Steph Young, Dan Mitchell, Stephen Young
Behind the Masquerade: The Harlequin: Part 1
eBook
‘The Harlequin was not human. It was unmistakably androgyne, ancient in appearance. Its mouth was always open, as if trapped in a state of perpetual horror, in the shape of an ‘O’. It was as if it were wearing a mask.’ Dan Mitchell tells his personal story of a monster that emerges from the darkness and infiltrates his life. Of a disembodied creature from our darkest nightmares. A monster that comes to life. But the Harlequin could germinate, multiply. ‘What appeared to be a young woman with blonde hair on the side of the street had come out from behind a video store on the corner. Her movements were very jerky. With every step she took, her movements became more exaggerated. As she walked her hair bounced more violently. We were now crossing paths as she began to walk toward my car. From only a few feet away I saw her clear as the day through the passenger window. The Harlequin was wearing a wig and pretending to be a "normal" person walking down the street. From the back seat someone said, "My God her eyes!" It felt like the terror of death was coming upon me. Even though most of us were now legally adults, we were still not mature enough to grasp who or what we had just seen. There was no frame of reference. Someone said they believed that she was a dead person.’ ‘My entire childhood seemed to be recorded in some way. My father would audio record us at various times when we were unaware, like as we sat down for dinner. He would ask us questions and have us answer into the microphone. The questions were mostly innocent, like favorite foods. On the surface it all seemed very innocuous, but deep down I feel that he was aware of something more. He was doing surveillance and didn’t want to frighten anyone.’‘Around this time, I became convinced that there was a secret room in our house that could be accessed through a small wine cellar in the basement. I told my cousin this belief and she thought I was crazy, but I wanted to show her I was not. After moving several large carboys from the corner of the cellar, there was a hole in the wall at about knee level. I crouched down and looked in and to my amazement began seeing shapes. The objects seemed to be made of static. There was no color just black and white. Soon the shapes began to come together into coherent forms. Through the hole I saw a figure that appeared to be sitting in a chair. The closer I looked the more the sight forming in front of me appeared almost cartoonish. In the chair was a figure, looking back at me….’ Dan’s sinister story will shock you, terrify you, and leave you questioning everything….
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- 245