It follows closely behind me, no matter where I go, it’s always lurking. I’m rarely able to catch a glimpse, but from what I’ve been able to see, it’s tall and covered in a drippy black substance. No one else seems to be able to see it, which only increases my fear. It’s skinny and has long arms that reach its knees. It’s eyes glow a dark blood red color. These are the eyes that haunt me at night. I’ve been researching anything remotely close to what this thing could be. So far, only one thing makes sense.. The Prodigium. It’s name means monster in latin.. Seems fitting. I found a post on Reddit that matches my experience almost exactly. I can’t remember the user’s name, but what I read is something I can never forget.

“The creature known as The Prodigium is dangerous. It’s very tall and skinny. It looks as if it’s covered in a thick black substance, but trust me, that’s just its skin. It’s eyes glow a deep, blood red color, try to avoid eye contact as it only angers the creature.

If you see this creature, do NOT panic! It feeds off of fear and if you panic, it WILL target you. You might see glimpses of this creature hiding behind corners or just barely out of sight, stay calm this doesn’t mean that it’s latched onto you yet. You’ll know that it’s latched if you can hear it whispering. Again, do NOT panic, you aren’t in danger yet. I’ll explain the rest of the stages first, then I’ll get into how to save yourself, if you still can anyway.

After the whispering, it’ll gradually get closer and closer to you. You won't be in danger until it hovers two to three feet from you, any closer than that and there’s no saving you. Once it reaches two to three feet away, it’ll start to invade your dreams. At first, it’ll seem pleasant. It’ll make you want to stay with it, as if it’ll protect you from harm.. But after a few nights, those dreams will become nightmares.

It’ll show you how it eats its victims. You see, I left one important thing out of the description… it doesn’t appear to have a mouth. So, when the nightmares begin, you get to watch as one stretches and forms onto its face and begins to devour its previous prey.

After three to four nights of nightmares, it will test to see how afraid you are of it. It’ll only attack once it feels satisfied with your terror.

Now, for how to escape it. NEVER tell ANYONE anything that’s going on. It’ll only make things worse for you. By now, you’ve probably seen it lurking around. If you’ve yet to hear the whisperings, you should start to carry salt with you. This will make you seem less appealing. If you hear the whispers AFTER you started carrying salt, then it’s targeting someone close to you like a close friend or a family member. You should be safe, just don’t interfere directly. Send them this post and they can save themselves.

If you’re already hearing the whispers, and haven’t been carrying salt, then it’s latched onto you. You still have time to save yourself! You need to stay calm and avoid eye contact. Try to stay in public places, make sure you’re surrounded by people as often as possible. It hates crowded places, so it might detach itself from you. If you still hear whispers after three days, get a sweet smelling spray or perfume. Fear tastes and smells bitter, so it HATES sweet smells. ONLY surround yourself with sweet smells after three days of being in crowded places AND if you are ABSOLUTELY sure that you are the target. If it starts getting closer after this, then you were not it’s original target and you’ve only drawn it closer to you.

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When it starts getting closer to you, go to a church. Do NOT tell anyone what’s going on. DON’T talk directly to ANY religious figure. Not a priest, or a nun, or ANYONE affiliated with ANY church. Sit in the last row of pews and listen. If you aren’t religious, start believing. If you are religious, pray. Pray like your life depends on it, because it does.

If it’s still latched onto you, I’m sorry I couldn’t get to you in time. Please, stay safe all of you. And if you start to see it, follow what I’ve said. I’m sorry.”

I’ve engraved these words into my mind and upon first reading it, I immediately grabbed a zip lock bag and filled it with salt. I must have done it too late, because the next day is when the whispering started. I live alone and my only friends are halfway around the world, so it couldn’t be targeting anyone close to me.

I started going out and staying out until past midnight, just to be safe. This only caused it to move closer. The post said to only surround myself in sweet smells after three days, but after one The Prodigium seems so much closer! So, I went out and bought all the sweet smelling perfumes I could find on day two. If it’s still there after day three, I’m spraying this stuff all over my apartment..

On day four, it was still lurking around me, observing me from a short distance away. I grabbed the perfumes and sprayed them all around, even spilling a few onto my carpet to try and keep the smell around. When I did this, however, I noticed that The Prodigium had stopped hiding behind corners and how it’s eyes started to glow brighter. I quickly turned away, remembering how the post said to avoid eye contact. This isn’t good..

The next day, I went to the closest church I could find. I’ve never set foot in a church before, and I’ve never been religious. I never cared enough to have any beliefs.. But now, in this moment, I prayed. I prayed to whatever could be out there for some help, because I have no clue how to save myself.

When the service was over, I got out of there as soon as possible. I couldn’t risk talking to someone. The Prodigium is still growing closer, and I’m afraid my death is as well.

The moment I knew that the post was a trap, was when it was about five feet from me. According to the post, I should be safe for a little longer.. However, that wasn’t the case. As soon as it reached five feet from me, I started having nightmares. I had to watch as The Prodigium stalked me in a black, void like space. I heard it whispering to me, taunting me, laughing at me. And when I woke up, it would stand there and stare at me. I could feel it’s amusement as it watched the fear on my face. I tried to speak with it, to ask why it was doing this, but I never got a response.

That post was right that it fed off of fear, but everything else was a lie. Everything else on that post only helped it get closer. I don’t have much time before it eats me, so I wanted to get the truth out there. Please, listen to my story and save yourself. Find a way to break free from its grasp. I hate that my life has to end like this, becoming food for this monster. And I’m sorry that anyone else has to go through this.

I can hear it laughing over my shoulder as I write this, so maybe there is no way to save yourself.. But please be careful… I’m sorry.