I have a very curious daughter named Elizabeth. My five year old loves to read stories, especially scary stories. I don't really know why but she just loves suspense and monsters, unlike most of children. I guess she might've got it from me, a true horror-lover.
I have to tell her a scary story before bed time. It's my schedule. Whether they be of a clown ghost or just a giant spider, she just needs them before drifting off to sleep. I was running out of tales to tell so I bought some scary children's books one day to get some inspiration.
The bookstore was near my office, so I decided to make the most of it and just buy some good reads. I bought a book called "The Analie". I was allured from its wonderfully-drawn cover of a rocking chair. It might've been for its cute design. Yes, by its cover.
When I went back home, I brought the book to Eliza. She was so delighted that I think that that night was her happiest. She quickly grabbed the book by hand and ran upstairs to her room. She kept shouting, "Story! Story!".
I ran upstairs, smiling. I went to her bedroom spontaneously. She was under her pink covers with a face of pure excitement. I put a stool beside her bed, so that when storytime comes, I'll sit there and read to her. I sat there, looking at her innocent face. I grinned and remembered myself when I was her age.
I opened "The Analie". Below is the first fifteen pages. It was noticably a children's book. Having only about 6 words per fully illustrated page.
"There was a woman named Analie." - Page 1.
"Analie is a very tall girl."
"She has no hair."
"Her face didn't move."
"Yuck! The children said to her"
"The children threw rocks at her."
"She cried with her wounded face."
"Her eyes were all black."
"Her mouth was so red."
"She had no expression." I started then to read this with a confused glare. I grabbed the bookf and read it all by myself. She asked why, I replied, "Sorry, this was not supposed to be the scary book."
"From that day on," The illustrations, from here, now looked real.
"she comes to houses every night." The illustration in this place was a hanged brunette child, a boy probably in his 8-10s.
"To try to get children's faces." It showed a disattached face of a young blonde-haired girl.
"To put it on hers." It showed probably the woman depicted before, Analie, smiling with blood gushing from her mouth.
"She die" - Page 15. No illustrations.
There were no more pages continuing that. Just dark colored papers. But at the very end of the book, there were some words written, probably vandalized. The words were unsettling. "Kael Zuek Zuek ZUEK".
I was so horrified. So horrified. I carried the book. I apologized to my daughter. I told and kissed her good night. I went into my room, shaken. I decided to bring the book back to that wretched book store. I couldn't believe they would sell this. Maybe it was a mistake. For a book to be showing REAL images of CORPSES, this is just traumatizing. Think about the effect on my daughter.
I decided to take a shower to relieve myself. I felt like a huge part of me was taken away. I am a big fan of horror and gore, but not real corpses. I reassured myself that every illustration/image was fake. All staged. But it's too gorey to be in a children's book. Probably it's not intended for children.
The next morning, I brought "The Analie" to the bookstore. I drove to the bookstore right after I readied for work. I parked near. When I was walking close to the shop, I noticed a hanging sign. It, surprisingly, was closed.
I took the book with me and drove to the office, disappointed. I was driving alone in my car, when I noticed a woman in the back seat. It was only for a glimpse. And then I saw a decapitated body, a woman, beside me. She disappeared again. Then suddenly, a corpse of a very young girl, which strangely looks very much like Eliza, sat beside me. She looked at me eerily and smiled. She continued to open her mouth until her facial muscles cracked. She continued that her face slightly deformed, her checks starting to wound. Some blood was gushing from her face, splattering. The skin was so stretched, it broke and tore. The muscles were starting to get visible. She didn't scream. But when her face gave a loud crack, she started to cry.
I couldn't help myself. I needed to help the girl. I quickly grabbed her, by the shoulders, so that she would stop grinning extremely. When we both made contact, she suddenly turned to Analie. That disfigured bald woman. She screamed at me.
I was horrified and shocked and I suddenly lost control of the car. I was splattered with blood. Not the usual reddish blood, but now with black blood. It was mostly black. It smelled so horrible. She put her mouth closer to my ear, "Don't take it against me." Everything stopped.
I eventually got control of my car. Surprisingly, nothing happened. Nothing changed. I was neat and clean. It's like I turned back time. I turned on the radio to calm myself. Distraught, I resorted to the news. I hyperventilated and calmed myself. I breathed too fast even my prayers were inaudible.
I figured not to go to work that time. I needed rest. My daughter's in school that time. I felt that I needed to either go to the nearest hospital, or to just rest in my house. But I decided to go to the hospital. No, I can't be alone with myself at my house. I'd rather stay in a hospital and wait.
I just decided to go to work. I rushed to the cubicles. I sat on my office chair in front of my metal desk. I opened my laptop when the lights went off. I realized that it was not on purpose. I saw my cubicle in the middle of a dark room with a ceiling light directly above me. Everything was dark, so dark.
A person appeared beside me, it was some sort of a bird. A bird with human skin and feet. It grew to a naked man with a bird beak. He lashed towards me and wounded my chest with his sharp fingers. I just cried and hoped everything would stop. I just want to go home that time.
The bird figure was so tall. He was disfigured. His stomach opened and from that the my daughter's head fell. I couldn't scream. I couldn't move. The head of Elize rolled past me, to the darkness.
Then the "Analie" suddenly appeared. She was beside me, gripping my neck with her nail-less hands. She whispered close to my ear with her mannequin-like, expressionless face. "Kael Zuek, Zuek, Zuek." She kissed my ear and bit it. She hysterically laughed and position herself in front of me. She knelt, glaring at me with her emotionless eyes. Her mouth was moving, but not to the words that she was speaking.
"You're daughter's face is so beautiful."
She spoke that words with no hesitation. Her voice sounded so ghastly, much like a man's voice, shrieking. She smiled but her eyes were just still. She looked like a robot but very human-like.
I woke up in my bed, only to be dreaming. This is so cliche, but yes. I was only dreaming. But everything was so real, so defined. I quickly ran to my daughter's room. I saw my daughter sitting down on her bed facing the opposite from the door.
I ran to hug her. I embraced her dearly. I felt blood in my hands. Dripping red blood. I looked at my daughter's face and saw cuts near her ear and her forehead. Deep cuts. She was alive but she can't say anything. I also saw stitches attached near the wounds. I couldn't help myself but scream.
From that day on, we moved houses. I moved far, absolutely very far. From North Carolina to New York. In the suburbs. I was brought to the life of piety and prayer, I became a charity worker. I raised my daughter into sisterhood.