He stood before a tower.
"Hah! Finally! I'm here."
He exclaimed, loud and proud - panting. After all, he'd run down six blocks in the wake of sunrise, to not miss the re-opening ceremony of a certain tower. That "He," is - "Arthur," our protagonist.
Arthur Xi is - half-Chinese, half-American, a 21 year old of moderate height with relatively common and mundane features such as- 'black hair', 'dark eyes' along with an absurd load of facial acne with an obscene amount of dandruff. Arthur has a toned build which isn't quite visible, usually due to him wearing oversized clothes. Along with being unnaturally pale, Arthur is often jokingly referred to as a 'Vampire' by his friends, but to Arthur, that 'joke' has become lame and over-used, as his ears have cried tears of pain hearing the same pun over and over again. Arthur is surprisingly attractive, but his charm is for naught as his beauty is hidden under a plethora of unhygienic practices. Having very long nails, messy hair and barely showering every couple of months, Arthur smells absolutely rancid.
The tower mentioned previously is not so much a 'tower'. The tower is actually a post-modern castle, the Castle of Veanui - located in Venice, Italy. The great castle was built during the reign of the Roman Empire, but it has since fallen. The destruction of the castle being the catalyst for the rejuvenation of the castle to now a newer - 'museum'.
Arthur had flown all the way from the states to visit the castle, so now being able to enter it was sending him over the moon. Arthur excitedly approached the castle, entering the castle as soon as the ribbon was cut - signaling the re-opening of the four-storied museum. But this joyous moment was cut short - for when the crowd rushed in - the smell of rotten eggs passed through the air. It was not the stench of one or two eggs, the scent was of as if dozens of eggs had expired at the same time!
"Wait right there sir."
One of the security ladies exclaimed, pulling Arthur aside. The smell of rotten eggs is a dangerous sign, as the scent of 'gunpowder' - the material used for creating bullets, bombs and nukes is usually compared to the smell of rotten eggs!
"Sir, are you carrying anything potentially dangerous or harmful?"
The lady asked sternly. Arthur was obviously frightened, he didn't remember if he carried his pepper spray or taser along or not.
"N-no… I don't believe I have, is there anything wrong?"
"Sir, we'll need to look through your bag, may we?"
"Uhm, of course! Do as you please but be assured, there's nothing dangerous that I carried with me."
The security officers didn't need to be told twice, as they immediately started rummaging through Arthur's bag pack, then Arthur's waist bag, then finally his pockets, but when the guards neared his body, the smell increased in sudden intensity close to Arthur's body. So when the officers didn't find anything in his pockets - they stripped Arthur of his clothes! A flustered mess was what Arthur had become, and rightfully so. One of the security officers picked up Arthur's t-shirt to inspect it. The security guard held up Arthur's shirt to his nose, taking a sniff to try and pin-point the location of the scent, when -
"Holy sh*t- blegh"
The guard started puking, as another brave guard approached Arthur to possibly push him down to the ground, the guard downright fainted! The next guard in line - wore a mask to protect himself from the smell. He approached Arthur - pushing him to the wall, when he also - accidentally caught a sniff of Arthur's dangerous body stench and passed out… The next guard had brought a whole damn vacuum cleaner from the janitor's room to suck in the horrible stench! But that plan soon backfired as well, because as soon as the dust bag had filled up, it opened and - boom! Three guards instantly fell to the ground - as the dust bag basically worked like a smoke grenade, but instead of Potassium Chlorate or Sulfur, it was filled with something worse - that sh*tty smell - which exploded into the air. Arthur had (unintentionally) committed assault against many officers, in the weirdest way possible.
Thankfully for the people, Arthur had been kicked out of the museum, still being booty naked. Arthur first clothed himself, afterwards he tried to beg his way into the museum again. Now, "why is he so shamelessly asking to be let in the damn museum after being humiliated so bad" you ask? It's a good time to mention that Arthur is an online blogger, having created and since then uploaded his writings and findings to a blog page called "Eleven" weekly!
To say that Arthur is obsessed with his online blog would be an understatement. Arthur even dropped out of college to pursue his passion of creating blogs - thinking one day, he would strike gold with his documentaries. But alas, like most other online blogs, "Eleven" isn't quite popular, being mediocre at best. However, that doesn't stop Arthur from doing absurd things, such as: spending all his earnings from his part-time job on his blog, climbing up and down mountains and even sleeping in the wilderness just to capture photos and jot down notes. Though sometimes he gets littered with scars, both mentally and physically.
As Arthur once again neared the register, the woman put on a mask and pulled out the air-freshner, using it as a makeshift gun and pointing it towards Arthur!
"Ma'am, please. I'm a blogger - this is my job. I'll take some quick notes and get out of here in no time.., just could you please let me in?'
Asked Arthur in a blatantly barefaced way, It was the first day of the re-opening and the cashier was already exhausted, so it didn't take much bickering to make her give in.
"Sir, deodorant, now! You'd better if you want to get in, that is."
"O-oh, alright! I'll get some."
With that - Arthur rushed off to the nearest mart, buying a chocolate scented deodorant and a mint scented perfume, almost emptying both bottles by slathering it all over his body. Afterwards Arthur made his way back to the museum and got his ticket. After having to damn near beg his way in, Arthur had his esteem shattered to bits. But Arthur continued on regardless, "what must be done must be done". Walking through the large walls of the castle, Arthur was gazing upon the various huge portraits and coffins of past kings and queens. But as Arthur went into more crowded rooms - he soon realised that even after emptying bottles of scents, everyone in over a ten-metre radius around him was actively avoiding him. Which was most definitely due to the toxic scent emanating from under his armpits - by now, which was, nothing new. Arthur was always well aware of his own unhygienic lifestyle. But this isn't all his fault, growing up without parents - Arthur had gone from one home to another, jumping between relatives' places, as he grew older he started to stay out more, for weeks - even months, in a fit of rebilliation.
Because of this, Arthur couldn't shower as often - thus is the reason why he grew this terrible terrible smell - because of his unlikable circumstances (or maybe because he's lazy). This unusually bad odor always made Arthur's work of being an obnoxious jackass much easier, as he's able to take photos in no-camera zones without any interference. The areas where there were supposed to be guards were vacant, because alas, the poor souls who fell victim to his trash-heap like explosive smell had shimmied their way out of the vicinity to go barf in a restroom, making it easier on him to take various shots of the different ancient relics and items.
"Hah! Hygiene my ass. Smelling bad has its perks too!"
Arthur said rather loudly in a proud tone, quickly regaining his morale.
Although I would not comment about the 'perks' he so keenly highlighted - the scent surrounding Arthur was definitely disgustingly foul, enough to make a dolphin pass out from toxic inhalation. As Arthur had yelled his stigma full-throated, the people who had heard Arthur had now finally detected the cause of the poisonous smell, glaring at Arthur with disgust, giving him sickening side eyes, the reactions of the crowd were enough for a grown man to sh*t his pants, but Arthur was unfazed, as he was the cause of the smell and attention anyway - since this was a common occurrence with Arthur, he was already used to this. One of the women in the crowd even went out of their way to call out a guard.
"Tch, karen."
Thought Arthur, clearly starting to get flustered as he rushed to get out of the area.
Even though it was difficult for Arthur to find his way out from the onlookers' eyes, once he did so - it was smooth sailing. Arthur continued his job: snatching pictures and jotting down notes for his blog. As Arthur got invested in his work - time became stationary. Arthur would take a picture of an item from different sides, then he would near the glass and read the inscription on the tomb - afterwards he would write down about what he had just taken the picture of - then repeat. Before long, a couple of hours had already passed as he continued to work diligently. Arthur was soon done photographing floors one through three. Arthur continued his endeavors as his will to work only increased.
As Arthur reached the top floor, he looked around, finding it weird that there weren't many people around. It being either because of his volatile stench or - maybe because there simply isn't much to look at. Because the vicinity around the top floor is still empty with no signs of any historical relics. Walking through the maze of hallways, beside the large windows, he couldn't seem to shake off the strange feeling of being watched. But Arthur pushed the thought aside forcefully, labelling it off as a guard tracking him down to escort him outside in reminiscence of his previous encounter with the security officers, maybe they were out to get revenge? Who knows? Even if that's not the case, Arthur has single-handedly driven ticket sales to the mud with his horrendous hygiene, which has - 'unsurprisingly' happened before on numerous occasions. Though being the level-headed guy that he is, he pushed forth, ignoring his primal instincts and looking around for anything he can feature on his blog and milk for views.
At the end of an especially eerie hallway, he glanced down the large corridor, spotting someone to be just… standing there. Or perhaps it would be more apt to say something. Though It looked like an ordinary man - it gave off an eerie aura, making Arthur spooked. It had unusually pale skin - even more so than Arthur's. The man had large, cleaverous nails - which were shining through the light, almost as if cutting through the glow itself. The man also had large - luminating eyes, which were burning through Arthur - almost as if the eyes were on fire.
"Kinda looks like a vampire."
Arthur muttered softly.
"Well yeah he might be a vampire. Eh.., no. - it couldn't - that's too far-fetched, even for me. Heheh… sigh What am I even thinking?"
Arthur comforted himself, trying to stay calm in lieu of his paranoia. Arthur had always been overly cautious - the doubtful type, no wonder he gets scared so easily!
Disturbed by what he was seeing, Arthur took out his camera. Turning it on and taking a rushed picture of "the man" so he could inspect it later. Due to the darkness of the hallway however, the man looked as if that - an ordinary, all-be-it unusually tall and long nailed person was standing there. Nevertheless, he still took the picture. Arthur, being as anxious as he is, thought about running away like any other sane human-being would. Unfortunately for Arthur however - he had long lost his sanity - driven mad for click-retention! His obsession for views quickly took priority in his mind, he just HAD to investigate further, maybe - just maybe, he could pull off a quick interview with the person or whatever that is? He could write about how the residents of the town are unusually intimidating, maybe because of some gruesome history of the city? Maybe it might even help Eleven start gaining traction!
He started walking towards whatever it was that stood in front of him - his eyes fixated on the man, like an eagle.
"Hello, sir?"
The man didn't respond as Arthur called out to him, continuing to gradually approach the man.
"Excuse me sir, you wouldn't mind being in an interview, would you?"
Arthur called out the second time - when the entity finally responded. Not via talking or any head movement - no. The entity started to move further into the hallway, finally showing signs of life. The man matched Arthur's pace and rhythm perfectly - walking through the long, dark and smelly (because of Arthur) corridor, stopping when Arthur did - chillingly, like a mimic..? The strange man never looked back, as he moved forward without a second thought. Arthur tried to call out the man but the words seemed to bounce off of him - not reaching the man at all. The man and Arthur continued their back-and-forth for a long minute - as soon as Arthur took one step, almost immediately the man took his step, doing this dance several times. When Arthur tried to run at him - the man ran at the same pace as him - going further away. Arthur and the man soon reached the finish line of their marathon - the end of the hallway.
In the last wall where most should expect to be a dead end - there seemed to be a staircase, dragging down for seemingly eternity and beyond, darkness enveloping the surroundings of the staircase. Approaching the flight of stairs, The man started its descent - as he paused in-between each step while subtly glancing back. This abnormal behavior crossed out the suspicions of it being a mimic, as it seemed to be luring Arthur further in, away from any witnesses.
Arthur had created some keen eyes for detail - so he could easily notice and escape from the police's grasps. Those keen eyes might've saved Arthur's life - as Arthur had picked up on this strange mannerism and almost immediately - Arthur's body entered fight or flight mode, in which he chose flight. Arthur started running back towards the lobby in full throttle - never looking back as he punched in '112' on his phone just in case something were to go wrong. He continued running, descending the floors and reaching the ground floor of the castle. Without a moment's notice, he immediately exited the museum, dashing back to his hotel at blazing speeds.
After arriving at his inn, Arthur threw his keys on the bed and sat down on the sofa, rushing to open his laptop to write about his findings. Him being out of breath along with his hands trembling with ferocity were the main contributors to Arthur making many mistakes - such as Arthur misspelling many words and even zoning off at times. He was completely out of breath, teetering on the edge of passing out. But neither did Arthur notice nor care enough to notice as Arthur quickly put together a "blog", finished with countless unintelligible rants and- topped with that creepy photo of the man he took. For some reason, Arthur thought publishing something this psychotic would be a good idea, so he did just that: posting it onto the website without even re-reading it like he usually would.
This particular blog garnered a lot of attention, soon becoming featured as the number one hot and latest blog on the website, but not for any of the right reasons, as everyone who read it thought that it was nothing more than a poorly fabricated creepypasta, created just to spook them. Some even commented online about Arthur's blogs.
"LOL, I thought this guy made actual newsletters? Now he's spreading ghost stories?"
Others also said:
"Bro April Fools was two days ago…"
"What a shitty attempt to get clout, no wonder that his views have plummeted."
Some hardcore fans of Arthur also tried to defend him!
"Guys, chill out, this one was probably a joke."
"Y'all are missing the point, I think he's trying his hand at horror. I mean it's his page, he can do whatever he wants."
They were not buying it to say the least. Ah, their idiocracy, it honestly makes me giggle like a kid seeing how wrong they were!
Don't get me wrong, if I was in the commenters shoes, I would have NOT believed Arthur in the slightest, but who cares?
Though, the weird attraction to the post gained a certain eye.