Ebrugh Report 5: My Friend Was Taken By Corrupted Thoughts

Sketch of the Dreamscape encountered briefly by Brian.

This Ebrugh Report is about a message on an answering machine. A man called Brian calls his friend Charlotte after a terrible nightmare. His dreams have shaken him to the bone.

## Summary

In this eerie recording, a man called Brian reaches out to his friend, Charlotte, recounting an unsettling dream. He describes vivid and disturbing dreamscapes, including encounters with a mysterious, malevolent presence that haunts him. In one particularly terrifying part of the dream, he visits a friend's mansion, only to be pursued by grotesque, wooden creatures. Brian grapples with the nightmarish experiences, struggling to discern the boundary between dreams and reality. As his fear intensifies, tBrian's narrative becomes increasingly frantic, culminating in a harrowing moment when he claims to be physically confronted by one of these nightmarish entities. The message ends abruptly with unsettling noises.

## Report 5

### Rumoured Origin

*The original recording I have transcribed here was found 1986 on the answering machine of a woman called Charlotte, who I got in contact with several years ago. Only few people know of it and its implications, as she was afraid to be seen as mad by the public by revealing it. Now that Charlotte has passed on, I somehow feel that it is the right thing to release this. The message was recorded by her friend Brian. She called the police back then, but they never were successful in finding out what had happened.*

### Main Report

„Hey Charlotte, it's me, Brian. I know that it's late, but I have had strange dreams again. You told me to call you if I ever needed someone to talk to.

I have been thinking a lot about my dreams lately... Dreams... are not always what they seem. Sometimes, they are the most beautiful creations of our minds. Sometimes, they are terrible constructs, lusting for our souls, trying to consume us. And sometimes... sometimes they are something entirely different. In some cases, I think, dreams seem to not originate from this world, as they are to grotesque and distorted to even be remotely understandable. I can't believe that I just experienced one of those.

I experienced a nightmare that shook me to the bone and will never leave my soul in peace again. A dream that took something indescribable from me. Perhaps telling you about it will make things better? I just need to get it off my chest, Charlotte. Please, just listen!

Let's see, how did it start? Yes, visiting Joe. You know that I am not often at his place... Well, almost never. History is a time consuming subject to study at university, making me long for my friends quite often. That is probably why I dreamt of visiting Joe on an evening in late autumn, intending to spend some time with him.

We sat down on his couch and ate some great pizza he had ordered, dreaming of old days. Time passed and the sun already began to set when the phone started ringing. I wondered about the late call and Joe seemed to be confused as well. He took the handset to his ear, listening tensely. I looked at the big fish tank he has - you know which one I'm talking about - observing the fish swimming through muddy water. It did not take long, however, until sudden cursing distracted me. Joe had ended the call, his eyes glimmering strangely.

"That was Melanie on the phone. She sounded nervous and said that something ‘odd’ was going on at her house. She asked us to come by immediately. Let's take my car!"

His words were drenched in peculiar determination... Have I ever told you about Melanie? I don't think so. She was a friend of mine back in primary school, don't really have much to do with her anymore... Though, she never had been one to get agitated quickly. That is why we hurried to the hallway to fetch our jackets.

Afterwards, we immediately set out into the dark night outside. Joe had parked his car on the driveway. It was an old VW beetle, its metal already heavily corroded by time. We got in and Joe slowly started driving. While the beetle's spotlights illuminated the country road leading to our friend's home, the full moon was visible, making the young night a bit brighter. I couldn't help but wonder what exactly Melanie's words had meant.

Something ‘odd’ was going on? What did she mean by that? There are many stories about strange things, but something supernatural couldn't have happened, could it? Probably everything was a lot more harmless than the call had implicated!

Oh, Charlotte, had I only known back then what was waiting for me, I would have kicked open the car door and thrown myself out and into the darkness, as everything I could possibly encounter there would not have been as bad as the happenings that I was getting into in those moments.

The beetle rushed through the night and after a short while we reached a little forest in which the mansion of Melanie's parents was located. She apparently still lived there, at least in the dream.

When looking through the dirty windows of the beetle, I sometimes imagined seeing shades in the dark, though I knew that they were just the distorted shadows of some bushes.

After having driven through the little forest for some time, the trees gave way to a clearing. In its centre, a big mansion sat, feeling haunted, made from wood in an age long past. We left the car and started walking towards the building. Melanie came running from inside the house, sprinting across the porch and down the stairs in front, her face marked by unknown terror.

"They are coming", was all she could say, her body trembling.

I looked her in the eyes and saw the remainders of a horror she must have faced just now.

What had frightened her this much? I just wanted to turn around and run away, away from the mansion and the forest. I did not want to have anything to do with this matter. Sometimes you must be a coward to survive. Joe could surely settle things on his own, he had been trying to get closer to Melanie for a year anyway. At least that is what I dreamt. Funny, as they both don't know each other in real life...

So, I turned my back to the mansion and started walking along the road, my feet guiding me directly towards the saving exit at the edge of the forest.

But when I had almost reached the thicket, I had to realize that the road leading out of the forest had vanished. A wall of dark pines rose in front of me. The gravel at my feet that had shown me a way out just moments ago was taunting me. The road led from the mansion up to the trees, but beyond those... nothing.

Nothing.

Only darkness.

I turned around again to look for my friends, but they had vanished as well. Fear crept into my mind as I searched the mansion with my eyes. I felt alone, lost, as if I was the only human being left in this world. The loneliness made me tremble. Additionally, the forest in my back seemed to try to crush my sanity.

What horrors lay in the deep darkness between the old tree trunks? What terrible secrets did the branches and leaves hide? Could I dare to turn around, to look there into the depths of the forest that could devour me? It was an evil premonition that I felt, the presence of something other than my friends or the familiar house that stood so quietly before me. Despite the premonitions of death that I felt when I thought of the forest behind me, a desire grew within me to turn around.

There was only silence, but the silence was not reassuring. It felt like a terrible respite before a rumble of horror. I stared at the mansion, the only thing that reminded me of other people. Loneliness, just loneliness poisoned my thoughts. Crushing my mind, the longing for another being grew.

Didn't I hear a rustling there behind me? Perhaps Joe, or Melanie? No.

There had been only quietness. I had to turn around. An urge inside my heart told me to, almost forced me.

Slowly, as slowly as I could, I turned toward the strangeness of the forest, but it had changed. No pines behind me, no darkness veiling unknown terrors. I saw a clearing, illuminated by alien moons, glittering ominously. Vines and bright blossoms sprawled on wet ground, weaving a pattern of strange sharp shapes. A feeling of stench and harmony took hold of me.

How had I gotten here?

I quickly looked over my shoulder, but the mansion had disappeared as well. Only trees and shadows could be seen there, wrapped in mischievous undergrowth. But as much as I feared the forest, it was nothing compared to what I felt looking back at the clearing. It seemed to be changing, slowly slipping into a distant world I didn't want to understand.

And there, in the distance, I caught sight of movement.

I was no longer alone.

But this thought did not comfort me, this thought only made everything worse. I had to seek shelter, shelter from what was writhing there.

Into the forest, into the darkness behind me, where I remained unseen! I spun around, but the trees had disappeared.

Behind me, muddy, watery ground stretched endlessly, distant to a horizon framed by great tower-like structures. At my feet, the tendril-like plants still twined, but I was no longer sure whether they were artificial or of natural origin. But one thing I knew - I would find no protection here.

Hectically, I looked around to the clearing, which had not changed. There were still the angular flowers, which shimmered in billions of colors, the rivulets of black water, which made their way to the eternal plain behind me.

But there had now appeared unholy stone structures that looked like a sacrificial site of ancient shamans, arranged in a ring in the middle of the ghostly clearing. I knew something was waiting there, something was lurking, but the stones held an insane fascination for me as well.

Charlotte, I don't know why, but I went there! I went to the stones, to the circle of terrors, even though I knew that that place was evil. That distant spirits clung to it and would poison my mind. That there was something peering, waiting like a predator for its prey.

Slowly I moved forward, while fear slowed my steps more and more. What was I doing? Why was I walking? What was pulling me onwards? I had almost arrived at that demonic circle when I heard something from beyond the trees in front of me.

There were clacking sounds, uneven and far from any form of rhythm. These strange sounds felt hauntingly familiar, but I did not know from where exactly they came. They tore me from the strange spell and allowed me to get myself away from the stones.

When I turned around, the vast plain had disappeared and I was once again standing in front of Melanie's house. With another glance over my shoulder, I found that the clearing had also gone, and I was once again standing at the edge of the forest. Relief gripped me.

Charlotte, I don't know where my thoughts had taken me, but those places, those faraway places, seemed unnatural and wrong to me. How could I have conceived such places with my own thoughts? Where had my mind wandered?

Calm slowly returned; the familiarity of my surroundings decelerated my thinking. Everything was okay…

And then it happened.

I felt a gruesome, clinging grip at my ankle. When the hand touched me, my heart almost stopped beating. I hadn't heard anything and despite that, some thing was relentlessly pulling at my foot.

I refused to turn around and look at my attacker directly.

What unspeakable nightmare might be waiting for me? What rotting creature, what festering undead, what creeping demon might gaze at me after I turned my head around and looked down to the ground?

My mind rebelled and my brain threatened me with the most gruesome visions it could conjure up. Yet, something inside me also demanded to not heed the warnings.

Demanded to look.

So, I turned around and could see a blurry shape on the ground.

I couldn’t make it out clearly, though my lungs started cramping nonetheless, making breathing hard work. I fell, a tree root digging itself into my back.

The creature still held my ankle and started creeping over my body towards my face. When I tried to see more detail, my eyes refused to work, and the being appeared as a blind spot in my field of view. Without thinking, I lifted my free foot and kicked into the void, mustering up all the strength I had left. There was a loud bang and the creature fell to the side, its body broken in half.

Apparently, it had been destroyed, though I was not sure how it could’ve broken so easily.

Did I beat it?

Its grip lost its power, and I could get free from the hand, starting to get away from the lifeless being as fast as I could.

To my horror, the thing was suddenly whole again, starting to crawl in my direction.

I turned around and ran, whilst pure fear got hold of my thoughts. Suddenly, another wooden, clattering sound came from deep within the forest, then another and another. Slowly, more and more shapes started appearing between the pine trees, crawling towards me. They were starting to come from other places as well, closing in relentlessly.

When I finally reached the mansion's doors, the creatures were only a few steps behind me. Pulling at the doorknob frantically, I only narrowly managed to escape into the building.

After the door had snapped shut again, the clattering sounds stopped at once. Relieved, I pressed myself against the thick wood. The hallway was warmly lit with candles and lamps, seemingly trying to give me comfort. Having calmed down a bit, I walked through the hallway and into the old kitchen.

Melanie's mother sat at the dining table, where I had eaten many delicious meals a long time ago. She looked up when I entered the room, emotionless, only saying in dampened voice, matter-of-factly:

"They are here as well."

Immediately, I could hear the horrid clattering noise again, coming from upstairs this time. There were stomping, crawling steps. Through the open kitchen door, I could look into the hallway, seeing the foot of the staircase.

I wanted to ask Melanie's mother for help, but she was gone.

I was alone again.

I was unprotected. I couldn't stop… them.

I heard and saw in terror: a being crawling down the stairs. This time it was clearly visible to me, but I do not have the right words to describe it aptly.

It appeared to be made from wood, however its four limbs did seem irregular and not fitting together. Where its head should have been, only a spherical, meaty mass was swinging back and forth. From the body there were sprouting disgusting, ulcerous bumps and driven deeply into its headpiece was a big wooden nail. It came down the stairs, seemingly held up by invisible strings. The creature looked like a puppet being played by atrocious, unseen figures or by a horrid, alien mind.

The terror I felt when seeing the being felt like being caused by something not remotely connected to our world. Yet, it was also intimately familiar.

It came closer, giving of its clattering noises with every step, until it had reached me.

"What is this? What are you?", I screamed at the thing.

"You are dreaming", the creature sneered in a demented, eerie way.

"You are dreaming. We are the Marquettes. We are all the unfinished thoughts of yours. The failed attempts of your mind, the ideas not thought through."

I was dreaming? Finally, I realized it!

Oh Lord, Charlotte, the relief!

If that was the case, I could wake up. After all, it was all just a nightmare. I could escape from the creature's clutches. I could flee. All those strange happenings had a rational explanation. It was just a dream! I had to wake up.

Wake up.

But I couldn't.

The thing came even closer, its... head only centimetres away from my face.

The world turned foggy. Darkness surrounded me…

I am lying in my bed right now.

I really have to calm down, but I can't, Charlotte. The memories of the dream terrify me.

But it is over, the nightmare is over. Or was it something different? Charlotte, it felt so different. Like something beyond a nightmare. There is still sweat on my forehead. On my back. My heart is beating like mad. I am exhausted. My hand hurts from gripping the phone too strongly. I have switched out the lights after I called you, hoped that talking to the phone might make me sleepy.

It did not.

Now the darkness surrounding me is getting more and more disturbing. I should switch on the lamp again, to escape the dark, but I am also afraid that something might be here in the room with me.

If I switch on the light, I might... see it.

Oh, Charlotte, I am such a loser, how can this shake me up so much? No. I have to turn it on..."

*(A clicking sound can be heard)*

"What is going on? Charlotte, the lamp! The lamp, it won't turn on."

*(More clicking sounds, sounding more and more frantic).*

"Why is there a power outage right now? Why, Charlotte, why? I must stay calm. That is what you would tell me. If you were here. Oh, I am so sorry to bother you with this. But I have never been this scared before.

I should take some deep breaths. Everything is fine. Everything is alright. Everything…

What... Charlotte, I can see the room, despite the darkness! The furniture's shadowy shapes look menacing and the silence... it is gonna crush me!

What... what is pulling at my blanket?

Charlotte!

I can't hold on to it. Where is this pull coming from???

Oh...god... What... Charlotte... What is it doing here? Why is it sitting there? Why is... this creature... this half-finished thought from inside my mind sitting at the foot of my bed?

This... accursed... clattering... This malformed body!

It took my blanket! I am unprotected! Charlotte... Charlotte... it is getting closer... it is so heavy...

Where is it taking me? Help me, please, help me! Where is it taking me? No, no, not there, please, not there, help me, please... not there... not th-..."

*(Brawling and clattering noises can be heard, then silence. The message on the answering machine is not over, but no sounds are recorded anymore.)*

## Characters

* Brian
* Charlotte

## Possible Connections to the Ebrugh

* The Marquettes share a several properties with Caroline's Remnant.
* There is a possibility that Brian lived in a place touched by the Ebrugh.