AN: I am publishing this I behalf of one if my best friends Alex. All credit goes to him.
I didn't get much sleep that night, fears and shadows curling menacingly in the back of my mind. The next day I was dozing off in class, missing questions, getting answers wrong, and my brain just wasn't working properly, and the worst part, James was absent. Not a minute in that day passed where I wasn't thinking about what I saw last night, was it what I thought it was? No, it couldn't be, I reassured myself. When the end of day bell rang I was grateful, I walked out of the gates past the path to the forest, and thought id check on James to see why he was absent today. I walked the quick way as it was getting dark, and I arrived a few minutes later. Walking up those rickety wooden steps to his old house, I had an eerie feeling in my gut. I reached the door andknocked three times.
no answer. I knocked a second time, still nothing. I started to worry but suppressed my fears, just for the moment, to keep a level head.
I reached for the spare key behind the panel in the wall, blowing dust away as I pulled it out.
The door opened easily, and looking back, I wish it hadn't.
The place was a mess, no, not just a mess, the place was in shambles. The lights were smashed, tables upturned and what lay on top strewn across the room. Signs of a struggle were apparent; it looked like someone was trying to get away. It made me sick, I felt like throwing up. Aside from the debris, the thing that disturbed me most was James' door to his room, wide open and almost falling off its hinges. It looked like it had been pulled so hard that it buckled, not letting it close properly. I took a few tentative steps towards his room, cautious of my surroundings, stepping on broken glass and old photos.
I looked inside his room and wasn't surprised, it didn't look much better than the rest of the house. I looked around and something caught my eye, his Tall One book lay open on the ground. It had a black cover, made of leather, the insides looked old. It was open to a certain page, I looked at it, all it said was: "one big tip if you're anywhere near him… run."
As I read that last word, the windows in his room imploded, sending glass shards all over me; I covered my face to protect myself, while running to the door, but much to my dismay, the force of the windows had knocked the door over, making it impossible to leave. I turned and looked at the window, the glass gone from it. I thought about it for a split second, before sprinting at it and jumping out.
"it's only a 1 story drop, I won't do too much damage"
I spoke to soon, not realising the ground was the least of my worries, for as I jumped, I felt a large hand grab at my ankle, before I careered towards the ground, crashing with a thud. I landed on my leg, but I had no time to lose, I got up immediately and limped all the way home, not turning around or looking back until I was safe at home. Sleep didn't come easy that night; I couldn't take my eyes of the window, and what lay outside. I put the tall one book on my bedside table, and tried to sleep.
I woke up that next morning, only to find the book was gone. I searched my room but to no avail, it was gone. He- no, IT, was trying to get to me, playing with my mind like a toy. James was studying him, and that's why he got taken, but he's not going to get to me, I am the only person who has seen firsthand what he has done, and he needs to be stopped. Then my mind coined one of my not-so-great ideas, which I would come to regret later. I was going to catch him on film, tonight. I'm going to go to kelvin nature reserve with my camera, and get proof.