Her sickness appeared inescapable as it demolished her health. My mother's weakness seemed to exacerbate the illness. The discomforting fact about her sickness was that doctors had no ability to determine what was causing it. Slowly and gradually each day her body began to deteriorate. First her nails began to snap, then her hair began to fall in clumps, and now her skin was peeling uncontrollably. It was as if she were being slipped chemo pills.

By this time our house no longer felt like a home, it was transforming into a hospital. First, she had one caretaker, then two, and now we have five in the house. IV bags are strung about her room, and medical supplies are scattered around the house. My mother's bed has become the only place she spends her days. In fact, I haven't seen her leave bed in nearly a week. An inescapable sense of fear slowly invaded my family's emotions.

My days were spent entirely thinking about my mother and attempting to research what her possible illness was. I usually spent much of my time on the internet researching things. I had a natural thirst for knowledge, and in this case I decided to research everything I could on the internet. However, I had little luck in discovering possible diseases she may have. I would've spent the entire night on the computer, but something drew my attention elsewhere. As I worked on the computer, my peripherals detected something outside. I shifted my gaze to the window and scanned the area in search of abnormalities. I swiftly recognized an obscure figure. Standing by a tree in the woods was a lanky, bony, dark figure. There was little light escaping the reaches of our home, but the minuscule amount that did, just barely illuminated the area around this figure. Whatever it was, it stood motionless, just intently staring at our home. I felt rather unsafe, and rolled open the window.

"Hey!" I exclaimed. However there was no response, the scrawny figure just remained static looking directly at me. I felt quite uncomfortable. It was as if he had some agenda or plan, and was standing there just waiting for me to sleep so he may execute his plan then. Though it was a tough battle, I finally managed to discover rest that night.

The next morning, I awoke in surprise after a terrifying dream. The rusted springs in my mattress violently creaked, and dust jumped from my covers as I shot up in bed. It was almost as if I had been suffocated by my covers. I fought through the mess in my bed to the window. After looking outside, there was no longer any sign of the abstract figure. I was filled with relief as my nightmare had been swiftly proven false.The previous evening I dreamt of this abstract figure entering our home. While in the house he was in my mother’s room whispering what sounded nothing far from gibberish. I was eager to discover what I had imagined was invalid. The next day didn't really differ from the recent schedule.

Being the summer, I spent the majority of my time outside. I ran through the woods, exploring and venturing my way through the tall oaks. Before I arrived back at home I noticed a peculiar sight. On the ground lain several strands of hair. This looked somewhat odd, but as I kept rummaging through the leaves I noticed things only grew increasingly peculiar. Next to the hair lay several teeth. I also found what looked like human flesh. It appeared as if the skin on someone's hand had been peeled from the bone and muscle. Looking similar to a glove the piece of flesh lain on the ground next to the other body parts. I returned home filled with curiosity. I decided the best way for me to indulge in this interest was to research it. I looked up random body parts in the woods and did not discover much. I continued searching, but, like my mother's illness, I found little explanation. However, this would quickly change. I remembered the disturbing tall dark figure standing outside my house. I decided it couldn't hurt to look it up.

The results I found were quite unsettling. If what I found on the internet was the same sight I had noticed outside my home, my family and I were fucked. As I read through the articles, it stated the man was a demonic presence attempting to take a human form. Through several failed attempts it may shed flesh or other body parts. It explained these were mere rejections of the natural human body, as it recognized its demonic form. It explained, however, it may only take a full human presence after sucking the life out of a current human. Only then will the human parts accept this demonic form. They called this creature "The Abstract Man". By this time I felt disheartened as I soon realized the height of this situation. This entity was trying to take the position of my mother.

Sure enough as I stood from the computer, I gazed out the window and was greeted by now the unnerving sight of The Abstract Man. He stood there almost as if he knew of my newly acquired knowledge. He stared directly at me, now closer than before. His gaze remained unbroken as his face was locked on me. I couldn't make out any human in his face as he had no eyes, nose, or mouth. The scraggly form was totally devoid of color or definition. Now feeling disturbed, I remained in bed the entire night, worried for when the Abstract Man would strike. I got up every hour to continuously check on his presence.

At 2 AM he was closer. At 3 AM he crept closer still. At 4 AM he was at an unnervingly close distance. At this time I decided I should alert my parents. I woke them and told them of the man standing outside our home. My father gripped his shotgun and began walking outside. My mother laid in bed in deep slumber. As my father pounded the door open, we both were greeted with a surprising sight. Outside our lawn remained empty of any presence or entity. I felt embarrassed. I thought maybe I was just seeing things.

The following day my father and mother left for the hospital. Unfortunately, her illness only grew worse. I reserved my beliefs on her sickness due to the fact that little would trust such a ridiculous premise. I sat on my computer attempting to search more on The Abstract Man, and discovered more that filled me with an unsettling feeling. I discovered this figure tried to destroy any information on itself quickly after taking the form of its host.

When my mother came home from the hospital, I was pleasantly surprised. She appeared to have fully recovered; she walked around the kitchen. Overcome with joy I rushed to hug my mother. I thought after the disappearance of the Abstract Man she would easily be able to return to a healthy state. As I returned to my room, I received a telephone call. When I picked up the phone my heart sank. Eerily over the phone I heard a familiar voice speak. Sounding rather weak, my mother spoke, "Son I love you, no matter what happens, I love you." She sounded as if she was fighting for life. I tried to respond, but was unable to, as I peered over my shoulder. Standing there I saw whatever this thing was that now resembled my mother.

When it opened its mouth I heard a sound revoltingly unlike my mother. It uttered shrieks and stood staring at me, flourishing with hatred. I looked to the door and tried to dart away. This being chased me with inhumane speed and forced me to halt. It snarled in a nasty voice, but I gripped a nearby kitchen knife. It grabbed my other arm and steadily sped its gaping mouth towards my flesh. It was unsuccessful to bite my limb, as I jutted the blade into the creature’s neck. It fell to the ground, gurgling on its own blood. It shrieked and struggled on the ground. This disgusting conjunction of flesh changed its voice to my mother's. It screamed, "Help me son, Help!" I looked back at the being, unable to be tricked by it. It pulled the knife from its throat and crawled away on all fours. I would've attempted to stop it, but it was much too quick for me. As it sped away, it made horrible croaking noises. It ran still in the form of my mother.

That day, my mother died. I guess there was only enough room for one of her on the planet and this creature now occupied that spot. The Abstract Man takes the forms of many, and still roams this world as my mother. I have no clue of his whereabouts, but, as I said, he will do whatever it takes to destroy information about him anywhere. As a caution to those who read this, I would recommend you check outside your window every night. He knows you know, and he will at all costs track you down to rid of knowledge of him. If you ever look out your window and you see that tall standing dark figure, you must pack your bags, throw them in the car, and get the hell out of where you live. If you're lucky you will have evaded him. If you aren't, well, then be ready to give up your body.

Written by Pacersnation16

