Splendor Man: Dreams

## Splendor Man: Dreams by Dead666Zalgo

(Splendor Man was created by Neil Cicierega. P.S. this creepypasta was translated from Spanish to English.)

*What's going on?* thought Stephen Vulliez. Everything was spiraling out of control. It was supposed to be their special vacation. Nobody and nothing was going to interrupt them, he would fulfill his promise to make his 10-year-old daughter happy. But everything had gone wrong. It was supposed to be a vacation, but it had become a Hell. The moon shone in the dark, starless sky, but the light barely pierced the dense forest...

"Sarah?" he called out to his daughter, desperately.

His little girl ran through the forest but didn't respond to his desperate call. He only saw her silhouette move... she didn't even look back. He run after her as fast as he could. When he came close enough to stop her, she stopped. He was horrified. She has a very dark spot on her chest. He looked closer and realized that her little red dress was dripping blood. He also realized that, in his hand, was a knife covered in blood. He let go of it immediately.

"Sarah, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry..." He kneeled and looked down. He raised his hands to reach her, but huge black hands covered his face, burying sharp claws in his eyes. He screamed desperately...

A strange noise woke him up with a startle. With a lot of effort, he managed to open his eyes. His body was coated in sweat, and he had a severe headache.

*"What time is it?"* he wondered. He looked at my wristwatch and it read 9 AM. He sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed his eyes. He heard a strange noise but dismissed it as the rain. He gently removed the comforter and sat quietly so as not to wake his little girl. He sat still for a few seconds, waiting patiently for the full return of his consciousness. *I really had a very horrible nightmare... she is my life and the only thing I have*, he thought. He sat up and dragged his feet down the hallway to the bathroom. When he went in and turned on the light, he saw a horrible sight. There was blood splattered everywhere, and the mirror was smashed. He felt a terrible anguish take hold of him. He leaned on the dirty sink. He looked at what was left of the mirror. He could barely see his own reflection, but he still saw blood on his face. He cleaned up immediately. As soon as he took the towel to dry myself, he heard a noise that sounded like broken glass. The electric bulbs had all exploded. Everything was dark, so he put his hand in his pocket. He still had a lighter.

"Are you okay, Sarah?" he called. He was very worried, she hated darkness. He started calling her desperately. "Sarah!"

He ran very clumsily down the corridor, colliding with several pieces of furniture. When he reached her room, everything was dark, and he could only hear one of her music boxes. He went to the window and opened the curtains so some light could come in from outside. Lightning struck and he saw that she wasn't in her bed. In her place was an old walkie talkie and a drawing. He took out his old pocket lighter and illuminated the small drawing. It showed a tall, happy man wearing a suit and top hat. He remembered who this man was, he was his daughter's imaginary friend. She called him Splendor Man. He turned the sheet and found a letter written in Sarah's handwriting. It read: "*Dad, if you want to find me Il be in my favorite place but since you dont listen to me Ill leave you some clues do not worry dad, Im different, Im not like you-Sarah.*

*PS: look at my music box"*

The radio also has a note taped "take it with you dad."

Lightning struck again and the room was completely illuminated. The music box immediately stopped playing. He lit up the small box and pulled out a folded note: "Go 2 Cabin 7."

He desperately looked for a flashlight, but the batteries didn't work. Luckily, the lantern lights worked fine. He quickly put on a windbreaker and tied the radio to his belt. The lights of the lanterns did not help me much and the rain was getting worse and worse. I walked with difficulty on the wet grass. When he was near the cabin, he heard some strange noises. That cabin was very close, but those minutes seemed like hell to him. He could see a very dim, pale light shining from the cabin's windows. He approached but the door was locked. He approached the windows, but they were closed by bars. Another note was stuck on it. He took it off, lit up the note and read it: *"The keys are far away. Go to the reception room, a surprise awaits you."* He still didn't understand what he had done wrong. *What is doing all this? Did someone take my daughter?* *What the hell is going on?* he pondered. He turned around the cabin looking for some entrance. He saw something that made his blood run cold.

In one of the windows was his daughter's plush bear. It was her favorite toy and they rarely separated. That wasn't what frightened him though. What frightened him was that the plush was covered in blood. He couldn't get in. his only way out was to look for the keys. The reception room was two cabins away from him. He set off, when strange noises were heard behind him again. The radio started playing strange, happy sounding music. Something touched his cheek. He lost control of his nerves. He was paralyzed by fear, he could barely move to turn around. That's when he first saw him. It was...Splendor Man. He was real! The joyous and loving face Sarah so often drew was replaced with a look of pure hatred and fury. Stephen couldn't scream. He closed his eyes so he wouldn't see him. He felt himself being lifted up with Splendor Man's huge claws. *This is the end*, he mentally repeated to himself. At that moment a crow passed in front of them, momentarily distracting Splendor Man enough to drop his prey. "Ooh, a pretty birdy!" he said in a bubbly, sweet sounding voice.

Stephen fell to the ground, immediately stood up and ran away as fast he could. He didn't stop running, he just wanted to escape that nightmare. He looked back and didn't see the monster behind him. He was already very tired, so he started walking a little slower. When he got to the receptionist's mackerel there was no one inside and the lights were off. "Is anyone there?" he asked, very distressed. No one answered. So, he just pushed the door open. He took out his lighter again and lit up the area. The site was abandoned and very dusty. The wallpaper was torn from the walls and there were many drawings of that creature. All of them depicted him as Sarah did: a friendly, caring being who just wanted to make people happy. "I will find you daughter, I promise you!" he screamed to nobody in particular. He took down all the drawings before finding the keys.

In the distance he heard the same melody of those music boxes. It came from one of the rooms of the reception. The door was locked. Luckily, he had many keys at his disposal. When he opened the door, there was a dead woman stuck to the wall. Despite that disgusting scene, what was above it worried him even more: There was yet another drawing, this time stuck to the body. He approached and examined it more closely. The drawing worried him a lot: It was Splendor Man hugging Sarah. *That monster, hugging Sarah?* He was furious but also afraid that he could hurt her. He read the note:

*"I told you he will always protect me even from you"*

*What the hell does this mean? She thinks she needs to be protected from me? I just want your safety, daughter!* he thought. The radio began experiencing interference. He tried to turn it off but stopped when he heard his daughter's music boxes again. He turned around but saw no one. He tried to calm down and convince himself the noise was just his imagination, but the music didn't stop. Lightning struck and lit up the whole room, revealing Splendor Man in front of him. In his desperation, he opened the door but right in front of him he could see the silhouette of his daughter running. He ran after her. He yelled at her, but she kept running. Because of the rain it was very difficult for him to see her, he could only run faster and faster after her. He looked back and saw that Splendor Man was following him. There were huge black tentacles with bells on their tips protruding from the other being's back. Sarah was still running, but Stephen barely saw her shadow. The rain hindered his view, and the ground was very slippery. He was able to follow it only until it reached the edge of a ravine. She disappeared and Stephen was still afraid to look back at that creature. When he did, Sarah was behind him and pushed him. He lost consciousness.

A strange noise woke him. The darkness was total, and the silence drowned him as soon as the rain fell. He got up and could see a note next to the tree beside him.

*"The truth is closer than you think. The south is a good place to walk.*

*PS: I hope this can help you."*

Next to the note was a compass. "This should not be happening! This is hell. I shouldn't be going through this!" he shrieked. He already felt very cold and was completely numb. It was not very difficult for him to find the road. He felt a little safer, the sky was clear, and he could see a huge full moon. He looked at the compass. It took him south, as the note wanted. He glanced around and thought he saw Splendor Man's tentacles peeking out from behind a tree, but he blinked and there was nothing there anymore. He tried to walk as fast as I could, but he was totally exhausted. He went on the long road, but the static of the radio worsened. He realized that every time that creature was close, the device began making interference noises. He began running faster. The roads were very narrow, as if the place had been abandoned for decades. He continued walking along the dark path until he saw a lighted area in the distance.

It was an old cemetery, nothing more than a few tombstones on the bare ground, illuminated by rusty lanterns. The moss covered most of the graves and their names were barely visible. Above one of them was Sarah's favorite pajamas, all bloody, and another note:

*"This place is paradise and yet you suffer? I just wanted you to be happy..... No one can save you.....*

*Don't forget about the magic number."*

He put the clothes next to the note. The radio began to sound different; it was not the same static but a different noise entirely. He didn't give it much importance. H began shining his flashlight at the graves one by one to see if he could find anything new. There weren't many tombstones, but they were all quite separated from each other. He found nothing that seemed important, just weird writings and some random names like Scarlet, Martin, Alex. That was until he stopped on another grave. He found yet another note. The handwriting was very different from the previous ones, indicating that it wasn't written by Sarah:

"*It's time to turn back time and remember your sin. Are you scared? Pay more attention. In this life everything is paid for, even death*."

It was clear that message was for him. He already had the keys, so he began running towards Cabin 7. The static was getting worse. This time, he could see the monster in front of me. Stephen finally got a good, long look at Splendor Man. He was 8 feet tall and wore a black suit covered in polka dots, a red tie and a black top hat. He also had long claws for hands and was holding a golden topped cane in one of them. The only features on his pink head were big black eyes, rosy cheeks and a large, black mouth. Sarah always drew Splendor Man with a happy, toothless smile, but he currently had a grimace full of sharp fangs.

Stephen was scared. "What do you want from me? Just tell me what you want, I can give it to you! Please don't kill me!!" he said, fearfully. Splendor Man was getting closer and closer...from his back his tentacles began to come out again, and Stephen could now hear the ringing of the bells. He ran as far away as he could, but the creature appeared in front of him as if it had teleported. He gave a cry of horror. He kept running down the dirt path trying to escape from that creature. Further ahead was the wheat field. He decided to try and lose sight of it there. The field was totally abandoned, and he would have to move with a lot of stealth so as not to be discovered. He looked at the compass. The way was right, he would just have to go in a straight line. Although the grass reached his head he looked back. That creature was no longer there. There was no one around him. He continued to run as fast as he could. Very soon he ran into what he first thought was a scarecrow. He pulled out his lighter to get a closer look. To his horror, he discovered that it was not a scarecrow but the mutilated body of a human with *another* note taped to it. He took out the note and ran. He quickly realized that the camp was full of corpses, all of them mutilated in a very cruel way.

When he finally believed that the field was going to end the creature appeared behind him. Cabin 7 was in sight, so he kept running. When he got to the door, he took out the keys and entered. He leaned his back behind the door and let himself fall to the floor. He was completely exhausted both physically and mentally. Everything was dark, so he took out his lighter again. He was horrified. All the walls were covered with drawings and photographs of his daughter holding hands with that creature, messages like: "*I hate you"*, "*why did you do this to me?"*, *"you killed me".*

In the center of the room there was a table with some small shoes in the center. He took them and put them away. *What do you want me to see, daughter?* he thought. He went through all the rooms until he found the basement doors, plucked up his courage and descended the stairs. The walls were white with marks of blood... There were many marked hands. In the center of the room there were four candles, a dried blood stain and a photograph in the center. The photograph was dated to 3 years ago. He took it and turned it over: The words *"The truth is in the beginning."* were scrawled on the back. *What truth? The only truth is that I love you, Sarah. That's my only truth. So much so that I have traveled only to get to the beginning.* he thought. He had to get to his cabin. The walls begin to creak, and the radio began to play again, the sound of it made his hairs stand on end. He looked ahead, blood began to drip, and the walls began to corrode.

"Welcome to hell."

He started coughing heavily. *This was his work, that creature that dwelt in the depths of the forest just wanted to torment me.* he thought. He went upstairs and opened the door, on the floor there were some small mud tracks of bare feet. He started calling out his daughter's name again. "Sarah! Sarah!" He ran outside, but stopped when the radio gave out such a loud squeal that he had to cover his ears. He slowly turned his head and at the threshold of the cabin, the Splendor Man was standing, as still as a statue. Splendor Man looked at Stephen as if analyzing his movements. Stephen slowly backed away, but Splendor Man barely moved and, with just a wave of his hand indicated that he could continue. This damn night would finally end. He ran to the cabin, opened the door and headed towards his room... There Sarah was, lying on his floor. She had knife wounds all over her body and was very clearly dead. The shock was so great that Stephen fainted.

He woke up in the same basement of Cabin 7. His cheeks were wet from his tears, as he now remembered everything. Splendor Man didn't kill his daughter or any of those other people. *He* had. He had been a serial killer for years, ever since he killed his cheating wife and discovered his taste for murder. For years, he had managed to hide his killings from everyone, including his daughter. That changed on their vacation when she stumbled across him chopping up a camper in the woods. In a panic, he murdered his dear Sarah to prevent the truth from coming out. This whole, terrible night was a punishment from Splendor Man. Speaking of Splendor Man, he was standing in front of him. The translucent spirit of Sarah was standing next to him. "You remember everything now, don't you, dad?" she asked.

"Y-y-yes." he replied, tearfully. He hadn't felt remorse for any of victims, until now. "You're going to kill me, aren't you, Splendor?" he asked. "Unfortunately, yes. I've always wanted nothing more than to spread happiness to every person I meet but...people like you don't *deserve* happiness." answered Splendor Man. Splendor Man said these words calmly, but Stephen could tell how furious he was. "Promise me you'll take care of her for me, ok?" asked Stephen. "Oh, silly. I *have* been taking care of her." answered Splendor Man, before lunging at his prey.

Those words were the last ones Stephen Vulliez would ever hear.