𝗣𝗟𝗢𝗧 𝗛𝗢𝗢𝗞𝗦

[blackchapel]

 

Description: "I ain't been feelin' too hot lately. Must be some virus goin' 'round, huh? I'm talkin' the whole shebang. Body aches, fever, chills, a cough like you wouldn't believe. I hear it's workin' through the whole complex. My husband has it too; he's sicker'n a dog. Last night, I swear the skin was peelin' off his back like he'd been in the sun all day. I ain't never heard of no cold doin' that, have you? Brain fog, burnin' lungs, a feelin' like you're outside your own body… The worst part, though, is that feeling you get late at night when you're tryin' to fall asleep. It feels like something's movin' under your skin, I guess? I felt it in my thigh last night and I ripped off the bedsheets and I swear I thought I saw somethin' 'neath my skin. Somethin' long like a snake, just slitherin' under the surface. Must be the fever makin' me silly… I'm thinkin' about going to the doctor tomorrow, if I ain't feelin' no better. We ain't got the money, but I feel like death."

There's a sickness going around The Merrywood. What started as a particularly bad cold has slowly started to show more bizarre symptoms with people reporting their skin peeling and the sensation of something crawling inside of them. In more advanced cases, there have even been reports of patients becoming increasingly hostile, lashing out for no apparent reason or even seeming to 'hunt' other humans. No cases have been reported outside of The Merrywood…

 

Description: "Some nights, I like to go down to the basement and just wander around. See what I can find, you know? There's so much junk down there; relics from a bygone era. It's a time capsule. That's what it is. A lot of folks don't like going down there. Basements are inherently creepy, I guess. Something about being buried, I bet. I don't mind it, though. It's like a maze. There's so many tunnels. You keep thinking you've just about found the end of it and then you turn another corner and find a whole new section to explore. Anyway... one night, I was down there and I came across this door, right? It looked like just a regular old door, but there was something off about it. You could feel a breeze coming through the cracks and there was this light coming out from underneath. I swear to God, I thought I could hear birds chirping. When I tried to turn the knob, it was locked, but for a split second, I felt this static shock go through my whole body. I've been asking around for the key, but nobody seems to know what I'm talking about. There's something special behind that door. I just know it."

Deep beneath The Merrywood, there's an unassuming old door tucked away in one of the basement's furthest corners. It's at the end of a long tunnel with moss-covered walls and roots growing through the concrete floor. The door only opens for the right people at the right time. Beyond the door, there's a sprawling forest that shouldn't exist, but does. Fog rolls between skeletal trees as beams of sunlight cast down through the limbs. Only a few people know it exists and even less know why...

 

Description: "I saw him again yesterday at the end of the hall. He was just standing there, staring. It looked like the shadows were wrapping around him. I don't know who he is. He doesn't live here, but this is the fourth or fifth time I've seen him. At first, I thought he was just some transient that wandered in off the streets, y'know? Some pervert or something; that sort of thing happens all the time and lord knows they don't lock the front door around here… but then I got a good look at him, right? He's always so well dressed. Suit, tie, dressed to the nines… I'd say he was handsome if it weren't for the way he stares. Yesterday, I think he smiled at me and I’m not lying when I say it made my heart skip a beat. I don’t know what he wants. I just wish he’d go away.”

Lately, there’s been a mysterious man stalking the halls of The Merrywood. Tenants report seeing him at all times of the day and night, surrounded by shadows and always staring. He almost never moves, but when he does, he walks with a slow, purposeful gait. He never speaks. He exudes a sense of malevolence, like an interloper that has left his place and time to join our own. No one has worked up the courage to approach him yet…

 

Description: "Apartment 7B. You ever walk by there? Swear to Jesus, it smells like shit and ass. I live next door and I can smell it through the walls. Ain't nobody lived there for months now, but whatever they left behind has gone goddamn rotten. You'd think somebody would clean it, huh? Every once in a while, I see people going in there, but fuck knows what they're doing. I saw a couple of those weirdos in white going in a while ago and they came out a couple hours later, all wide eyed and slack jawed. Me? I ain't going in there. Couldn't pay me to. I don't even like living beside it. You wanna know the weirdest thing? I keep finding mushrooms sprouting up between my baseboards on the adjoining wall. Fuckin' gross, ain't it? I called maintenance about it, but they ain't doing shit. Swear to God, I'm leaving this shithole as soon as I save up the money to move."

On the seventh floor of The Merrywood, there's an apartment that no one has lived in for months. Not long after the last renters left, a dank and rotting smell began to emanate from the apartment that most people seem to ignore. What most people don't know is that the entire apartment is covered in small, white-capped mushrooms that have been growing for seemingly no reason. For those that do know, The Mushroom House is a place of sacrament and holy wonder. Those mushrooms are special, offering a glimpse behind the veil of reality if ingested in just the right amount.

 

Description: ”What? Those freaks on the sixth floor? I heard they’re a cult. They call themselves The Creed or The Veil or some shit. Beats me what they’re doing living here, but I reckon they ain’t hurting nothing. I guess they always pay their rent on time ‘cause they’re in every apartment on that floor. You see them coming and going sometimes, always dressed in their little white outfits and acting holier-than-thou. They don’t talk to no one and they sure as shit don’t come to none of the pot lucks. Guess they’re just living here, huh? They keep that whole floor on lockdown, though. The stairwell door stays locked and I swear they got guards posted outside the elevator 24/7. Most folks just ignore them you know? Everybody’s got to live somewhere, I guess.”

On the sixth floor of The Merrywood belongs to a local cult that calls themselves The Creed of the Veil. Several members of their group reside on the floor and refuse to interact with anyone else in the building, essentially running a miniature compound out of the apartment complex. They always dress in white and won’t allow anyone else to come into their space. The cult is ran by a woman who calls herself Madame Sanguine, but she’s rarely seen. No one knows exactly what the cult is doing at The Merrywood, but after the passing of Georgina Followell, several rumors swirl about how they might have been involved…