#courage test

So here I am, laughing and telling you my story.

I'm Raphael.

I think this name belongs to some Angel.

And it's always tugged at my heart for it never really felt mine.

Now that you know my borrowed identity, I must tell you an interesting story.

You might wonder if I'm insane, but, no. I'm not insane. Atleast I think so.

Everything started when I was swayed by the ideology of proving people I'm a winner.

It was the brave challenge or whatever they call it. Oh yes, the courage test.

I walked into the field, and I kept walking.

The chilly winds made noises that made my skin crawl.

I was to pee on the graveyard of Henry O'Neil.

Looking back on it, I wonder what made me so insecure to want to prove my strength by taking the stupidest Courage test.

I don't even know who Henry O'Neil was? Or what the poor man did for being peed on by generations of idiots?

But since, past cannot be undone. And I was one of those idiots. Here we are.

Anyhow. I kept walking and I reached the graveyard.

I kept walking, and suddenly, I heard a crackling of leaves. The sound of a lighter.

And I panicked. That was a mistake, my brain screamed at me.

And as it shrieked on some more, I immediately but silently fell into a hole dug for a fresh new casket.

I stayed over there silently, wondering if the gravekeeper would come first, or my class mates.

But alas, it was morning.

And I had slept in a freshly dug grave.

The bugs were crawling over me. Mosquitoes had ravished me. And the ghosts...well, they did nothing.

Maybe they believed i truly was one of them.

I was rather pale and cold that evening, what with being scared out of my bones and all.

Mr. Rob, the gravekeeper came by in the morning and despite the agony of aching joints, I chuckled when he screamed 'YOU'RE ALIVE? YOU'RE ALIVE? OH NO, NOT AGAIN'

That really made me wonder how many live people has he gotten buried accidentally.

So there I was, all muddy, out of the grave and into the sun.

I keep getting side tracked.

But...the thing is...

Ever since that day... there's this ringing headache that pounds my head so much, I feel like strangling it all out....I even considered smashing my head in.

To go on, I was walking with this headache and this woman....she comes right next to me and screams.

She keeps screaming and I was absolutely tired. Her voice kept ringing in my ear. It felt like my brain tickled and i could feel it move.

I felt that angry.

Maybe it's true that I wear my expressions on my face. For when she saw me, she fell silent.

She even looked scared. It felt like Henry O'Neil had come alive for a moment and found out what his grave had been going through.

It wasn't so funny, but I smiled and feeling slightly smug, I left that street.

When I came home.

I looked into the mirror.

Wondering how mad must I have looked for her to be so terrified.

For a second. I saw my skin move. It actually moved. I felt delirious and shook it off.

But i couldn't get the image out of my head.

It felt like my forehead was alive.

I could feel something crawl within me.

I sat infront of the mirror. Just to check.

And I saw it. I actually saw my skin move.

I felt myself scream in absolute silence.

The bug crawls around my head

And I can feel it

I can feel it move inside my head

I couldn't sleep. I couldn't eat.

I went to the doctor next morning.

The doctors ran some tests, they told me there's nothing 

But i can feel it.

I can feel it inside me.

They're all lying.

The other day, I saw the doctor's bald head.

And when the old woman at the hospital called him a slur.

I saw it.

He got angry, and his skin moved.

He had a bug too.

They all lied to me.

They've all had bugs all along.

I screamed and tried to save him.

There was a lot of red but I saw it, I saw the bug crawling away. It's thousands of legs sneaked away before i could kill it.

But i swore i will kill it.

They told me I was mad and put me in a hospital.

But, can't you see this bug? That I've got on me?

Can't you see it crawl?

You have it too. Don't you!

You must remove it. Crack open your head. Kill it! Kill it! Kill it!

Kill it before you think it's normal.

You don't believe me?

I'll show you...see this mirror?

See, it'll crawl. I'll catch it today. I'll surely kill it.

You must wait patiently.

An angry thought makes it crawl faster.

There it is! There it is!!!

Wait.. don't make a sound......

Just....slowly...and...

Found y–

................

Nothing is more frightening than the midnight forest.

I hope you aren't tired, dear runemooners. As you may know, for the second day we have a traditional Courage Test. All you have to do is enter the forest and find the shrine that is somewhere inside it. So we know you really got there, you'll have to pick one of the roses we left there. These roses have a lace tied to it, so we know you really picked it.

Be careful. We heard there are some spirits ready to kick you out.

Since it's hard to be brave when you are by yourself, you might find a partner to go with you. Just remember to tell us who you'll be going with.

Pssss.. 

Hey, hey. You.

We need someone to scary the pairs. 

If you are interested, just send us an ask and you'll tell you what to do. But remember that you won't be able to join the normal activity.