Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-24797096-20140424014754

It was a normal day, or as normal as normal can be anyway. I was moving into a new normal town. It was a normal, typical Saturday. My normal mother sent me outside on a normal, typical sunny afternoon to hang out with the normal residents of the normal neighborhood. Everything was normal. Everything, that is, until I found the bottle. Almost as if placed there by the waves of the ocean only meters away from where i stood on the beach, it seemed to be the only spark of interest I would ever find in this town, so, in my curiosity, i picked it up. Worst mistake ever.

I'm getting ahead of myself though. Inside the bottle was a piece of paper, no longer than my forearm. On it were detailed instructions, and after skimming over the steps, my eyes came to rest on the last phrase. It read simply, "X marks the spot.".

In my humorous mood, I paid no heed to it. After all, it was childish. After a few days though, my curiosity got the better of me. So, with the "treasure map" in hand, I set out on my new adventure around the small town. Step one told me to go to the edge of town, at the city limit sign. So, in fifteen minutes or so, I stood at the edge of town. The next step, travel one mile in towards town. Odd it seemed, but I played along. So, after a normal mile of travel (believe me the town is so bland that nothing interesting ever happens there), I stood in the middle of the town. The next step, close my eyes. Again, with my curiosity getting the better of me, i played along.

What happened next would change my life forever. Step four sounded aloud in my head. "Say the words 'X marks the spot' twice". I opened my eyes, looking down at the paper. Indeed those words were written there. Again, I play along, although now I'm becoming unnerved by the oddity of the moment. I repeat the words twice, and all sound disappears. I open my eyes, and I'm standing in a lush green room, with absolutely nothing in it at all. I don't want to move, but a voice hisses through the air, "Take this.". I turn towards the voice, but there is only a video cassette, like the ones you play in VCR's. I reach to pick it up, and the room fades into non-existence. I'm left sitting in my room, a VCR and TV sitting in front of me, and my hand pushing in the cassette. Whatever may come, it's too late for me to leave.

After a few seconds of white noise, an image comes up. There sits a man, wrapped in a straight jacket. There is nothing out of the ordinary, he seems like a sane man. He's looking right at the camera, smiling, but somehow paranoid.

"Patient X3, will you describe to us the nature of your nightmares?" A deep voice sounds off camera. The man laughs to himself, not paying any heed to the voice, but answering anyway.

"When X marks the spot, one would typically think of treasure, or pirates, or even a lone, barren island. It would be beautiful if that were the truth for me, but it's only a distant dream. For me, when X marks the spot, it's one more injection of the foul concoction you demons call a sedative. You call me insane, but I am not! I know what I saw!" His voice rises abruptly, startling me. He laughs hysterically, losing all resemblance of sanity I once saw. "That....THING! It haunts me. It won't let me sleep. It won't let me live. I don't know what it was, but I saw it! The things i remember the most are the X's. It leaves them wherever it goes. I noticed them on my way to work, on my way home, walking with friends, talking on the phone. I noticed them. They were deep, fine grooves left everywhere, cutting through wood and steel alike. I thought they were odd, but my friends never saw them, never saw it. They told me I was crazy, but damn it I know what I saw!"

At this point, i was cowering away from the screen, but couldn't take my eyes away from the screen.

"And, could you describe the events leading up to your placing here?" The voice inquired. The man finally noticed the voice, standing up and moving off-screen.

"You know exactly what happened. Everyone started ignoring me, avoiding me. I spoke of the X's too much, they said, I was delirious, they said. No, no i wasn't. After time, I saw that wretched thing. There was nothing on it, it was so bland. So normal, but for the purple eyes, such beautiful eyes it had. Above all, the white X etched across its face. It was sickening, disturbing, and intriguing. I allowed it sanctuary. I gave that shadow a home, and I payed for it. Whenever my friends visited, it watched them. It stood by me and watched us talk, but they never saw it! I watched, helpless as it killed all of my friends, one by one. And you bastards blamed the entire mess all on me." The man aimed his anger at the voice. All at once, the man was back on-screen, and smiling.

"Patient X3, you were the only witness, and the only suspect, it was you."

"No it wasn't! It was that shadow! I yelled at it to go away, but it never did!" The man yelled, suddenly hostile again. "You people never believe me, but i can guarantee you that it will find me, and it will kill me, and as long as you're in here with me, you're dead as well." The man was now laughing hysterically again. Just as suddenly, though, his face turned into an utter epiphany of horror. "Oh my god....your forehead. There's an X on your forehead, just like my friends. Oh God! Get me out of here! Get me out of here!" The man was now yelling frantically at the door in the background, and beating at the door. "He's marked! It's marked him!" At this point, a hiss could be heard, and the camera was knocked sideways onto the ground, bringing up more white noise.

I sat befuddled and terrified. I was alone in my room, and watching that just made me feel like there was someone in the room with me. After a few more tense seconds, another video came on. This time, it was a doctor, or so he looked the part. His breathing was heavy, and there was a red x etched into his cheek. He was in the room where X3 and the voice had been.

"Listen to me, I'm going to tell you now so that you won't get any false hopes once you see the X's. When you see them, you will not escape. When you're marked, you will die, just like them." At this point, the camera turned and panned on the mutilated bodies of X3 and the voice's body. Red, bloody, deep gashes ran the length of their bodies, and there were a lot of them. "Just hope they don-" The voice began to speak, but was cut short by the sound of metal being sliced, and blood-filled gurgling sounds. The camera fell to the ground. More white noise.

I ran over and ejected the cassette as fast as I could. The rest of the day....was normal.

The next day, I saw it, an X. A deep, fine groove left in the side of my house. My parents laughed at me when I told them, saying I had a wild imagination. I know what I saw. Over the next few days, they showed more and more, X's everywhere. The rest is truly a blur. It happened so fast, i can barely recount it all, or maybe it's the sedatives they've injected me with. My parents both ended up dead, X's everywhere. My friends ran away from me. The X's covered them, then they died. Then i saw it. Patient X3 did not lie. Those purple eyes were truly magnificent. The white X across its face was truly intriguing.

Now, I see it on you. Yes, you. I see an X on your forehead. You're marked. It's only a matter of time. After all....X marks the spot. 