Abnormality

A cult? I know that they exist but I never thought there would be one so close to where I live. And these nightmares killed so many people? There were more than 20 people missing. 

"Not all of them were cult members. Some were unfortunate victims, tortured and killed by the cultists. As I remember there were only 7 cultists."

…

Without speaking another word he started going inside the building. I hesitated for a second but decided to follow him. 

The door was open when we arrived, the locks were open. For a moment I thought he was luring me somewhere.

"I got Myra to come before us. She will stay close to us but won't interfere in our conversation. When we leave she will lock the building again. She doesn't want to go in as she thinks this place is disgusting." 

I guess that is her style. She must be a lockpicking expert. But what was that staff she brought out of thin air? 

Not giving me time to think, Neil headed inside the building. I was freaked out, it was already dark outside and I definitely didn't want to be alone here. I decided to follow him and deal with the consequences later.

As we kept walking, I was keeping a look at my surroundings while also listening to Neil. The atmosphere inside the building was 10 times more eerie than outside. Something feels very wrong when you see a desolate place which was supposed to be lively. 

Clearly this place had not been maintained for years. The plaster had almost completely disappeared, that is not something that can happen in a month. We reached the staircase which had rusted handles and they only reinforced my beliefs. 

"The nightmares enter this world mainly in two ways. The first is negative emotions be it suffering, pain or guilt. The second is by another nightmare calling them which has already consumed its host." 

So the cultists tortured and killed those people to call out to one nightmare or many. This also means they will have an easier time appearing in places where disaster has struck.

But Neil was part of another organisation related to these creatures before right. They must be doing something to prevent that.

Also, Neil said 'mainly in two ways', hinting there might be other ways. 

After we climbed the stairs we reached the third floor, this floor was much-much more ominous than the rest of the building. 

There were cracked windows with barred and broken doors all over the building, but the ones here were much worse than the rest of the floors. 

I don't know if this atmosphere attracted the cult or if they invited the atmosphere, but this place looked perfect for a crime or horror story.

Some of the steel bars even looked broken. Not in a rusted and broken way, but as if they were cut. This could only be done by a power tool.

Something in me was attracting me towards one of the rooms. Meanwhile my sixth sense was advising me to not be far from Neil. There was one thing I knew for sure… this was the place they held their rituals.

"Let's go in. I have already inspected this place by myself, there is no danger here."

He headed towards the door which I was inspecting. When he opened the door… I got a strange sense of familiarity. It was as if I had been here before. 

When we entered, this place looked stranger than everything up until now. I was expecting letters on the wall written with blood or altars everywhere. Even a killed insect might make a little bit of sense, but this room was normal.

Let me be clear. On the way to this room the entire building looked ancient and gloomy. When we passed by rooms with broken doors, I would glance inside them. They all had a similar layout and a sense of gloominess. It was like nobody had lived in them for decades.

They were all abnormal. Even the hallway outside was abnormal. And they were all unclean. There was dirt and bugs everywhere. Worms creeping around. Pests hanging on the ceiling. And hordes of mosquitoes. 

There were carcasses of dead rats with worms moving inside their bodies and armies of ants carrying pieces of said carcasses and dead cockroaches being carried by those same ants. In all of those rooms, the carpets were eaten and torn by rats. Nests of wasps and bedbugs. Dozens of bats.

Only… only this room appeared normal. There was no atmosphere inside. It was as if someone had created this room decades after this building was built. 

There was not a single living thing in this room. Not even a fly. The carpet was old but untouched by rats, it just hadn't been dusted. No nests, not even ants dared to approach this room.

My heart was palpitating and my breathing became irregular. I drew longs breaths and my body had started trembling before I noticed. I wanted to leave right now. I don't want to stay here for even a second longer.

"It is clear right, this place was where the rituals took place. From what I know, they were all killed by the nightmares instantly." 

Sweat trickled down my eyebrows.

"The organisation I spoke of earlier came to deal with them but there was no one left. They cleaned up this place but it looks much scarier than before."

While speaking he noticed my body language and gave me a pitiful look.

"You want to leave right, ok then, it's enough. Let's go."

Neil and I started walking down the flight of stairs silently. Right now all my senses seem to be enhanced. My vision was clearer than ever and I could hear even the flapping of the wing of a bat on the floor above me. 

I heard somewhere that this is a trait humans possess. When they are scared for their life all their senses become stronger. Please let it be the most enhanced I'll ever become in this life.

After we left the building I breathed a sigh of relief. I had promised myself to never approach this building again, even if I was sleepwalking.

"This building will be demolished sometime this year. I think by September they should be done with the legal work. The owner had been neglecting it for years and now that that incident happened, he wants to get rid of it. Luckily for him, someone bought this land." 

He started thinking something silently and started talking again. 

"I don't know what they plan to do here but with the 'room' destroyed, there should be no problem."

I am glad. I was considering switching my apartment and moving somewhere a bit further from here but I risked losing my security deposit. Now I have to wait a few months and stay away from here. 

Neil looked at his watch and spoke to mt.

"Let's go back to the cafe. I still have stuff to talk to you about." 

I simply nodded and followed behind.

We went back the way we came. It took us 25 minutes to reach this time due to traffic.

We only made small conversations in between and Neil kept checking up on me. He inquired about my health, both physical and mental as well as other things like what I ate today. 

It was then that I realised that I haven't eaten anything for a while. It is 8 PM now, I should eat something, but the images of that building kept appearing in my mind. Both the freaky room and the other disgusting scenes.