Looks Can Be Deceiving

November 17th, 2011

Hello, journal, I am Damian Morgenstern, and I live in Fresno, California. This is my first entry, I'm writing this because I'm starting to get very paranoid – I've been having strange scary dreams which I can't quite remember, and I heard that writing dreams in your journal when you wake up helps you remember them. So, that's what I'm going to do. God, I feel so stupid, talking to a bundle of paper and leather...

November 18th, 2011

Last night's dream was strange(when are dreams not?). I dreamed of this creepy hunched over creature with crab pincers and insect-like clawed feet and it looked like it was starving or something, I could see it's ribs. It had glowing orange eyes and it seemed to be losing hair, it also had an exposed heart, beating grotesquely. It's jaw was the worst... it split into four different directions like those weird vampires in the Blade movie. It just stood there, pointing at me. Other than that, my day was pretty normal, working as a UPS man. I gave somebody a package that they said was a christmas present. Must be a rich weirdo, buying christmas presents in november.

November 19th, 2011

Somebody broke into my house last night. I found the fridge open and orange juice spilled all over the table. Weird thing is, they fucking stole my orange juice, and apparently drank it all and microwaved the little bit that was left, because it was steaming hot and smelled funny. They also left hand prints all over my fridge, dumbasses! Those are fingerprints, I'm calling the police. I was too pissed to remember what my dream was, so I'll write that tomorrow.

November 20th, 2011

The police sweeped the place while I was in a hotel room. I had to take a day off work, which sucks since I don't have any PTO. Anyways, when it comes to my dreams, I dreamed about that thing again... but it wasn't a dream this time. It was in my fucking hotel room, I saw it in my dream, sitting at the foot of bed like some kind of pet(it was kind of cute at the time, until I saw it's exposed heart again) it stood up, and looked at me. It didn't point this time, for some reason, then there was a noise from the bathroom and it rushed through the door. I “woke up” and the bathroom door was closed. I was about to fall asleep when I screamed. There were wet clawed foot prints on the carpet, leading to the bathroom. I grabbed my stuff, ran out as fast as I could and checked out. I'm switching hotels, this is too weird.

November 21st, 2011

I got word from the police. They said that the handprints were ashes, and the fingerprints were MINE. Somebody's got to be shitting me. There's no way that I walked from my bedroom to my kitchen to microwave some orange juice and then cover my hands in charcoal and rub them all over the fridge. On a side note, my dreams have been getting different; I have two shadows in them, but the other shadow looks... odd. Like not quite me. The crab thing is still pointing at me, but it seems like he's half blind, it looks like he's pointing straight over my shoulder.

November 22nd, 2011

I saw that crab thing again. In the corner of my eye, while walking down the street... it was still pointing at me, with that horrible aim. I could hear it's heartbeat... it was torturous. I just want to be free of this thing...

The good news is that my dreams are going back to normal, but I'd prefer nightmares to hallucinations.

November 23rd, 2011

Something seemed odd about myself in the mirror this morning. The shadows were odd... everything looked alien. I've called my boss and told him that I won't be working for a few weeks. He understood, as I've been acting very erratic when I deliver things lately. I've been recently feeling like my own shadow is stalking me around. This afternoon it looked like it carrying a knife, but I was just buying a carrot to make something to eat.

November 24th, 2011

I'm gonna run out of money soon, but luckily I still have unemployment(it's not gonna last long, though). I keep seeing that.. thing. Everywhere I go, it's exposed heart, protruding from it's chest like an oversized pimple, and those exoskeletal ribs... This morning I saw something different though. I just finished washing my face and something creepy was in the mirror. It looked exactly like me, except charred to a crisp, and it had no eyes, what little was left of his skin was pale white. I must be going crazy.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">November 25th, 2011

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I saw the bug-crab thing again tonight. It just kept pointing at me, I tried to move out of the way and it immediately jumped. It seemed like it jumped AFTER I moved away, like it was trying to miss... I ran away without looking back. Good news is that I'm learning how to actually cook something that isn't made in the microwave.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">November 26th, 2011

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I REALIZED IT. He wasn't pointing AT me. He was pointing BEHIND me. I didn't see him today though... next time I see it, I'll look back, but I'll have a gun this time. Let's introduce this thing to our new friend Colt 45.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">November 27th, 2011

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border-top: none; border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; padding-top: 0in; padding-bottom: 0.03in; padding-left: 0in; padding-right: 0in">I saw the crab-bug and looked behind me. It was right fucking there, that thing I saw in the mirror, staring at me with eyeless holes. I jumped away and the crab-bug started clawing at it savagely, and the crab thing started cooking. Yeah, I know now who microwaved my damn orange juice. I took a shot at both of the fuckers. I looked over the body of the crab thing, looked into it's eyes. It looked familiar... why? Then it hit me. Those are my eyes. These things, they're ME. The next thing that happened, is that the burnt me stood up, and grabbed my hands, they were burning now. It used my hands to shoot everyone in the area until I was out of ammo. I should've picked a secluded place, but no, I had to pick the first place I saw them in... The police came by, and caught me. I plead insanity, it was all I could do. The official story is that my hands were burnt by a malfunction in the gun. They're gunpowder burns, the doctors say. But I'm not safe.. not anymore. The burnt thing is still alive. But I don't think the other guy is.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border-top: none; border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; padding-top: 0in; padding-bottom: 0.03in; padding-left: 0in; padding-right: 0in">The doctor read the patient's journal and frowned. This man was hopeless. As the doctor walked away, he thought he saw a grey, hunched creature, with crab claws, resembling the doctor himself, in the corner of his eye, smiling at him. The doctor shrugged it off, as he'd been working late the past few nights, and the patient's diary had got him spooked.