He Who Wasn't

In Salt Lake City, Utah on June 2, David Philips was found dead in front of Hampton Inn Salt Lake City Downtown, presumed to have committed suicide by jumping 5 floors onto the street. The room police believe the room he ordered contained several notes, written by the late Mr. Philips. On no accounts was a "man in a black trench coat and hat" ever found, nor whoever previously restrained him. Mr. Philips was accused of charges of manslaughter and fleeing the scene when Josh Simpson was found dead in his apartment, the cause of death was suffocation.
If you see a man who fits the description of whom Mr. Philips claims killed Josh Simpson, please inform your local police immediately.
(The following notes were believed to have been written by David Philips himself, found on the table next to the window. While most of the notes were readable, other parts of the notes could not be read.)
The streets never looked better, than from a bird's eye view. High from a window sill on the 5th floor staring down at the fools below, the floor must feel when you fall so fast, and stop so suddenly on the sidewalk, dead.
There is a clear reason why I am writing this down before I jump, and that is because I will not tolerate this agony anymore. For it is better to end my suffering, than endure it any longer. So that my death will be properly explained, I shall tell you everything on this hastily scribbled note.
It was on May 30, this year, I walked down the street to my apartment. As I turned a corner I accidentally bumped into a man, he had a black trench coat on and wore a hat at the exact angle in which no matter where the lights above struck it would not touch his face, making it not visible. I apologized to him and told him I was in a hurry, and he forgave me, but told me something very peculiar "This was no accident, and we shall meet again very soon." On my way I thought about what he said, what did he mean by that? Did he believe that by some divinity that that we were met? I saw no reason, I just bumped into him and perhaps he was just crazy.
The next morning I was in the cafe, I picked an empty table by the window. I looked outside and saw the rain tapping the windows of the cars that drove by, I looked back at my latte and found the same man in the black trench coat sitting across the table from me. By no sort of exaggeration of the kind if I would say I nearly had a heart attack, I asked him if he wanted something from me. "I want nothing from you, but your time. Rather, I have something for you, it comes in no material form but only in my speech. That said, listen closely, and I will leave." I placed my drink aside and looked at him, the hat he wore still veiled his face in shadow, but I kept my ears opened.
"There are things in this world that we cannot understand, but that does not stop man from learning it. Like looking at book in a language that we cannot read." I didn't ask what it had to do with me, I just wanted this crazy man to be off. "I'm assuming you're talking about religion?" He took a sigh and turned his head towards the window. "Religion tries its best, they overgeneralize and keep their followers faithful to what they cannot understand with half-truths and faith. The reason I'm telling you this is because you are in terrible danger." "Me? In terrible danger? Why?" He turned his head towards me, although I could not see his eyes, I nonetheless felt them. "I have told you something that others, many others, wish to know. And they will try their best to attain this information from you." "Information? What you told me is just a theory that anyone could come up with. Why would you even tell me this to begin with? I don't even care about religion." "That's exactly why I told you, the populace must know but without those who seek it discover it. I have only told you a fraction, If I told you everything here, now. They will come to us before we leave this cafe, that is why I shall tell you in pieces time from time. But for now, trust no one who talks to you before you talk to them." At this moment he excused himself from the table and left the cafe, walking out of sight.
Before you talk to them? I thought to myself, what does he mean by that? Do I have to be cautious of anybody who talks to me first? How would these people even know who I am? I sat there for awhile until a waitress comes by and asks me if I would like an extra cup. Without much thought, I agreed and looked outside, trying to see what the man was looking at. Suddenly, at the corner of the street in the direction the man once looked at, I saw another man, staring right back at me. He had brown hair and was in a suit. He stood there, watching my every move, it seemed as though he watched me and the man the whole entire time. I tried to get a better look but it was hard to see through the torrential rain. If I could just get a better look..-"Here's your latte, sir." The waitress startled me, I looked back at her as she gently placed the drink on my table. "I'm sorry to bother you, ma'am, but.. didn't you think there was something odd with the man?" She had a confused look on her face, "I don't know who's odd." "The man, over there. He's been staring at me and-.." I stopped in my tracks, as I found out that the man I was pointing at wasn't there anymore. "I.. I'm sorry, I must be imagining things.." I thought for a moment. "Was, was there anybody sitting with me sharing this table?" Her face now looked a little worried, but kept up a gentle smile.
"No, sir. There wasn't anybody sharing that table with you."
"There wasn't? That's odd, I could've sworn somebody was with me. I mean, they were talking to me and.." I stopped in my tracks, if I mentioned one more thing about him I would've appeared like I was crazy. "N-never mind, I'm sorry. I'll be off now, have a nice day." After paying for my drinks and giving the waitress a tip, I decided the next best rational thing to do was head back to my apartment. On my way there, I realized something strange.
The first thing was the waitress, she denied I talked to anybody, but I did, I spoke to the man in the trench coat who blocked his face with his hat. The second thing was the fact that he told me to not trust anyone who spoke to me first, did the waitress speak to me first? Was she trying to discover what I now know? Or is this just a trick to make me paranoid? Maybe the waitress just didn't pay much attention after all, the cafe was pretty full. But whatever the conclusion would be, something is certainly going on now. Maybe that man wasn't crazy after all.
After unlocking the door to my apartment room, I only had to take a single step before I noticed somebody was already inside this room. I turned on the lights and I found the man in the black trenc hcoat sitting by the table in my kitchen."How the hell did you get in here?" He looked up at me, with the same shadow covering his face. "Sit down with me, and I will explain." I closed the door behind me and seated myself across the table from him, he took a sigh and sat up straighter, putting his hands together on the table, still looking at me. "It seems you learned from your mistakes, so long as you don't do so again, you will be safe. However, you cannot undo the damage that has already been done." "Mistakes? You mean talking to the waitress?" "You spoke with her only as a waitress, with no other intent than to serve you. That was your mistake, you trusted somebody who spoke to you first. That is why I came in here, the door was already unlocked, I allowed myself in. Somebody else was in this very room because of your mistake. But, you learned from your mistake by talking to me first, just as we have when we first met and at the cafe. I never spoke to you first."
"So you're telling me somebody broke into my room because I talked to a waitress? Do you know how crazy that sounds? Why would this person break into my room anyway if they somehow knew I talked to a waitress?" "Because they want to know what I've told you. Humans by nature always wanted to understand everything, they strive for goals as if it was their purpose. They are intent on discovering things they cannot understand no matter the cost. If they cannot read the book they will keep it until they can." "So, if this man came to my room to figure out what I know, why isn't he here anymore?" "He is still here, but he is now dead. I killed him for your safety, however. Now you are a prime suspect of murder, being the corpse is in your room. You must now flee this area, for now they will pursue you will more vigor for the knowledge I have told you, is this understood?"
"Understood? How can I even tell if what you're saying is even true? Do you understand what's going to happen to me if I am going to be a prime suspect fleeing the scene?!" The man got up and walked to my closet, he opened it and a dead body was found on the floor. It was the same man that was staring at us outside from the cafe, the same brown hair, the same suit.. but that's the thing. He didn't have anything else on him, was he expecting me to just tell him everything this man has told me? "What happens to you will be preferred than to otherwise give them what they want. Now go, if you are caught then all is for naught. We shall meet again." I reluctantly got my things and approached the door. "So, what does happen if I tell them?" The man in the black trench coat and hat looked back at me, without flinching, without hesitation and with a tone that froze me in my tracks. "Then you shall suffer."
After leaving the apartment, I ran. Down the streets, the shops, the buildings. The cars became blurs as I ran as fast as I could away from what was probably now the crime scene, hoping that if I distanced myself away from it as much as possible, I might be safe. Suddenly, I tripped, and my face hit the stone pavement. I tried to get back up but I couldn't move for sometime, that was when a hand helped me up. As I got back on my feet to thank the person, a fist flew into my face and everything went black. The next thing I knew I woke up strapped to a chair in a dark room, the only source of light was a light bulb that shined over my head, beyond that circle of light, I couldn't see anything else in the room but myself.
After a few hours of silence, I grew desperate. If anyone could hear me, I'd have to call to them first, to make sure that I can trust me. That was exactly what I did, and shortly after a chuckle was heard from the shadows. "Committing murder is a very serious crime, and it was very clever of you to bring the corpse into your house, to look like he broke in, and that you were just protecting yourself.." "Bring the corpse into my..?! I didn't even murder him-" "Then who did?!" His booming voice echoed across the room, sounding like he could kill me any second. "There were no witness accounts of anybody entering that apartment during that time other than you, who else are we going to believe killed him?" "Who else? A man in a black trench coat killed him, he said so himself!" There was a long pause after that. "Did he.. tell you anything else?"
It was at that moment I realized who these men were, but I have to find out.. just to be sure. "And what if this man told me anything else? Does it matter? I'm a free man, I didn't kill anybody!" "Don't you get it yet? This doesn't have to do with the murder at all. Hell, you just told us everything!" A chill ran down my spine at the realization of what I've done. "Told you everything? What are you even talking about? I didn't tell you anything he told me!" A terrifying cackle burst forth from the darkness, it sounded nearly insane. "Don't you get it? It doesn't matter what he told you! Only the fact that he exists! This means that there is still a chance, a chance to finally bring truth to humanity! And it shall dawn like the blazing fires of the sun, burning all the lies of this world! We will get him, and he shall give us the book, and we shall understand everything in this existence!" "You're.. you're insane, do you have any clue have crazy you sound right now?"
The laughing stopped, and silence dominated the darkness once again. "Ever wondered why you can't trust anyone who talks to you first?" He paused, as though to let the question soak in, and it did.. it didn't make any sense to me at all.. "It was because the people who talk to you now, are only after what you know.. that he exists. He chose you for a reason, did you meet anyone else before hand?" He has a point, I haven't had any engagements with anyone recently before I met the man or after. I've just been going to the cafe and the apartment. "I know this because you weren't the first person he chose, and you aren't going to be his last either. We will catch him, because people like you always make mistakes. For instance, you trusted me at the beginning of this conversation because you called out, but it wasn't directed to anyone in particular, it was directed to anything that has an ear. You didn't talk to me, but I talked to you first. Because of that mistake, you told me everything. I have to give you credit though.. you make my job very, very easy.." Shortly after a heard footsteps from behind, and I was struck in the head again, and blacked out.
Unreadable...
He came again in my sleep, this time he had me strapped to the chair just like when I was kidnapped, and he just laughed. He laughed like a mad man, it went on for what seemed an eternity. I tried to wake up but I couldn't, it was only until I was knocked out did the dream end.
Ever since then, everywhere I go.. he's always there, always watching. I don't know how he knew I told them but nonetheless he knows. For days now I've been suffering like this, I didn't deserve any of this. Don't you get it? This isn't any brave goal, this is a demon that wants you to suffer for its own amusement! They did this to me, I didn't bring this on myself, I tried my damnest but it wasn't enough. I didn't murder him, I didn't, it was his fault! He murdered him, I didn't! Because of him, I'm now a murderer on the loose.. but no one listens to me. Nobody! They all ignore me, it's as though I don't exist anymore, I'm just like him now. Please, if you're reading this note now you have to learn from my mistakes! Some things man wasn't ever meant to understand, that some doors were meant to be closed! That's why we don't understand, because it wont hurt us, it will only hurt us! Like me..
That's why I'm doing this, because I can't live with this anymore. The moment I apologized for bumping into him, I was already dead. I'll be happy knowing that this can't happen to anyone else now that you know.. this is it, farewell.
Category:Lovecraftian
Category:Mental Illness
Category:Crime