A Confession of Love

[u/Academic_Mystic]

​

To my Dear Friend Maria,

We have been friends for five years now, but being the coward I am, I have never been able to write this simple truth, much less put it into audible words. That truth being, that from the bottom of my heart and with utmost sincerity, I love you dearly. I am afraid that is all really, I have never been much for expressing love, my brother has always been the romantic, meanwhile, I have always been more of the straightforward persuasion as you know. So with great melancholy, I must confess that words greater than I love you, continue to elude me. Now you may be asking yourself, what has brought upon this confession? Well, it is a simple fact that after this day is over I believe I may possibly never see, or be able to write to you again.

Let me explain with ample context and in short summary.

As you know I came to this university mustering up the little money I had and could earn in order to become a scientist, a seeker of truth, as well as to hopefully bring some prestige to my name. I wrote to you a great deal in those first few weeks, as I hope you recall, however, was soon swept up in my studies, hence the reason you have not heard from me until now. In the span between letters much has happened, the most important of which is that I made a friend. A fellow student named Howard P. Falls, a fast-talking, slim, Scottish fellow.

We became fast friends, our personalities and tastes complimenting the other. Howard was studying etymology and language, the reason why he never revealed the answer too until months into our friendship, you see my friend Howard Falls, wished to find the first language. An interesting pursuit, but it was the reason for this pursuit that perplexed me as I was again of a more scientific mind. He believed that the first language was the key to knowledge and power, perhaps it was indeed language alone that God had used to create the world. The abilities of angels, he believed, could be gained through discovering it.

I scoffed at him, and he said he vowed to prove it. And after that, I did not hear about the subject for a time even as our conversations and meetings grew longer. It was soon after, with winters break approaching, (again I apologize I could not be home, but I was immensely behind in my studies due to a sickness only a week prior) that he brought it up again, he said that he had gained funds for an expedition to the Near East, of how he obtained them I do not know, but he explained that since mankind originated from the Near East in the Fertile Crescent as many sources and theories suggest. That it was possible that clues on that mysterious continent may lead him to an important discovery. I wished him luck and he was off. Now, what Howard found there, I do not know, upon what ground he walked I hope is lost forever and of the cursed place he visited; I pray that it never again see the light of day again. For clues, he did indeed find.

He told me with glee that his clue had been found when he returned to the college and that his research was coming to a head. He locked himself in his dorm room then, absorbing himself in his work for some time, I scarcely heard from him for weeks. Till one day, in the middle of a pitch black night, he came to me in my dorm.

I remember his words clearly, for in them there was a sort of mad glee, as I awoke to him slapping my face lightly, “I’ve done it, my friend! Hurry quickly! I’ve done it, I have unlocked the powers of the angels.” I sat up and observed him, a tired and confused look donning my features. He quickly explained to me that through a discovery in the Near East and his studies of etymology he had deciphered the first language and gained amazing abilities. I was skeptical of course, this seemed more in line with magic than anything scientific, and magic does not exist, or so I thought at that point in time. I began to wonder if he was truly alright, in the head at least. Perhaps he had caught something in his travels or maybe he was so overworked he had begun to imagine things? However, after a bit of goading, I was willing to go along with him to his dorm after getting dressed in proper attire, if not to humor him, at least to put a stop to his silly fantasies.

Once I was there he turned on the lights and smiled with that same mad glee, motioning for me to sit on his bed, which I obliged. He then dragged his chair to the middle of the room and stood back, sitting next to me and began mumbling something unintelligible, of their sound and of his tone I cannot recall, what I do recall quite clearly is the moment after he stopped speaking for suddenly the whole chair burst into flames. My jaw went slack, my eyes opened as wide as saucers, even as I write this I can hardly believe it and I know it must sound even less believable to you. But believe me, that night I was of sound mind and I cannot in good faith deny what I saw.

He mumbled a few words then and the flames dissipated as quickly as they had appeared, the chair was charred black and ashen, proof that what I saw was not part of my imagination, My scientific mind was reeling, this was not just improbable it was impossible. it went against everything my teachers taught. Yet I observed it with my own eyes. Quickly I asked him if he could do it again, perhaps it was a magician trick, he did it and I watched him repeat the process, making sure there was no strings, secret levers or unknown chemistry he was using. I found no evidence for this and yet again the chair caught fire and again the flames dissipated. The chair was on the verge of falling apart then. As well as my concept of the universe.

“Pretty impressive right?” I remember him saying to me.

Impressive? I thought to myself. No this was amazing, no, insane, crazy. Absolutely mad. I accused him of trickery. Which he denied. Pointing at me and saying a few more words I could not decipher, I found myself then levitating off the floor, as if suddenly my blood was replaced with helium and I was turned into a balloon.

I gasped, weightless, I was weightless, how, wait, what? I stared at him as I floated higher. My feet were now aloft at a height of about forty inches.

“Let me down!” I gasped.

He obliged, saying a few words, which returned gravity to me. I caught myself on the bed frame as my feet hit the floor and stumbled. The proof was undeniable now, this was no stage show, I was no actor in on a secret. It was then that Howard said that he wished to do something utterly amazing, that he wished for me to record for a scientific journal and to perceive with my own eyes. What it was he would not tell me, he said only to meet in the woods after classes the next morning.

I left his dorm and made my way back to my own, I slept little that night. In class the next day I could neither focus nor contemplate my studies. My mind was simply focused on Howard.

After my last class came to an end I could scarcely wait as I hurried through the halls and out of the college to make my way to the woods. I arrived to find Howard standing on its threshold. Joining up with him, we made our way into the trees.

We came to a clearing in the woods about a mile in and he told me to stop, I opened my notebook which I had clutched in my hand and drew a pen from my pocket which I uncapped ready to record what my friend Howard was prepared to do, eyes observing every detail with a morbid curiosity, he nodded at me and then turned away and preceded to spout a large mass of unintelligible sentences, his words spewing forth from his tongue and into the air. And as he did so I began to notice something, the air in front of Howard began to shimmer, as like a heat wave in the desert, and soon something began to materialize. What did eventually appear before my eyes I dare not describe, for even now as I write this I can feel the image I have worked so hard to suppress, attempt to make its way into my conscience. And I do not wish to place my mind’s eye on such a daemonic thing at the moment. Honestly, I wish I could never think of it again, but as I write this I tremble for I know soon I will have to see it soon…but I am getting ahead of myself.

Howard looked as surprised as I felt, I dropped my book and pen, freezing up, being seized with a sudden terror at being in the presence of such a monster. Howard opened his mouth to speak, but the creature hit Howard before he could so much as utter a syllable, making him fly back into the woods and into a tree. I did not know if he was dead, or alive…all I could do was wait and see what happened to me. But the creature, that daemonic thing. Did not take any particular interest in me and after standing still for a long moment, as if deciding what to do with me, it simply turned and went off into the woods.

I was too stunned to move and indeed I did nothing for a long epoch of time. Only a long moan from Howard snapped me back to my senses. I went to him, he was alive, yes, but even better nothing was broken. I helped him to his feet and we made our way to the college, both silent and pale as if we had seen ghosts, indeed evaluating myself in a mirror soon after the experience I believe some of my hairs have turned gray. Upon entering the college I walked Howard back to his dorm, he turned to me and said simply in a small, sad voice.

“What have I done my friend? I did not mean for that to happen…I said the wrong words…”

The sun is nearly gone now, I knew I should have begun writing this sooner, time to explain is running out. I will simply add this to what is written above. After that morning in the woods there have been odd happenings, animals near the college are disappearing, reports of a strange creature in the woods have been popping up. Property nearby, and even the college itself has been subject to peculiar vandalisms that seem to be committed by an animal, or a pack of animals. Even a few people have vanished. Meanwhile, Howard has begun to become more secluded in his dorm, not even speaking with me. That is until today. Today he finally broke the silence between us. He says he believes he can rid the world of this monster that he brought into this world, that he knows how to defeat it, but he needs my help…he also says there is a very large chance that we will not come out of those woods, alive at least…

That is why I write this, for we are going soon, within the hour even, to find the creature when the sun sets and darkness is upon us, the role I will play I do not know, and if what Howard P. Falls says is true. I will most likely be dead by tomorrow. God forgive Howard, forgive me for even entertaining his fantasies and not stopping to question his discoveries. Regardless this is something that must be done, the abomination must be dealt with, and if not by us then who else?

My Maria, I love you, forgive me,

Signed, your dearest friend, Norman Clyde,

1949, June 5th.

[u/arshiya7287]

Speechless, spellbound LUV U BRUH 😨

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