It's in the Fog

Day 18:
It’s been pretty boring today. We woke up to that annoying song playing on the tower at the center of the camp, as always. They use the same song to wake us up everyday, ugh. We all dressed and got in line to go to the cafeteria. The food today was looking extra awful, but it actually tasted sort of good, so that was surprising. The rest of the day was the usual routine; well, something weird did happen though. I was playing football with Steve, and it started getting dark, so we decided to start heading to our hut. We started talking about scary stuff, like bloody Mary and Annabelle, but then he started talking about a fog or something? I never heard of this so I was really interested. 
He told me that whoever was consumed by the fog would turn insane and attempt suicide or murder. Kinda corny and cliche if you’d ask me. He didn’t know much about it, but one more thing he said was that there is supposedly a figure in the fog, but nobody has ever seen it. He said more stuff, but I don’t want to go into that… He said that since this camp is on top of the mountains, the fog is going to come sooner for us. I did not like the sound of that… not that I believe it’s real. Well, now I’m here in my bed, writing this knowing that I will have nightmares about it. With that said, poem time!
Sounds and the beats, bursts my bubble in my sleep,
Redundancy repeats, but today the food was sweet,
The usual routine, yet something weirder starts to creep,
It’s in the fog? Kind of dumb but I’m intrigued.
I ask for more and you just say,
It’s in the fog, It’s in the fog
The lore is torn, but you keep saying,
It’s in the fog, It’s in the fog.
In the end, there’s more confusion.
If it’s in the fog, or just an illusion?
Goodnight.
Day ??:
Whoever is reading this, and it’s foggy, leave this area immediately and take this notebook with you. You still have a chance. The fog has consumed everything, and will consume you too if you don’t leave right now. Today is January 21st, 2023, and I am at the Berklin Winter Mountain Camp. I will explain to you what happened.
We woke up to the sounds of distant people screaming as hard as their lungs could. I checked what time it was on my cell phone, around 5 or 6 in the morning. I got up and looked at my friends for any confirmation that what I just heard was real. Everybody had woken up, looking at each other, confused. The leader of the group opened the heavy dark oak door and a rush of grim and thick air launched towards us, sending goosebumps to the back of our neck. The sun was completely covered by a thick gray blanket that was the fog, literally invisible. 
The lack of saturation and life made everything feel uncanny, unnerving, almost as if we teleported to a more sinister, dark world. Everybody had a face like they were saying “What the heck?” inside their mind, especially the leader. The leader told us not to go outside, but most people had already left the hut, trying to find the people that kept screaming and help them. Before heading outside, I wore a few extra clothes on me so that I wouldn’t freeze to death and grabbed my backpack that had my notebook, a pen, a flashlight and a half-empty water bottle. 
So here I am outside, relying on my instincts and my memory of the place to traverse, nervous that I would at any moment unexpectedly fall down from the bumpy terrain. And the fact that I haven’t even been here for that long didn’t ease my stress levels. What I could see ahead of me was nothing but a gray void, like there was a really thick gray bubble surrounding me at all times, making me practically blind. I grabbed my flashlight from my bag and turned it on, hoping it would give me a little bit more sight, but immediately got disappointed as it didn’t help at all. 
As I walked the uneven and rocky terrain, I felt like I was afloat, like the ground was softer, or that gravity was alleviated in a way. I didn’t know what was more terrifying: the silence occasionally broken by sharp and painful screams all around me or the ambient yet panic-inducing atmosphere? I honestly didn’t know. While walking though, I almost tripped over some people laying on the ground that seemed completely blacked-out yet unharmed… So weird.
My eyes felt incredibly heavy, since I was still feeling sleepy, but that was about to change as I heard a woman in front of me screech, gag, and then fall down. I freaked the hell out and backed up too fast, causing me to lose my balance and hit my right elbow on a large round rock. It hurt like hell; a burning feeling at first, as if the bone itself was on fire, which then swiftly transitioned to a numbing feeling, which could only be described as a drowning relief, that then progressed into a feeling of a thousand needles piercing it. 
The most horrible feeling sunk into me: pure, utter dread. My heartbeat skyrocketed. Looking at my front, I saw a faint figure approaching. With every move it did, its silhouette became sharper and sharper, crawling to me like a cockroach. Once its head was about to touch my right foot, I kicked it as hard as I possibly could. I kicked it continuously, and every time I did, the creature gagged and spewed what I could only assume was blood. After a few kicks, it stopped moving… 
I’m not really that good at holding back tears, and the events that had just happened were more than traumatic. My elbow was still in massive agony; it didn’t break but got dislocated. Before attempting to put it back in its place, I went to take a closer look at the figure. Its scalp had a big dent on the top, and it was covered in a dark, almost black pool of blood. I wanted to vomit so hard, but, with all my strength I still had, I tried to suppress the feeling for the time being. As soon as I got up, I kept walking. 
The feelings I had described before were now multiplied by a thousand times. Every time I heard a scream, footsteps, or anything loud or nearby caused a shock in my whole body. Fear wasn’t just a tormentor now, it was an immortal, cruel, anguished person. A person; feeling the same agony, but enjoying it. Teasing and taunting me, playing with my mind like a puppeteer. Turning the irrational thoughts into rational ones. All my emotions manifested inside the fog, the figure in the fog. But I couldn’t see it anywhere.
About my dislocated elbow, I tried to pull my forearm really hard, hoping it would go back in its place. Each time I pulled it, I felt better and better; the harder the pull, the lesser the pain. I stopped after feeling complete but temporary relief, and so I looked at my front and with all my might I started walking again. And so on and so on... The path seemed endless. My senses started to slowly evaporate. Time felt non-existent. I could no longer hear anything but my own mind's vibrations. 
It wasn't cold anymore, or warm, or anything. I could feel what I assume was my consciousness painfully drifting away, while I still kept walking like a zombie. My whole body was numbed from head to toe, ridding it of any control I once had. The sweet relief of painless thoughts and heavenly relaxation flowed in my brain like water in zero gravity. Deep sleep was about to gently strike my whole body, until I suddenly hit my head really hard. Without even realizing, my head had hit the ground, sending me back to the uncanny reality that the fog had given rise to. 
Thankfully I didn’t collide with any big rocks, just the soil in the ground, but it was still pretty painful. Now I knew that I had to go hide somewhere where the fog wouldn’t affect me; specifically somewhere enclosed. If I didn’t, it would completely consume me whole. My skull was still in pain and my right elbow started to hurt again, but I tried really hard not to care. Instead, I tried to pinpoint where I was exactly in this camp. As I explored the area, I saw the bushes, the plant-life, the long and thin trees and the moist topsoil. As I was making the connections, total utter shock filled my body. I was in the forest part of the camp, the most lonely area with no signal, no safe place, literally nothing but nature. How did I walk for that long?   
I knew I was going to die, but the survival instinct clicked inside me, and I started running to the opposite way that I was walking in. I was hoping that I didn’t walk that far away from the houses, but if I did, there was no chance for me. I kept running. Tripping over a few times from stepping too hard and irregularly, but quickly gaining balance. And I kept running. Cold sweat broke and heavy breathing erupted. I pushed every tree I came by to give me more force so that I could go faster. I kept on going. My legs were getting tired really fast. And soon I knew I would fall down again. But I kept going, and so on, and so on, until… I fell another time... It was apparent, I cannot escape the fog. 
So, I sat down next to a tree, laid my back on it, and relaxed. I opened my backpack and grabbed my pen and notebook, and here I am, embracing the fog. I will let it consume me if it wants to, after all, there is no other means of escape. It was an offer I couldn’t decline, both because the fog didn’t let me and because there was no other better offer either way. For the person who is still reading this and has not done what I told them to do, I suggest you do what I also am doing right now. Surrender. You will die peacefully, what more could you want out of this situation? Well… I guess I’m closing this off now. And as you’d expect, poem time! 
The figure comes, but never leaves,
Shattered thoughts, arise on the weak,
Those who fought, never win,
It’s in the fog, but never seen.
It’s in the fog,
The painful ash burning inside your throat,
Forcing itself into you as the incubator,
It pierces but its damage is invisible,
It's in the fog.
It’s in the fog,
It’s in the fog,
It’s in the fog,
It’s in the fog?
Goodbye. 
Category:Nature
Category:Monsters
Category:Poetry