t notice for a couple days - but there’s definitely something going on.
I noticed it first when I went to the supermarket at five on Thursday. Despite the meager population, these hours are usually really busy. But there was not a single other person in the store, besides me and the checkout clerk. Not one. The clerk seemed really happy to see me - he was creeped out too - and mentioned that a virus must be going around because people are calling in sick and staying home all over town.
He’s right. It’s a fucking ghost town out there. Used to be, you’d walk down the street and see a bunch of people, most of whom you recognized. Now the only things that greet you are a few seagulls. Most of the small business are not open, and the corporate ones are run by a skeleton crew. Apparently not showing up to work is becoming an epidemic.
None of the landline phones work, and cell reception is only available in certain three foot diameters at a time. We live pretty deep in the woods, so reception used to be slightly annoying at times. But now you can’t get it except by chance, and then only for ten minutes at a time.
I’ve taken to carrying a respirator mask around with me. Call it paranoia (but I know you probably won’t). You’ve seen the evidence. This mold is taking over my town. I haven’t seen it anywhere outside, but there are enough “Closed for Maintenance” notices on the business doors around here that I get the hint.
Did I mention the police station is dark and locked up, too? It looks fucking abandoned. At one point one of the windows was shattered somehow, so there are all these boards and caution tape along one side of the building. I’m half expecting the FBI or a SWAT team to bust in due to lack of communication with our officers, but I don’t know how that works. You’d think the county would be concerned. Then again, it’s only been a few days since this place started looking deserted and I don’t know how often our station is supposed to report to county.
No one will answer their doors or phones, either. I was walking around my neighborhood, just checking it out, and saw movement in the window of this grumpy old bastard’s house. I stopped and turned. There he was, this eighty year old guy who always snarled at us when we step on his lawn, standing erect in the window. And grinning. Just fucking smiling, really wide. I’ve never seen that man smile. He was smiling at me.
It took me a second to realize that his eyes were closed. But as I continued to walk, he kept turning toward me with his face and body, even though he couldn’t see me. I’d say he just has really good ears, but the guy is practically deaf. Then he stepped back from the window, really jerky like he’d forgotten how to work his body, and disappeared.
Yesterday I saw a woman in a blue dress standing on a street corner with her back to me. I hadn’t seen many people outside, so I hailed her as I was coming toward her. She seemed to be looking up to the sky, but when she heard me her head kind of snapped to the side and turned to look over her shoulder. The movement was unnatural - sharp and quick. Twitchy. I stopped in my tracks as soon as I saw the grin on her face.
She began to turn towards me. Slowly, almost mechanically, one shoulder lowered as the other one raised and her arms moved out from her sides almost as if she was getting ready to do the robot or something. She misplaced a step as she turned and with this sickening pop I watched her ankle bend and the side of her foot hit the ground. She didn’t seem to notice. Her smile didn’t even flicker and she made no move to correct the position of her foot. She just kept standing on it like that, all lopsided. I’m pretty sure it was sprained or broken. The angle was unnatural for an ankle.
When she’d come fully around to face me, her arms went limp against her sides. But she tilted her head toward me, extending her neck, and grinned, like, maniacally. Then, moving clumsily on her twisted ankle, she lurched forward.
I ran before she’d gone two steps, knowing instinctively that she wouldn’t be able to catch up. It had taken her a good two minutes just to turn in place, after all. I returned to the motel without any of the items from the grocery list for Liz. It seems safe and normal beyond the borders of town - the motel staff is friendly and blissfully unaware - but as soon as you drive past the sign that reads “Welcome to [Redacted],” the change is almost palpable.
Okay, here comes the part I’ve been dreading telling you. I know it was stupid and I don’t need to be lectured, so please don’t. Every scolding you can think of, I’ve already heard from Liz and thought to myself.
This happened the day we got back into town, before I realized how weird everything was or how far spread this seems to be. Wanting answers and feeling very angry and self-righteous, I left Lizzy when she was sleeping. I went back to my apartment building.
Yeah. I went back. At night. At the time, with my respirator mask, heavy duty flashlight, gloves and black clothes, I felt like a splinter cell or something. The hugest badass in the world, off to solve this mystery once and for all. I even had my bag of lavender, figuring better safe than sorry.
Now I just feel fucking stupid. It was probably the biggest mistake I’ve ever made.
I waded through a bunch of caution tape only to find the scanner at the front for my keycard wasn’t working. Neither was the keypad for the code. There was a door around back in the parking lot that usually wasn’t locked, so I headed there. I flinched as I squeezed inside after putting my mask on - the door hinges squealed really loudly. I’d forgotten about that.
Once inside, I saw the scope of the damage instantly. Mold, or something, covered every wall and ceiling. In some areas it was even starting to creep onto the carpet. It had somehow peeled back the wallpaper in certain places and almost every light fixture was grown over or shattered on the floor. In the corners the mold became three-dimensional, building up on itself to create these toxic piles. I stayed away from the corners.
Jess mentioned feeling watched in this place, and she wasn’t kidding. I wasn’t ready for how fucking creepy it was. As I moved slowly down the hallway into the lobby, every time I turned around I firmly believed there’d be someone behind me. There wasn’t.
Starting to regret my decision to come here, as you all warned me I would, I didn’t want to head upstairs or downstairs quite yet. I kept hearing shuffling and thumping from above me, like someone was moving around in their apartment, but this place was supposed to be completely evacuated.
So I started in the lobby, checking for clues. I actually might have found one - a police officer’s hat lying on the ground, already being taken over by mold. Actually, up till then, I hadn’t been freaking out. But seeing that piece of clothing, something no cop would purposely leave behind, it set me off. I’m not sure why, but it deeply unnerved me. I turned away from it, suddenly very ready to leave.
There was someone coming down the hallway behind me, at the other end of the big room. Frozen in place, every muscle tensed, I watched the shadow’s slow jerky movements, his impossible posture. Inch by inch, I put my light on it, needing to know exactly what I was looking at.
He didn’t notice me. He was walking along the back wall, not even looking my way, but somehow I recognized Alex immediately.
He was very thin, his clothes hanging off flesh and bone. Chunks of his hair had fallen out, leaving his skull patchy. But the worst thing... I don’t even know how to describe this. I almost feel like I was hallucinating, but I know what I saw.
He was bent backwards at a ninety degree angle. I’m not shitting you, it was a perfect right angle. His back was totally straight and parallel to the floor and he was looking towards the ceiling as if laying down. His legs, from maybe just above his hips, were planted firmly on the ground and taking slow, jerky steps. His arms hung loosely, dragging on the ground. It was impossible. His back was clearly broken. He should be paralyzed or dead.
I couldn’t help the sound of horror that escaped me. At the noise, Alex’s head snapped sideways toward me and I saw his huge grin, stretching wider up each cheek than it should. I swear to god, his teeth were longer and more numerous. It felt like a terrible acid trip.
Then he started for me, skittering sideways like some huge fucked up crab, grinning madly. He was pretty fast, too. I’ve never been more scared. Luckily I backed up into the front doors and got out. I heard something inside bang against the glass, but I couldn’t see thanks to all the mold.
So that’s what happened. I burned the clothes and the gloves and let Liz scream at me for two hours. Alex is seriously messed up, and I have a feeling Lisa and Jess are too. This whole town seems sick. It’s been a couple days now - no sign of mold at our hotel, and I feel fine. I emailed Z but he’s not responding. Soon Liz and I plan on getting the fuck out of Dodge but I just feel like I need closure. I need to know for sure Lisa isn’t coming back.
I’ll update you if anything else happens.
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