The Falsey

                It is the most terrifying thing that any child will ever encounter. It gains their trust only to betray them in the foulest and most disturbing way. It is nearly inescapable and, perhaps worst of all, it has no true face. I am speaking of the lying, fiendish creature known as the False Friend.

                The origin of the False Friend, or Falsey, is not entirely known, but there are indications that it has been in the United States since the time of the arrival of America’s first colonists. There are a few obscure references to it in the journal entries of some of the settlers. It is not known is there is only one of these creatures or if there are many living, unseen, among us.

                A Falsey will select a child and search through their mind, through their emotions and memories. It will then take on the form of a being that the child will find extremely friendly and drawn to. The Falsey is only visible to the selected child, but on rare occasions another child may accidentally glimpse the creature, usually for no more than a second. This glimpse is usually just dismissed as a trick of the imagination and usually ignored and forgotten.

                The child will become fascinated with the Falsey, and will want to spend almost all of their time with it. They will become moody and irritated when they are forced to spend time with other people. The child’s parents usually believe that their daughter or son is only going through a phase with an “imaginary friend”. The child will usually begin to develop strange changes, mostly behavioral with a few physical. They will become prone to random nosebleeds and insomnia, staying up all night to talk and play with the Falsey.They will become obsessed with drawing whatever version of the creature that they see. They will become paler, but never thinner, and dark circles will begin to appear under their eyes. Usually, it seems that the child doesn’t even notice these changes.

                After about two to three months of spending time and playing with the child, the Falsey lures them away to some lonely or secluded place, such as an alleyway, the farthest side of the playground, or behind a building. It probably tells the child that they are going to play a game to trick them into its trap. As soon as the Falsey gets the child alone, it will change, taking on the form of whatever the child fears most—spider, clown, vampire, anything—and, when the child is at the highest point of terror, when their blood is pumping rapidly and there heartbeat is thudding so fast that it is almost nothing more than an intense drone and they are paralyzed with fear,  the Falsey will attack the child, first at the chest, ripping them open and tearing out their heart from within them. The Falsey may drink some of the spilled blood or consume some small chunks of the child’s tender flesh, but it is the youthful, life-pumping heart that is the real prize that it’s after. The creature never takes the body with it; it will hide itself and silently watch the shock and horror that emerges when the poor child’s mutilated corpse is discovered. It takes almost as much pleasure in this as it does on terrifying the child’s last moment alive.

                Because the Falsey can not be seen other than by its chosen victim, it is impossible to stop. It does, however, express an aversion to very loud sounds, such as church bells, fireworks, and thunder. Unfortunately, the sounds do not keep it away forever, and the death of its victim is completely inescapable.

By Justin H.