If You Find This, Run.

Renovations can be exhausting. Blueprints aren't always correct. I tried to contact the town hall where I live, but after contacting them something even more strange happened. I'll begin my story where I find to be the most unsettling. 

I'm afraid I have awakened something irreversible. This log is something I am keeping because I fear death will soon come for me. My sanity? I questioned this too. But this is all too real now, I am not going mad. Perhaps I am, but there needs to be a written record in the event I am found dead, or not found at all. 

Two weeks ago, my wife and I began renovations on our wrap-around sun porch, partially enclosed. We live in a rural farming community in New England, I am not revealing the name of the town because I am scared to death of what could happen to anyone else. My wife Janice and I decided to tear out and completely rebuild the back part as the wood floor was beginning to rot. I am a contractor by trade so I didn't need to pay anyone for the job.  

I was due to rip up the floor after church two weeks ago. While at the service, I noticed someone that I have never seen before, a woman. This is a little odd as I said before, we live in a small rural community, everyone knows everyone. When someone new moves in, it doesn't take long for the news to pass from neighbor to neighbor.  

During mass, I looked over in her direction. Her behavior was odd. She neither stood, sat, knelt, or sang during the entire mass. It gets even more strange, she never took her eyes off of me or my wife, and she seemed to be mumbling something silently to herself. I took this at face value, I figured maybe she was praying. Then something peculiar happened. After she finished whatever she was mumbling, I swear I saw her release some sort of flying bug and then spit in our direction. 

My thoughts were that she was maybe some sort of religious nut and how awesome it was that she settled in our town. (insert sarcasm). I blew the whole thing off, never speaking of it to Janice. After stopping at the local hardware store on our way back, I was ready to begin the renovations. 

I began at the Northern end of the porch using a sledge hammer to break the first rotted board, expecting to bust right through to see the ground beneath. I lifted the hammer above my head, and swung down with force. 

THUNK 

I hit something immediately and my hammer flew from my grip. What the hell is this? There should be about a 3-foot gap between the floor and the ground underneath. The gap was there, but there should not be anything but dirt below. I adjusted my position after retrieving my hammer and swung down to break more boards. Again, my hammer was met with a surface, not the dirt that should be beneath. I called out to Janice, asking her to grab the blueprints of the house and to bring them to me immediately. This did not make sense.  

Janice brought them, asked what I needed them for. I ignored her, wanting to be able to give her a correct answer before I jumped to conclusions. I cleared away the debris from the few holes I made, and shined a flashlight down. When the light hit the broken boards, I noticed something rather odd. On the opposite side of the boards, there was something etched over and over, repeated on these boards. Some sort of symbol, I'll do my best to draw it below 

This was the symbol. It was repeated in some sort of pattern, partially visible on the broken boards. Whatever this was, was only visible if you were on the ground under the porch, looking up.  

What in the hell is this? It was strange for sure. I shined the light down into the hole once more, the light reflected something. Climbing down with my light and hammer, I now understood what it was I was hitting. There was this little door, 4 foot by 4 foot. My light caught what seemed to be a sliding lock.  

Holy shit, there was a whole other room, perhaps attached in the basement somehow? I called to Janice above me to hand me the blueprints. Something caught my eye looking up. The symbol I drew and mentioned above, was repeated over and over to make up a larger version of that symbol. The hell was I looking at? Janice handed down what I had requested, all while asking what I was doing. I shushed her, asking her to go and get me some cold water or something to drink as my stomach was becoming uneasy.  

The blueprints had no mention of what I was looking at. At all. I decided to press on. This was strange, yet intriguing. Needing better light, I went and grabbed my work lamps and ran extension cords so the space was entirely lit up. I was still thirsty and feeling odd, called to Janice, but to no avail. Whatever, she's probably on the phone with her sister so this could mean hours before I see her again.  

After plugging in the last of my work lamps, I turned my attention back to the door. There was something carved into it, I felt it with my fingertips. There was a strange electrical sensation, a humming or a buzzing. Bringing the lamp closer revealed what I was feeling. I will draw below what I saw carved into this door. 

ᛗᚨᚤ ᛖᛏᛖᚱᚾᚨᛚ ᛒᛚᚨᚲᚴᚾᛖᛋᛋ, ᛗᚨᛞᚾᛖᛋᛋ, ᚨᚾᛞ ᛞᛖᚨᛏᚺ ᛞᛖᛋᚲᛖᚾᛞ ᚢᛈᛟᚾ ᛏᚺᛖᛖ ᚹᚺᛟ ᛒᚱᛖᚨᚴᛋ ᛏᚺᛁᛋ ᛋᛖᚨᛚ. 

This was unfamiliar, I had no idea what it meant. I needed a break and needed a drink. Suddenly I heard what sounded like glass shattering, followed by Janice screaming. I rushed out of the hole and into the house. Janice was in hysterics. It took a while before she could tell me what she saw.  

She said she was doing the dishes, looking out the window above the sink. The view is of the forest, about 6 acres away from the house. There was a woman with white hair wearing a dark purple robe, just staring at her. Janice said she could see the woman mumbling something, never breaking eye contact. She then spit in her direction. This made my stomach sink. At the moment of the spat, a bird flew into the glass, shattering it. Could this have been the same woman I noticed at church?

I calmed her down, brought her to the bedroom to lie down for a while, I couldn't tell her what I noticed during mass. When I went to clean up the glass, the bird was still in the sink. It gets even more odd. The bird's beak was clipped off, and the weird symbol I drew was carved into its breast. I needed to get to the bottom of what was happening here, so I returned to the strange door after checking on Janice. She was calmed, and seemed to be asleep.  

I had to open this door. I put my hand on the latch, it was cold to the touch. The air shifted as I pulled the latch. Clink. I pushed the door open. The putrid stench caused me to vomit right there and a swarm of bugs surrounded me. Grabbing my work lamp, I crawled in. I almost lost my footing as I slid down, it was like sliding down a child's slide, but made of smooth rock. Illuminating the area around me, I was in a 9-foot by 9-foot area, from floor to ceiling there was only about 4 feet. In the center of the room there was a hole.  

Upon closer examination, I saw it went down probably 20 feet. The light reflection indicated to me that there was water in the bottom. For a moment, I swear I saw Janice's face in the reflection. I decided that was enough for the day, I was sick, tired, and freaked out. I climbed out of the hole and back onto what was left of the porch. I took off my work boots at the back door, ready to shower and be done with this for now. I needed to collect my thoughts.  

I checked on Janice once more and started my shower. When I got out, I dropped my towel in fright. Drawn on the mirror was that same symbol, visible from the steam. What the fuck. Who was in my house? I decided I was going mad, and just needed some sleep. In the middle of the night, I swear I heard whispers coming from just below our bedroom window. It sounded like a few people having a conversation. I'm dreaming, I had to have been. 

A few days later I called the Town Hall, wanting the records of the land I now owned. I knew the land was in my wife's family for a few generations, but who owned it before them? A woman answered and said I could come pick them up in a few days, that would make it a Tuesday. I told Janice what was happening, I had to, this was affecting me too much. She agreed it was strange and said maybe I should seal the door and pour concrete, halt all renovations. No way.  

Janice began performing these rituals she read about online, pouring salt and using sage. Strange occurrences happened within the next few days, but I still couldn't bring myself to believe what was happening. Tuesday came. It was time for me to go into town and get the records, so I called ahead to be sure they were ready. As I pulled around the corner, I saw an ambulance and paramedics. After talking with the head EMT, I was told a bizarre story. The woman who I spoke with, she had gone mad. The EMT said they received a 911 call from a receptionist at the hall about the woman. When they arrived, they were met with a gruesome scene.  

The receptionist was outside and barricaded the woman in the front entrance. It was all glass, so she was able to see what was happening. Her eyes were all white, like they rolled in the back of her head. She had cut her forearms open with a letter opener, smearing symbols all over the glass. She was muttering in another language, speaking in tongues. She then took the letter opener, sliced her tongue off and put it in the manila envelope she had. She then took what appeared to be a can of paint thinner or something and doused herself. At this point the police and EMTs arrived. Just as they broke through the glass door, she took out her zippo, setting herself ablaze. Creepier still, she was smiling, with blood pouring down her neck. The envelope was reduced to ashes.  

The EMTs and firefighters were able to extinguish the fire, she was alive, but she was now what appeared to be, fucking insane. I got as close to the building as I could. No way, no fucking way, the same symbol was on the glass, smeared in her blood. I asked the receptionist what the hell happened. She claimed as soon as the woman got off the phone, she grabbed the documents, began to speak in a different language and attempted to attack the receptionist. I asked what the records were, and she replied they were the land records regarding the Hayden owned land. That's Janice's maiden name.  

What is happening to me? I went home, and explained what happened to my wife. She seemed to be disturbed by it, but again insisted that I leave this all alone, seal up the door, and never speak of it again. Now the next part is important, even though it sounds silly. We have been trying to conceive for some time now, but to no avail. It became almost ritual and scheduled that we try on Tuesdays. Janice began looking up what we can do to ensure conception. She whipped up another “protein shake” for me to drink for stamina. After I showered, I met her in the bedroom like we do every Tuesday night, my drink waiting for me on the nightstand. I sipped the thick liquid, fucking disgusting, but this time I was met with something hard.  

I spit out what I bit down on, it looked to me like a beak. A fucking bird beak. What the hell has she been giving me? I confronted her on this, she claimed that she read about the consumption of bird beaks, specifically vultures, and that it was to help us get pregnant. I was petrified. We got into an argument where I accused her of being involved in something she knew nothing of. I then tied it to what was happening lately and that the door I found had something to do with it. I accused her of being involved in or knowing something I did not. She tried to assure me that nothing was wrong and that she took care of it with the sage and salt.  

I slept on the couch that night, I had a very lucid dream that my wife and I were making love, but the dream was weird. In the dream, we were in that room I found, making love on the dirt floor with candles burning. From the shadows I could hear chanting, some form of it, in a different language. I had no clue who was chanting, but I heard it. Then I caught a glimpse of who, it was that old woman from church, the woman who cut out her tongue, and one other who resembled my wife's sister. I awoke with a gasp and looked around. It was about 4 am. What a fucking weird dream, I thought to myself. I got up to get a glass of water.  

To my horror, I looked down at my palms. They were blackened with dirt. My gaze drifted to my knees, they were also blackened with dirt. I dropped my glass to the floor. It wasn’t a dream. I heard my wife creep up behind me. I asked her what the hell is happening and I demanded an explanation. She stroked my face and told me I need not worry, that it will all be done soon. Has she gone mad? Did she drug me with that drink? I told her I was calling her doctor in the morning and that we were moving. She looked at me and said no we we’re not, and that I should have never gone in that room.  

Runic translation- May eternal blackness, madness, and death descend upon thee who breaks this seal.