Hot

The following journal entries were taken from an odd book that was strangely found almost perfectly in shape despite the intense destruction of the area surrounding it on June 7th, 2006. It has been predicted that the absolute destruction, having taken place in the outskirt farmlands of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, was caused by a great massive fire, having destroyed and burnt down just about everything standing in its range.

Strangely, despite the fact that such a fire that intense would dwarf the San Francisco Fires of 1906, it only covered a small area of farmland and (luckily) did not affect the main city of Sioux Falls itself. In addition, even after just one night after the destruction of the fire ended, there are no signs of such a fire occurring the night before. This includes the lack of intense smoke in the atmosphere and the lack of the remains of any living organisms (nor any survivors who were in the targeted area at the time of the fire); only a few signs of demolished farm houses remained. The grass was devastated and the rivers were bone dry, as if the area were in some sort of huge drought. It was as if months worth of drought and fires had occurred in one night.

This fire, nicknamed the Fires Of Death, remains one of science’s biggest mysteries to this day. The recovered journal entries from the book (And it is a mystery itself on how the book even survived) seems to in some way connect to the fires, especially as the day gets closer to June 6th; the day which the fire appeared to have occurred. The entries overall seem to get progressively stranger and stranger and harder to explain the closer the entry date is to June 6th.

The estimated population of the area affected was around 100, and none of the 100 were ever seen again after June 6th.

This event was largely kept secret, never being shown on any public worldwide nor nationwide news. Even the main city of Sioux Falls news did not mention anything much about this fire, just saying to keep clear of the area until further notice. No questions about the fire were answered. This book was also kept secret, as if it were to go public, it would cause major controversy. Therefore, if you were to try and look up any photo evidence or articles about the fire, you will likely encounter no results. If you were to ask locals who have had a close past to the area, however, they will probably remember the event, as it was fairly recent.

All names in the journal will be censored by X’s, in order to avoid making any family or friend connections relating to the disaster.

May 15th, 2006
Here it is, my first journal entry. My parents forced me to buy this journal yesterday; they thought that by summarizing what I did and what happened throughout the day, that it would improve my English/writing skills, which is my weak subject in school. I don’t want to do this, but my parents will check this journal after everyday, and they expect me to write in this. Trying to hide this journal from them will only get me into worse trouble, so there is no point in trying to slack off from this.

For this first entry, I guess I’ll just introduce everything, as nothing special happened today really. My name is XXXX. I am 15 years old and I am in 9th grade. I also have a younger sister, XXXX, who is 8. My family owns and lives around a farm in a sparsely populated area. We do know quite a bit of people, including the people who live in the farm closest to us in both directions. If you were to go east for about 30 minutes, you will reach the main city of Sioux Falls, which our family occasionally goes to. Until you reach there, there isn’t much to see other than farms similar to ours.

We are pretty closely connected to the families who own those farms, and we often stop to say hi to them and all. There isn't really much else to say. Hopefully my parents will like what I wrote this for this entry. Starting tomorrow, I will have to write about something special that occurred that day, and it may not be easy other than mentioning boring school.

(Days May 16th-May 19th don’t include anything important to mention)

May 20th, 2006
I am writing this in the morning because yesterday, I had a strange dream. In the dream, I was in a dark room, when suddenly out of the darkness an old man, in about his 80’s, appeared before me. In a loud and commanding voice, he warned me that “it” was coming, and that I should tell my family to leave the area fast.

I asked him what “it” is, and he didn't answer. I then tried to ask him what should I do if my parents refuse to leave. He answered, and told me to run away myself. To save myself.

The dream ended, and I woke up to morning sunshine. That was probably the weirdest dream I ever had in my life. I am curious, though; was it just a freak dream with my mind pulling tricks on me? Or did my dream try to warn me about something? No, it had to be some kind of weird dream. I’ll forget about it soon.

I am adding onto this entry later on because now I am getting more curious. Things got weirder later in the day when my sister also claimed to have had a dream almost exactly like mine. She mentioned the old man, the warning, everything. Just like what happened to me, the old man refused to answer most of the questions she asked him.

How could we have had the same dream in one night? Our parents did not mention having such a dream, but it could be possible they are lying to us to keep us from getting anymore freaked out. This has to be some kind of coincidence, maybe a once in a lifetime event when you somehow have the same dream as somebody close to you.

Then again, I could be just overreacting about this. I am just gonna end this entry and forget about all of this tomorrow.

May 21st, 2006
So much for what I said yesterday about forgetting about the dream. Wanna know why? I actually had the same dream again. I am not kidding at all. Now I am starting to get a bit worried.I have had the same kind of dream two nights in a row before, but having this kind of dream twice is just strange and creepy.

This time, while the setting was the same; the dark, seemingly never-ending room, me being stuck, and of course, the old man. He told me the same exact thing as yesterday. I did take advantage of having this dream again somewhat by asking him some new questions.

I asked him when he knew when “it” was coming. Surprisingly, he answered, but the answer wasn't the greatest. He said that it would start “in 8”, but that it will last for a while. I do have some ideas what he means by “in 8”, but I’ll get to that in a bit. I also asked if he knew that “it” would do. He did not answer, unfortunately.

The dream ended after that, and, like yesterday, I was left awake on my bed, gazing at the sunlight from my window.

And guess what else? My sister also said that she had the same kind of dream. Yes, two nights in a row, we have a dream about an old man we never saw before telling us to move. This is starting to get almost too weird to even be a coincidence. My sister and I even considered telling our parents about this, but we decided to wait to see if this continues.

I am also curious about the “in 8” the old man told me. What does he mean by that? Something will happen in a period of 8 something, but what? It wasn't 8 hours, as it has been more than 8 hours since I had the dream, but it could be 8 days, months, or maybe even as long as years. May 29th is the day that occurs 8 days from now, so I guess I’ll have to wait and see what will happen on that day.

I still have no idea what “it” is nor do I know what “it” will do. I am worried it is negative, considering the old man told me to leave the area. It could just be my mind trying to scare me, but then again, my sister had the same dream in the same two nights. I am just gonna quit writing, I am getting too freaked out to even talk about this.

May 22nd, 2006
I went back to school today, and oh my goodness, things make a whole lot less sense now. First off, my sister and I both had the same dream AGAIN. Three nights in a row, same dream for both of us. This is not normal. The old man did not answer any of my questions I asked about “it”. Stupid loser.

But, just as I thought things weren't paranormal enough, guess what? In school, everyone who lives within the area of my house around the outskirts of Sioux Falls ALSO reported having the same kind of dream. Since the night of May 19th. Just like my sister and I.

This can’t be coincidental now. This is getting too freaky. However, I was able to gain some more information about what “it” may be. First off, a friend of mine did say that he asked the old man last night when “it” will happen. He said it will begin “in 7”. That must mean he is talking about days, MUST. I know I will have May 29th circled on my calendar.

But here is the weirdest part. A very quiet kid who lives around my area asked the old man what “it” will do. Unlike when I asked him a couple nights ago, he said something in return. He just said one word;

Hot.

That’s it. Just “Hot”. But what does this mean? Is he saying it will be hot in 7 days? Is this guy predicting a future heat wave? No, it can’t be. Why would he tell us to leave the area? Surely, a heat wave can’t be that dangerous.

Also, none of my friend’s parents reported having the dream. Apparently, the dream is reaching to every kid in my area, and we have decided to keep this secret.

That night, I watched the Weather Channel. Normally, I do not watch these kind of channels; I am more of a cartoon person. But I need to see the Weather Forecast for any suspicious-looking weather in the future. On Friday, May 29th, the high on the 10 Day forecast for Sioux Falls was 92 degrees fahrenheit. Pretty hot, but the temperature has reached over 100 degrees before in May, so nothing of extreme note. The 30th had a high of 95 degrees with thunderstorms. Very hot, and yes, stormy, but not record-breaking. And, on the 31st, the thunderstorms apparently brings a cold front afterwards, as the high decreases to 86 degrees, still way above average, but not in the record range. I have a feeling that the temperatures will decrease further toward near-average range later on in the forecast.

There has to be some kind of connection here, with the high-temperatures and the dreams, but what? My friend could be lying, but you never know. I am too tired to even think about it anymore, I am going to bed.

May 23rd, 2006
Sorry guys, my parents have read what I wrote over the past couple days, and they did not like it. They told me that I should not be writing about “silly stories”, and should be writing about what I actually did during the day.

I will probably get this journal taken away from me or encounter some kind of punishment, so I will not be writing about this strange mystery until the 29th, the day the supposed “it” arrives. I still have no idea what “it” is or what it’ll do, other than having something to do with heat, so I will get back to you all later.

Also, last night, I (unsurprisingly) had the dream again. I did not ask anything this time to the old man, I just closed my eyes so I could wake up and get this over with. I am too freaked out by this. Bye.

(Days May 24th through the 28th do not include any noteworthy information)

May 29th, 2006
Before I start this entry, I would like to say that I am just going to give the old man a random name, because I have said “old man” seemingly over thirty times so far in these entries. I will just call him “Joe” for now, unless I do somehow figure out his real name in the future.

Wait, I should say what happened today, as this date is the day when Joe says “it” begins or comes.

Well, I will say that while my dream on the night of the 24th was more or less the same as usual, Joe appearing in a dark room, and warning me about “it” again. My friends, and seemingly all the other affected kids in my school, have decided to stop talking about it until the 26th.

The night of the 28th, or last night at the time of writing this, was different from the rest for once. Joe was in the dark room with me as usual, but what he said startled me, as I had expected the usual warning.

“You have refused to listen to my warnings. All of you did. You couldn't complete a simple task. The price is all yours to pay, though. Starting tomorrow, we shall rise! Rise from the ground! Our power level shall only RISE as our most major day of strength approaches! Only then, you shall see my true form. And you, YOU will be the one we will talk to!”

Those exact words. I was able to memorize them, it worried me so much. Although the dream ended after Joe’s new speech, what he said I will never forget. I literally did not want to move an inch from my bed I was so scared the next morning. And according to Joe, whatever is going on starting today will only get worse.

It was also freaky how he specifically said “You” as if he is actually referring to me. Why only me? Surely, he should have said the same message to the other kids, right? Well, I was wrong. My sister did not report having the Joe dream last night, and at school, none of the kids in the small area I live in who had been experiencing the dream before did not report having it again.

Nothing special at all happened today, other than what happened last night. Some of my friends were starting to think we were just going crazy or something, that it was just our minds playing tricks on us for the past 8-9 nights or so. I told them about the dream I had last night, but they thought it was just me going nuts and that I should just “overcome my fears” to stop the dream from happening.

Although it was a relief to see that no destruction nor weird people like Joe came today. It was also happy seeing that the others got a break from the dreams. I am still very worried though… something still just doesn't seem right. I remember Joe told me that today was just a start to “its” plan. He told me that their power level will get only higher as time passes up until a certain maximum level date, which I do not know about at all. Could “it” had been here today, but it is not noticeable enough for me, or anyone else in the area, to notice?

This is hurting my head again. I think I will stop writing for today. Oh, and don’t worry about my parents with this journal. I found a similar backup journal to write non-Joe related things in so my parents won’t get mad again. I will continue to write about these paranormal events in this journal.

One more thing today. I checked the temperature of today, just because Joe said something about “it” causing something related to “hot”, and I guess he is referring to the temperature. The temperature in downtown Sioux Falls was 91 degrees, very close to what the weather forecast predicted. However, in a thermometer outside our house, the temperature read 95 degrees. Perhaps it is just a small data error, our thermometer can be slightly off from the real temperature. Still, just something to note.

May 30th, 2006
Today was again uneventful. This is almost disappointing, as on the Weather Channel, this was supposedly the hottest, stormiest, and overall the day with the poorest weather. The storms did occur, but they were nothing record-breaking or disastrous.

I also had another weird Joe dream last night in which my sister did not report having. It was probably the shortest overall Joe dream. All Joe did in my dream is in a demanding voice to not tell anyone about the dreams I have having anymore or else terrible consequences will await me.

I know I should not be listening to a command by a guy in a dream, but with the way this Joe guy has been for the past week at nights, I feel like this is something more than a dream. It is as if an unholy thing is trying to warn me of an unholy event, and trying to get me to move to avoid it. Well, it is too late to move now according to Joe, as I doubt my parents will ever believe me anyway. And no way am I going to make a run from the house to get away from this area. I’ll just have to stay here and wait and see what happens.

I also wonder; if Joe is warning me not to tell anyone about this dream, would my sister, and my friends in school yesterday who live in this area, be having the same dream and not telling anyone for their own safety? No, I was the only one who had yesterday night’s dream in the whole area and school, so that can’t be the case.

It also seems like I am almost technically breaking my promise by writing these entries about the dreams. Maybe I’ll be safe as long as I don’t show this to anyone until this is all over.

The temperature on this Saturday in Sioux Falls was 95 degrees, right on the mark as predicted by the Weather Channel. My thermometer outside read 98 degrees. Once again, not a noteworthy difference, but I will be posting weather updates from now on so I can solve the puzzle about this Joe saying “it” will bring “hot” here.

May 31st, 2006
You won’t believe what happened last night. I did not have any Joe dreams! Maybe I was just going crazy, as my friends had said, I don’t know. I did try my best to forget about all this dreamy madness last night so maybe they were right.

Anyway, today was nothing too special. There is one thing that worries me, however; IT WAS SO DANG HOT TODAY! I mean, today was forecasted to be the last day of the heat wave around this Sioux Falls area, 91 degrees to be exact, but the thermometer outside the house read 101 degrees! Its not like our thermometer was going cuckoo or anything either; it DID feel a bit hotter today than it did yesterday.

When I looked back on the observed high for Sioux Falls, it read 93 degrees, a bit hotter than forecasted, but not like our thermometer was reading. Maybe it was just a weird extreme temperature difference between 2 close locations, it has happened before. And maybe the thermometer was wrong, and the Joe dreams were just getting me a bit worked up and worried.

This temperature thing has definitely caught my attention now, so from now on, I’ll list the temperature each day starting from May 29th at the end of each entry.

May 29th - 95 degrees fahrenheit May 30th - 98 degrees fahrenheit May 31st - 101 degrees fahrenheit

June 1st, 2006
No dreams last night. Going back into school today, I asked my friends if they had any dreams over the past 2 nights. They denied it. I told them I didn't have any dreams either. Maybe this whole thing is over, then, I don’t know. We never really spoke much about the dreams today after I denied having them.

In fact, if it weren't for the fact that the outside the house thermometer read 102 degrees, while the observed temperature for Sioux Falls was 85 degrees, I would completely forget about this mess. MAN it was hot today, and I did not feel any cooldown from yesterday like the weather forecasted. In fact, the Weather News report does not show the extreme temperature in our area, it just shows temperatures very close to the nearby areas.

Its almost as if they are trying to hide this temperature craziness. My friends also have took notice of this, but they just think it is just humidity or something making it feel hot. I am still a bit worried, I have seen my temperature reading slightly different temperatures than what the Weather Channel observed, but SEVENTEEN degrees off? Definitely not normal. Time to conclude this entry, I’ll be keeping a close eye to the temperature readings.

May 29th - 95 degrees fahrenheit May 30th - 98 degrees fahrenheit May 31st - 101 degrees fahrenheit June 1st - 102 degrees fahrenheit

June 2nd, 2006
Once again, no Joe dreams last night. I am not sure if they will ever occur again. I hope not, that’s for sure!

There are bigger problems right now though. Last night, a small fire occurred in a range of a couple houses a few minutes down the road from our house. Luckily, everyone escaped and without any major injuries. The thing that worries is how on Earth the fire started anyway. People around the small area believe it was just an accident with some kind of machine in the kitchen being left on and overheating, and the owner of the house that was believed to be where the fire originated from agrees that he may have not been paying attention before he went to bed last night.

I think there is more. I blame the heat, too. The thermometer today read 104 degrees, definitely not anywhere near the observed high of 83 degrees in Sioux Falls, and it felt more like a 100 plus degree day than 83. I bet the heat allowed a small fire caused by an accident to fuel up and spread to a couple houses. Thank goodness we do not live near the woods, if we did, the whole area may have been burned as the fire spread from tree to tree.

The event did not reach the news. Not too shocking, as barely any news has ever been reported in a largely unpopulated area such as this, and it will probably stay that way unless something super catastrophic were to happen. People have also took note of the heat in the area, but don’t seem quite as freaked out about it as I am. I haven’t see any Weather News about the extreme heat in our area.

While the “observed temperature” around our area keeps dropping closer to normal for this time of year, my thermometer continues to record higher temperatures and it seems to be feeling hotter seemingly everyday.

Could this possibly be what Joe back in the dream nights meant when he said “Hot”? He, or whatever he is associated with, will continue to increase the temperature in our area while keeping it as secret as possible to nearby major locations? Will this continue until our area literally turns into a fried egg?

May 29th - 95 degrees fahrenheit May 30th - 98 degrees fahrenheit May 31st - 101 degrees fahrenheit June 1st - 102 degrees fahrenheit June 2nd - 104 degrees fahrenheit

June 3rd, 2006
107 degrees fahrenheit the thermometer recorded as the temperature today, and man, I don’t even like going outside anymore it is so hot. I am afraid I will quickly get dehydrated. People in our little area are now actually thinking about calling up the local Weather News to ask why the temperature is so hot in our area while in Sioux Falls the observed temperatures have been hovering around the 80-85 range over the past few days.

The problem is also starting to affect nature as well. Because it hasn't rained much over the past week and a half other than that storm on the 31st which was more of a lightning heat storm than a rainy storm, combined with the overextreme heat, the grass is starting to dry out severely. In addition, I have noticed a significant increase of those annoying insects, especially mosquitoes, that like this kind of heat over the past couple of days. That just adds another reason to not go outside.

Even though I am 13 years old, so I am not entirely sure if they will listen to me or not, I decided to give the Weather Channel a call regarding this craziness. What I, and I think other people in our little area got when they tried to call, was a message:

Thank you for calling The Weather Channel. We are aware of your comments regarding the unusual weather occurring in your area. We will send a few of our reporters to your area tomorrow to investigate the weather. Thank you for your patience, and have a nice day!

Pretty much what was expected. It looks like now we just have to wait until tomorrow, maybe the reporters can find an explanation to this heat, I’m not sure.

Once last thing, no, I haven’t gone to school lately and I will not in the near future, either. My parents want to keep my sister and I safe, so we are now home-schooled. I have a feeling many of the other town kids are doing the same.

May 29th - 95 degrees fahrenheit May 30th - 98 degrees fahrenheit May 31st - 101 degrees fahrenheit June 1st - 102 degrees fahrenheit June 2nd - 104 degrees fahrenheit June 3rd - 107 degrees fahrenheit

June 4st, 2006
Those reporters that were supposed to come to our area today? Well, guess, what; their weather van disappeared before they could reach our heat-filled area. The Weather Channel actually mentioned our area for once as a result of this accident; the topic read “Weather Van & 3 Reporters Gone Missing After Attempt To Reach Area Reporting ‘Unusual Heat’”.

They said a search will begin tomorrow and new reporters will be sent to investigate our area at about the same time. People are thinking our area is cursed or something now; 110 degrees fahrenheit was the top recorded temperature on the thermometer today; a whole 30 degrees warmer than nearby Sioux Falls.

The heat and the van disappearance convinced many regulars in our area to attend the small church in our area. It isn't much, just your regular rural old church. But what happened there was horrific.

My family and I were a part of the around 100 residents who attended the mass, all families who have been suffering throughout this supernatural heatwave. The mass progressed normally at first, that is, up until the very ending.

As the priest was about to put out the candle lights, a strong warm wind suddenly raced through the room. The fire on the candle blew right into the priest, catching him and his clothes on fire. Aided by the heat and warm wind, the fire grew rapidly, engulfing the entire church quickly. People raced toward the exit. Fortunately, our family was sitting closer to the back of the church near the exit, so we got out easily. Some of the other families, especially those near the front, were not so lucky. As I ran out of the church and quickly toward our family car where my parents raced home quickly, I noticed the church collapse in flames and about a quarter of the residents who attended were doomed to nothing but rolling on the ground in flames, some even getting crushed by the collapsing church. I did not see much of this as I turned my head away from the action while in the car.

Another change I noticed is the sky. The sky, which was a pale-like blue throughout the sunny days during the heat wave, now has some weird dark stormy clouds mixed in it. It wasn't completely covered, just strange, out-of-place occasional darkish clouds, even with a strange tint of red to it.

By this point, my parents had enough. We quickly zoomed to the street that leads to the exit out of town and toward Sioux Falls; we decided we can stay at an apartment room or something or a little bit until we find a new location to live at.

Except we didn't get out.

The street that lead out of the heat-covered town lead nowhere, except to the entrance on the other side of town. Its like we were in a Pac-Man maze map, and taking those two exit routes did not lead us out of the maze, but entering again through the other exit.

Startled, we drove back to our house, absolutely stunned and without words for what just happened. There was no way out of town, now. We are trapped in the heat.

May 29th - 95 degrees fahrenheit May 30th - 98 degrees fahrenheit May 31st - 101 degrees fahrenheit June 1st - 102 degrees fahrenheit June 2nd - 104 degrees fahrenheit June 3rd - 107 degrees fahrenheit June 4th - 110 degrees fahrenheit

June 5th, 2006
Although we were too tired and startled to check yesterday, we decided to give the police a call. There is no police station nearby us, living in a near middle-of-nowhere area, so we called the Sioux Falls police. There was no reception. In fact, nothing worked. The TV, radio, even cars and faucet water, nothing. Its as if everything, every machine was turned off.

Outside was worse. Remember the weird dark-redish clouds I mentioned yesterday? Well, they now took up the ENTIRE sky. It is actually almost so dark that you may think it was the late evening if you were to guess the time of day. Nope, it was the middle of the day.

I was done. We were all done. I didn't go outside, not even to check the thermometer, which probably recorded temperatures around 115 degrees fahrenheit or so, neither did the rest of my family go outside. We knew there was nothing we could do, we were trapped. We didn't dare go outside.

As weird as the last few days of May and first few days of June were, these last two days have been a whole new level, like a living nightmare.

The day was idle and we were hot, up until this one point in the later half of the day, when this weird huge fire started up somewhere around a mile away from our house. This fire grew, and got brighter, until it almost started to light up this darkened sky. Suddenly, the fire stopped getting bigger, but still stood.

Then… oh my gosh, are you ready to hear the worst part of this mythical past week yet?

Outside the fire came this… thing. I couldn't really see it too well from the distance, but I also didn't want to go closer to investigate. But what I saw was a humanoid-like figure that can walk on all-fours. It had a redish, pinkish tint to it, like a mix between the fire and the dark sky. Went it came out, it just moved toward some random direction. My guess is toward some other innocent family house. Then another came out, and did the same thing, but moved toward another direction. Then another, and another. They all did the same thing.

Eventually, one of them that came out starting moving directly toward the direction of OUR house. I know what it is going to do; probably rip our hearts out or something like that. Now that I think about it, THIS must be the “THEY” that old man Joe was talking about a long time ago.

I was… 100% scared, I can’t even come up with a good word to describe my fear. Without telling the rest of my family, I secretly brought this journal, a candle, and a match, and headed downstairs toward our small basement, and locked the door behind me. I did not want to bring the rest of my family with me, that would just attract more attention should the creature arrive inside our house. Also, in case they have the idea of storming down the basement to escape the creature, I locked the door so they can’t get in. It may be super rude to do this, but its not like any of us are going to survive anyway.

So, after sneaking it without the rest of my family noticing, I went down and locked myself in the basement. I lit up the candle and stood still in a corner. The basement is still largely unfinished, so there aren't many things down there, so I didn't have much protection, but better than being easily seen upstairs. I lit up a candle and started writing in today’s entry.

A couple hours later, I could barely hear a knock coming from the front door. I know what that might be. I heard one of my parents, probably thinking it was a resident looking for shelter or something, open the door.

I heard… ugh, I am shaking just writing this part, but I heard screams immediately following the opening of the door, as well as a deep growl.I heard what sounded like a slicing sound, I bet the creature slicing the heart or something out of the victim, like I predicted, and two groups of screams, both intense. One coming from the victim, and the other coming from whatever one of my parents did not open the door and my sister. Judging from the more intense scream of the two, I think it was my dad who opened the door.

My mom and my sister started shouting out my name so loudly that I could hear them easily. They tried to open the basement door but of course, it wouldn't open. They might of assumed that I was not down there, and they ran upstairs instead. I heard the creature loudly stomp the ground as it followed the two up the stairs.

Although (Almost fortunately) I could not hear them all the way upstairs well at all, being in the basement, I could still faintly hear similar screaming going on as likely both my mom and sister were getting destroyed by the creature.

After going through the screaming and hearing the sharp claws of the creature slice apart my mom and sister for about 10 minutes, it suddenly ended.

Then came what was easily the most frightening moment of my life, and probably one of my last moments as well.

I heard the creature stomp the ground as it went back downstairs. I could hear it sniff the air as it was sensing whether or not someone else was in the house.

Then…. I heard it…. a knocking sound on the basement door. The creature tried to open it, but with no success as I had locked the door. It then must have used its sharp claws to its advantage as I could hear it tear away at the door constantly. After about 5 minutes, the last thing I wanted to hear happened; the door broke off its placement and thrown to the side by the creature. I could see the faint outside light coming from the top of the basement stairs.

I heard the creature loudly but slowly march down the stairs. As it got closer to the bottom step, I could see its shadow more clearly and with much more detail than when I originally saw it outside from a distance, but I did not DARE look at its actual features when it reached the bottom step.

I instead looked down and away. I had already blown out the candle when the door opened, and now I just looked down and away toward the wall and remembered all the moments I enjoyed in my life. No, I couldn't. All that occurred to me was the old man Joe dreams, and how he warned me of this long ago. I should have listened to him… but I couldn't just abandon my family! Maybe this was the right decision after all to stay… and maybe I could have actually done better by dying with my family upstairs, but I just had to do this, my survival instincts took over.

I heard the loud breathing of the creature as it started loudly stomping the basement floor. I hid in the back left corner of the basement, and luckily the footsteps at first started to quiet down, meaning the creature was first checking the right side. However, it started to sniff the air upon realizing no one was there. The footsteps started to get louder as it walked probably toward my direction. It continued until I could literally assume that it was only a few feet from my location.

I prepared for the creature to touch me and then probably throw a claw at my face… only I heard a chuckle instead, a deep chuckle. The footsteps started up and faded away again, I could hear the creature walk back up the stairs, and then toward the front door and then out to the outdoors.

This doesn't make sense! Unless the creature thought I was a statue or something, why did it let me live? Why did it chuckle? Was it teasing me? Even though I heard the creature leave the house, I was still scared as I turned around and looked away from the wall again. Fortunately, I saw nothing but the dim light coming from the basement entrance/exit.

I didn't want to go back upstairs again. I couldn't, I didn't want to die. I didn't want to be seen by those… things.

I am now starting to take what is probably the hardest to take sleep in my life. All that was in my mind was the Joe dreams, the remembrance of the heat, the church fire, the van disappearance, the loophole at our town exits, the creature, the screams of my family… all memories I want to forget but can’t. I have a feeling tomorrow will certainly be the last entry in this journal.

June 6th, 2006
This is it. This is the end. Of just our town for now but this will be what the end will be like for the rest of the world soon.

Soon upon awaking from my worst sleep of my life, I felt… hot. Very, very, very hot. Too hot to survive. Hot, hot, hot! I had a feeling that the heat was coming from… the basement. That cooler, but still hot air was coming from upstairs. That something wanted me to go upstairs and outside, and had to do something to bring me up. Bringing only my journal, I walked upstairs.

My house… it was reduced to near nothing. A fire must have burned it down or something. I can’t believe it didn't affect me in the basement while sleeping, maybe something prevented it from going down, I’m not sure. But my house wasn't alone. The entire town, the nearby houses, the grass, the few trees, everything was either already completely burnt or currently on fire and burning. And the clouds, they were now more of an orangish, brighter color.

I can’t even really describe the landscape… its too much. But it was like what people call “hell”, but without the creatures and perhaps a bit brighter. After staring down the site for a good 10 minutes, a familiar face suddenly appeared in front of me.

The old man from the dreams, Joe.

He looked no different from earlier, just a bit more devilish this time. Most notably, his eyes were flashing red. I am wondering if he is the Devil himself, but I don’t honestly want to even know.

Joe… he looked at me, backed away and bit, and said powerful words loudly as I stood still, feeling unable to move.

You were warned, and you did not listen. We were coming, and yes we came. This was just a small fraction of our power, and so we could only take over your land. But soon, THIS is what the rest of the land will be like when we have all of our power. When we fully take over. It will happen someday… unexpectedly to all others. But you, at least you now what the world will be like… on that day.

And… before you wonder why we got our power today… think of the date. The fires will now sweep over and finish this land, and all people who investigate this land tomorrow will see nothing but a barren, burnt landscape… Goodbye.

So this is it. This is the end. All the entries in this journal will probably burn out… or maybe it will be saved by “them” so everyone in the world can see? Perhaps, why else would Joe choose to talk me? Why else would the creature spare me? So I can finish this journal, so everyone else will be ready and know what will come. I don’t know the day, no one does except “them”, but someday, they will take over, bringing the world to this.

And why did they take over our land today? What about the date? I think I just realized, and I can’t believe it took me this long to realize.

Today’s date is June 6th, 2006.

If you write that out like you were writing out with slashes on a school paper, you will get this:

6/6/06

Remove that 0.

666.

That number, of course.

End of the last entry.

Aftermath
On June 7th, upon an investigation of the area near Sioux Falls that had been affected by the events shown in the journal entries, it was found absolutely and utterly destroyed, with just about everything in the area burnt. It looked as if a meteor had recently crashed nearby. It was predicted that the only logical explanation for this occurrence is a massive fire, one so intense that it would make other known great fires throughout history look like nothing. However, as the affected area only included the outskirt farmlands of Sioux Falls, it is impossible to explain why the fire did not affect a larger area including the city of Sioux Falls itself. It also is strange how the journal survived unaffected, as if it was invincible to fire.

Also, you are probably wondering what happened to those who tried to investigate the area late June 4th (After the disappearance of the first Weather Channel van) through June 6th. Reporters did attempt to investigate the area, but when they arrived there, they found the farmlands to be normal. Everything was in place, the sky was blue, and the temperatures were fairly close to the actual temperatures of Sioux Falls. The only strange thing they found was that the area was completely empty of people. It was as if all the 100s of residents in the farmland area had disappeared without a trace. You could say the town in the area in the journal was transported into some kind of alternate dimension and replaced by a similar looking, but empty duplicate. This was kept secret from the news and only told to relatives of those who disappeared to avoid attention.

In the end on June 7th, 2006, there was no hiding what had occurred in the area completely. Instead, the news was kept as minor as possible, and all were told to stay clear of the area until further notice. The news attempted to explain that an accidental explosion of some sort may have caused of accident, and largely ignored those who tried to question further. Photos were removed from the Internet to avoid deeper discussion of the event. This is why you have likely never heard of this strange event before, unless you live near Sioux Falls or had a relative in the affected area.

The farmlands recovered quicker than it normally should have, and after just two weeks, the area was safe to explore and travel through again. At first, new residents of the Sioux Falls region feared to live in the farmlands area. But, after a few months, with many attempting to have pretended that the event never existed, the area started to become populated once again, and not much later things were back to normal.

You will find very little, if any proof of such an event occurring besides the leaked journal, as the news and government have attempted to keep it secret, but some of the older residents of Sioux Falls may remember the freak event if you ask them about it, although they don’t want to go deep into it. Same goes with family relatives of the victims of the event.

The big question that may never be answered as long as we live is the events told in the journal itself. Is this a preview of what will happen to the world in the end? A terrifying ending in which the evils of the world take over?

Well, you decide.