I don't know what to say here. I'll just let you read it for yourself. The following is pieced together from a half-hearted journal I keep, and from memory. Please excuse changes in tense.

January 16th- This is the day I received my "gift". My original secret santa failed to mail a gift, so this was a gift sent by my rematch. The "gift" was shipped to my work. I was informed via a telephone call that a package had arrived bearing my name. I assumed it was from my secret santa as I had been anxiously watching the provided tracking information. Upon arrival at my work I found that it was indeed from my secret santa. I returned home barely able to restrain my excitement.

January 16th, evening- I opened my gift and found a serious of magnet orbs that one may aligned into various patterns of amusement, and an E. coli bacterium. "Bacterium?" you say. Yes it was just one bacterium. Massively enlarged and rendered cute and plush. I played with the magnetic orbs for some time and found them to be quite entertaining and quite the spectacular gift.. I took this photo

http://min.us/mveGF4

(note:Sorry it's not the best photo, my camera was putting a lot of noise into the photo so I had to take it a few times with a flash. Also in retrospect something feels wrong about this photo but I can't quite put my finger on it.)

I had the intention of posting the photo the next day to the gift website.

January 16th, night- I remember sleeping fitfully that night. I think I had played with the magnetic orbs too long. My mind was a rapid fire sequence of geometric patterns(you know how it is; you play a game all day and still see it when you close your eyes at night).

January 17th, day- Nothing really noteworthy this day. Although, I seem to have sleepwalked a bit the night before(as I'm prone to do). I found the magnetic orbs in the shape of a cube in the morning, which I don't remember having left them as. January 17th, night. I went home late that night. I had a long dinner with my coworkers and boss that night. During dinner my girlfriend had angrily texted me, wondering where I was. I had forgotten that we had made plans to meet at my apartment in the evening. I apologized and made plans to meet the next day. She was less than pleased. Upon arriving at home I was greeted by this:

http://min.us/mvfgn

(I took a photo so that I could remember her childish antics in the future. It was at this point I noticed that my camera was apparently on the fritz, a lot of noise in the photo). I ignored what I thought to be her puerile temper-tantrums. January 17th, night- I had more restless sleep this night. An occasional rustling sound(the return of mice I thought) in my apartment kept me from sleeping soundly.

January 18th, day- A good day. Nothing noteworthy happened, though a general feeling of malaise was my companion throughout the day. January 18th, evening- I returned home after having a good dinner with my GF. I had a bit too much to drink and was feeling a little dizzy and thought I should just head to bed a bit early. I think I crashed onto my bed and fell asleep without even changing clothes or turning out the lights. night- I awoke in the dark with a pounding headache. I reached for my lamp and ended up rolling off the wrong side of bed and landing on the floor. I guess I had drunk more than my original estimates. I shook off the gravitationally-induced pain and blindly felt my way over to the nearest light. I turned on the ceiling light and stumbled on to the kitchen. My headache was worse now, a high pitched buzz driving its way into my head. I drank tons of water to get rid of the thirst I had. I returned to my room and gasped. I found this on my nightstand.

http://min.us/mve3SJ

I remember saying WTF aloud. I felt extremely uneasy. I checked my apartment door. Locked. Checked the windows. Closed. My apartment was sealed and and yet somehow my plush had moved from my computer room to my bedroom, and my magnetic orbs had been rigged up as you see. Something clearly was not right here. I carefully disassembled the dangerous arrangement of otherwise innocuous toys. I got a severe sense of vertigo when I grabbed the plush. I didn't like that plush. There was something... wrong about it. I took them and stuffed them in an old footlocker that I keep in my spare bedroom, making a mental note to thank whomever sent the "gift" and to never interact with the "gift" again.

January 19th, day- I told my GF about the happenings of the previous night, but she didn't believe me. She said that I drank too much and had a crazy bad dream. I thought that perhaps she was right and I had imagined everything. I remembered having taken a photo in my dream/inebriated panic.I thought I'd check my computer at home to see if I had dreamt up a photo or if I had actually taken one.

January 19th, evening- I got home to discover that the power was out(happens often in my developing city). I brushed my teeth in agitation and the dim light of the setting sun. I read a book by the light of my cellphone before drifting off to sleep.

January 19th or 20th, sometime around midnight I think. I awoke from a deep sleep. Pulled out by a high pitch, but barely discernible from what might be imagined, sound. Like a hundred old tvs set to mute. The sound seemed to be coming from my computer room(which is adjacent to my bedroom). I got and flipped the light switch, but still no power. My phone was dead, so my nearest light source was my camera with flash. I grabbed it and proceeded to open the door from my bedroom to my computer room. Upon opening the door, reality began to lose all meaning. I couldn't see clearly. It was too dark. But I could feel and hear. I felt waves of twisting nausea and a palpable feeling of pure malevolence emanating from the center of the room. Afraid to proceed further I pointed my camera towards the center of the room and took a picture. This is what I found on my camera:

http://min.us/mveGF5

Immediately after taking the picture the sound, the nausea, and the feeling of malignity ceased. I knew it then. That thing, that "gift" was evil. I had to get it out of my home. I had to get rid of it. I took action immediately. I knocked the knife and metallic orbs down with a broom and hastily put them in a box. I ran to my spare bedroom and removed the plush from my still latched footlocker. I packed it in with the knife and the orbs. I went outside barefoot in the January cold. I went to one of the street trash cans and lifted some bags out before placing the box at the bottom of the can. I put the bags back in the can and then returned home. When returning home I found the power was on again. My home was well lit and didn't at all reflect strangeness that it had just witnessed. I took a shower to calm down and then went and sat on my bad. Whatever evil had been sent to me was now gone. It was over. I'd not confront the person that sent it. I'd just ignore it and hopefully with time it would be forgotten.

January 20th day, a normal day at work. Nothing unusual. Planned to meet my girlfriend for dinner after work.

January 20th, evening- My GF didn't meet me at dinner and she wasn't answering her phone. No answer at her apartment either. I am concerned.

January 20th, night- I had decided to give her until the morning to answer, before escalating the situation. I slept normally(well as normally as one can at times like this) until I was awoken in the middle of the night by the vibrations and beeping of my phone; a picture message. This is what I received.

txt: Begin by speaking the 16 tongues. A cubic tree with 216 branches. Look to the roots for enlightenment. From their foundation multiplies the language of our digital lives.

1f8 270 246 294 282 2b2 c0 264 29a 2ac c0 2b8

270 25e c0 246 2ca 25e 2b2 29a 28e 25e 26a 276

264 2b8 2b2 c6

pic: http://min.us/mveKVL

I need to talk to my the sender of my "gift". I need to ask you questions. Do you know anything about this? Where did this accursed plush and these damned orbs come from? Who are you!? What do you want? Where's my GF!?