This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/adorabletapeworm on 2024-03-26 21:01:43.

After my last update, I received a chat message on Reddit by someone claiming that they knew me. At first, I thought they were trolling, until this person used my real name.

Initially, I panicked. Wouldn't anyone? I thought that I'd been vague enough about our location and our identities that it would be near impossible to narrow it down to us. However, it has occurred to me that someone that knows Ramy in real life could easily identify that my posts were about him just based on how much he tends to stand out.

That meant that these messages were from someone who has seen us both in person.

(If you haven't seen my previous updates, click here to see my life fall apart in real time.)

Apprehensively, I messaged back, 'Why are you telling me this? What do you want?'

The response was, 'Im scared for you. youre forgetting who and what Ramy is'

As I was typing my response, I received another message: 'he will turn on you if he finds this series'

I asked this Redditor who they were. The only response was that they were someone who was experienced with jinn. They offered to prove it to me.

'Please don't.'

'not with Ramy. with the animal tech. dont think im ready for him yet lol'

'Seriously, don't. Please just stay out of it. Trust me, you don't want to be involved in ANY of this.'

'i can help.'

'I have enough problems in my life, I don't need this.'

I didn't receive an answer. Shit. Afterwards, I clicked on their account, finding that they had absolutely nothing on it. Must be a burner.

Despite what happened between us, I still am terrified of Ramy finding this series. Somehow, I've endeared him to me, but I'm sure that could change quickly if he discovered that I'd revealed so much about him, regardless of the efforts to conceal his identity. Clearly, I hadn't done enough.

To summarize my emotional state, I was not party rocking in the house tonight. (I know the tenses are a mess in that sentence, but let me have my stupid joke.)

On a more positive note, my hand has been getting better. I've been mostly keeping it covered, since the skin is highly sensitive. It's currently in the 'gross' phase of the healing process: splotches of bright red with patches of dead, yellowing skin peeling off. Sexy, right?

While I was at work, I couldn't help myself from scrutinizing the other employees that passed through the halls, becoming more and more paranoid each time someone would as much as glance in my general direction.

Hold on... could it have been Aanya? Sure, she'd sworn not to lay a hand on me, but she never mentioned anything about cyberspace.

I definitely couldn't rule her out, but... something just wasn't adding up. I needed more information. All that I knew about my #1 Reddit Fan was that they were gunning for the hoofed jinn. My thought process was that if I could find the jinn, then I could potentially find this Redditor as well. Maybe keep them from interfering in my affairs.

I got ahead of my duties so that I'd have enough time to visit the animal facility before break, then headed straight to post mortem, all the while reminding myself that I had protection. Nothing could touch me. When I arrived, I couldn't decide if I was relieved or disappointed when I saw that the fridge door was properly closed, devoid of the crunching of bones or the clopping of hooves. To be safe, I did a quick lap around the facility to see if I could find my hoofed bestie, but there were no signs of it.

I thought back to when I had first encountered the hoofed jinn. What time of night had that been? It was roughly an hour before my shift was over. As disturbing as it was to think about, maybe the hoofed jinn simply wasn't hungry yet. I resolved to check back later and returned to the lab.

At midnight, Ramy was in the break room before me, comfortably slumped down in one of the chairs, sipping from his thermos.

I could feel his judgmental stare through his sunglasses as he watched me prepare Chef Boyardi like a grown-up, "Have you ever eaten a vegetable before?"

I retorted, "That's rich coming from the guy who's on the frat boy 'coffee and alcohol' diet. Don't you think you might have a drinking problem?"

"Nope. Clearly, I'm very good at it."

As I went to pass him, he caught one of my belt loops with a finger, pulling me towards him. I gave him what he wanted, leaning in to kiss him. I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. We weren't done and I absolutely was not about to cut it short. Once the microwave beeped, Ramy released me, telling me to go eat my trash.

My phone vibrated again. I pulled it out to see a Reddit notification. Silently, I prayed that it wasn't what I thought it was.

As per usual, my prayers went unanswered: 'the ghul shouldnt be a problem after tonight'

Oh no. I quickly made up an excuse about an emergency in the animal facility, then promised to be right back.

I flew down the stairs, hoping that the Redditor hadn't committed to whatever thrilling heroics they were planning. I didn't know what I was going to do once I got there, I just wanted to make sure that some chronically online dumbass wasn't going to get themselves killed.

When I reached post mortem, I found that the fridge door was open again, revealing the hoofed jinn as it slurped up a mouse's tail like one would a spaghetti noodle. My stomach fluttered, threatening to eject the Chef Boyardi.

Despite them both being jinn, the differences between the hoofed creature and Ramy seemed to be as distinct as the dissimilarities between Chihuahuas and Rottweilers. I'd seen Ramy get blown away by shotgun shells only to appear unscathed mere hours later. Meanwhile, my encounter with the hoofed jinn had been a week ago, yet its chemical burns had only turned leathery as opposed to disappearing completely. It was healing faster than me, but not by much.

The hoofed jinn scowled at me, its rough, reddened skin making the creature resemble angry beef jerky. Its childlike voice would've been unnerving on its own, but became far more disconcerting when the words were punctuated with blood in its teeth, "You again?"

Now that I'd found it, truthfully, I wasn't entirely sure what to do. As stupid as it sounds, I hadn't thought that far ahead.

I started stammering and I honestly can't remember whatever dumb thing I was trying to say. Without warning, it lunged for me. My hands reacted before my mind could, shielding my face as as the hoofed jinn's fingers grasped for me. The hoofed jinn swore over the sound of its skin being singed, retreating away from me. Shaking, I slowly lowered my arms, watching as the creature glowered at me from the other side of the room, its face shifting from being humanoid to cat-like, the transitions between each visage reminding me of wet cement taking form.

I backed away from it. Wish or not, the hoofed jinn had a way of making my skin crawl.

"How did you, of all people get an ifrit's favor?" The hoofed jinn snarled, its voice deepening with each word that it spoke.

It took a second to get my breathing under control, but eventually, I found my voice. "I need to- I need to ask you something."

Its eyes narrowed in disbelief, "What?!"

"Have you... uh, noticed anyone following you?"

"Yes! You!" It snapped.

It growled, snatched a pair of scissors, hurled them at me. I managed to duck away, heart racing as I blades slammed into the wall mere inches away where my head had just been. As the hoofed jinn reached for a scalpel, I took cover in the refrigerator. The wish protects against anything that has intent to harm me, though I'm not certain if sharp, inanimate projectiles fall under that category. They don't have intent; they're just weapons. Knowing Ramy, I'm sure he accounted for that, but I wasn't about to find that out the hard way.

My hiding place was not ideal as the metallic odor of gore invaded my nostrils. If you weren't aware, exposed brains have their own smell, like warm mucous. Now, you know. Enjoy. Suffer as I have.

Suddenly, it got quiet. The hoofed jinn had stopped its tirade. What?

I didn't dare risk peeking out. Against my will, the image of a scalpel soaring into my eye played out in my head like a macabre slideshow, reinforcing my cowardice.

The hoofed jinn crawled towards the post mortem room's door, it's spindly limbs a whirl in the creature's haste. I felt myself crouching lower, anticipation making my breath quicken, dreading what could be on the other side.

The door creaked open. A round object slid across the ground, causing the hoofed jinn to leap away with an aggravated hiss. A talisman? The person who'd thrown it was donned in full lab PPE that is normally only required when handling infectious biological material: thick protective goggles, a N-95 respirator, a hair covering, latex gloves, and a lab coat.

The hoofed jinn cursed at its assailant, but it sounded like nothing more than bravado as the creature cowered away from the talisman. PPE person's voice was muffled by their respirator, but it sounded like a man's voice. I couldn't understand what he was saying, but it sounded like he was speaking in Arabic. The hoofed jinn seized the nearest object, which was a dirty, empty rodent cage, and tossed it. The PPE person ducked, but now was showered with rat droppings and soiled bedding. The whole time, he didn't stop his m...

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