THE FOG: Erebus: Narcissism in a NUTshell

By Wanda J Shelton

I was inspired to finish this book that I had holding off on finishing. I decided to finish the book so tha I can raise funds for a relocation safe haven for abuse survivors and their families.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Feb 26, 2024
• ISBN: 9781665757676

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THE FOG

EREBUS: NARCISSISM IN A NUTSHELL

WANDA J SHELTON

Copyright © 2024 Wanda J Shelton.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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ISBN: 978-1-6657-5766-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6657-5767-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2024904161

Archway Publishing rev. date: 02/24/2024

Fear

Obligation

Guilt

Narcissistic abuse is for the most part inflicted emotionally but can, and often does become physical. When it does become physical it is because you have somehow given the culprit reason to believe that they can push the envelope. You ignored the red flags, shrugged your shoulders, ignored the inconsistency, and the (little)lies. When I think back on things that were done and said, I have a little chuckle, laughing at the both of us. Emotional and physical abuse can cause long-term pain for the victim depending on their mentality. If this situation had happened upon me when I was not so aware of the madness that exist, I would be insane, in prison or in the ground. But because I focused on what was ahead of me and not what was behind me, I was able to keep moving, not stay stuck, and not go backwards.

There really are people in all areas of your life that dislike you for reasons that don’t make sense to you, people who respond with disdain in your presence because of the light you give off. They would destroy you if it were in their ability to do so. Their demons are causing chaos within them, and they are blaming you.

Out of suffering…emerge the strongest of souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.

Kahlil Gibran

He who learns must suffer.

And even in our sleep pain that cannot forget.

Falls drop by drop upon the heart,

And in our own despair, against our will,

Comes wisdom to us by the grace of God.

Agamemnon; Aeschylus

"Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster…for when you gaze long into the abyss. The abyss gazes also into you.

Friedrich Nietzche

The secretive and slippery reptile reacted to the possibility of his exposure with the full force of his arsenal of weapons that I never imagined existed. When it was perceived that I was a threat to his meticulously constructed public facade, all holes were barred! Since his reputation was built on the foundation of lies and make believe, he went to the full extent of his madness and the madness of his pawns to protect it by any means necessary. WJS

W hen it sashayed into the room, he knew that all eyes were on him, attached women quickly glanced in his direction and looked away, consciously not looking in that direction again to avoid an argument with their significant other. He became the conversation piece for groups of women who were having girl’s night out. He paused at the door as he pulled his cell phone out to check his messages; I thought he must have had a lot of messages because he stood at the entrance for about ten minutes fondling his phone. The man looked so good I wanted to bite my hand, he was sporting a blue pinstripe suit (my favorite color) with a white shirt a matching brim and white loafers, (I have never cared for men in white shoes, unless I was at the hospital, I don’t know why, it was just one of my pet - peeves ) everything about this man was to die for, he looked like he had just stepped off of a stage(he actually was stepping on one, the performance was about to begin unbeknownst to me), he glided over to the bar, and flirted with the bar -m aid for a few minutes. The bar maid approached me with another glass of wine and said "This is from the gentleman at the other end of the bar with the white hat on, I looked in his direction and silently thanked him with my lips and that began the most harrowing experience of my life.

I had the misfortune/fortune of encountering a corpse. I parallel him with a corpse because he is as hollow as a jack-o-lantern on Halloween night and creepier than a ghost, a zombie, he had an eerie ability to imitate emotions and their behaviors, but he never actually feels anything. He fakes feelings and their outer expressions to impress others to get sympathy or to persuade them to act in a way that is beneficial to him. From this point on instead of referring to him as a proper noun I will call him Erebus (the darkness before entering Hell).

I was trying to make a deep connection with Erebus, this was like trying to deeply connect to an appliance. Erebus treats others like appliances, because that is as far as his level of awareness about himself is.