The following journal entries were found beside the bed of a twenty-five year old man, named Jacob ___________. The circumstances of his death were strange, as he seemed to have been infected with a strain of the Black Plague, and had a large dose of mercury in his digestive system.
Jan. 15th, 2011[]
Well, hello, I guess. My name is Jacob, and apparently I'm fucking crazy. My therapist told me to start keeping a journal log of my dreams, or rather, to say it better, nightmares. He wants to analyze them to determine whether or not I'll need to continue seeing him. Well, I mean I guess I don't have much else to write here until I get some sleep.
Jacob.
Jan. 16th, 2011[]
Last night I had a dream. Much like any night, I was laying in my bed at night and I heard banging on my door. This isn't odd for me, due to the fact this isn't the first time I had this exact dream. Some weird masked guy walked in after about three knocks. He was holding onto some stick that looked like it was just a normal branch. He wore a top hat, and a long black gown.
The mask kind of looked like a bird beak that was oddly elongated. He stood there watching me for a few moments, and then came over and poked me the stick, moving my head sideways. He seemed to be examining the area of my neck that he revealed by moving my head as he did. After this, he promptly got up, and left my room. For the remainder of the dream, I was just laying there looking at my ceiling in silence.
That's about it,
Jacob.
Jan. 17th, 2011[]
I'm writing this right before I go to bed. I've had a pretty odd day. First off, my dream was nothing eventful. Pretty much the same as last night, so nothing new in that respect. When I got out of bed this morning, I saw a vase of flowers beside my bed. I guess I woke up throughout the night and decided to make the room look nicer? Anyway, I called in sick today at work because I was a little shaken up at first about the whole incident.
I did some research on the computers at the library, apparently the thing I keep seeing is known as the "Plague Doctor". He went around back when the plague was spreading and used odd means of attempting to cure the ones infected. One really smart one was to have the patient drink mercury. I mean, really? How the fuck can somebody be that stupid?
Ah well, I'm gonna catch some sleep,
Jacob.
Jan. 18th, 2011[]
Today was really fucked up. I woke up and saw a dark ring on my shoulder, and I felt like shit. I went to the bathroom and puked for a good five or so minutes. The dream last night. It was even more odd, this time instead of simply poking at me, the thing took its gloves off and touched me. In fact, where he touched me was where the ring later developed. It- It was creepy as hell.
I'm gonna call in sick today and do some research as to what I might have,
Jacob.
Jan. 18th (Later that day), 2011[]
Okay, I'm scared right now. The only thing I can find as to what this might be is the actual black plague. I thought that shit died out or something. I....I don't know what to do. If I go to a doctor they'll probably just keep me there until I die, and I don't want that! I take pride in my freedom and like hell am I gonna give it away now! I spend so many years alone. No, I'm not going to the doctor, that's not an option.
Jan. 19th, 2011[]
I can barely write anymore. Last night's dream was on a whole new level than my previous dreams. It felt like it was real this time. Guys, I don't think I'm dreaming anymore. This thing is real. What it's doing; it's real. This thing - It's really here. This is the last entry I'll be writing, judging by what I've been reading I don't have much longer at this stage. It's odd though, it's far more quick than it said it should have been.
Goodbye,
Jacob.
Patient number 2,501 seems to have passed away. Test strand number eighteen has failed to produce positive results. I placed flowers in his room to try and clear up the air, but the process failed. As a last resort, I had the subject ingest a small amount of mercury to try and strengthen his system.
Soon after ingesting this, he convulsed multiple times and passed away. I shall try and quarantine the area around him, for it seems it has started to spread. I fear we could lose control of this strain at this rate...