Entry 8- The Far Right Path

Wyona came to me and asked if I needed a ride anywhere. I said I just wanted to take a walk on the nature paths in the Grendale Park. She accompanied me while we were hiking, just talking about things that came to our minds. It had a pattern- we'd come up with something funny or interesting, but the conversation would slide to the murder, then to her Uncle Reed, then the trail would be hiked in awkward silence for about five minutes. Then the cycle began again. It was pleasant, and the sweet smell of grass and oak really boosted my spirits, and so did just being around her.

We decided to take the far right path. Wyona never traveled that path before, and honestly, neither did I. It seemed so new, but looked so worn and ancient that I was sure it has either been tread a great deal or hasn't been treaded at all.

We walked along it, and it seemed generally nice. Then we came upon the shrine. That's all I can think of calling it. A shrine. Or perhaps a tomb. It was standing there, a polished ivory. I remember it so well, and I wish I didn't. I asked Wyona if she ever saw this before, but she didn't reply. I turned around, and she wasn't there. What was there, however, was the same path I just turned around from, leading to the same shrine. I turned back. The shrine. I decided to cut my way through the woods and forget the path. When I came back to a clearing, it was eight paths in all cardinal directions, all leading to the same shrine.

Then I saw the door to the shrine begin to open. Pallid, bony hands grasping at the door. Four of them, each about equidistant from each other, the lowest one hitting the bottom of the door. Then some kind of large spade-shaped... I don't know... it was some large, organic, thing, with an ivory end and a giant, cat-like eye in the center...

Then I saw the face. Eyeless, grinning a wide smile that chilled me to the bone. The thing about it was the face was upside down...

Just like the clearing. Just like the warnings.

I ran as fast as I could, and finally I made it back to... reality, I guess. Wyona told me that I wandered off, suddenly disappeared and she suddenly found herself in the familiar left path, even though there's nothing connecting them. I told her that there probably is some connecting path and we walked back in unbroken silence. I didn't want to tell her what happened with me. After the death of Dwayne, I don't think that it would have boosted any morale.

I'm fairly sure that what I saw, if it was anything, was this "Smiley" creature I've been hearing about. I don't know what to make of this, and those who are reading this must think I'm insane.

Well, I'm not sure if I am or not.

I guess we'll find out together...

Entry 7- Police Investigation

The police finally showed up to investigate at about 5:30. They didn't send that many people, just three Crime Scene Investigators and a couple plainclothes detectives. They kept us each for about 15 or 30 minutes each, asking us how well we knew Dwayne, where we were at the time of the killing, what we were doing, et cetera. Because I was in the apartment right next to Dwayne's, they kept me in for what seemed like over an hour. They didn't suspect me of murdering Dwayne. They saw the dog's bite marks and paw prints, but they're a little skeptical that only one dog could cause this much. They asked me if I saw the dog, and I said no, but I heard it.

That was it for the questioning. They carried away Dwayne's body and some of his personal belongings, as well as the broken glass.

Also, I found out that the dog that did this bit holes in the wheels of my Silverado. Until I'm able to get it fixed, I won't be able to get far. Either way, the police are telling me that I have to stay in the county.

Entry 6- I'm Getting Out of Here

First of all, after a long discussion, the landlord agreed to let me move up to the third floor. I got to meet Melanie and Dwayne. Nice people. But the thing is, I moved up two floors so I could be safer. I was not any safer than I was on the first floor.

I was busy unpacking the last of my things. I had only a couple of belongings, mainly books and office supplies, and I felt like I was going to find more peace and quiet because of my move. That quiet, if there was any, didn't last.

I heard heavy footfalls down the hallway. I tensed up a little, then as I heard it softly pad along I began to relax. It went past my apartment- 3A- and kept going towards Dwayne's apartment. I sighed and went back to my unpacking. Then I heard the door open, and then I heard Dwayne's scream- shrill, high, ear-piercing, one that's going to haunt me for a long, long time, finally dwindling down to a gurgle. Then I heard dog's whimpering, and then pawpads heading towards my door. I backed my fully packed box against the door and then headed over to the other end of my apartment and waited. Finally, after what seemed like hours, the pawpads died away. I was also worried.

Why wasn't anyone calling the cops or something? Melanie went to the movies with Douglas, apparently, but Wyona, Harry, or Frank should have heard something. Should have heard anything. I decided to risk it.

Slowly, I pushed the box away from the door. For a long time I just stood there, looking at the door. Occasionally I put my hand to the doorknob, then I took it away. Finally, I was able to open the door, knowing that I was potentially opening the door up to some violent creature with no means of self defense. To my relief, there was no creature right outside my door.

Then I saw Dwayne's body. I could only recognize it as Dwayne by the fact that the torn, battered shirt that was ripped in half, matched the shirt I saw Dwayne wearing earlier today. There was no way a normal dog could have done what it did to Dwayne. I remember the stench- putrid and metallic, blood mingling with the intestines splayed on the floor. I stepped cautiously past and looked into Dwayne's apartment, fearing to see some kind of weird creature inside. There wasn't any. I saw the bloody pawprints leading to the broken remains of the window. I looked out the window and saw a few more pawprints veering off into the cornfields.

I went downstairs and told the landlord. The landlord stayed up all night, calling the sherriff's station, informing next of kin, and waking up the other tenants. Melanie and Douglas came back later tonight. Frank's talking about leaving the apartment, and, frankly, I'm thinking about getting away as well. I feel like getting out as soon as I possibly can. I should have gotten the message with the rabbit's corpse, but I didn't, and now I can't sleep. I don't want to be caught sleeping if that... thing... comes back.

Entry 5- Notes From an Anonymous Messenger

That's it. I'm asking the landlord if I can change to an apartment on the top floor. I do not feel safe anymore on this floor. There are so many deep scratches on the walls and so pronounced that I'm surprised nobody has said anything about it yet.

But right now I do not think I can take any more of this. There was a package mailed to my apartment from an unknown sender. Attached to the outside of the package was a note saying, "DO NOT FEAR SMILEY." Then I loosened the string tightened around the package, slowly, savoring the time before it opened. Inside the package was the mutilated carcass of a rabbit. I don't know how to describe it, but it looked like it was covered in... some kind of glue, or something, and it looked like it was stabbed directly in the chest.

I threw the package out as soon as possible.

I'm pretty sure if I had any chance to not become involved with this whole thing, it just ended.

Entry 4- Scratches and Graverobbers

Well, I'll just get this out of the way, first. Police stopped by our apartment complex on the way to Grendale. They were investigating acts of vandalism in the area, and asked if we knew anything about it. I asked them what they were talking about, and they told me something, kind of... unsettling. The five dogs- the victims of the animal attack- have been taken out of their graves. They haven't foudn any incriminating evidence whatsoever, so they decided to ask us if we knew anything. I told them I didn't and they went on to bug Harry.

Another thing is that I've been noticing scratches on the outside of the complex and some in the first floor. I haven't pointed it out to anyone else, but... I'm getting a bad feeling about this. It's reminding me of the messages about "Smiley". I'm not sure what Smiley is, but I'm having a strange suspicion. Whatever the messages were, they may have something to do with the killing of the dogs. And it may have something to do with the digging up of the dogs' corpses. I can't say anything for certain, and I'm not going to try jumping to conclusions, and I'm not going to stick my nose into where it shouldn't be, but- I'm getting the feeling that it's coming too close for comfort.

Entry 3- A Walk In The Woods

Today I decided to drive five miles out to the nearby Grendale Natural Park and go on one of the hiking paths. The park is kept in fairly good condition, and I go out there very often, usually when I'm seeking true silence, or maybe I just want to think about things.

In any case, I took my Silverado out there and just began walking in any direction. I've walked all the paths, but you never know when you'll see something new.

Turns out, I found something new.

First of all, I saw Wyona walking through the path. I said hi, and we talked about things. Mainly just about our lives and our days, but it slowly went to her Uncle. She said he's been getting worse. She's been thinking about getting him medical assistance, but she doesn't want to keep him away from his farm. She thinks the farm is the only thing keeping him sane. Then we parted ways again.

I saw something else in those woods. I saw knife marks on trees the further I walked in. Mad carvings and ravings. I saw a spot where branches have been ripped off by hand, and I decided to follow them. It led me to a clearing of trees. All of them had the same message carved into them.

"BEWARE SMILEY." They were all accompanied by a carving of a smiley face, but the thing is the smiley face was upside down.

At this point I decided not to investigate any further and went back to my apartment. I have no idea what those carvings meant, but I may have a small idea of what they could mean...

No. No. It's not my problem. I'm not going to make it my problem.

Entry 2- Tenants

Okay, so I guess I should talk about some of the other tenants in the apartment. There aren't that many, and they're usually migrant farmworkers (I swear, I thought migrant farmwork died in the fourties or fifties), but a couple came here for the "peace and quiet" of the area. Ha.

I'm not going to say their actual names, but I can give you a rundown of them.

Apartments 1B, 1C, and 1D have been vacant for anywhere between 5 and 16 years. The landlord says I can use 1B for storage, so long as I pay 20 extra each month.

There's Harry, who lives in 2A, who's a migrant farmworker. He was raised somewhere in Montana, I think, so he has this strange mountain philosophy about him. Really, he's just really superstitious and speaks a lot of nonsense.

There's Wyona, who lives in 2C. She's here mainly to be close to her Uncle Reed, who owns the same farm Harry works at. Her dad sometimes has cases of dementia and epilepsy. He went into shock when he found his dog Honey, who was one of the victims of the animal attack. She talks to me sometimes, but mainly she just keeps to herself.

There's also Frank, Douglas, Melanie, and Dwayne, who live on the third and fourth floor apartments. I don't talk to them that much, and they don't talk to me. I think one of them is a writer? And Dwayne is another migrant farmworker.

In any case, I've been talking to Harry about the animal attacks and the state troopers, and he gave some pretty sound advice. If it ain't a problem that bites at your heels, you can just look past it and try to find some peace.

Ya know, that's what I'm going to do. Look past everything that's going on.

Entry 1- A Rundown

I'm setting up this blog to talk about what I've been going through for the past half year. It doesn't matter if you don't believe a single word that I say- all that matters is that I'm getting my message out there. I'm not going to use my real name for a number of reasons, but you can just call me Paul. I live on the first floor of an apartment complex. There's not much nearby the apartment- besides a movie theater and a couple of restaurants, the nearby area is mostly farmland and forests for about 20 miles in any direction. It was the general quiet of the area that drew me here, that and the low price of the apartment.

In any case, I've been hearing scuttling in the apartment since I came there. Then I began hearing stories about the scuttling from other tenants. They say it's the house settling or, more likely, rats. The more superstitious say it's a poltergeist.

Then I've been hearing stories about farmers' dogs getting killed in the nearby town of Grendale. It would be fairly easy to pass it off as some coyote attack or some other animal, but the thing is that five of them were killed in the same month. And two of them were inside their homes when they were killed.

Then the state troopers started coming in for some unkown reasons.

I just don't know anymore.

This last month has been complete hell and I swear the scuttling's getting louder.