Marco Johnson had been, for the last 3 years, interested in 'creepypasta's', stories of creatures of maybe paranormal origins. One story stood out particularly, the story of a creature known as The Rake. The Rake is said to be almost dog-like, with long knife like claws, and hairless grey skin. It is capable of walking upright or on all fours. People who are said to have survived an encounter either recount almost paralyzing fear, or child like playfulness. What the case is, it is all too real. I write the story of Marco. Only a year ago, the pale, awkward boy brought havoc upon the town of Deer Forest, Massachusetts, located in the Berkshires. This is what happened.
Marco went to Ron Lovas High School in Deer Forest, Massachusetts. Deer Forest is a small town, no many know about, well in about two months, the whole country would know about it. It was a grey day, with a hint of rain in the air. Marco was sitting in Physics class, not even paying attention to his teacher, Mr. Galatzer. He was sitting, writing in his notebook; about The Rake.
"Mr. Johnson!"
Galatzer's calling dragged Marco from his stupor. "Yes"?
"I have called you three times, pay attention. I asked what the third Newtonian Law was".
"I… I don't know sir".
Galatzer rolled his eyes, and Marco drifted back into his own world. The rest of the day passed uneventful. When the final bell rang, Marco ran home to write more creepypasta on The Rake.
On his way home, Marco ran into the school bully "Brick" Stastny.
"Hey nerd! Where ya' going"?
Marco didn't answer. He just walked past.
"Hey Freak, I said, Where ya' going"!?
Marco still didn't answer. Brick then grabbed him by his hoodie and started to beat Marco up. About five minutes later he got bored and left. Marco had a bloody nose, and some bruises. Marco was used to being beaten up. He just bottled his anger. He went home and avoided his mom and went to his room. His room was messy; he had a book case filled with Stephen King, urban legend books, etc. He sat at his computer and checked messages on his creepypasta account. He was awaiting a confirmation that would publish his Rake story. Nothing.
He shut his computer down and grabbed his favorite Stephen King book, Carrie. He like Carrie because of the character Carrie. She was different, and so was he. He had already read the book a dozen times.
He eventually went down to dinner, and his mother as usual fretted over him. He had already cleaned the blood on his face, so she didn't know. He ate dinner, checked his messages again, and went to bed.
That night, Marco had had a dream. It was dark, and his was still in his room. But at the foot of his bed, he saw a crouched figure, at first he felt afraid, but then he felt, calm. Like a wave of calmness was enveloping him. He knew the figure was The Rake. This isn't real. This is obviously a dream. His felt a pressure on his bed as The Rake placed its claw on his bed. It climbed up and went for Marco's head. Marco jerked and felt himself wake just as The Rake touched him. He blinked and turned on his light, and felt his face. He pulled his fingers away and saw blood on them. The Rake had scratched him just as he woke up, and here was proof. Marco didn't know what to think. It was just a dream, how am I cut? I must have done something in my sleep. But there was tangible proof. The vision of The Rake in a dream was the Beginning of Marco's end. Nobody knew how horrible things were to become.