Chapter 3: Inceptum III

According to her childhood journal, she indeed drew the picture of herself and the entity. Inside, she learned that the paranormal being had been watching over her shoulder on the day she drew it, praising her. Though it seemed that her younger self didn't mind that this thing was near.

Kathryn also gathered that the dark figure which followed her several years ago was a male; and she discovered by the mention of 'he' being used constantly.

Had this monstrosity befriended her? How could she have been unaware of this until just days ago? The bare minimum of her recollection that could be salvaged was the shadowed form and its constant pacing routine.

Her heart dropped into the icy pool that became her stomach. She wanted to know what this thing wanted with her, and why it was she whom it chose to follow.

Deep within the recesses of her mind, she knew it would be best to ignore this whole ordeal in its entirety; as a close friend of hers who dabbled in myths and paranormal happenings would tell her it was a horrible idea to go digging for answers that should be left alone. The images painted in her mind had become too vivid and now she needed to see this through, otherwise she would forever regret not knowing this repressed piece of her past.

As a last resort, Kathryn grabbed her cellphone and dialed her study-buddy, Martin.

A dreary, sleep-deprived voice picked up the other end, "Hello?"

"Marty? It's me." She said, not at all surprised that he sounded exhausted. Martin thrived off coffee and energy drinks so he could continue his research deep into the early hours of the morning, whether the subject be on science or phenomena.

He was a complete science nut in subjects such as virology and biology. Whenever Kathryn was unable to complete or understand a question, Martin was always willing to assist.

His tone brightened slightly, "Oh..! Something wrong?"

"You know about ghosts and things of that nature.. right?" She enquired, holding the phone to her ear with her shoulder as she flipped through the pages of the diary.

Martin seemed mildly interested, "Uhh.. I do, why do you ask?"

It took her a moment to answer. She sighed, "...It's a long story, Marty."

"What? Is some otherworldly being following you around or something?" He piped and immediately the brunette young woman could sense his vigor and excitement through the receiver.

She peered at the old drawing, "...Something like that, though I'm not quite sure what it is." Setting the book on her bed, she held the phone in her hand, "Listen, can you come over later today? Bring every book you have on paranormal entities, especially demons."

"Well, alright. I'll be there around noon."

"Thanks Marty."

"Anytime."

With that, the call ended and she tossed her cell onto the nightstand as she flopped back against the pillows. Now all that had to be done was wait and hope Martin might have some source of information for her. She glanced over at the picture on the floor, she stared at the inky yellow eyes of the blackened figure..

She breathed, exasperated, "What are you..?"

Deciding to have a slight nap before Martin arrived, she set her alarm for 11:45AM before curling up against the blankets and fell asleep.

.

She woke up to the insistent blaring of the alarm clock and slammed one of the large buttons to silence it. Yawning beneath her palm, she stood up groggily before making her bed. She gazed idly around the room before her eyes fell upon both the journal and drawing in the center of the room.

The diary was open.

With furrowed brows, Kathryn knelt to the floor and picked up the book, her fingers caressing the velvet blue cover. A page she had never seen before seemed as though it was torn away from the binding of the diary and looked as though an animal had been clawing at it.

we tocked again today. he doent wana tell me his name and it makes me sad he nos my name so i wana know his to

he lieks to watch me paint and draw piktures and says h e lieks the ones of me and him. he sayd i was vary good. i askd him if he wantted to draw with me but he sayd he didn wana cause he wasnt as good as i was .

A bundle of little stick figure doodles of herself and this apparition were scattered on the page before the words began again in pink pen.

we play lots and lots now. he toled me that he liekd tocking to me and i liek tocking to him to. he nevr gets mad at me but he gets angry when mikey bullies me..

he says he lieks the colour blue but lieks black beter

we playd lots of games today . when moma and pappa went out mikey had to babsit me but he was play vidogames and sayd i coudn play with him so i playd games with adra insted.

he sayd i could call him adra (i duno how to spelle it...) but he sayd i shoudlnt say his name around moma or pappa or mikey cause they could get mad taht he is my frend. i dunno why cause i think they woud be happy i have anothr frend

we playd hide an seek. adra said i shoudl be the one who hides while he seeks so i sayd ok . its hard to see him somtimes but i know when hes around cause of his reaaly dark shado and his stompng.

i think he new where i was but he pretend liek he didn so it was funner that way . he found me somtimes thou and made me lauggh lots wen he did. he was smiling to.

Underneath the text was a drawing of herself as a child, smiling as she hid in the coat closet of their old home while the blackened form stood by the opened door with a grin.

Just what the hell was this..? How could she not remember any of this ever happening and why was this page separate from the rest?

Upon hearing the doorbell's chime, she was instantly filled with relief that Martin was finally here. It was about time answers were received.