Dr. Bright sat at his desk reading a document. SCP-999 slithered to his side and let out a gurgle. Yes, All Nines. Juaquin is the only survivor from an encounter with SCP-017 the shadowy shroud that hates anything that casts a shadow. We talked about him last week, here. Apparently, Juaquin entered the cell to change a faulty bulb. And despite the multiple fail-safes a small shadow was cast and that’s how the whole thing went south. SCP-017 took advantage of it and swallowed Juaquin whole. Juaquin has been suffering from night terrors ever since. But... something’s not right... 999 gurgled with confusion and tilted its head. Usually 017 leaves nothing behind. However, it coughed Juaquin back out almost immediately. He was left on the floor screaming and crying in terror... Then, 017 retreated to the corner of the room like it was afraid of Juaquin! But why? I think something even worse is at play here, Nines... Hello, everybody. I’m TheRubber. Today, we bring you a Tale from the SCP Foundation. Dr. Jack Bright a high-level researcher in the Foundation conducted a series of therapy sessions with the aid of SCP-999. Together, they welcomed a new patient each week healing them of their traumas by entering their dreams and editing out the horrors in their minds. And today’s patient was Juaquin Del Rio a former Mexican FES Special Forces operative turned Foundation field agent. Juaquin should be here any minute now. Nines? 999 gurgled and nodded. It slithered over to the couch and shape-shifted into a comfy-looking blanket. Then, there was a knock on the door. Ah, speak of the devil. Come in. Juaquin entered the room. His dishevelled hair and heavy bags underneath his eyes screamed of countless, sleepless nights... and of mental torment. Hey doc, please excuse my... uh, this. Haven’t been sleeping much. I’ve been told to come see you about 017... or my dreams. Yes, I’ve been waiting for you, Juaquin. Please, make yourself comfortable. Juaquin took a seat on the dark leather couch and covered his lap with 999. It gently pressed and adhered to Juaquin’s skin as he settled in comfortably. Bright sat across the couch and observed Juaquin for a moment. Alright then, let’s get into it. What’s going on? Well, there was this incident with 017 and these... nightmares. Horrible things. They won’t stop. I see... Tell me about these dreams. Bright walked to his drawer and took out a metronome. Once the beat was set he placed it on the desk. Close your eyes. Use the clicking rhythm to breathe and tell me what you see. Tell me what’s in those dreams of yours. [scoffs] Hypnotism, doc? You really think that’s gonna work? Bright interrupted impatiently. Just try it. The worst that can happen is you falling asleep from sheer boredom. Trust me, you won’t sleep well after this. Bright sighed then look straight at Juaquin with his piercing gaze. It’s not that you can’t sleep, is it? You just don’t want to. For a moment there was only silence interrupted occasionally by the metronome’s rhythmic beat. Bright’s words seemed to have struck a nerve within Juaquin. Why would I want to?! Every time I do I see the face of the devil! But- [sighs] I’m here to get past this and you’re the person who’s supposed to be able to help with that. [exhales] Alright... Lead the way, doc. Juaquin closed his eyes reluctantly. The blanket stretched a tentacle-like appendage towards Bright to hold on to. 999 wrapped itself around Juaquin even more comforting him as he drifted off into a deep slumber. Bright and 999 entered Juaquin’s dream. They found themselves standing inside a dimly lit house facing a closed door. A familiar scene for Juaquin but an alien one for Bright and the blob of joy. Where are we, Juaquin? It always starts like this. After the darkness swallowed me I got sent back to this house. And this is where I lost it... Lost what? My mind. They pushed the door open and walked into a messy living room where a painful scream echoed. Juaquin winced as he saw another him on the ground back against the wall all bloodied up. Beside him was a knife. A portrait of the Scarlet King hung above the body staring down at them menacingly. 999 gurgled fearfully and hid behind Bright. The Scarlet King...! That’s the thing controlling the house. It just... keeps on watching me. Bright and company left the room the same way they came in. The living room disintegrated behind them in a flash of blinding white light. And with that that part of Juaquin’s memory was purged. They were now in what appears to be a kitchen. Juaquin let out a scream when he realized their location. This is what you see after 017 swallowed you...? No, there is nothing in that void. Just me floating in endlessness with my memories... Plus, 017 left me on the floor. I screamed because I remembered this place. This kitchen is where I’m forced to eat. To eat? You’ll see. Another Juaquin sat nervously at the far end of a long table with a portrait of the Scarlet King hung on the wall behind him. Before him set plates and plates of chicken tenders. With ravenous desperation he devoured the meal as if driven mad by his insatiable hunger. However, the chicken tenders suddenly turned into human hands. Juaquin sat there crying with his mouth stuffed to the brim. This is the part where I usually wake up screaming. The next room I... don’t want to go. 999 gurgled nervously as if agreeing with Juaquin. Juaquin, for this to work we need to go through the entire thing. We’ll get through this together! If we don’t it’ll only continue to haunt you until you finally go insane. Next, the library. Just like before the kitchen was erased in a white flash. The library was on fire. They saw yet another Juaquin kneeling in the middle of the room cradling his head, shaking and crying. The daunting portrait of the Scarlet King loomed on the wall over him as an ever-watchful presence. What’s... happening here? Juaquin didn’t answer looking away from his kneeling self. Please... no... no more... Suddenly, multiple spikes shot out from the ground impaling the kneeling Juaquin. However, as if relenting the spikes gradually retracted as they morphed back into the ground. Juaquin's gaping wounds then began to heal in agonizing slowness. Please... end my misery... After a moment the spikes impaled him again and he was healed once more. It was an unending cycle of agony and fleeting relief. Juaquin could not bear to look. What are these visions we’re seeing? It showed me things from my time as a soldier I… I was tortured. But they kept me alive and... forced me to eat what was left of my crew so I wouldn’t starve to death. These are the extreme versions... Hell is repetition. Isn’t that what they say? This is only a dream. You’ll be okay. When it keeps happening every time you close your eyes, trust me it becomes your reality. I don’t know how long I was here. It felt like... years. It was unbearable that’s why I cast the shadow in that cell... You what?! I wanted everything to end. No more nightmares no more hell. I thought 017 could do it. Thought I was finally free but it simply spat me out. It refused me said I was marked by something else. But no longer... because now I feel... free. And with a final flash Juaquin’s last memory of his hell was clipped away concluding the session. Wake up! C’mon, man! Wake up! Bright snapped his fingers desperately trying to wake his patient to no avail. You’ve been asleep for hours! Wake. UP! Juaquin slowly opened his eyes then suddenly jumped out of the couch. I slept! For about five hours. I had to take the other patients to the next office. We could hear you snoring. Bright helped Juaquin to his feet and guided him to the door. Take some days off. I’ll let management know. When you get back please come see me one last time. And no more talk about ending things. Sure, doc. As Juaquin left the room Bright closed the door and rushed to the couch. All Nines! Are you okay? 999 morphed back into its original blob form and gurgled energetically. You had me worried. Those weren’t real dreams, were they? They were implanted there. The blob gurgled and nodded nervously. Hmm... It seemed that Bright had stumbled upon a greater game at play. What torturous wonders make up the human mind and what things dwell in the darkness of dreams he wondered. And this was just the beginning. We hope you enjoyed today’s video. Don’t forget to click like subscribe to the channel and hit the bell. Have a favorite SCP you wanna see on this channel? Leave us your suggestions in the comments down below. In the meantime if you’d like to see more SCP content then check out some of our other videos right here. As always thank you so much for watching and we’ll see you in our next video. Bye bye!
