17 Apr When the Red Prophet Jumped
“When the Red Prophet Jumped”
Written by Corpse Child Edited by Craig Groshek Thumbnail Art by Craig Groshek Narrated by N/ACopyright Statement: Unless explicitly stated, all stories published on CreepypastaStories.com are the property of (and under copyright to) their respective authors, and may not be narrated or performed, adapted to film, television or audio mediums, republished in a print or electronic book, reposted on any other website, blog, or online platform, or otherwise monetized without the express written consent of its author(s).
🎧 Available Audio Adaptations: None Available
⏰ ESTIMATED READING TIME — 14 minutes
I need to clarify before I go any further: I DID NOT push him! I didn’t push him off the ledge. I don’t give a damn what’s being said.
Even if I had, however… we’re all about to find out soon just how little it would matter anyway.
I’ve seen what’s going to happen. People eat each other in the street, the sky turns red, and all-around panic that the world is ending. I have to say. It’s funny how people are scared of the end. Not because of any philosophical or theological reason (at least not any I’m aware of currently), but rather because I know that everything about to occur now had occurred billions of times over. I can comfortably say that it’s not the end we should fear; it’s what will happen to those unfortunate enough to survive.
If you’re wondering how I know this, well… it’s what he showed me before he jumped. That’s right: JUMPED, NOT PUSHED!
That day started as a nice hike with my girlfriend, Ariel, up the Glade mountain pass. We’d been planning the trip for upwards of a month since she’d gotten into her new “fitness kick.” Of course, I don’t mind a bit of exercise, myself. The Glade Mountains were one of the most beautifully picturesque places you’d ever see outside a Renaissance painting. Especially around this time of year, when the breeze was just right and the sun could draw out the vibrant colors of the vegetation, it was one of the best places to spend an afternoon or two. It was also where I used to go hiking with my family when I was younger.
The other reason that day was so special was that unbeknownst to her at the time, that was the day I planned to propose to her. We’d dated for just a year, and I knew she was the one I wanted to spend my life with. No matter how hard I try, I can’t help but feel this as being morbidly ironic; one of the happiest days marks the beginning of the end.
We’d been jogging the trail for an hour when we finally reached the overlook of the mountain pass. Seeing me winded, Ariel pipes up, laughing, “Tired out already? Looks like we’re gonna need to do this more often.” Yeah, yeah, make your jokes, sweetheart. “God, it’s so beautiful out today!” After making it to the nearby bench across from the overlook, we sat down and started unzipping our backpacks for the lunches we had packed.
I smiled. “I can see something even more beautiful…”
“What was that, pumpkin?”
I snapped from a daze. “Huh?”
“You said something.”
Crap, she heard me. I started blushing. Well, now’s as good a time as any to spill it. “Oh, uh… it’s nothing. It’s just that we’ve been dating for a good while now, and…”
That was when I noticed she wasn’t looking at me anymore. She was staring off into the distance to the overlook.
Confused, I followed her gaze to see a man standing in front of the plaque that marks every mile or so up the trail. The guy wore a dark red hooded robe, which was extremely puzzling to me, given that this summertime was only just beginning to end. He raised his hands like he was a preacher or something. He can’t be comfortable wearing that, I thought.
Weirdo….
“What’s he doing?” Ariel asked.
“Hell if I’d know.”
Looking the way he did, I figured he was either just a really devout yogi or maybe even part of some weird religious group. Either way, I saw no reason at first to be alarmed by it. Until I saw him step forward towards the overlook’s edge, arms still outstretched at each side.
He isn’t about to—I was cut off when I heard him begin shouting out beyond the overlook. I couldn’t tell you what he was saying or its language. Honestly, I’m almost thoroughly convinced it wasn’t even human. One thing was for sure; it wasn’t English. The best way I can describe it was like some archaic invocation or something. He said something like: “ADDOK ADISH ALOK, ADIKAN ADRAYOK AOUDIN.”
You’d deserve a medal if you could’ve told me what that meant. Anyway, he stood there shouting this, repeating it at least five times before going silent again. I noticed that, by that time, a small crowd of fellow hikers had stopped and began gathering together around the area, observing the man’s strange antics. He didn’t notice this, though, continuing to shout that weird chanting from the overlook’s edge with his hands outstretched. I even saw a few of them take out their phones and snap pictures.
Despite the odd nature of this little scene, people seemed more curious than disturbed. That is, except for me. I don’t know why, but something about the foreign words the guy was shouting seemed to resonate with me, and not in a wholesome way either. Some part of me knew that whatever was being said wasn’t anything good, like a premonition or omen.
Finally, I stood up and found myself walking towards him. As I made my way through the crowd and got about a foot or two away from him, he took two more steps forward closer to the edge. The crowd’s fascination replaced shock and panic: “OH MY GOD, HE’S GONNA JUMP!” Now I was panicking.
I dashed over the last few inches and thrust my hand out to his shoulder; “Hey, Wait, don’t—” He just froze dead, his toes right up against the ledge, and dropped his arms.
Okay, well, I have his attention…
I began struggling to try and think of what to say. My adrenaline was spiking so much that I could hardly form a coherent sentence, much less any sort of dissuasion. Keeping my hand on his shoulder, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
Come on, Travis, think…
“Hey, um… you got a name, pal?” I figured that would be my best bet to start engaging him with; something simple. I was still shaking a bit. He was still, unnaturally still. I’ll admit, had he not been so animate just a few seconds ago, I’d have thought I was holding onto a statue. I figured, though; now that I had my “foot in the door,” so to speak, I at least stood a chance of taking him away from the ledge.
“Would you like a drink? I’m sure, dressed the way you are in this heat and all, you’ve got to be parch—”
I was cut off when I heard the most deafening shriek burst forth from him. I was forced to let go of his shoulder to cover my ears, fastening my eyes shut painfully tight. Just as suddenly as it happened, however, it was gone.
I opened my eyes to see that I wasn’t on the trail anymore. I wasn’t even in the Glade Mountains anymore. All around me was a barren, desert-like wasteland that stretched for miles, seemingly to no clear end.
Where the hell am I?
It didn’t even feel real. I’m not sure how to explain it other than that. It was like I was in some dream world or something. I didn’t feel hot or cool, and I wasn’t thirsty or anything.
I heard some deep-toned chorus slowly crescendo in the distance from behind me. It almost sounded like one of those Gregorian chants, except in that same alien tongue, the man on the mountain was shouting. I turned to see three druids, all in red cloaks, dragging some woman along the arid dirt.
It looked like the woman was being taken against her will. She was thrashing and kicking wildly, growling and shrieking like an animal. Her eyes were pitch black and dripping with some black substance that looked like tar almost. I also saw that her skin was torn and shredded in places like a wild animal had attacked her.
What is this?
What’s going on here?
Who even are these people? Some crazy cult or something?
To my shock, they seemed not to be interested in me. My train of thought was derailed, though, overridden by growing panic, when I noticed them approaching closer and closer to me. Oh God, they’re coming for me! I’m next, aren’t I?! I frantically threw my head in every direction, trying to find something, anything, to hide behind. In no direction could I see anything but the scorching desert.
However, my relief was instantly transformed into a mass confusion when the figures came right up to me, only to pass straight through me like they were a mirage. The three hooded figures were behind me, still dragging the woman along, howling and struggling. My head was spinning so much that I couldn’t even begin questioning what was happening, how they just walked through me like that.
How in the—?
With no other instinct, I decided to follow behind them. Lucky enough, with them not seeming to be aware of my existence as displayed, it was a relatively easy matter to tailgate behind them essentially. The other thing that perplexed me was that, despite how quickly they seemed to be carrying themselves and how the desert seemed to stretch for an eternity, I was able to keep up with them perfectly. Normally, I’d usually tucker out after about half the length We’d walked.
Here, though, I felt just fine. Like I’d only just started walking. I still couldn’t tell you how long this went on for exactly. Eventually, though, I saw something in the far distance. At first, it just looked like a dark speck resting on the horizon against the sun. The closer and closer we approached it, the more it grew, and its features came into view. I could see that it looked like a small castle or tower.
As they continued approaching the tower, I could hear their chanting get louder. Suddenly, I noticed more of them gathering around it in every direction; they were dressed in red robes and raised their arms to the air, hailing the ones in front of me. Their combined chanting began to mix to form one uniformed invocation. When we reached the tower, the chanting ceased abruptly.
The monolithic tower was tall and slim, built from dark stone and was crowned with large, jagged needle-like spikes across the tops of its three battlements. It reminded me of those old medieval pictures you see in children’s storybooks where a princess would be locked up or something like that. Up close, though, it appeared to be FAR more sinister than that. I heard faint screams coming from the tower in front of me. My blood started to drop significantly in temperature when I saw the sky then transform from the normal oceanic blue to a dark blood red.
Slowly, I felt the ground beneath me rumble. It wasn’t like how an earthquake rumbles, but rather like a stomach. I know how that sounds, but that’s what it was like. Whereas with an earthquake, the entire ground beneath would shake like one. This was more like the ground was pulsing like a heartbeat, undulating beneath me and seemingly becoming malleable.
Hearing a creaking noise, I looked up to see the large iron gate slowly rise to reveal the entrance to the tower. The hooded figures entered one by one, disappearing into the dark recesses within the tower. I could hear the screams become louder, clearer like they were surrounding me. Like before, I was forced to my knees, covering my ears and closing my eyes. When I opened them again, everything was dark.
I couldn’t even see my hands right in front of my face. I tried to feel all around me for some sort of light source or anything like that. All I could feel was the air around me. Slowly I could hear the sounds of growling snarls from ahead. I still couldn’t see anything or anyone.
Where is that coming from?
Suddenly, the growls were drowned out by an intense shriek of pain. I could see a man hunched over another person’s body directly in front of me. He was stuffing meaty chunks — presumably flesh — into his mouth, devouring them mercilessly. He rose and screamed to the air in the weird language while tearing at his face, ripping it to shreds as black liquid drained from his eyes.
I was horrified. I was confused. I panicked. I don’t even know how to describe those, and others I don’t even know how to begin describing.
What was this?! What was going on here?! Why was I seeing this?!
What does it all even mean?
As I stood, fumbling hopelessly to make an iota of sense out of the chaotic nightmare I was witnessing, I watched as the black slime from the man’s eyes quickly engulfed his now skinless face. I almost was ready to vomit when, as the slime began to coat his body, I watched the flesh peel itself away from him like it was paper! The man’s howling was soon silenced by it as it flooded over his mouth.
Eventually, the slime consumed him completely, and he just stood there, neck arched up like he was still trying to scream to the black sky of nothing above. After a few seconds, his body finally relaxed, and the black slime sorta soaked into him. When he, it, whatever was finally revealed again, I screamed. I think it’d be safe to say that what I saw next is responsible for the altogether collapse of my mental health.
The thing that was now in front of me — the thing that was a human man only twenty seconds ago — was now just about anything but. It had no skin on its body, looking like something of a medical diagram. Its arms and legs were slender and gangly. The head (if you could even call it that anymore) was as if all the skin that should’ve been on the body had somehow wrapped itself around the head and twisted itself in every grotesque fashion imaginable. It was pulsing rhythmically as if following some weird beat or cadence.
From everywhere, yet nowhere, a choral voice boomed one word, repeatedly repeating: “MELIOSS…MELIOSS…MELIOSS!” Suddenly, the carcass once a man started to unravel on itself, seemingly spreading all around beneath me. I couldn’t take it anymore! I closed my eyes and covered my ears, screaming and shaking my head.
NO! NO, THIS ISN’T HAPPENING! THIS ISN’T HAPPENING! THIS ISN’T—
I came to see that I was back in the Mountains, surrounded by the crowd and the hooded man in front of me. I saw some of the crowd had their phones out and were primarily fixed on me. I found myself in the fetal position in the spot I’d been standing in.
How long have I been out?
I stood up again and turned to the man, whose back was still turned to me. “Who… what the hell are you?” In response, he stretched his arms out again. I grabbed his shoulder again; “Hey, I’m —.” I was cut off, however, when he boomed out from the ledge again: “JUBBILEX, ZANCTIS MELIOSS!” He then shifted his weight forward and attempted to hurl himself off of the ledge of the overlook, taking me with him.
Thinking quickly, I was able to grab hold of the edge with one hand, and his robe was grasped tightly in the other. I noticed that the hand holding the robe felt lighter than it should’ve. Chancing the risky look over my shoulder, I saw that I was now clutching an empty red robe. I saw that the man was still rolling down the mountain. Finally, his body crashed to the ground below. Out of animal reflex, I winced, and my body tensed, imagining his body breaking when it hit the ground.
When I opened my eyes again, I saw him sprawled out. Despite otherwise appearing perfectly intact, he lay motionless like he hadn’t just plummeted at least 500 feet to the ground, hitting every rocky bump on the way down. My eyes bugged out further when I saw him stand up!
B-but how?! That fall should’ve crushed every bone in his body!
My shock was immediately eclipsed with terror when squinting my eyes. I could see that the man… the thing standing at the bottom of the Glade Mountains, was the same skinless monstrosity I saw before! It stood there at the bottom, cricking its deformed “head” upwards like it looked up at me, before darting off and out of view. Before I even realized it, my grip slipped from the ledge, and I then plummeted down the mountain myself.
I blacked out after the third impact of my head against the rocks. When I woke again, I was in a medical chopper, being airlifted off the side of the mountain. The ride to the hospital saw me blacking out at least three or four times. Each time, my nightmares had me reliving the horrific things I saw on the overlook.
In them, I could see people mauling each other like uncaged animals. Only one would be left, only to be taken by the figures in red hooded robes. I saw it each time. Their numbers would increase. I could see their legions, all uniformly chanting, “Adrayok aduae Jubbilex, zanctis melioss!”
The last time I woke up, it was to the slow, high-pitch beep of the E.K.G. Monitor beside my bed. I remember feeling disoriented by the fluorescent lighting of my room. My vision eventually composed itself when the nurse walked in, placing a tray of meatloaf and chocolate pudding with a small bottle of water in front of me. “Oh… you’re awake”, she said in a rather timid voice. “W-where am I?” My head still felt like it was swimming.
Adrift in a sea of madness
“Garret general hospital, sir.” “What happened? God… my head.” My head pounded and felt like it was trying to explode. The nurse just smiled, albeit a pretty plastic smile, and replied that I’d “taken a nasty dive off the mountain.” The whole scene returned to me. The hike, the overlook, the man- the thing in the red robe…
The hike…
Ariel!
Two seconds from leaping from the bed, I shot bolt upright when the nurse urged me to calm down and lay back down. After a second, I complied and asked her if anyone had been by to visit. She just nervously smiled and shook her head again. “Not that I’m aware of, sir.” “H-how long have I been here?” I called out to her as she headed for the door. She stopped and replied with the same awkward smile, “Oh, uh… about three days.” Slowly, I relaxed in the bed again.
Three days? Why hasn’t she been by to see me?
As the nurse was leaving, two police officers standing outside the door asked if they could come in. She shot a quick back and forth glance at me before nodding her head and exiting the room. “Are you Travis Evans?” one of them, a short blonde female officer, asked. I just sort of dazedly groaned an “uh-huh.”
“I’m officer Pike, and this is officer Norris. We’re from the Garret County Police Department, and we’d like to ask you a few questions concerning the incident.”
My head was still throbbing intensely. “O-okay…” I mumbled. She then started asking me if I’d known the man beforehand. I slowly shook my head. “Never? Not even in passing?” “N-no… why?” She ignored me and said, “Are you, or have you ever been part of any organized hate groups or terrorist groups?” Now I was thoroughly confused. “Huh? N-no… what is this all about?”
She looked at her partner and then back to me. She pulled out her phone and began scrolling before turning it to me. “Sir, we have multiple eyewitnesses with video footage of you pushing the man off the cliff.” “What?!”; I nearly jumped up again. The one next to Officer Pike, a taller, stouter man, slowly reached for what looked like his taser. “Calm down, sir,” Officer Pike urged. I stopped, remaining upright.
“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about here. I didn’t push him. I was trying to save him.” “What do you mean,” she asked. “H-he was ab-about to jump… I was trying to dissuade him.” She showed me the phone. A video from social media showed me curled up, shaking and screaming, before standing back up and grabbing the man again before we both went over the edge. “Guy has a mental breakdown and shoves himself and another man to their deaths on the mountain trail.”
I nearly had a heart attack. “Th-th-that’s not what happened! I was trying to save him. He was about to jump!” My head started to ache worse, causing me to have to relax again in the bed. “I don’t want to tell you to calm down again, sir. We will be looking into this case thoroughly. We’ll need you to stick around the area if further details lead us back to you.” After that, she and her partner stood up and headed for the door.
“W-wait… what about his body?”
“Where is it?” She paused, grabbing the door handle.
She looked to her partner, and he answered, “We’re still combing the bottom of the mountain pass for it.”
“W-wait, you haven’t—” but they’d already left the room.
They haven’t found his body.
You’d think that would’ve made me feel somewhat relieved, right? That’d mean I could clear my name as a “deranged psychopathic killer,” right?
But then, that would mean all the other stuff I saw… was real.
Slowly, the dots began to connect in my brain, foggy as it may still be from the pain. The thoughts of the tower, the grisly metamorphosis, the ground made of living flesh sent a paralyzing fear. I realized that the man thing, whatever you wanna call it, must’ve been some sort of messenger or something. I remembered how the Bible would talk of prophets foretelling some great event yet to occur.
Events, like the end of days.
So that’s how the world ends? There is no divine wrath, Great War, or “second ice age.”
Just flesh destroying flesh.
Eventually, the nurse came back in to collect my meal tray. She hesitated when she saw that I hadn’t so much as touched any of the food. How could I, or anyone, have any kind of appetite after experiencing stuff like this?
I politely asked if she’d put the food somewhere safe for later. She silently nodded and collected the tray. I also asked her if she could bring me my phone. Again, she looked at me nervously before nodding and leaving the room.
After she brought me my phone, the first thing I did was to try and call Ariel. I must’ve called at least twenty times, all straight to voicemail. I tried texting her, letting her know that I was okay and to hit me back as soon as she could. That was three hours ago, and I’ve not heard a thing from her.
She thinks I’m a murderer.
That led me to write this. I don’t know who’s gonna believe me about a single thing I’ve said here. Fair enough, I suppose; it’s not like I can prove it yet.
All you need to know is that first, I’m not a murderer. And second, that the end is coming for us, and it’s more horrifying than anything written to date. I don’t know when; maybe it’ll be years from now. Maybe it’ll be tomorrow. I don’t know. But it’s coming, and I’m sure it’ll be soon, and that there’s nothing we can hope for in the end.
I know because it’s what the red prophet showed me before he jumped.
🎧 Available Audio Adaptations: None Available
Written by Corpse Child Edited by Craig Groshek Thumbnail Art by Craig Groshek Narrated by N/A🔔 More stories from author: Corpse Child
Publisher's Notes: N/A Author's Notes: N/AMore Stories from Author Corpse Child:
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