Holden MacGregor Elected Mayor in Stunning Landslide Victory
By George Green, Staff Writer
(This didn''t seem weird at first, but I think he''s been mayor for the last 40 years. Is that even legal? This takes place shortly after Grantham''s dad passed. This took place shortly after Grantham''s dad''s death, too. Dude''s been in power forEVER.)
The new arrival on the political scene, Holden MacGregor, shocked our entire region with a landslide victory in the most recent election. With no political backing or experience, many are wondering if there isn''t some sort of foul play to be found in these elections. An investigation has already gone underway, but has returned absolutely nothing. By all accounts, the victory appears to be perfectly legal and within regulation.
Only time will tell in how MacGregor''s reign will affect [REDACTED]. We here at The Journal will try to report unbiased accounts of the doings of our new County Officials moving forward, and how their decisions may affect our rights as free individuals in this country.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Holden MacGregor elects Miriam Thwaite as County Clerk
By George Green, Staff Writer
In another round of potentially upsetting decisions, Holden MacGregor is making his elite crack team of completely untalented and unpracticed politicians who all seem as if they''ve popped up out of the woodwork overnight to suddenly take over legislation in our Town Council.
The more these people keep cropping up overnight, the more I''m inclined to really begin to wonder if there aren''t some coverups that have occurred to keep people in the dark about MacGregor''s sudden rise to power.
Many seem to think- or perhaps to hope- that MacGregor represents a change in the tide of overly pleasant, professional politicians who say exactly what we want to hear, only to enact completely different ideals- but this seems entirely different. MacGregor has some plan at hand, but whether it''s in the best interests of our townsfolk remains to be seen.
Miriam Thwaite''s only recommendation would be that she''s a mediocre single mom, according to all who know her- which isn''t to say single mothers can''t hold positions of power, nor that they aren''t respectable members of our society. Thwaite is, however, made single because of her own infidelity toward her husband with several once-upstanding members of our town, many of which have more claims to political positions within the Town Council than she does, and for that reason, it seems completely unfathomable as to where MacGregor is coming from with these decisions.
This in the wake of Jackson Epcot''s move to the position of local county Sheriff, which by itself is no questionable action. Officer Epcot was a well-worked man with a good attitude and a strong, fair set of principals... but he has been on the force for a total of four years, barely enough to get the lay of the land, and how he''s been promoted to a position of power.
One can''t help but wonder when the rug''s going to be pulled out from all of us.
(This George guy is NOT a fan of MacGregor. Considering what happens later, maybe he should''ve been.)
Fatal Incident At the Studio
By Valentine Alexis, Head of Staff
(Yep, I think Green got nuked for writing negative stuff about these people.)
It is with heavy hearts that we here at the [REDACTED] Journal must report on the passing of George Green, a beloved writer who has worked here for quite some time.
Green''s car was found submerged in the nearby Luna Moth Lake, known for the popular sightings of the beautiful creatures, which are found in the area at select times of the year. Investigations by the new County Sheriff Epcot have not turned up anything indicating whether this was foul play or perhaps an outcome of sudden criticisms following the discovery of Green''s gambling debts, but it is with heavy hearts that we say farewell, nonetheless.
As Green was both a Staff Writer and Head of Staff here at [REDACTED] Journal, I, Valentine Alexis, have been elected as the new Head of Staff by Mayor MacGregor.
May we all move forward into a brighter future together.
Local Mother Found Deceased in Home by Son
By Valentine Alexis, Head of Staff
(Oh this is about as fucking suspicious as it gets, Bartosz is gonna love this)
[REDACTED] - This weekend, Sheriff Epcot was called to respond to a concerning call at a local residence out on Luna Moth Lake, where he discovered the deceased body of Mrs. Matilda Grantham. It was just ten years prior that Jake Grantham Sr. was lost in a tragic factory accident, and now his wife joins him at last, following an accidental slip at the top of the stairs in their family home.
Our hearts go out to the sole surviving member of the family, the young Jake Grantham Jr., who will be holding his mother''s funeral for a few close family and friends this Thursday. She will be missed by all who knew her.
We ask the Others to watch over him in this time of growth and loss.
(The fuck is the "Others"????)
Tragic Deaths Leave Sole Survivor
By Valentine Alexis, Head of Staff
(This person is like, the only one writing articles anymore. Kind of weird.)
[REDACTED] - We at The [REDACTED] Journal are saddened to report the sudden and tragic deaths of Mr. Alex Holtman, Mrs. Jane Holtman, their eldest son Hank Holtman, their eldest daughter Emery Holtman, and their youngest daughter Julie Holtman.
Weiss Holtman, by sheer luck, was away from the home that night for a High School graduation party when a horrific fire broke out from faulty, old gas lines beneath the home. Very little is left behind from the destruction, and there were no survivors.
Weiss will be holding a mass family funeral service this Wednesday, and will be aided by famous best friend Jake Grantham. The two have suffered immense losses this year, and we ask that the town visit upon them some of our famous kindness.
Thanks be to the Others.
Factories Around Country Close, Record Economic Rise For Town of [REDACTED]
By Valentine Alexis, Head of Staff
(This strike anyone else as weird? There''s a whole bunch of articles like this, where the economy is supposedly booming in this town, while it''s failing everywhere else)
Mayor MacGregor has been elected in yet another landslide victory following record economic reports and wages for the town''s history. While factories close around the nation, [REDACTED] finds itself in a unique situation where products continue to sell and outgoing trade only skyrockets.
"We all thought he was gonna bring bad luck on us," one happy citizen was quoted as saying. "MacGregor''s done nothin'' but good for this town since he came into office. I''m all for keepin'' him past the point. Work''s never paid me so good, and my wife''s been able to get a job for the first time in fifteen years!"
Wages are at their highest in the entire state here in our town, and families are celebrating with a parade in Mayor MacGregor''s honor this weekend. Stands will be erected selling popular local dishes, trinkets, arts and crafts, and children''s stations will be found at which activities such as face painting and bobbing for apples can be found.
We at the [REDACTED] Journal hope to find everyone there! Thanks be to the Others!
(There''s so much weird shit. It seems almost like shortly after the death of Grantham Sr., a bunch of people rose to power. Ten years later, when Grantham and Weiss were graduating, Grantham''s mother suddenly dies, and then Weiss''s whole family is murdered.
Then there''s that weird line: Thanks be to the Others. The fuck does that mean? It starts appearing some time after this Valentine Alexis gets put on the staff, and then it becomes this permanent staple at the end of all their articles. Fucking weird.
There was so much to wade through, and just not enough time to get it all before the library closed. What does it all mean, and where do we go from here...?)
File 037: Disturbing Discoveries
THIS FILE CONTAINS ANOTHER JOURNAL ENTRY FROM EMMA, FOLLOWING THEIR LIBRARY FINDINGS.
--File 036: Disturbing Discoveries--
10/20/XXXX - 8:13pm
Dear Journal,
Being at the library was some of the most tense hours of my life. We were there all day. We had to be- there was so freaking much to sift through.
They had this old as nails computer in the back that basically just acted as a cataloguing system. It mostly just told us what section of the cellar certain years were located in.
We split up into groups. I looked for anything from forty years ago, Blaine looked at the papers from Grantham''s high school years, and Anders took anything following that.
I felt like something was watching us down there. Seriously. It felt like we weren''t alone, and that sounds SO stupid and like such a horror movie classic, but seriously. No one talks about what that feels like. You have this constant tension in your skin, adrenaline makes you feel like you''re somewhere you''re not supposed to be for hours on end, and you''ve got this fight or flight response that''s trigger happy at every sound, every smell, every movement out of the corner of your eye.
The three of us were all stressed to the max. The silence was deafening. We''d have put music, but the last thing we wanted was for Old Lady Smile Face to come down the stairs and get mad at us. The fact that this whole creepy face thing is just a part of life now is WILD. We''re literally in it. That''s what it feels like, like we stepped into a horror movie and that''s just it, horror straight out the gate.
These people are happy to have me here, happy to accommodate, and happy to let me use their facilities, and that does not feel right. They''re not afraid of me at all. They''re not afraid of what we might find. Hell, they''re not afraid of me doing anything. Assuming that smile isn''t some defense mechanism, they''re happy as hell to have me here, and that''s terrifying.
I digress.
We discovered a lot, but it doesn''t feel like a lot. Anders has a lot of notes, and he''s thinking pretty hard on what we have to do next while we head out to the Church that Bartosz is at. No point in hiding our affiliation, since all the creepoids here already know.
It''s obvious that half, or most, of the town isn''t in on whatever is going on here. It feels pretty culty, but until we have solid confirmation that it''s a cult, we shouldn''t go assuming anything. Whenever we do pass locals who aren''t part of the Happy Meal Society, they practically run in the other direction. It''s kind of alarming- like we''re the killers, or something.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Granted, this game console is basically a ticking time bomb for whatever freak out it''s going to give us tomorrow morning, so it''s not like I can blame them, assuming the normal folks here know anything about it.
Shortly after Grantham''s death, we were able to pinpoint a few things that seemed really alarming. We noticed that there was a sudden shift in power- these people have had almost the same Town Council for the last forty years! I don''t even think that''s legal, but if anyone knows, they''re not doing anything about it. The town just... goes on as it is, making a crap ton of money, running like butter, and birthing serial killers.
We didn''t copy out everything we found, but following the death of Jake Grantham''s mother and this Weiss dude''s entire family, there were a lot of deaths in town. The deaths continue up until really recently, but there are no articles talking about these crazy deaths that just... happen. It''s all ages, too, and it''s started bleeding out into surrounding towns, although the exact numbers in that department are difficult to say, because we''re mostly just going off of what this Vincent Alexis was willing to write about, and if they''re not under the paycheck of this Mayor MacGregor, then I''m actually a walrus.
So we''ve got corruption, our own experiences with obviously paranormal entities originating from this town like it''s the eye of a massive storm, and we''ve got this cloud of death that''s creeping out of here like a miasma.
Delightful.
How are we supposed to fight this? We''re hoping Bartosz has a better plan, but things are looking bad. Bad enough that we don''t seem to pose a threat at all to the local Smile Brigade.
And then, of course, there''s the great unknown: Weiss.
Weiss and Grantham were well-known enough back in their day that they were even written about as best friends. Weiss''s obvious interests in games in the Science Faire article was a huge red flag, and Anders got real quiet when we showed him that. I don''t know how he''s holding up, because if Weiss is behind the games, that means... that means Grantham wasn''t alone all these years. They were chasing two serial killers, and they never even knew it.
Would there have been clues to there being two serial killers?
Clearly not, because it was never discussed or even theorized, not in the fifteen years since Grantham''s capture. Maybe it was poked at, but there never seemed to be concrete evidence enough for there being a second serial killer.
Bartosz isn''t going to like this- either that, or he''ll throw a party over finally getting a breakthrough.
Whoever the hell Weiss is, he''s probably still alive, and that''s a fact that we have to come to terms with. Is he controlling the flies? Is he able to communicate with Grantham''s ghost? Is he watching us?
I feel like the answer to that is yes.
We haven''t discussed all of this yet, but I know that we''re going to have to.
Whoever Weiss is, he''s at the center of this horrific nightmare, and I''m not keen on that, because I feel like every time I look out the window right now into the dark streets of this crazy town, I see a "Snack the Smiles Back" face staring through the window, right into my eyes.
File 038: Forgive Them, Father, They Are Sinning
THE FOLLOWING FILE CONTAINS THE TRANSCRIPT OF THE RECORDED INTERACTION BETWEEN ANDERS, EMMA, BLAINE, BARTOSZ, AND THE CATHOLIC PRIEST AND HIS PROTEGE.
--File 037: Forgive Them, Father--
The video begins in a small church. It is clearly well cared for and well loved, though there is a sort of bland, emptiness that suggests that tithes are not as forthcoming as they could be. The church is built in the cruciform style, an homage to the shape of the cross, and there is a large, wooden crucifix that is hanging on the wall of the nave, just behind the altar. Classic, unadorned Bibles sit in each of the pews, almost undisturbed; attendance must be low.
Anders and Blaine are in the lead, with Emma standing behind them. She doesn''t have her backpack with her, nor is the game console currently visible, as is display when Blaine swings the camera around for a moment to catch the whole of the inside of the church.
Standing before them is an aged old man in a black, collared shirt and black slacks. Beside him is a much younger gentleman, who seems unsettled by something, as he is looking at Emma with a surprising amount of alarm. Bartosz is currently speaking.
Bartosz: "-is my friend, the one I was telling you about, Jim Anders. He''s one of the only ones who stuck to the field. That there is Blaine [BEEP], he''s stuck in all this- uh. You know. Anyway, lastly, that''s Emma [BEEP]. The game seems to favor her, for whatever reason."
Priest: "Hello, my friends. I''m sorry to have to meet you in such a way. I''m Father Perez, and this is my protege, Alex. I have been attempting to get to the root of the corruption here for almost thirty years of my life, since being sent here by the Church."
Emma: "I''m surprised they let you. We''ve seen evidence of them getting rid of anyone who gets in their way."
Father Perez: "Your guess is as good as mine. At times, they seem so easily threatened- they''ve gotten rid of more than they''ve ever reported on. At other times, however, they seem so utterly comfortable- like with me. I have never threatened them enough to do away with me, though there are members of this town who openly avoid my Church."
Blaine: "You don''t mean that the Church actually scares them?"
Father Perez: "If it did, they would''ve found a way to do way with it long ago. I think it''s more a nuisance. I''ve tried all manner of tricks of my trade to influence them, to free them, to unfetter their slavery to the Devil, but... to no avail. The most I have received is laughter."
Anders: "We''ve uncovered a lot of information in that library, Jakub. They didn''t try to stop us at all."
Emma: "Do you know why they seem to be completely unphased by me? They''re not afraid of me at all. If anything, they all seem happy to see me."
Father Perez: "The presence of the game seems to mean something to them, I confess. Do you have it with you?"
Emma: "I didn''t bring it in, but it''s probably around here somewhere."
Blaine: "Hey... do you have a problem with Emma?"
Blaine is addressing Alex, who, noticeably, has said nothing this entire time, and has continued to stare directly at Emma. He appears to be in his late twenties, but there are gray hairs on his head already, and a certain haunted look to his features that seems omnipresent. He startles at Blaine''s question, the rest of the room going very still, including Emma.
Alex: "I... no. No, of course not, it''s just..."
Alex hesitates, and looks back to Emma again, looking almost puzzled.
Alex: "I feel like I''ve seen you before."
Blaine: "How could you? We''re from out in California."
Alex: "No, of course not. I''m born here. It''s just... it''s the darnedest thing. I have this strange feeling that we have met before, and that there is... something I am forgetting."
Father Perez: "Come. We have much to discuss, and you''ll need to get home before too late, so as to be able to deal with that game."
Emma: "If you want to see it, it''s just right there."
Emma points off to the side, and sure enough, the game is sitting quietly in a pew. The timer is still ticking down as before, steadily and without ceasing. Alex''s head jerks around, now, to stare directly at the game, eyes trained on it; the haunted horror that had been a hint in his expression is now out in full force.
Alex: "I... didn''t see you bring it in."
Anders: "She doesn''t have to. It follows her- and her, specifically."
Father Perez: "Yes. From what I''ve seen of these things, that seems to be the case. It identifies its target, and it will not release them until either death, or success."
Emma: "You know about the games?"
Bartosz: "You never mentioned knowing anything about them to me, Father."
Father Perez: "The information I had was surprisingly little, until some years ago, and at that point, I wanted to respect the privacy of my protege. You see, he has completed the game."
A stunned silence falls on the room. Alex continues looking at the game, somewhat pale and very uncomfortable.
Anders: "You never told me this. Why keep this from me? You knew how important it was that I get this kind of information, Perez. I needed to know this."
Father Perez: "There was not much you could have done with it. For one year following the completion of the cursed object, Alex was in a coma. Following that, his memories were fragmented; he remembered very little, as it was, about the game console."
Emma: "I don''t understand. You were given a game?"
Alex: "It happens occasionally to someone in town. The game shows up, and the second the intended owner finds it, the countdown starts, and the race begins. Very... very few win at the game."
Emma is eager now, stepping toward Alex, a shining light of hope in her eyes.
Emma: "But you did beat it, and you did survive it? Everything turned out okay?"
Alex exchanges a worried look with Father Perez.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
Father Perez: "Not... exactly, my dear. Alex was found, comatose, among the remains of his home. His mother, his sole remaining relative, had... passed on."
The delicate tone of his voice suggests that there is more to this statement than he is letting on, but he doesn''t elaborate. It is clear though that the passing of Alex''s family had to do with the completion of the game, and Emma deflates, looking suddenly horrified.
Emma: "Are you telling me that even if I beat this damned thing, no one around me is safe?"
Father Perez: "We aren''t positive. Death is the ultimate goal of the game''s creator; even if you do win, his desire is to see suffering."
Emma: "Why? Who is behind this? Is it Weiss?"
Bartosz looks up, alert and startled, and turns to Anders.
Bartosz: "Just what exactly did you turn up? Who the hell is Weiss?"
Alex: "Weiss Holtman is the most dangerous man in this entire town, and yes. He is the creator of the game."
Emma: "What is he playing at?! Why is he doing this?!"
Father Perez: "Why do any serial killers begin doing what they do? Control, my dear. He wants control in a life where he had very little of it."
Emma: "So the rest of us have to suffer because he did?!"
Emma is clearly near hysterics now, and Blaine quickly hands the camera to Anders, who takes it gingerly. Blaine takes Emma by the shoulders and quickly pulls her toward him in the first on-screen physical sign of affection; perhaps because of this, Emma sags against him and bursts into tears.
Father Perez: "I am sorry. I know this is all hard. That timer on that game is more than just a timer to the next level, my dear, and it is important that you know that."
It is a few long minutes until Emma stops crying enough to speak; in the interim, Anders quietly catches Father Perez, Bartosz, and Alex up on what they discovered in the library, showing them the articles they found. Blaine says nothing, watching them, but neither participating nor releasing Emma until she finally moves away. When she pushes herself back, the others immediately turn to her to include her in the discussion.
Emma: "I''m sorry."
Bartosz: "You don''t need to be."
Emma: "I''m sorry for crying, and I''m sorry because you''re all in serious danger around me."
Anders: "Neither Bartosz nor I can walk away from this. The risk of the game is something we''re more than willing to take."
Blaine: "I think at this point if you go down, I''m going down, too, no matter where I am. Better to be here."
Emma: "Is there anything you remember about the game? Are they all the same?"
Alex: "I still don''t remember a great deal about what I played, but I remember enough. I''ve never been able to really talk to another victim. What have you completed?"
Emma: "We''re going through Jake Grantham''s life right now. His mother clearly abused him."
Father Perez: "Ah, yes. Matilda Grantham. I was here, in town, when she died, and I could not gather very much information on her; I was turned away at the door when I offered my services to the young Grantham as a Priest. He wanted nothing to do with the Church, and Weiss Holtman, in particular, hates the Church with a violent fury."
Alex: "If you want to get away from him, the Church is a good place to go. Something about it makes him mad, and I''ve lost some followers just by stepping in through the front doors."
Blaine: "I wonder why, if it''s not because of the power of God, or whatever."
Alex: "We theorize it is maybe the power of our faith. If their cult is powered by their faith, then perhaps our faith directly challenges their''s."
Emma: "Seems like they''d want to destroy the church, then."
Father Perez: "We can never entirely rule it out. If their main goal is to keep tabs on you, they may not like your interacting with the church, or bringing the game in here. For all we know, this may elevate our threat level. We shall have to remain vigilant."
Bartosz: "I''ll be staying here with them, while you lot get around and look into things. My face doesn''t inspire a lot of friendliness on either side of things."
Anders: "You seen the smiles yet?"
Father Perez is noticeably startled at this question.
Father Perez: "Have you seen the smiles, then? Their true faces?"
Emma: "More times than I''d like to admit."
Alex: "That''s... strange. Openly? Out and about? Around other townsfolk?"
Blaine: "Unfortunately."
Father Perez and Alex exchange worried glances, obviously concerned over some new variable in what they''re used to.
Father Perez: "In all my time in this town, they have only shown themselves to me once. To Alex, only after he had completed the game."
Alex: "And you said they''ve shown themselves multiple times to you?"
Emma: "An entire squad of Police or whatever at the Diner was infected- or whatever- and the Librarian, too."
Alex: "There''s... a lot more of them than we though."
Anders: "And who, exactly, is ''them''?"
Father Perez: "The Others."
Emma: "We saw that in the newspapers, once Valentine Alexis started writing for the Journal."
Father Perez: "Yes. We know very little about what this really refers to, but we know that''s what they call themselves. Following the murder of Jake Grantham''s father, a surprising amount of good things started to happen for a certain group of people in our town. Fortunes flipped; previous unknown names suddenly rose through the ranks, and the town has flourished ever since, even when- by all rights- it should not have."
Alex: "If they have been quietly getting more and more people to join over the years, it would explain why the congregation has been dwindling."
Anders: "And why would that-"
Emma: "Guys!"
There has been, for almost a minute, a nearly unnoticeable beeping that has been going on in the background. Emma has suddenly run over to the game console, which is sitting on a pew; Blaine rushes forward, grabs the camera from Anders, and jumps to her side to look at the screen. A new set of words and a new timer has replaced the old:
"GET OUT"
The timer is counting down rapidly from an hour, though at the rate of the numbers flying past, it will be perhaps two minutes, at most, until it hits zero.
Without preamble, Emma turns, the game in her hands, and sprints towards the front entrance of the church, Blaine hot on her heals, Anders hot on his. Emma shrieks ahead of Blaine, but apart from a stumble, she keeps running until she has landed on the sidewalk outside the building, at which point, she quickly puts the game console on the cement; her arm are covered in enormous maggots, eagerly climbing their way up, and she is panicking, attempting to try to drag them off.
Blaine nearly drops the camera in his haste to get to her, and though the video is tilted, we can see that he is ripping the maggots from her arms. We can also see that they aren''t alone, though they haven''t noticed this; moments later, Anders and Bartosz join them, and though they DO notice that they are joined by others on the street, they, too, quickly set to on getting the maggots off of Emma''s shaking arms.
When she is clear of the offending insects, Anders and Bartosz immediately turn to face the street; there is a group of individuals standing in the middle of the road, shown now as Blaine rips the camera from the floor and back up into the air, breathing hard.
The individuals are all dressed in nice, albeit perfectly normal clothing. The only thing marking them apart is the freakishly large smiles and the over-sized eyes in their faces- all save for one, in the center of the group- and all have their attention trained on Emma, who is currently ringed by Anders, Bartosz, Blaine, and, belatedly, Alex.
Figure In the Center: "Alex. You should have stayed away and counted your blessings."
Alex: "You''re not allowed on hallowed grounds. Get away from here!"
Emma: "The hell is going on?"
Figure on Far Right: "It has been decided that the church is a no-go. Step foot inside, and you shall discover how dangerous the game can be."
Emma: "Are you serious? We too close to something for you tastes? Who decides this, anyway?"
The figure in the center steps forward. He is dressed perhaps the most unassumingly, wearing a sweater, jeans, and simple sneakers. He, alone, does not feature the overly wide smile and eyes.
Figure In the Center: "I do."
Blaine: "And who the hell are you supposed to be? The leader?"
Figure in the Center: "No, not the leader."
Bartosz: "Then who, huh, fucker? You gettin'' your rocks off on scarin'' the shit out of a young girl?"
Emma: "Of course he is."
Anders and Bartosz- and presumably Blaine- all glance in alarmed confusion toward Emma, who is staring at the man in the center with a frightened expression. Beside her, Alex says nothing, looking at the figure with an expression of grim, unnerved discomfort.
Anders: "You know something, Emma?"
Emma: "He''s Weiss. He created the game."
The figure in the center- Weiss- smiles, a perfectly normal, perfectly charming smile. He has icy blue eyes, brown hair, and seems, in every way, unremarkable.
Blaine''s camera slips from his hands, and the footage ends as it strikes the cement.
--END TRANSMISSION--
File 039: Revelations 2:2-3
THE CONTENTS OF THIS FILE CONTAIN THE EVENTS INVOLVING THE INITIAL MEETING WITH WEISS HOLTMAN, THE APPARENT UNKNOWN SEREIAL KILLER BEHIND THE KILLINGS FIFTEEN YEARS PRIOR.
--File 038: Revelations 2:2-3--
When the video begins recording again, it is Emma who now has the camera, her hands shaking as she quickly fumbles with it. Blaine has stepped forward; there is a half-circle made up of Jim Anders, Jakub Bartosz, and Alex [REDACTED] between Emma and the Others.
Blaine: "So you''re the one who''s behind this? You''re the one whose gotten people we love killed?"
Weiss chuckles at Blaine''s aggression. Anders and Bartosz are tightening closer to Emma, hands near their pockets as they quietly assess the situation- but it appears that this meeting is not intended to be a showdown at this time. There is a level of ease about their aggressors that does not seem to speak of attacking, though this does not seem to ease the tensions in any of Emma''s guardians.
Weiss: "Look at you pretend to care. Say all the right things, Blaine, and perhaps you''ll convince them that you''re good, eh?"
Blaine: "Shut the fuck up, you don''t know me."
Weiss: "I know all of you intimately, even if I do not quite remember you. I have such knowledge of you that you would find truly terrifying."
Anders: "What, from your ''Others''?"
Weiss: "I am glad, at times, that I don''t remember everything, or I would certainly grow tired of explaining this to you again, and again, and again..."
Blaine: "What is this, some kind of evil villain monologue?"
Weiss: "Sure, if that''s how you want to reason it. I play my part each and every time, Blaine, and you all play yours."
Anders: "So, you''re the second serial killer behind the killings, then?"
Weiss: "By extension, yes, though I was never present for them. I had my part to play, and my brother had his."
Emma: "Brother?"
Weiss: "But of course. Brothers birthed in suffering, messengers of the true gods come to create true art in this dying world."
Bartosz: "Oh, for fuck''s sake."
Weiss: "What? Not impressed?"
Bartosz: "Hardly. You''re not artists. You''re psychopaths. You think you''re hot shit, don''t you?"
Weiss: "It doesn''t matter what I think I am, Ex-Agent Bartosz. I know what I am, and I know the part I have been given in this world. There is nothing you, or your God can do about it."
Blaine: "Jake Grantham is dead. Neither of you created art, he died like the murderous dog he was, and you aren''t brothers."
Weiss seems to suddenly grow angry, the laconic laziness that has been guiding him evaporating with unhinged quickness.
Weiss: "We were brothers the likes of which none of you shall ever witness! Brothers, true brothers, thicker than any blood in this world, a covenant born of true godly suffering!"
Bartosz: "He was a fucking dumbass killer with a big-ass head and a self-absorbed ego, just like you are. You are all like that. He was caught, you''ll be caught; he got injected and tossed like the trash he is, and you will be, too. Dead, murderous, dipshit brothers in hell."
Weiss: "Oh, how you love to try to pick apart your betters, Bartosz- but at the end of the day, none of you knew I existed for fifteen years, and you have the gall to call me stupid."
Alex: "You''re not as powerful as you want us to think you are, Weiss. You can''t step foot on hallowed ground; the Church repels you. God repels you."
Weiss snickers, tilting his head.
Weiss: "Is that what you think? That I''m repelled? Certainly, it takes a little more effort to step into your little house than I might like, but every year your faith wanes, and every year, my faith strengthens. Your God will be replaced like all the others before Him, and my gods will do what they are destined to do, time and again. They will eat this world."
Blaine: "What gods?"Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Weiss: "The only gods that matter, dear boy. All gods are born of suffering, don''t you see? No god in the history of mankind would have existed, were it not for suffering. All these deities relish it, feed off of it- why do you think your God doesn''t answer your prayers, doesn''t save your lives when you beg and plead and pray and die?"
It is Father Perez who answers, standing on the steps of the church behind them, illuminated from behind by the lights of the church, displayed when Emma turns to look at him.
Perez: "God respects our freewill, our freedom to choose and to come to the right choice on our own. Our God is loving- your gods will consume you just as joyously as they consume all the rest, fool."
Weiss sneers at this, unamused and unimpressed.
Weiss: "Ah, yes, an almighty God with the power to stop all suffering, but he ''respects your free will''. How sweet. My gods become more tangible with each death, replacing more and more people in this town and beyond, and your God sits on his throne, twiddling his thumbs because He doesn''t want to hurt your feelings."
Alex: "He can''t force us to do his bidding, or He''d break us!"
Weiss: "Ever hear of the greater good? What''s a few broken souls, to a saved and free world?"
Blaine: "If all gods are born of suffering, then your gods aren''t all powerful. They need you to exist; why bend to their will if you could just ignore them?"
This seems to amuse Weiss quite a bit, for whatever reason.
Weiss: "I hear the echo of you across time, always asking the same questions, every- single- iteration! You play a pretty part, boy, but you and I are born of the same suffering, and you are no better than I!"
Anders: "What the hell are you talking about? He''s insane. We''re not going to get anything out of him worth listening to. We''re arguing with lunatics!"
Weiss: "It doesn''t matter what you all do or say. He will come to me- he always does."
Emma jumps forward to grab Blaine by the shoulder as he jerks forward, as if to hit Weiss. Anders, too, grabs Blaine, but in spite of this, still, none of the figures move, not even Weiss, who smiles benignly at him.
Blaine: "Fuck you! Fuck off! You don''t fucking know me!"
Weiss: "You know what it''s like to suffer, Blaine. They don''t. You know what it''s like to want revenge- and you know what it''s like to get it."
Emma: "You want to talk about predictable, you''re a palm reader''s wet dream."
Weiss: "You get funnier every iteration, I''ll give you that."
Alex: "Where are these so-called gods, then? I don''t see them!"
Weiss: "They are all around you, reaching through the veil, smiling through my friends. With each and every iteration, they grow stronger and stronger, until one day, there will be an iteration where they can just consume your God entirely."
Holding the camera, Emma jerks suddenly, as if reacting to something specific. Her voice is soft as she repeats a single word:
Emma: "''Iteration''...?"
Almost simultaneously, or perhaps reacting to the same word as Emma as she says it, Alex suddenly jerks up; as Emma turns the camera to him, he turns and bolts for the church.
Weiss reacts by bursting into laughter; none of the other figures respond.
Weiss: "Perhaps in this round, the boy realizes just how futile the fight is! You see, Perez? Your sweet little protege believes in nothing, in the end! He runs at the first sight of adversity!"
Perez: "He believes, as I do, in the power of the Lord, Weiss. It is Satan who puts us in these dark cells, to suffer, to break our faith and force us to run to him. You will not break me, you will not break my God, and your pale imitations shall never exceed His powers, He who has existed before all and before thought itself!"
Perez ends this impassioned speech with a roar, standing up at his full height and, for a moment, looking half his age. It is suddenly clear how this man has survived in a town slowly turning against him with the power of occult gods created through death; his tenacity burns suddenly brilliant.
Weiss, again, flicks with no warning from his lackadaisical mood to a much more furious one.
Weiss: "I grow tired of you, old man. Your time in this town has come to an end. If your God loves you, He will save you."
Perez: "I am already sa-"
Perez doesn''t get a chance to finish his sentence.
There is an unholy sound suddenly from the space around them; the game lying forgotten on the floor suddenly releases a piercing, high-pitched tone, which causes Anders, Emma, Blaine, and Bartosz to shout and cover their ears. A moment later, the note is drowned out by a moment of buzzing, increasing rapidly in volume, before an utterly immeasurable cloud of enormous flies erupts from the game console¡¯s screen, almost ludicrous in its volume compared the small, harmless object it comes from.
Emma, crouching on the ground, screams, the camera pointed toward Perez; the video catches, in full, the cloud descending upon the man, who screams as he is consumed by a veritable swarm. In flashes of clarity, the flies can be seen digging into the man''s skin through his pores, his eyes, his ears, and into his mouth. His screaming stops abruptly, and his body drops to the floor, rolling down the stairs; the flies do not abate, coalescing on him like a black, oozing mass.
Chaos immediately breaks out in the group. Emma twists around to try to get the game and Weiss in her sights, but Blaine is being shoved toward her by Anders and Bartosz, who have now both withdrawn guns from their persons, pointing them toward Weiss.
Bartosz: "Get her the fuck out of here, now!"
Anders: "Go, go, go! Get going! Get GOING!"
Blaine doesn''t wait. He turns on his heel, grabs Emma by her wrist, and begins dragging her in the direction of the woods beyond the church. The sounds of bullets go off behind them, coupled with unhinged laughter... and loud buzzing.
Neither Emma nor Blaine look back, sprinting at full pelt into the woods and breathing hard. Several minutes of this go by with neither of them uttering a single word; Emma trips once, then twice, but Blaine continually catches her, never letting her hit the ground.
Occasionally, as the camera flashes past the surroundings rapidly, a brief flash of a small square of light can be seen as the game console steadily follows Emma and Blaine.
Unfortunately, fatigue causes them both to stumble at last, and Emma smashes into the ground with a cry; the camera hits the floor, and the footage is cut.
--END TRANSMISSION--
File 040: Venting
THE FOLLOWING TAKES PLACE SOME TIME AFTER BLAINE AND EMMA HAVE SEPARATED FROM ANDERS, BARTOSZ, AND ALEX. IT IS WRITTEN IN EMMA''S JOURNAL, WHICH SHE HAS APPARENTLY KEPT ON HER.
--File 040: Venting--
10/21/XXXX : Sometime after Midnight.
Dear Journal,
It feels incredibly stupid to be writing in this right now, but at the same time, we can''t talk, and I have to do... something. I stupidly left my backpack in the stupid car before we went to meet with Father Perez, but this journal is about as big as my palm, so I always keep it in my back pocket. Stupid priorities- leave all the important shit in the car, but make sure your stupid journal is in your back pocket. Maybe that''s a writer thing, maybe it''s a dumbass thing, it doesn''t matter. I''m sitting here in nearly the darkest dark I''ve ever sat in, partially writing by the light of my phone screen- not even the flashlight, the screen- and partially by feel. Right now, it''s helping my keep my mind off the fact that we just saw someone die right in front of us, and there''s a really, really good chance that Anders and Bartosz are both dead. Probably Alex, too.
I wish we''d run when he did.
We''re hiding out in the woods tonight. It''s dead silent out there, and I can''t decide if that''s a good thing or a bad thing. There is literally no sound out there; the moon is not really all that bright. I can never tell the difference between waxing or waning, but it''s doing one of those.
I read horror novels for a bit, when I was a teenager. You think some of the stuff is just poetic prose, like how the shadows seem deeper when shit gets real and paranormal hell breaks loose.
It''s not poetic prose.
There is something in this world, and it''s got its eyes on me. I can feel something staring at me through the... the "veil". That''s what Weiss called it.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.
I don''t know what to make of Weiss''s insane ramblings, but one word kept standing out to me, a word he kept repeating: Iteration. I don''t know why, but it kept... like ringing a bell in my head. What a weird word to use, for literally anything. It''s basically the process of repeating something, or repetition, or like... a new version of the same thing. Like a computer getting released from a line of very similar computers, but it''s number 11 in the series.
So... what iteration is he talking about? He kept talking like he''d been through all of this before. I tried bringing it up to Blaine, but Weiss''s words seemed to really have unnerved him; in the small flashes of moonlight where I could see him, he seemed nervous and really, really pale.
Weiss was talking about Blaine joining him... in what? The cult? Why would they want him?
He said "gods were born from suffering", or something insane like that. Is he talking about Blaine''s suffering when younger? What''s the correlation?
I''m sure we''ll get some kind of answer in a short amount of time. That game console is just feet from me, sitting brazenly under a bush, and even though it''s like a fucking beacon in the night, neither of us will touch it.
We''ll have to, though, because we''re well past midnight now, and that timer''s still ticking down to the next 24 hour marker. We can assume it''s going to go ballistic like usual, but we can''t be caught outside when it happens. We''ll have to risk getting back into town, getting under cover, and letting it do its mad dance.
Then we have to solve another level.
The tension is unbearable. UnBEARABLE. I feel like I''m about to explode into a million and one different directions, like a glass table that just suddenly fractures into billions of little shards because too much pressure''s been put on it.
What do we do? What can we do? I can''t even begin to fathom the reality of this just being some crazy "iteration" of reality, a repeat, like some demented, fucked up science-fiction TV show featuring a magical Mary Poppins telephone booth.
We just have to wait. Blaine is beckoning for me to go to sleep, but he doesn''t seem very hopeful. I don''t think sleep is coming for either of us. Every time I close my eyes, I see...
I see...
I see my fate. I see what happened to Father Perez, and it''s happening to me.
God, why is this happening? Why is any of this happening?
Wh
The journal entry suddenly stops, and there''s ink as the pen dribbles down the page. There is only one phrase written after this, below:
EMMA MUST NOT DIE.
There is nothing else in the journal entry.
File 041: Alois Report
THE FOLLOWING IS AN EMAIL SENT AROUND THE TIME THAT THE INCIDENT INVOLVING FATHER PEREZ OCCURRED, SENT FROM BRIGETTE ALOIS TO JIM ANDERS AND JAKUB BARTOSZ.
--File 041: Alois Report--
To:
Anders,
Bartosz
Subject: Where the hell are you?
Sent: 10/20/XXXX - 11:43pm
Hey, where the fuck are you guys? I''ve been trying to get ahold of Anders for the past three hours, and it keeps saying none of my texts are going through. I know Bartosz never checks his phone except for calls and emails, so I''m not even going to bother there.
Where are you? I keep trying to get a hold of you. Something absolutely insane is going on over here, in LA, since you guys left. All hell''s broken loose.
I told you the Keith kid died earlier, but that''s not the last of it. The entire hospital''s infected and dealing with orders to treat it like it''s some kind of lockdown for infectious disease, they''ve even got specialized teams out here, WHO, the whole nine yards.
Before you ask, yeah, it''s flies. A SHIT ton of flies and maggots, they''re everywhere. Before they caught me, I was able to get in and get a few photos- the walls are absolutely covered. I overheard some of the doctors that got out saying nurses have barricaded wings and got some of the patients'' rooms closed off to the infestation, but it''s like... it''s like hell in there.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.
They''re thinking the epicenter is Keith. A Doctor was swearing up and down that they cleared him out of all infestation, that they followed the Grantham procedures- yeah, they named them after the guy- from 15 years prior, but somehow there were still more.
That college got hit again, too- the one that girl goes to, the one you told me about. Emma [REDACTED]. They managed to evacuate most of the students and teachers out of the buildings, but Emma''s dorm building was hit the hardest; they''re not sure the students are even alive.
Things aren''t like they were 15 years ago. I heard the call to try to control information leaks, but it''s too late. The major stations are eating this up, and the littler stations are desperate for a chance to get a leg up over their bigger competitors, so no one''s listening. Panic is breaking out en masse, and people are flooding the airports to try to get out of the city, thinking there''s some kind of plague loose. That one magazine Bartosz subscribes to, the "Alt Net Believer", they released a stupid article called "THE BUBONIC PLAGUE RETURNS TO AMERICA", and for some reason, the public''s latched onto it.
It''s like 15 years ago all over again, but worse, because it''s happening so much faster. The flies are... different, too. The maggots, they''re both enormous. Way bigger than they used to be. We''ve already got dead in the double digits, and that''s just what we know.
Is something going on in that crazy town? I know Jakub''s been living out there and harassing the locals for answers, but are you guys onto something nuts? What the hell is going on?
I''m currently en route to that girl''s family. I''m really, REALLY hoping whatever this is isn''t going to head straight for her home and family. If it has, they''re already dead.
You guys need to get a fucking move on, if you''re tackling this head on. Whatever you''ve done, you''ve poked the hornet''s nest. I''ve been getting calls from the Lost Ones for the past hour, all of them looking for answers. They think it''s because Grantham died, but I think it''s because you guys stirred shit up.
You''d better finish this. Put it to rest. If this is the end of the world, I''m going to follow you straight to whatever circle of hell you guys get sent to, just so I can be the one to kick your asses for the rest of eternity, because you have no idea how bad it is out here.
No idea.
File 042: Alex Part 01
THE FOLLOWING PICKS BACK UP WITH A RECORDING TRANSCRIPT OF BLAINE AND EMMA.
--File 042: Alex Part 01--
10/21?/XXXX - sometime after midnight?
This video takes place some time after Emma''s journal entry, though it''s unclear just when, as the time and date on the footage moving forward begins to get scrambled. At times, it displays seemingly accurate readouts, and sometimes the years are in the negative; sometimes, the hours are 0''s, and at times, the minutes and seconds fluctuate at seemingly uncontrolled intervals. It is still dark, and Blaine has noticed that Emma is not herself; the discovery of this was not recorded, though it would appear Blaine started filming not too long after the realization.
Blaine: "Who are you? Why do you keep possessing Emma?"
In the faint moonlight of a waning moon, only part of Emma''s face is visible. Her expression is flat, and her eyes are strangely pale and focused on Blaine''s face, behind the camera. She is sitting in a strange position, hands limp at her sides, back ramrod straight, as if whatever is possessing her can''t quite control her. Both of them keep their voices relatively low, but from the motions of the camera, Blaine is nervously looking around to try to see if anyone is listening.
notEmma: "Emma must not die."
Blaine: "You keep telling me that. Why do you keep telling me that?"
notEmma: "Because you keep failing."
Blaine: "I haven''t failed anything! Emma''s fine!"
notEmma: "She always dies, and when she dies, there''s no going back."
Blaine: "So... so, what, are you Emma from another... dimension? Is that''s what''s happening here?"
notEmma: "Emma must not die."
Blaine: "Come on, you have to give me something to work with here!"
notEmma: "You have to keep her alive."
Blaine: "Hey-"
Quite suddenly, Emma''s eyes flutter, and her body goes entirely limp; Blaine manages to drop the camera to the side softly before catching her. He''s heard quietly trying to get her to wake up, repeating her name and lightly shaking her, but it''s clear that he is still trying to keep quiet and is afraid someone will find them.
At this point, there''s crashing in the forest, and Blaine goes dead still, crouching over Emma''s still-unconscious body. The only sound is someone running around in the forest, breathing hard and fearful.
Voice: "Blaine? Emma? God, please, please let them be here-"
Blaine suddenly sits up, shocked.
Blaine: "Alex?"
Alex: "Oooooh, thank God, thank you, God- where are you? I can''t see a thing in this forest!"
Blaine: "What are you doing here?"
Blaine quickly stands up, trying to shield Emma by keeping her in the bushes. He picks up the camera as he does, and in the gloom of the trees, the camera is able to pick out the vaguely recognizable shape of Alex, looking somewhat haggard. As he steps into a patch of moonlight, he looks as though he has been running hard.
Alex: "I just managed to get out of there."
Blaine: "Just? Dude, you ditched us the second the shit hit the fan."
Alex: "That''s not- no, I didn''t, though the timing was... bad. I admit that, it was bad."
Blaine: "No, dude, stay there. Are you with those freaks? What the fuck is going on?"
Alex: "Trust me, I''m not with them. I''m alive by God''s grace."
Blaine: "Or something."
Alex: "Whatever you believe in, it doesn''t matter- the point is, I had to grab something. Something I completely forgot about- and it''s vital. Where is Emma? I have to give it to her."The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Blaine: "Nuh uh. Not until I see it."
Alex: "Just trust me."
Blaine: "Are you insane? Half this town is filled with a bunch of smiling freaks. How the hell do I know you''re not suddenly one of them? Weiss made it sound like everyone here''s getting infected."
Alex: "Fair, but I can''t prove that. Come on, would you just-"
Emma: "Alex?"
Blaine and the camera jump in surprise; Emma is now standing beside him, looking bleary-eyed and woozy. She looks at Alex in suspicious confusion.
Emma: "Alex? What the hell happened to you?"
Alex: "Thank God- look. I need to give you this. I can''t believe I almost forgot."
Blaine: "Not another step closer, Alex-"
Emma: "Hang on. What- no, it''s fine, Blaine, let me see that. That''s-"
Emma steps out of the bushes past Blaine, ignoring his protests and his attempts to stop her. Alex, in the moonlight, is proffering a small, somewhat rectangular object, most likely a book. The details are minor, but Emma seems to have been able to make something out, and with a flash of her cell phone''s flashlight, she illuminates the object in Alex''s hands.
It''s a small notebook.
Blaine: "I... don''t understand."
Alex: "You don''t, but Emma does."
Emma says nothing. She is standing stock still, staring at the notebook in Alex''s hands.
Emma: "That''s... not possible."
Blaine: "What?"
Emma: "That''s my journal."
Blaine: "So? You must have dropped it when we ran."
Emma: "I didn''t. I was just writing in it like ten minutes ago."
Blaine: "Er..."
Obviously, Emma doesn''t recall being possessed, so it''s unclear exactly how much time has actually passed since she wrote in her journal.
Emma takes the book from Alex''s hands with shaking fingers, handing Blaine her cell phone. He points the light at the notebook as she reaches into her back pocket and pulls out a perfectly identical, lilac notebook with an identically worn, fraying band wrapped over the cover. An identically tattered ribbon sticks out the bottom of the small notebook.
Blaine: "It''s just similar."
Emma: "It''s not similar, Blaine. It''s mine."
Blaine: "How can you tell?"
Emma: "My dad bought this for me for my last birthday. It has my name embossed on the front, and on the front inside cover, he wrote a small letter to me."
Emma points out the identical embossing on both journals, spelling out her full name, including her middle, plus the date of her birthday. Beneath it, a small "Beloved Daughter" is embossed, as well. She manages to open the "new" notebook to the inside cover, revealing a small letter written in an untidy scrawl with a sentimental message about her birthday. Keeping it open, she opens the journal from her back pocket to the same inside cover, and it reads the exact same, identical message.
Blaine: "I... I don''t..."
Alex: "I''ve never been able to open it. When Weiss kept saying ''iteration'', I kept thinking I was forgetting something. When you said it, I suddenly realized why I feel like I''ve seen you before- it all came back to me."
Emma: "Came back? Where the hell did you get this?"
Alex: "In all honesty? I don''t know."
Blaine: "Oh, come the fuck on-"
Alex: "I''m serious. Hear me out. Father- Father Pe-"
Alex blinks rapidly, an expression of nauseated horror flashing over his face in the light of Emma''s still-lit flashlight. He swallows visibly and audibly, then shakes himself and moves on.
Alex: "Father Perez... he told you I lost my memories when I beat the game. He didn''t get to really tell you everything. When I woke up, the game was gone, along with my family and my home; but they found me with this book."
Emma: "What?"
Alex: "No one could open it. It was kept with my things in the hospital... and I had... dreams."
Blaine: "Dreams?"
Alex: "I hadn''t lost my memories yet. I was having horrific nightmares- Father Perez told me. I would scream and scream and they had to take me out with tranquilizers. I never told Father Perez what those dreams were, because when I finally stopped having them, it was because... I lost my memory."
Blaine: "So, what, you conveniently got it alllll back, just as things got hairy with Weiss?"
Emma: "Blaine!"
Alex: "He''s right to be paranoid, Emma. It''s the only way to stay alive. I don''t remember everything- I don''t remember the game, or anything specific about what happened after I beat it. Probably too... it doesn''t matter. I remember the dreams. I would see Emma, flashes of her, writing in that little journal, and I kept hearing the phrase, ''Emma Must Not Die''."
Both Emma and Blaine exchange looks; Blaine''s is not visible to the camera, but Emma''s is, and she looks deeply alarmed. The phrase seems to erase much of Blaine''s paranoia and mistrust.
Blaine: "That phrase, exactly?"
Alex: "Yes. I''d hear the phrase... and then I''d watch Emma die. Repeatedly. Every single time, it was different, but it was always... always horrific."
Emma: "The fuck?"
Alex seems not to be hearing or seeing them anymore. His expression is haunted as he delves into the dark, twisted memories of the nightmares that plagued him in the hospital.
Alex: "And then... and then... there''d be this... this horrible mirror. I''d see this mirror behind her dead body, and there''d be these horrible things, and they''d reach out through the mirror toward me, but it wasn''t me they were reaching for."
Blaine: "What are you talking about? Things?"
Alex: "It''s like... it''s like shadows pushing through the glass, and the glass cracks, but it sticks to the shadows, and that pushes through the mirror into millions of shatters shards of glass conforming to shadows, and I can see my reflection, and I''m smiling, but I''m crying and I want to scream, and then I see... I see you."
Alex is looking at Blaine now, and there''s a look on his face of horrified revelation.
Emma: "You see... Blaine?"
Alex: "Yes. I see Blaine, and he''s... he''s covered in blood."
There is a very long, deathly silent pause.
Alex: "He''s covered in blood. It isn''t my reflection smiling in the mirror. It''s Blaine''s."
FOR THE SAKE OF BREVITY, THE FILE ENDS HERE.
File 043: Alex Part 02
THE FOLLOWING FILE CONTINUES DIRECTLY AFTER THE PREVIOUS, AS THEY ARE DIRECTLY CONNECTED. DETAILED CARE AND ATTENTION WERE REQUIRED IN THE FORMING OF THIS FILE AND THE POINTED DETECTION OF MINUTE DETAILS.
--File 043: Alex Part 02--
The silence that follows Alex''s admission is thick with implications. No one moves a muscle. Blaine is still holding the camera, but it is pointed at Alex, perfectly still, and Alex''s eyes are trained on Blaine in a nearly beseeching manner. Emma is the first one to break the silence.
Emma: "Blaine is covered in blood? After I''ve been killed? So you''re saying- you''re saying he kills me?"
Alex: "Over and over and over. Every single time."
Alex pauses, then looks directly at Emma- pointedly.
Alex: "Every single iteration."
Emma: "Oh... oh, my God."
Blaine: "The fuck is that supposed to mean?"
Blaine''s voice is odd. It''s almost hoarse, a strange mixture of intended force and quiet whispering, and seems distant.
Emma: "Iterations, Blaine. Weiss is saying that this has all happened before, repeatedly, and in every single iteration, you... you go to him."
Blaine: "Why the fuck would I do that?"
Alex: "I... I don''t know."
Blaine: "That''s real fucking convenient, dude."
Alex: "I''m only telling you what I remember!"
Blaine: "How. Fucking. Convenient."
Blaine takes a step toward Alex, the camera dropping almost forgotten to his side, but Emma quickly darts forward and grabs his arm. To his credit, it appears that Alex does not back away, remaining still to his spot.
Emma: "Blaine, cool it!"
Blaine: "He''s accusing me of killing you, and you want me to cool it?!"
Emma: "Yes!"
Blaine: "Why?! You can''t seriously believe him?!"
Emma: "''Emma must not die''."
From the shifting of the camera, it seems that Blaine deflates somewhat, turning toward her.
Emma: "The message isn''t for me. It''s for you. It''s always been for you."
Blaine: "I''m not going to kill you."
Alex: "Weiss seems to think he knows something about you- something that he can use to control you, or to move you to his side. He''s totally unconcerned- they''re not even chasing after you. He knows neither of you can leave. He''s completely convinced you''ll do his work for him and kill Emma."
Blaine: "I''m not going to fucking kill her!"
Emma: "Blaine, we need to consider every single avenue here."
Blaine: "Yeah? Why? Because you think I''m going to kill you? If so, why don''t I just do it right here, right now?"Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
Alex: "Don''t be so fucking dramatic, asshole. You''re not the one dying, here."
It''s the first time Alex has used any foul language, and his tone is sharp, causing Blaine to go very still and quiet. It''s unclear if the words have struck a chord, if he''s just surprised, or if he''s angry.
Emma: "Obviously, Weiss plays you. He can create haunted video games that spew murderous flesh eating flies, and your concern here is that you think you''re going to kill me of your own accord?"
Blaine: "...I-"
Emma: "I need to read this version of my journal. It''s obviously got something in it, or else why would it cross... what, dimensions?"
Alex: "We''ll just say ''iterations''."
Emma: "Fine. We need a gameplan, because unless I''m much mistaken, the moon''s heading toward the horizon, and we''re running out of time."
Alex: "Time?"
Blaine: "The game. Every 24 hour mark, it goes haywire. Did it not do that for you?"
Alex: "I..."
Alex goes quiet, and Blaine- seeming to remember the camera- pulls it up, showing that Alex is looking confused. The moonlight appears to be waning, but Emma''s flashlight is still lit in the darkness, revealing more detail than might otherwise be shown.
Alex: "I can''t remember. I only remember very little. It''s like... it''s like it''s shut away."
Blaine: "Great."
Emma: "We have the answers we need right here."
Emma flaps the little journal around.
Emma: "We need to rest, though. We don''t have very long until the next eruption, and we need to be ready to deal with that."
Blaine: "You want to head back to the motel?"
Alex: "I wouldn''t advise it. Weiss doesn''t seem concerned, but he''s not sane. I wouldn''t put it past him to fuck around with you guys, and wherever you''re staying is probably known by every cultist in town."
Emma: "Alex..."
Alex: "Yeah?"
There''s another very long, heavy, pregnant pause.
Emma: "Did... did Bartosz and Anders..."
Another pause.
Alex: "I''ll be honest- I don''t know. I was heading toward the entrance of the church when I saw Father... when I saw him go down."
Alex swallows hard a few times, clenching and unclenching his fists stiffly.
Alex: "I couldn''t get out the doors without running straight into him. I heard someone shouting for you to run, and I turned and booked it out the back of the church. I''m... I''m lucky I''m alive."
Emma: "Ah..."
Blaine: "They''ll be fine."
Emma: "Blaine..."
Blaine: "There is no fucking way Anders is going down to a few flies. He''s fine."
No one says anything, but Emma casts a small glance toward Alex, who looks down for a moment.
Blaine: "Look, we just need to figure out what our next plan of action is, right? What do we need?"
Alex: "Rest, for starters- and then cover."
Emma: "I need to be able to read this journal."
Blaine: "You need rest, first. That game isn''t going to wait for you. We get one eruption, and then 24 hours until the next clue."
Alex: "Assuming Weiss continues to play by the rules."
Emma: "Don''t jinx it, dude."
Blaine: "All right. So... where do we go?"
Alex: "There''s... there''s one option. A place no one goes, not even the cult."
Emma: "Then that''s the place to go."
Blaine: "Where''s the ''but''?"
Emma: "What?"
Blaine: "It''s too perfect, and Alex is hesitating. So, where''s the ''but''?"
Alex: "It''s Grantham''s home."
The pause that follows this is even more pregnant than the previous.
Emma: "What?"
Alex: "I know, but I think Weiss has declared it off limits to the cult. A few times a year, he has someone go in to maintain the place, but absolutely no one goes out there. Ever. Father Perez and I did a stake out for a few months once, for Bartosz."
Blaine: "You can''t be serious."
Alex: "You have no idea how long we''ve been trying to catch these guys slipping up. It always felt like they were several steps ahead of us... now, I guess we know why."
Emma: "Whatever. We need to get going. The moon''s definitely dipping."
Blaine: "I don''t suppose you know where we are?"
Alex: "I know how I got here, which was directly south of the church. If we hit the lake, I''ll know where Grantham''s house is... and the lake is hard to miss. I can get us there."
Emma: "Are we going to be able to get around a whole lake in time to get any rest whatsoever?"
Alex: "Oh, no, absolutely not."
Blaine: "Then-?"
Alex: "We go across the lake."
Emma: "Of course. Fabulous."
Blaine swears, before lifting up the camera, mumbling about checking the battery and getting started immediately, and shutting it down.
--END TRANSMISSION--
File 044: Survivors
THIS FILE IS A TEXT COMMUNICATION WITHIN TOWN LIMITS WHILE BLAINE, EMMA, AND ALEX ARE HEADED TOWARD WHAT WAS ORIGINALLY JAKE GRANTHAM''S HOUSE.
--File 044: Survivors--
Jim Anders (3:45am): Jakub
Jim Anders (3:45am): Jesus Jakub, pick up your fucking phone
Jakub Bartosz (3:47am): Hold your horses it takes me ages to type on this thing
Jim Anders (3:47am): Thank Christ
Jim Anders (3:48am): Where are you?
Jakub Bartosz (3:50am): Got to my RV
Jakub Bartosz (3:52am): It''s trashed I can''t drive it
Jim Anders (3:53am): And the kids? Tell me you have them
Jakub Bartosz (3:57am): I do not
Jim Anders (3:57am): It took you four minutes to text that? Will you just call me, you old jackass
Jakub Bartosz (3:58am): Can''t I''m being followed
Jim Anders (3:58am): What? Did they find you? What''s going on?Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
Jakub Bartosz (4:00am): Not sure. Something''s wrong
Jakub Bartosz (4:01am): They seem more pissed off than they were when Weiss was frying Perez
Jakub Bartosz (4:01am): Fuck
Jakub Bartosz (4:02am): I shouldn''t say something like that
Jim Anders (4:03am): I think he''d forgive you. Where are you? I''ll come to you
Jakub Bartosz (4:05am): No, find the kids. The game''s on a ticker and they gotta handle it on their own
Jim Anders (4:06am): Knowing Blaine, I won''t find them
Jakub Bartosz (4:07am): Is that kid going to be a problem? Weiss seemed really fucking interested in him
Jim Anders (4:07am): He''ll be fine.
Jakub Bartosz (4:08am): I read his file, Jim
Jim Anders (4:08am): He''ll be fine.
Jakub Bartosz (4:09am): If you say so. Remember, these fucks prey on trauma
Jim Anders (4:10am): I think we need to let the kids be separate from us for a minute
Jim Anders (4:10am): We need intel
Jakub Bartosz (4:11am): We need to steer clear of Weiss
Jakub Bartosz (4:11am): I don''t know why he let us go, but we aren''t worth shit compared to the kids, to him
Jim Anders (4:12am): Which is why we need information
Jim Anders (4:12am): Did you get through to them?
Jakub Bartosz (4:13am): No. None of my messages are going through, calls are dropped immediately
Jim Anders (4:14am): Fucking great
Jakub Bartosz (4:15am): I got these dumbasses thinking I have no idea they''re following me. I keep getting bits and pieces about some kind of ritual that needs completing
Jim Anders (4:16am): I just spotted a couple of those cops from the diner earlier today. I''m gonna trail them
Jakub Bartosz (4:17am): BE. FUCKING. CAREFUL.
Jim Anders (4:17am): Nah, I was planning on walking up to them and asking for a fucking cup of tea
Jakub Bartosz (4:17am): Smartass.
The texts end here, but indicate that the two men are, as of these text messages, still alive, and that they are likely unaware that Alex [REDACTED] has joined up with Emma [REDACTED] and Blaine [REDACTED].
File 045: The Lake
THE FOLLOWING TAKES PLACE SOME TIME AFTER THE PREVIOUS FILE INVOLVING ALEX, EMMA, AND BLAINE.
--File 045: The Lake--
The video begins somewhat abruptly, and in the middle of movement. At first, the camera is angled down toward the dark, dirt floor of the woods they''re traveling through, but as it rises up, there is a ring of light just ahead of the cameraman, which appears to be Blaine once again. The light is being brazenly used by Emma, who is pointing it downwards as she walks, studiously looking through, presumably, the "other" journal. Alex leads the way, with Emma between them; Blaine walks just behind her, and even as he is adjusting the camera, he reaches out quickly to steady Emma when she trips over foliage, distracted.
Blaine: "Wouldn''t it be better to wait until we stop moving to try to read that?"
Emma: "We have barely enough time as it is."
Alex: "Are there any major differences, yet?"
Emma: "I thought to move ahead to where we are now, but I noticed something straight away that made me go back."
Blaine: "What''s tha- gotcha. You need to pay attention, Em, you''re going to fall flat on your face."
Emma: "But I''ve got you. The big difference is the lack of possessions."
Alex looks back, his barely visible expression a bit startled.
Alex: "Possessions?"
Blaine: "You think that''s the weirdest thing going on?"
Alex: "Without context, yes."
Blaine: "For a few days now, Emma''s been getting possessed. It keeps saying the same thing, over and over, and it even writes it in her journal."
Alex: "What''s that?"
Emma glances back toward Blaine.
Blaine: "''Emma must not die''."
Alex nearly stumbles to a halt, looking so alarmed that the whites of his eyes shine in the glow off of Emma''s flashlight.
Alex: "So that''s why you two suddenly started listening to me! Were you ever going to mention that?"
Emma: "It hasn''t happened in a minute, so-"
Blaine: "Not actually true. It happened just before Alex showed up."
Emma comes to a total halt and stares at him.
Emma: "Were you ever going to mention that?"
Blaine: "Look, a lot''s going on. I just got told I kill you in countless versions of this reality, so you''ll have to forgive me for forgetting the latest warning not to let you die."
Alex: "Huh."
Emma: "Well, the point I was making earlier is that none of that''s in the journal... but there are other minor details, little things that are different from now and then."
Blaine: "Like?"
Emma: "For starters, you seem a lot more... different in this version."
Blaine: "Me?"
Emma: "Yeah. When I write about you in my journal in this world, it''s like... I dunno. I don''t seem to like you very much. You creep me out, in the rare moments that I talk about it. I don''t feel that at all, with you, in... er, the present."
Alex: "He doesn''t creep me out right now, either."
Blaine: "Fantastic."
Emma: "No, that''s a good point. Alex seems uncomfortable with Blaine, too. And here, in the confrontation with Weiss, because that happened then, as well- Alex doesn''t leave the group. I mean, obviously, because he''s got no journal to give me. When Father Perez is... um..."
Emma looks up apologetically at Alex, but he waves a hand, though his face remains turned away from them.
Alex: "It''s fine. I feel, oddly, as if I half-expected it to happen."
Blaine: "''Iterations'', huh?"
Emma: "Who knows how many times we''ve gone through this. We must be starting to remember things. But here- we''re in the forest, and we don''t go to Grantham''s. We make the decision to head back into town and to our motel."
Blaine: "Something has changed."
Alex: "But what?"
Emma: "There''s another problem, though."
Blaine: "There goes all my good feelings."
Emma: "I write about our decision to go into town, and then later, there''s a single page, and it''s splattered with blood. There''s two words written on it."
Emma looks up and pauses, and the other two do, as well. There is a noticeable amount of mist beginning to seep in around their legs, by this point.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
Emma: "It says... It says ''Alex is dead''."
A chill so prevalent it can nearly be seen seems to travel through the group. They remain silent, and Alex looks down at the ground, before squaring his shoulders and gesturing forward.
Alex: "Maybe this is a sign. Maybe I won''t die."
Blaine: "You''re willing to test that?"
Alex: "I don''t have a choice. My life has been altered; people I loved are dead. I almost died. This will never leave me alone; if I could even leave the town, I have no doubt I''d either be brought back, or die trying. This is my destiny- if it''s to die, well... then I die."
Blaine: "What a load of shit."
Emma: "Blaine... come on."
Blaine: "Destiny- what kind of destiny is this? What kind of God allows this to happen?"
Alex''s voice is calm in the face of Blaine''s accusations, even as he continues to pick his way through the underbrush.
Alex: "Who''s to say He is? Who''s to say He isn''t doing something actively?"
Blaine: "Right. ''Everything is part of the plan''. Right."
Emma: "Who knows. I don''t have answers, and my phone''s starting to die."
As if on cue, Emma''s flashlight dims.
Alex: "I don''t think that''s your battery. Electronics work funny around here. Your phone might outright shut off and never turn back on until we leave."
Blaine: "My camera seems fine."
Alex glances at Blaine and his camera.
Alex: "I have a funny feeling that may be by design."
Emma: "Huh?"
Alex: "I... I don''t know. I can''t explain it. The camera is like an extension of him, to me. It feels right that he''s filming this. I don''t even question it."
Emma gives a small laugh, almost surprised.
Emma: "You know what? You''re right. I haven''t questioned it in a long time. Feels wrong for it to be off."
Blaine: "That doesn''t make me feel better."
Alex: "Hang on- we''re here."
Emma: "Oh, thank God, because my feet hurt like shit. I don''t see a house, though?"
Alex: "No, not at the house. We''re at the lake."
As Alex says this, they push through a wall of trees into a suddenly open space. Stretching out before them, ominously, is a massive lake, the water of which is eerily calm and black as a yawning void. Nothing moves, and thick clouds of mist that look like they could be cut with a knife drift lazily across the surface of the water. There is no sound in the air at all, but on the far, distant side of the lake, a couple lights twinkle out at them. When Alex speaks, he is whispering.
Alex: "That... is Grantham''s house. The lights are always on."
Emma: "Alex, this suddenly seems like a really, really bad idea."
Blaine: "You know what, I''m... kind of on Emma''s side."
Alex: "If we try to head back now, we''ll barely make it to town on time."
Emma: "Can we not... can''t we go around the lake?"
Alex: "We could, but that''s another almost two hours, easily. The lake''s bigger than you''d think, for the area."
Blaine: "Fuck. This seems like a really bad idea."
As Alex steps forward and begins scanning the edge of the lake for something, Emma begins furiously flipping through the journal. Her flashlight is definitely flickering low with light, however, and the light of the moon is no longer helpful. Blaine pauses to fiddle somewhat with the camera, and a light seems to suddenly burst into being from the device, unaffected whatsoever by whatever is causing issues for Emma''s phone. She glances up gratefully as he approaches, shining the light down on the pages.
As Alex continues walking along the bank of the lake, looking for something only he knows, Emma hurriedly continues her flipping. Brief glimpses of her writing- sometimes marred by the occasional dried spatter of browned blood- flash by, but she suddenly stops the moment a hastily sketched drawing flicks past. Ripping back to the page, it''s clear that it''s a picture of the lake.
Emma: "I knew it. I knew I saw some sketch about the lake."
Emma is clearly uneasy. Above the sketch are the words "GRANTHAM LAKE", making it undeniably their current position, and her alternate self even included the small lights sketched as small stars in the distance beyond the lake... but the lake itself seems more ominous than before. She had made a point of filling in the shape of the lake with a thick, heavy hand that nearly ripped through the page, seemingly intent on the inky blackness of the water''s surface.
Across the bottom of one page are also the words "BEWARE THE MIRROR".
Blaine: "That does not look good."
Emma: "No. I don''t think we should cross this lake, Blaine. I''m looking... yeah. I didn''t realize it before, but this is... this is just before Alex dies."
Blaine: "What? I thought you said we didn''t go to the lake."
Emma: "We didn''t... at this point. We did later. I''ve only skimmed, I don''t know what''s happening at this point, but my writing''s chaotic, and I- there''s these moments where all I put is ''Stay away from Blaine'' in blotchy writing all over the page. This one''s right before this moment. I don''t think you''re supposed to be with us, here."
Blaine: "Fuck me. This is starting to make me feel really fucking weird."
Emma: "I''m just trying to be open. I don''t think lying to you would make this any better."
Blaine: "...No. No, I guess not."
Alex: "Guys! I found it! I found the boat."
They look up, startled, and see that Alex is a long ways down, waving them over. Mist is curling thick about his legs and feet, but there''s a small lantern that is now lit sitting atop a rotting post on a very small, handmade dock. A boat bobs just in and out of view.
Emma: "Alex! Hey, get away from there!"
Blaine: "Dude, this was a mistake!"
Blaine''s hand drops as he begins running, hard, in the direction of Alex. The camera swings past in steady pumps, and the jostling makes it hard to make out any speaking.
There''s a sudden shriek, and a sound can be heard. After some research, the closest written description of the sound produced would be that of a lower register on a glass euphone, an instrument played via friction of the fingers dipped in water. It is incredibly, deeply eerie, and sounds shockingly loud, echoing through the open space around the lake. Blaine''s speed increases, but Emma''s screaming can just be heard even over the sound of the camera and the piercing, echoing notes.
Emma: "ALEX! GET BACK! Oh, my fucking God, IT''S GLASS!"
Nothing is visible, but the eerie, music-like sound continues to increase in volume, the lower pitch combined with a piercing higher, almost wailing pitch- again, still heavily similar to the sound of a glass and steel euphone. The sound of shattering glass is an undercurrent to the eerie, almost alien music.
Alex: "What the fuck is that?!"
Blaine: "Get BACK! Alex, get back now!"
The camera is still only showing Blaine''s movements, but there is a sudden jerk, and Blaine drops the camera, which still has the light on. It drops onto its side on the bank of the lake, and what is captured is seen crookedly.
A shape is moving against a backdrop of inky black sky and stars, black and jagged. The music is clearly coming from this, and it is moving off the surface of the lake. Every movement produces more alien notes and blasts, and the beam of light glitters off shards of what appears to be glass moving through the sky.
The shape suddenly thrashes, flailing itself, and with an increase suddenly in the bass tones of the eerie sounds it is emitting, it flies off screen. Emma''s screams echo across the lake, drowning out the shouts of Blaine and Alex; there is a cacophony of noise, of blasting notes and shattering glass and debris, and even the creaking of felled trees. The camera thumps into the air, seemingly from the force of whatever has struck the earth; the sound of feet crunching on dirt and gravel reach the mic, and the camera is scooped up off the ground.
There is more sprinting; the lens is pointed toward the shifting shape, but the camera is moving away from it, presumably back into the trees.
There is a swear and a sob- the person holding the camera is identified as Emma- and she trips, falls, and the camera suddenly cuts out.
--END TRANSMISSION--
File 046: Respite
THE FOLLOWING TRANSCRIPT CONTINUES TO TAKE PLACE IN THE FOREST, SOME TIME AFTER THE EVENTS OF THE PREVIOUS TRANSCRIPT.
--File 046: Respite--
When the footage begins anew, there is only silence. For a moment, it hangs, the lens pointed toward the ground, until the light flicks on. It lifts, slowly, to show Blaine, sitting across from the holder of the camera. He is staring, wide-eyed and unseeing, at the ground in front of him. There is a smear of blood across his forehead, and the rest of him is covered in dirt, with significant rips in his clothing.
Emma: "Blaine? You okay?"
It''s a moment before he answers, and he looks up slowly at the person holding the camera, which is identified as Emma.
Blaine: "No. Not really. ...Are you?"
Emma: "...No. Not really. Physically, though? You have a cut on your head."
Blaine: "Oh."
Blaine doesn''t do anything to check the cut, seemingly uninterested or even unphased by the knowledge that he''s been wounded.
Blaine: "I know we''ve just... casually accepted a lot of the shit going on right now. I feel like we''re moving almost automatically, sometimes... and sometimes, I don''t know who I am. I feel like I''m playing things out, following steps laid out in front of me, and I fucking hate it. I have no control over anything, and I fucking hate. It."
Emma: "The presence of a glass monster really isn''t helping with that sense of being out of control, either."
Blaine: "Neither is the fact that I can see the stupid glow of that demonic bullshit video game behind you."
Emma: "That''s a given, at this point. Couldn''t lose it if I tried."
Blaine: "Probably shouldn''t rely on that. It''ll wind up biting us in the ass at some point."
Emma: "I''m glad you''re not hurt."
Blaine looks up at her.
Blaine: "Are you? All evidence points to the inevitability of our shit situation, Em. I''m going to kill you. Apparently, it''s going to be brutal."
Emma: "We have to have faith and hope in something, Blaine. I want to believe that you won''t."
Blaine: "That''s because you''re looking at me while I''m sane and lucid. Maybe I should leave this place. Maybe I should just go straight back to the lake and let that thing fucking kill me, so I don''t kill you."
Emma: "I don''t think that''s going to solve anything."This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
There''s the sound of shuffling just behind them, and both Blaine and Emma startle slightly, but then relax a moment later at the sound of a familiar voice.
Alex: "Everyone has a purpose, Blaine. You''ll find yours."
Blaine: "Your faith is exhausting sometimes, dude."
Alex: "Like Emma said. We all have to find faith in something. I find it in religion. If you can''t do that- and I''m not trying to convert you, or anything- then you have to find somewhere to put your faith. Maybe you should put it in Emma."
Emma: "You okay, Alex?"
Alex: "Got a good gash on my leg, but it''s fine. Managed to find my backpack- dropped it in the chaos. I had some bandages in there, so I''m all patched up. I can clean you both up, if you''ve got anything. Otherwise, I''m... dealing. Somehow."
Blaine: "Faith is a joke. Hope is a joke. We''ve failed this an unknown number of times, and we''re just supposed to... what, keep trying? Keep hoping for a better run?"
Alex: "Yeah, basically. Keep still, I''m going to get that cut."
Blaine: "How the fuck do you keep going like that? It sounds exhausting. What proof is there?"
Alex: "Sometimes, there isn''t proof, dude."
Emma: "Except, this time, there is. Proof that there''s hope, I mean."
Both of the young men look at Emma in tired confusion.
Blaine: "What proof?"
Emma: "Alex isn''t dead."
Alex: "Not last I checked, no."
Emma: "Things are changing."
Emma shifts the camera somewhat, the sound of pages ruffling off-screen. A moment later, she displays the little journal for them to see, before turning it to the camera.
Emma: "It said right there: ''Alex is dead.'' But he''s not. Not here- and we were at the lake."
Alex: "I have a lot of faith and hope, Emma, but it''s too early to be counting that as a win. We could get driven back to the lake, or find ourselves having to get into that house. I''m not out of the woods yet, so to, uh... speak."
Blaine: "For once, I''m on the same page as him. We don''t know if this is the same event as that one. We never decided to go to the lake in that version of reality, or that ''iteration''. We only decided that now."
Emma: "Change is hope. Change is change. Things aren''t identical. If events can change, if we make different choices... then we can make different choices."
Emma''s intended message seems to hit home with both Blaine and Alex, because they fall silent, but seem less haunted.
Alex: "Do we have any idea what the hell that thing was?"
Emma: "I think the journal''s got something on it, but honestly, we need to get out of this forest. Sunrise isn''t too far off now, and after that..."
Blaine: "Right. Show time."
Alex: "I''m not even 100% sure where we are, anymore. The woods aren''t that big, but it can get really easy to get turned around in here."
Blaine: "You got a compass in that backpack of yours?"
Alex: "Yeah."
Emma: "Then we''ll pick a direction and start walking, and we''ll hope we don''t run into any more of... that thing."
Alex: "Deal."
Emma: "You know what?"
Blaine: "What?"
Emma: "If heading back to the motel means getting caught, I''m so seriously willing to risk it for like one hot bath."
Alex: "I would actually kill someone for a hot shower."
Blaine: "I''m starving. You losers can have the bath and shower, I want a fucking steak."
The three of them snicker and chuckle tiredly at this, but it''s about all they can muster.
Emma: "All right. I''m going to preserve batteries. You''re down to one on this pack, Blaine."
Blaine: "It''s all right. My bag is stuffed to bursting with extras."
Alex: "I can''t believe how normal that seems to me, that you''re just lugging around an entire camera store''s worth of charged supplies in there."
Emma: "After seeing whatever the hell that thing was, nothing phases me anymore. Come on. Let''s go. I''ll grab the stupid game."
The camera shuts off as they begin to stand up.
File 047: The Maggot Man
THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS GRUESOME DEPICTIONS OF UNREALITY.
--File 047: The Maggot Man--
When next the footage begins again, it is much brighter, and there is hard, labored breathing. Blaine once more has the camera; Alex is leading the way, with Emma in between them. In the brighter lighting, they look absolutely filthy, ragged, and exhausted, and they are breaking through a line of trees... straight into town. Blaine''s voice is ragged and raw; all of their voices are.
Clearly, it has been hours of trekking through the woods, getting lost, and finding their way back into town.
Blaine: "What time is it?!"
Alex: "9:53!"
Emma: "We''re not going to make it back to the motel! I don''t even know where we are!"
Blaine: "Fuck. Pick a building, drop the game in the parking lot, get inside!"
Alex: "Go- there''s the diner down the street! Get inside, Emma, now!"
They stop talking, stumbling across the solid pavement before breaking into hard sprints down the street. A car slams on its breaks as they dash in front of it, honking, but they ignore it, sprinting past. Emma has the game in her hands, and the screen in blinking as the time continues to ruthlessly count down.
The time it takes to reach the diner stretches on for almost too long; Emma manages to drop the game on the sidewalk without stopping, before the three of them barrel in through a swinging glass door, nearly collapsing on the floor. All sound in the diner halts on their shocking arrival, but the trio immediately scramble back up, with Blaine handing the camera to Alex and moving to drag furniture in front of the entrance. In a brief flash of the camera, the waitress at the front welcoming diners in is, again, Diane.
Waitress (Diane): "Excuse me, what the hell do you think you''re doing?"
Emma: "9:55! It''s 9:55!"
Diane: "What in the flying hell-"
Diane immediately stops talking as the lights in the diner flicker. A deathly silence falls on nearly everyone in the building, but for a few faces that suddenly stretch into the now-familiar, no-less-unwelcome smiles. A shadow passes over the sun outside, and the diner becomes unnaturally dark; Blaine pauses only for a moment to look around, before spinning back into action, running to a counter, grabbing hold of a stool, and dragging it over to the swinging door. The only problem with his plan is that it swings both ways, but considering their exhaustion and terror, we can assume he is not thinking straight.
The sound of a small, hard object plinking against glass reaches their ears in the silence, and Blaine freezes, looking up at the window that wraps around the front of the diner, making up the facade of the entrance they''re gathered in.
The lights flicker again, and the faint sound of solitary buzzing can be heard in the vicinity, before it is electrocuted on some lightbulb; Alex turns in time to catch one of the overhead fluorescent lights fizzling out.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Blaine: "They''re in the building."
Emma: "Fuck."
There is the sound of more plinking as more small objects smash against the glass. The bodies of flies are beginning to gather across the surface of the window.
Alex: "Everyone, get down, now! Get under a table! Cover your heads, your eyes, your ears, your noses!"
Diane: "What have you done?!"
Blaine: "Move!"
Blaine''s command seems to send the locals scattering. Those still wearing the horrifyingly eerie grins don''t move, though their faces turn with unnatural smoothness to track Emma as she turns to run toward the counter. Blaine stops her, however, grabbing her by the arm and pointing.
Blaine: "Stop! You can''t go too far!"
The game has seemingly dragged itself across the sidewalk to keep within a specific pace of her, and it''s pushed up against the glass door, the screen flickering sporadically through the pane.
More flies are beginning to smash against the windows; people are screaming as they dive under tables, and Blaine grabs Emma, dragging her to the floor in the entrance. Alex has doubled back, and the three of them huddle together, Alex and Blaine trying to shield Emma while the camera, pointed upright, continues to film.
A crack spiders across the glass as the weight of the flies continues to press against it. An outline is forming around the game console through the door. An increasing sound of buzzing reaches their ears, and swearing, Blaine rips off his jacket and throws it over their heads, momentarily obscuring the camera until Alex manages to fix it.
Flies begin pelting the jacket, and the screams of fear turn to unbridled terror and panic in the diner. Flies have broken in through the vents, it appears, and are dive bombing people. The camera remains pointed toward the front window and door, but the bodies of flies are beginning to squish through the cracks in the doors.
Then the maggots begin dropping.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of maggots start dropping out of the ventilation system onto the floor of the building; huge, massive, and vile, they thrash violently and begin an unholy wriggle toward, presumably, the people clinging to hope beneath the tables. The screams of fear are mixed in with sudden coughing fits and choking.
And then, it quite suddenly... stops.
Everything ceases, apart from the maggots already in the diner. When they realize that the flies have quit their barrage, Blaine throws the jacket back and pulls Emma to her feet, smashing the maggots already trying to climb up her legs. Alex, too, begins clearing a violent path around them; most of the maggots in their vicinity are making a beeline for Emma.
That''s when Alex realizes that it''s not done.
Alex: "Blaine!"
His shout causes the other two to turn and see what the camera now sees.
The door to the diner is opening outward, and the game is resting in the space just beyond the door, face up, the screen still flickering violently.
No one moves. People are still screaming, coughing, choking, and vomiting behind them, but they have eyes only for whatever horror is now standing before them.
A sudden cloud of flies explodes out of the screen, but what at first seems like a tornado of chaos suddenly begins turning into a shape- the shape of a man.
Emma: "Oh, fuck."
The flies are coalescing into a dark shape, a form, the colors of their oversized bodies shifting to imitate something like differentiating between the color of skin and clothes. The shape of a face appears in the swarm, the idea of eyes in the face.
Alex: "You''ve got to be fucking kidding me."
Blaine: "Tell me that''s not who I think it is."
Emma: "Grantham. It''s Jake Grantham."
The flies have collected into the recognizable form of a man, and while the features aren''t exactly detailed enough to make out any sort of identifiable face, it is obvious that it can only be one person.
Jake Grantham, the serial killer known as the "Maggot Man".
Worse is that the being begins talking. Somehow, the collective buzzing of the millions of flies making up his form uses the rise and fall of the nonstop humming and buzzing to formulate real, actual words.
Maggot Man: "EmMa, My DeAr. YoU hAvE bRoUgHt Me HoMe."
File 048: Redux, Revolt, Remobilize
FOR THE SAKE OF BREVITY, THE PREVIOUS FILE ENDED AT THE POINT AT WHICH IT DID. DEEP STUDY INTO THE FOLLOWING EVENTS REQUIRES CAREFUL ATTENTION TO BE PAID TO THE DETAILS. THE EVENTS AT THE TOWN OF [REDACTED] ARE THE PRECURSER TO THE CHAIN REACTION OF EVENTS THAT SPIRALED, SIMULTANEOUSLY, AROUND THE COUNTRY.
--File 048: Redux, Revolt, Remobilize--
Jake Grantham has been reborn as a living, walking horde of flies. Alex and Blaine are still leaning over Emma, and all three of them are clearly too stunned to react, until the horrific shape begins to lurch forward, the flies clumsily moving together as a single hive mind unit.
Emma: "Get up, get up, get up!"
Blaine: "What in the flying fuck are you?!"
Alex: "Come on, Emma, I got you- get up- there-"
The camera swings violently as Alex assists Emma in standing. Careful analysis of the footage shows that the Maggot Man is still stepping steadily toward them. The trio manage to get up and are scrambling back; there are still screams echoing through the diner behind them. Alex swings the camera around and catches an alarming reality: the eerie, smiling townsfolk have stood up and are walking, unscathed, through the madness within the diner, coming to create a blockade behind the trio.
Alex: "HEY! Hey, back the hell up!"
Blaine: "We''re surrounded. Of fucking course we are."
Alex: "Keep Emma in the middle!"
Maggot Man: "I aM sUrPrIsEd YoU aRe StIlL aLiVe, BoY. YoU dO nOt EvEr SuRvIvE tO sEe ThIs."
Emma: "Iterations..."
Maggot Man: "WiThOuT yOu My DeAr, NoNe Of ThIs WoUlD bE pOsSiBlE. AlL tHe PiEcEs FaLl InTo PlAcE."
The rise and fall of the Maggot Man''s words are somewhat slurred and slow, as if still working out how to do what it''s trying to do; the steps lurch, and the being isn''t quite stable. With every step and every word, however, it seems that the creature stabilizes.
Blaine: "What do you want? I thought Weiss didn''t want her killed!"
Maggot Man: "NoT- noT- NOt-"
There is a shudder in the form, and a visual affect like the whole shape tightens together. The being shake out its arms, scattering a few overly large maggots on the floor, which all hurriedly begin to return to the shape.
Maggot Man: "There. That is better."
The buzzing has become more like a voice... though only by imitation. There is nothing human about it. Understandable though it may be, it is still inhuman. When Emma speaks, her voice is shrill; both Blaine and Alex are sticking close to her. Blaine is looking sharply between the Maggot Man and the surrounding wall of almost lackadaisical cultists.
Emma: "The hell do you want with me?"
Maggot Man: "Right now, nothing. This is much faster than last time... each iteration, we grow stronger, and it is all thanks to you."
Emma: "I''m not doing anything!"
Maggot Man: "Not you. Him."
The horrific shape of the man indicates, visibly, toward Blaine, who freezes, hand on Emma''s shoulder. None of them say anything, but the pounding of their hearts is nearly audible. Around them, the screaming continues, though there is not very much that can be done, pinned as they are between a walking, talking dead man, manifested through a hive mind of genetically altered flies and maggots... and a bunch of psychotic cultists with too-wide grins threatening to split their heads in half.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
Understandably, Blaine''s voice shakes as he responds.
Blaine: "I''m not doing anything."
Maggot Man: "With each iteration, you do a better and better job. It is fascinating to remember the pieces we do, and see you grow."
Blaine: "I have no idea what the fuck you''re talking about."
Maggot Man: "No, no, of course not."
There is amusement portrayed through the buzzing of the flies, as if the Maggot Man doesn''t believe Blaine. Alex turns the camera toward him, and Blaine has an expression somewhere in between outrage, despair, and fear.
Blaine: "I''m not going to kill her."
Maggot Man: "Of course you will. You always do."
Emma: "He''s not going to kill me!"
Maggot Man: "You get better every single time, my boy. Every single time... but she never trusts you. Even now, she will not trust you, because of who you are and what you''ve done."
Blaine: "That is not true!"
Maggot Man: "You know you''re not like them. You run with them all over this town, but admit it: you feel at home. You feel like you belong, like you''re supposed to be here. The itch in your hands disappeared when you crossed these borders."
Blaine: "I- that''s not true!"
Maggot Man: "We know you, Blaine. You''re like us. You know suffering. She doesn''t; the boy can''t remember it. Pity he''s alive, but perhaps it''s a sign of greater strength. Two murders on your hands before being inducted will be a sight to behold."
Blaine is enraged at the flippancy of Jake Grantham''s ghost.
Blaine: "I''m not going to fucking kill anyone!"
Maggot Man: "Like you didn''t kill your old man. Like you didn''t kill your mother."
Emma: "He wouldn''t do that!"
Maggot Man: "Oh? And why wouldn''t he? She never stood up for him- isn''t that right, Blaine?"
Blaine doesn''t answer, but there''s rage flickering in his face. The cultists are watching him almost warmly.
Emma: "Blaine... you didn''t kill your mother, right?"
Maggot Man: "See? I told you. They turn on you every single time. It takes one little suggestion, and she''s already uncertain. They don''t understand you, Blaine. They never will."
Blaine: "Shut. The fuck. Up."
Maggot Man: "What, you think you can become a hero? Take what happened to you and work toward saving others in your shit stain of a life? Think you can stop others from having to reach the point you reached?"
Blaine: "The hell do you know?!"
Maggot Man: "You''ll see. There''s still so much for you to uncover... and then it''ll start to become clear to you, Blaine. You''re not like them. You''re like us. Weiss and I- you''re a kindred spirit. You''re meant to be with us, a family, people who actually understand what a delight it is to kill the people who have hurt you for so, so long."
Alex: "Blaine..."
Blaine: "I didn''t kill anyone! I mean- I killed my step-dad, but that was it, and it was self-defense!"
Maggot Man: "You''re sounding defensive, Blaine. The walls are crumbling; the truth will be revealed. You''ve fooled so many. Even Anders thinks you''re a Saint. I''m truly in awe of your growth with each iteration, boy. They will be so pleased."
Emma: "Who is ''they''?"
Maggot Man: "You will see. The Many Mouthed; the Always Hungry; the World Eaters. You saw but a glimpse outside my home."
Alex: "The game. You''re spying on us."
Maggot Man: "You have had me with you all this time. All of you."
Blaine: "If you''re not going to kill us, then get out of our fucking way."
The man of flies bends over mockingly, as if bowing.
Maggot Man: "But of course. Let all return to the way it is meant to be. You will find your rooms at the motel completely clear. Go- take your time. Relax. We are in no rush for you, Blaine."
There is a sudden burst before any of them can say anything; the flies and maggots all suddenly burst outward, the latter dropping to the floor with sickeningly loud thuds, before beginning to scuttle away at alarmingly fast speeds. The cultists all imitate the mocking bows, before moving past them and stepping out into the bright sunshine, which appears to shine as if no cloud ever passed between it and the Earth below.
There is a beat of silence; all the screaming has ceased behind them. Alex moves the camera, but blanches; there''s a brief moment where some of the carnage in the diner is visible. It is unclear if there were any survivors, but the maggots are feasting, burrowing, digging, bursting.
Alex: "Blaine."
Blaine: "I didn''t do it!"
Alex: "Shut up. We need to get out of here, now."
Alex''s tone seems to indicate the reality of their surroundings, and Blaine starts in the camera. Emma is staring out the door, standing quite still; before she can turn and see whatever Alex saw in full, both Blaine and Alex move to hook both her arms. Alex struggles with the camera for a moment before swearing and clicking it off.
--END TRANSMISSION--
File 049: Reflections
THE FOLLOWING FILE IS RECORDED HOURS AFTER THE EVENTS OF THE PREVIOUS FILE.
--File 049: Reflections--
When the camera begins filming, it is immediately obvious that it is much later in the day. The room the cameraperson is currently in is lit only by the setting sun outside, and the streetlights. They say nothing as the scan the room with the camera, revealing more about the scene of their refuge.
The trio is currently holed up in the motel room. The blinds are drawn, but when the cameraperson walks over to quirk one of the blinds open, there is no one in the parking lot. Not a single car can be seen; the lights in the main office are on, but no employees within can be seen. Seemingly, there is no one there, and yet...
The longer the cameraperson stares out the window, the more it seems that this is an illusory lie. As the camera shifts slightly, a figure seemingly... phases... into existence in the parking lot. Even at a distance, their face is contorted by a freakishly large smile operating almost like a hinge. The camera falters slightly, but as it continues to move, the person phases out of existence; a few more phase in and out. Clearly, reality is not what it seems.
The blind quirks shut again, though the filmer''s breathing is harder. They turn, and it becomes clear, now, that the person filming is Blaine.
Emma is curled up in the fetal position on the only bed, wrapped in blankets, her head half-hidden under a pillow. The faint shapes of her journals are on the bed near her, lying open and facedown. Alex is curled up in a similar position on the floor, in front of the door, deep in the darkness of the room and away from the apparently omnipresent eyes out in the parking lot.
Blaine turns and heads toward the bathroom, walking so quietly that his footsteps are nearly silent. He steps in, closes the bathroom into sheer darkness, and then flicks on the cheap, overhead fluorescents. He is facing the mirror.
He looks exhausted, despite what must be about 8 hours of sleeping. Deep shadows sit under his eyes, and his hair is matted. There is an expression of despair hidden in his eyes, and the camera is shaking as he stares at his reflection. He looks like he wants to say something, but just swallows, putting a hand on the sink and bowing his head, lowering the camera as he does so. This presents a unique perspective in which both his actions and the mirror are filmed, which is important, because there is one, major problem: the head in the reflection doesn''t bow. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
Blaine''s eyes are squeezed shut, head bowed, but his reflection is staring straight at him. The eyes in the reflection are filling in with black, but the expression is flickering between rage and despair.
For several seconds, Blaine doesn''t move, but he heaves a heavy sigh, lifts his head, and realizes that his reflection is no longer him. He freezes, staring at it, before slowly lifting the camera so film it, his hands shaking enough that the stabilizer isn''t able to perfectly catch the motions.
Reflection: "Emma must not die."
The words are said as if speaking through a tunnel. It stares at Blaine, unflinching.
Blaine: "Who... the fuck are you?"
Blaine''s voice is as quiet as he can make it, but it''s shaking. The reflection smiles, and black liquid oozes from its mouth, shards of glass embedded in the ooze.
Reflection: "I am you."
Blaine: "Fuck off. Are you the one possessing Emma?"
Reflection: "Yes."
Blaine: "Who the fuck are you?!"
The reflection shakes its head, and raises a hand so that it presses up against the glass of the mirror. Horrifyingly, the glass bulges outward, toward Blaine.
Reflection: "I. Am. You."
Blaine: "What, from... from other... iterations?"
Reflection: "There you go."
Blaine: "Fuck... off. No. That''s not-"
Reflection: "Shut the hell up. Emma must not die."
Blaine: "How the fuck am I supposed to pull that off if I kill her every single time?! What''s the point?"
Reflection: "You''re not me. I made sure of it."
This causes Blaine to pause, presumably staring at the reflection in confusion and mistrust. His body is angling away from the glass, indicating as much.
Blaine: "What are you talking about?"
Reflection: "I am you. I am the survivor. I am the arbiter. I am the one who brings the end. I am the one who killed them both."
Blaine stiffens, going stock still. The camera stops shaking. Something about what the reflection said has resonated with him, but he says nothing in return.
Reflection: "Emma must not die, Blaine."
The reflection smiles again, and the glass continues to bulge outward. The smile is spreading wide across his face, too wide, and suddenly, the reflection of Blaine gasps, snapping back; he snarls, then roars, and several things happen at once.
Blaine- the one in reality- shouts and flails, falling backward into the bathtub behind him. The glass of the mirror shatters into millions of pieces, and the fluorescents overhead all shatter, as well, sparks falling down into sudden blackness.
There''s immediately shouting in the room beyond the bathroom.
Emma: "Blaine?! Blaine! Blaine, where are you?!"
Alex: "The fuck was that?!"
Blaine doesn''t answer, but there''s pounding on the bathroom door, and some light flickers in under the door into the room. After several too-long seconds of this, Blaine finally swears and shuts the camera off.
--END TRANSMISSION--
File 050: Parallels
THE FOLLOWING ARE ENTRIES OUT OF THE "OTHER" JOURNAL, AS PERTAINS TO THE SITUATION CURRENTLY BEING OUTLINED WITHIN THE REPORT.
--File 050: Parallels--
Below are several journal entries that bear notable similarities- and remarkable differences- from the current situation. The veracity of the claims that this journal comes from another, alternate "iteration" of reality cannot be verified outside the events of the report, but as pertains to the situation, they''re important to record down.
10/20/XXXX
Dear Journal,
I''m beginning to think it was a mistake coming to this town. We crossed into it with all of our plans, and I got this bad feeling that... that we were walking straight into a trap.
Blaine''s been odd since we got here. Quiet and withdrawn. Something about the town affected him, and he keeps fiddling with his laptop. I can''t figure out why, but it''s making me uneasy, too.
The lady at the Inn was something Stephen King would''ve recoiled at. She didn''t want to give us a room at first, but the second she saw the game, it was like Anders said- total game changer. They all know exactly who we are here.
Blaine doesn''t seem as bothered about her as Anders and I are. He almost seems to think it''s funny, how horrific she looked, like her smile was going to keep going until her head snapped clean off.
He brought enough batteries and equipment to last us until probably next month, but something about his camera is beginning to make me uneasy. I don''t know what it is.
Everything is making me uneasy. Maybe that''s the problem.
Emma
10/20/XXXX
Dear Journal,
Father Perez is dead. He''s fucking dead. I can''t believe he''s actually dead, and that''s not even the worst part. Everything feels like it''s so, so wrong.
There''s another serial killer. "Weiss". That was what some people suggested fifteen years ago, but there was never any evidence. Now we know: there were two, after all. Weiss is responsible for the games, and Grantham was the "face" of the murders, going after those girls himself, directly.
Blaine, Alex, and I got away from the church after Father Perez was... killed. I can''t even fathom what just happened, and we have no idea if Anders or Bartosz are alive. I hope they are. I''m so terrified to think if they aren''t.
Alex is distraught. Blaine... Blaine doesn''t seem as bothered as I expected him to be. He and Weiss... something happened at the Church. Weiss kept commenting on how he knew Blaine, knew they came from the same kernel of suffering, and Blaine didn''t say anything in response. He just listened. Maybe he was unsettled, but he just... I don''t know. He didn''t react how I''d have liked him to toward everything.
He''s standing guard, now, with us, but I can tell Alex really doesn''t like him. He doesn''t trust him at all. I don''t know Alex from Adam, but I feel like suddenly, I know Blaine even less. He almost feels like a totally different person- like he''s listening for something, waiting for something. He''s on edge, but it''s not for the same reason the rest of us are... and he keeps looking at his phone screen.
At first, I thought he was looking for Anders, trying to contact them, but I caught a glimpse. He''s looking at a video file in one of his folders on his phone. All I could see was that it was named "Never Forget", whatever that means.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
I don''t like this. I feel like I can''t trust Blaine anymore, and I don''t know what to do with that.
Emma
10/21/XXXX
Dear Journal,
We headed back into town and crashed at the motel. We kept hoping that Bartosz and Anders would join up with us, but they didn''t. None of our texts or calls are going through.
I woke up several times through the rest of the night, but every time I did, I saw that Blaine was sitting in the dark, in a chair, staring at his laptop screen. I went to the bathroom and saw that he was still just... staring at the file. He wasn''t even watching it, he was literally just... looking at the file.
I have to be imagining things. I have to be imagining this unease. Nothing is wrong, it''s just this place and Weiss getting to all of us, surely...
Emma
10/21/XXXX
Dear Journal,
The worst has happened. I keep thinking that, and then something worse happens, but this has to be the worst thing, bar none.
Jake Grantham is back.
I can''t even describe the horror Alex, Blaine, and I just went through. We decided to risk it and leave the motel to try to hunt down Bartosz and Anders, but we overestimated our abilities and had to duck into the motel when the timer went off.
There was a horrific swarm of flies. I can''t... so many people must have died. So many people. I couldn''t look. The flies all turned into the shape of a man, and somehow I knew that it was Jake Grantham. He''s back. The murderer from 15 years ago who killed my roommate and best friend is back.
The things he said to Blaine, though... the things he hinted at, and the way Blaine looked at him when he said them. He seems to think that Blaine killed someone, but Blaine told me about that. He killed his step-father in self-defense... but that doesn''t seem to be what Grantham was talking about, and Blaine didn''t seem all that upset at the mention.
He said Blaine was like him and Weiss, and Blaine didn''t say anything to refute him. He barely knew Alex and I were there.
I CANNOT TRUST BLAINE. I can''t. Grantham said it, and he was right. "She''ll never trust you, Blaine." I can''t trust him, not after the things I saw in his face... I can''t explain it. He wasn''t horrified, or scared, or angry... I can''t put a name to what I saw, but I don''t trust him.
He wants to visit the lake tonight.
I need to see that file on his computer.
Emma
DO NOT TRUST BLAINE
DO NOT TRUST BLAINE
DO NOT TRUST BLAINE
10/21/XXXX
Dear Journal,
We''re taking a minute to get ourselves together. Blaine insisted we only go out at night, to avoid being seen. We''re trying to get to Grantham''s house; Alex says he and Father Perez staked this place out at the request of Bartosz, a while back, but he says no one ever goes in or out of Grantham''s old home. The lights are always on, though.
I have such a bad feeling, it''s not even funny, but Blaine won''t listen to me or Alex. Alex doesn''t feel too good about this, either, but Blaine''s insistent. He thinks this is the only way to get around undetected.
Yeah, right, because the darkness is going to stop a living, breathing body of flies and a dude who makes haunted, teleporting game consoles. I''m so sure.
Alex is going to look for the boat he and Father Perez used to use to try to get across the lake quietly. He says it''s very small, small enough to go unnoticed- the lake is a lot bigger than it seems. It''ll take us about thirty minutes to cross it and get to the other side.
I''m freaking out. I have no idea why! I have the worst feeling in all the wo
The journal entry ends there, and when it picks back up, there''s the blood splattered page that Emma mentioned before.
10/21/XXXX
Alex is dead.
The following is from Emma''s "current" journal, and was written before the mirror incident, which potentially happened as she was writing in her journal, though it''s possible that she also fell asleep. Time is uncertain now.
10/21/XXXX
Dear Journal,
The other journal keeps mentioning this file and Blaine being obsessed with his computer. I need to ask him if there''s anything like that, but I''ve never, ever seen him mess with his phone or laptop in that way.
There''s so many differences between how my Blaine and that Blaine is reacting to things.
Alex... I think the other Blaine got him killed. In that world, at that point, Blaine would have been all I had left in that case...
I''m going to go ta
The journal entry ends abruptly there.
File 051: Knock Knock
THE FOLLOWING FILE PICKS UP SHORTLY AFTER BLAINE''S INCIDENT WITH THE MIRROR.
--File 051: Reunion--
When the camera begins, the conversation being recorded has clearly been going for some time already. Blaine appears to be the one holding the camera, and he is pacing back in forth in the main room, agitated and nervous.
Alex: "-think it''s a little weird that this just suddenly happens? Out of nowhere? Why now?"
Blaine: "Because I know at this point. I know what happens in every other iteration. I know what ''I'' do."
Alex: "And you said that this reflection of you... what, ''made sure that you won''t''? What the hell does that mean?"
There is a pregnant pause, and Blaine stops pacing. The camera is facing Emma, who is standing in the middle of the room, looking anxiously between Blaine and the bathroom. Some look must pass between them, because Emma tilts her head slightly, expression changing into alert curiosity. Either way, Blaine doesn''t answer Alex, and the exchange lasts only a moment.
Blaine: "I don''t know yet."
Alex: "Bullshit. You must have some idea. Are you hiding something?"
Blaine returns to pacing anxiously.
Blaine: "No. I''m not hiding anything. I told you everything that happened in there. My reflection looked like something out of a cursed Stephen King novel, and then it started ranting about how I wasn''t going to kill Emma. ''I made sure of it.'' It said that, word for word. It didn''t explain what it meant."
Alex''s expression when the camera is facing him is moody and uncertain. There''s a shadow over his face as he considers Blaine, but Blaine- who must see this- says nothing.
It is unclear if Blaine really has actually told them everything. From the short piece of the conversation recorded, Blaine does not mention the most cryptic message relayed by his reflection. There is reason to assume that Blaine is withholding something.
Alex: "Okay, so then, what, the mirror just... exploded?"
Blaine: "Seems like it was losing control. My reflection, I mean- almost like it wanted to come through the mirror."
Emma: "How do we know this isn''t a trick?"
Blaine: "All I''ve got is that it started with ''Emma must not die''."
Emma: "So this means... I''ve been possessed by you this whole time?"
Blaine snorts, and when he speaks, he sounds somewhat unhinged.
Blaine: "''Me'', yeah- from another timeline. Dimension? Reality? Whatever the fuck ''iterations'' means. You''re being possessed by a version of me that has already killed you."
When Blaine turns to face her again, she has paled significantly and looks slightly ill and panicky. She''s wringing her hands.
Alex: "As if this whole nightmare wasn''t screwed enough as it-"
Before Alex can continue, there''s a sudden knock at the door.
Immediately, Blaine and Alex spring up and away from the door toward Emma, the camera pointed steadfastly toward the entrance. Alex picks up one of the nearby plastic chairs, adrenaline-charged and poised to throw it at an intruder. They have little else in the way of weapons.
Blaine: "Who is it?"
There is a long moment of silence, and then, through the door, comes a familiar voice.
Anders: "Open up, Blaine. It''s me."
There is a strong response to this. A very loud sob erupts from Emma, and Blaine immediately begins to take a step toward the door, the camera half dropping to his side, when Alex- dropping the chair- grabs him by the shoulder roughly and abruptly.
Alex: "Make sure, dude."
Blaine seems to shake himself and swears quietly, falling back a step.
Blaine: "How do I know it''s really you?"
Anders: "You could look outside the window."
Blaine: "I''ve been seeing a lot of things outside that window, and half the time, it looks like it''s from another reality."
Emma: "What?"
Alex: "You never mentioned any of that!"
Blaine: "Yeah, well, the haunted fucking mirror took precedence."
Anders: "How can I prove it?"
Blaine: "Say something only I would know."
There is a small pause as the person claiming to be Anders considers this.
Anders: "I like your shoes, kid."
Blaine relaxes immediately, nearly dropping the camera in his relief.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
Blaine: "It''s him."
Emma: "I... feel like I''m missing something."
Blaine: "It was the first thing he said to me when he saw me, during the... case."
Alex: "Case? What case?"
Emma: "It doesn''t matter right now."
Alex: "Like a murder case?"
Emma: "Alex. It''s not important right now."
Alex: "Are you nuts? There''s no more important time for-"
Blaine''s voice gets louder as he interrupts and talks over Alex, very obvious irritated.
Blaine: "He said that to me because there was no blood on my shoes."
Alex: "I still don''t-"
Emma: "Just take my word for it, Alex. That''s a good thing."
Anders: "Are you stooges done deciding my fate, or what? It''s really unsettling out here."
Blaine: "Come in!"
Both Alex and Blaine startle somewhat anyway when the door opens, and Anders quickly steps in, followed almost at once by Bartosz. Emma squeezes past them before they can stop her and she immediately grabs Anders in a hug, before almost as immediately stepping back and looking at him in shock. It is evident as he steps into the light of the dark room; he is filthy, covered nearly head to toe in dirt. His cheap suit is rumpled. Behind him, Bartosz looks a little disheveled and grim, but otherwise completely fine.
Emma: "Why the hell are you covered in dirt?"
Blaine: "And why the fuck didn''t you call us?"
Anders: "You know damned well why I didn''t. Phones aren''t working properly. Nothing we sent was going through to you two, but it was working well enough between the two of us."
Anders suddenly realizes Alex is with them, and he blinks.
Anders: "I did not expect to see you again, but I''m glad you''re all right."
Alex: "I-"
Blaine: "We''ll come back to that. What the hell were you two doing?"
Anders: "Well, we decided to do a little digging on our own."
Bartosz suddenly snorts in grim laughter, the first sound he''s made.
Bartosz: "That was a bad fuckin'' joke, Jim."
Emma: "You went... digging?"
Anders: "Literally, yes. I decided to go do a little illegal grave digging."
There is a stunned period of silence in which everyone, sans Bartosz- who obviously already knows about this- simply stares at Anders in disbelief.
Blaine: "I''m sorry, what?"
Anders: "You remember. We felt the whole situation surrounding her death was weird, so I decided to get to the bottom of it. Shit''s hit the fan a lot faster than I thought it would, and we''re completely cut off from the outside world, so at this point, what have I got to lose? My life?"
He gives a slightly unhinged laugh that no one shares.
Alex: "So... what did you find?"
Anders: "Nothing."
Emma: "So her death was natural?"
Bartosz: "No, sweetheart- he means nothin''."
Anders: "The grave was empty. Dead empty."
Blaine: "So she''s still alive?"
Bartosz: "I don''t know if I''d say that. I think she''s probably plenty dead, I just don''t think she died from a fall down the stairs, or whatever the hell that document said."
Anders: "Casket was filled with old game consoles. They looked like they were all broken or nonfunctional- maybe original tests for Weiss, to weigh down the casket. Tried to take some photos with my cell phone, but uh... I was never very good at that."
Blaine: "And there was nothing else?"
Anders: "Nothing else from me."
Bartosz: "I followed Weiss around."
Alex: "Are you insane? God above, you''re lucky to be alive. Father Perez and I never even dared to do that."
Bartosz: "I know. I don''t think he thought I would, either- or else he just didn''t care. Took some time to find him, though, and to lose the idiots they set to trail me. They really underestimated my ass."
Bartosz sounds annoyed and almost insulted by this admission.
Bartosz: "I don''t know anything about these supposed iterations, but I do know these fucks are sloppy. If these asshats think we''re in some time loop or whatever, then they''re getting too comfortable. I don''t personally believe a fuckin'' word of it-"
Emma: "We can tell you about that."
Bartosz: "I''m hoping you can tell me about something more important."
Alex: "If you''re talking about the hive mind fly being, we know about that too."
Anders: "The- what the fuck? You didn''t mention anything like that, Jakub."
Bartosz: "I''m honestly not sure I''m currently sane right now, so I didn''t know how to say ''Oh, by the way, I saw Weiss hug the vague shape of a man made up of flies and maggots, and it hugged him back''."
Emma: "Jake Grantham is back. He''s... I don''t even..."
Blaine: "He''s back in the form of a hivemind of his own maggots and flies. He came out of Weiss''s game."
Anders: "Jesus fuck."
Alex: "Pretty sure we accidentally got the entire diner killed..."
Emma: "Remember, Alex. Don''t dwell on it. We couldn''t do anything."
Alex doesn''t look well for a moment and looks incredibly guilty, turning away from them all. He has a hand on a small table, and his knuckles turn white as he grips it in silent agony.
Blaine: "So you followed Weiss and saw the new Grantham?"
Bartosz: "Not all I saw. There has to be other entrances into whatever base these fuckers have got, but I saw them going into the old Grantham house- and they didn''t come back out."
Alex, Emma, and Blaine all groan in horror.
Emma: "God dammit. And here I thought we got away from that."
Anders: "I take it something happened."
Blaine: "You want the cliff notes? Let''s see- Alex ran off because he suddenly remembered that he actually had an exact, identical copy of Emma''s one-of-a-kind journal that he woke up with after beating his copy of the game."
Emma holds up the two journals, fishing them out of her back pockets.
Bartosz: "The fuck? Let me see-"
Blaine: "That''s not all. The lake outside the old Grantham house has a massive... glass... squid... alien thing. It nearly took out Alex. We got out by the skin of our teeth."
Emma: "The ''other'' journal has a section where Alex dies. It''s at the lake."
Anders: "Hold on-"
Alex: "Jake Grantham was revived at the countdown on the game, so I don''t know if we''ve got much longer than tomorrow to get this whole thing handled. A little more than 24 hours, and I don''t know what that thing is capable of doing."
Blaine: "And on top of that, we''re being watched. I look out the window, and there are cultists out there. Sometimes. And then a second later, they''re not there anymore."
Both Anders and Bartosz rub their faces in exhaustion.
Anders: "All right, look, I need a shower and a half, I need to eat something, and I need some sleep, if we''re going to try to save the world or whatever tomorrow. Or die, I guess."
Bartosz: "Let me see those journals."
Emma: "I marked out the most important pages. The entries get really weird toward the end, kind of panicky-"
Blaine: "Anders. Hang on. You can''t use the bathroom."
Anders: "What? Why?"
Emma and Alex both freeze and turn to look at Blaine.
Blaine: "Because the glass shattered. My reflection tried to warn me. Turns out the thing that''s been possessing Emma is me, from another dimension. A ''me'' that killed her."
There is a long beat of silence, and then, as a million questions start pouring out from both Bartosz and Anders, Blaine cuts the camera, presumably to try to explain to them again while not recording any omissions he may be making.
--END TRANSMISSION--
File 052: Trust
THE FOLLOWING FILE COMPRISES TWO SEPARATE VIDEOS FILMED SEQUENTIALLY, TAKING PLACE SOME TIME AFTER THE EVENTS OF THE PREVIOUS FILE, ON THE SAME NIGHT. THE TIMER IS STILL DAMAGED ON THE CAMERA.
IT IS WORTH NOTING THAT THE "VIDEO FOOTAGE" THAT ANDERS MENTIONED TRYING TO CAPTURE IS ACTUALLY JUST PIXELATED CLOSEUPS OF HIS FINGERS COVERING THE CAMERA ON THE BACK OF HIS PHONE AND QUIET SWEARING.
--File 052: Trust--
When the video starts, the person recording the video is standing inside the motel room belonging to Emma and Blaine, and they have very quietly pried open the door to the motel room. Their breathing is silent in a trained manner, and voices outside in the hallway can be heard just a short distance away.
Alex: "You can''t possibly still trust him, Emma."
Emma: "I do."
Alex: "That''s a mistake. He hasn''t changed. He''s going to do to you exactly what he''s done to you in every single iteration. He''s going to kill all of us."
Emma: "You have zero proof of this, except that you know it''s happened in past... realities."
Alex: "How is that not proof?"
Emma: "Because I''m holding better proof. What you handed me-"
Alex: "Was probably given to me by him. Think about it! If he''s being approached by a past version of himself, one that''s supposedly been possessing you, then that means he''s the one that gave me that fucking jour-!"
Emma: "Quiet, Alex. We''re not alone out here, remember?"
Alex: "Right, look, I''m just saying, he probably fabricated it!"
Emma: "In my handwriting? The exact book? With my dad''s message to me? In his writing? Absolutely identical, down to the stains on earlier pages, which have equally identical entries?"
Alex: "He''s from a mirror world, Emma. Who''s to say what he can do?"
Emma: "Yeah, and he also saved you at the lake."
There is a moment of frustrated silence. The person filming has not moved an inch, and seems only intent on capturing the audio outside.
Alex: "I still think you''re making a massive mistake."
Emma: "Fine. Anders believes me."
Alex: "Anders is biased. Bartosz told me. And by the way, he doesn''t like Blaine."Stolen story; please report.
Emma: "Bartosz has spent a long time very alone, hunting cultists, fearing for his life, surviving off of extreme paranoia."
Alex: "And you''re defending a person who, in countless rounds of reality before this, has repeatedly murdered you, over and over, one after another."
Emma: "Why would he show you that, if he wasn''t trying to change things?"
Alex: "You ever think he needs you to trust him? For whatever reason, you''re the integral tipping point. Why would that be?"
Emma: "There''s no point to this. I trust him. End of story. He''s not that Blaine. I trust him. If you trust me, then you''ll trust him, too."
There are footsteps returning to the room, and the person filming quickly steps back from the door, turning off the camera quickly as they do so.
The next video file takes place a very short time afterward. It is apparent almost at once that the person filming is Emma, because she starts the video in the bathroom, quietly filming the glass shards scattered across the floor. Her grim reflection is shown brokenly across the larger pieces. If she is waiting for something, it doesn''t come, but when she turns back into the main room, it''s to show only Blaine there, sitting in a chair and staring off toward the opposite wall, lost in thought.
Emma places the camera down on a small table pointed toward Blaine, and then sits across from him.
Emma: "Hey."
Blaine starts, as if realizing she''s there for the first time. He rubs his face tiredly; his whole body sags somewhat as he does.
Blaine: "Hey, yeah. Sorry. What''s up?"
Emma: "I need to ask you something."
Blaine''s eyes narrow somewhat, and his body tenses, as if he''s afraid of what might come out of her mouth.
Blaine: "What?"
Emma: "This."
Emma places the "other" journal on the table between them, flipping through the pages before pointing to something.
Emma: "In these entries here, I mention that you start pulling out your laptop all the time, or your phone, and you just sit and stare at this video file called ''DON''T FORGET''. What is that?"
Blaine blinks at her, looks at the journal, and then shakes his head, apparently confused.
Emma: "You don''t have a file like that?"
Blaine: "No, I do, it''s just... that''s so fucking weird."
Emma: "What?"
Blaine: "I was just thinking about that file."
Blaine slides out of his chair, walks over to his things, and pulls out his laptop. Emma watches impatiently as he places the laptop down, his fingers moving across his keyboard. He pauses for a moment, before turning to the camera.
Blaine: "I''m going to turn that off."
Emma: "What? Why?"
Blaine: "I want this between us."
Emma seems startled.
Emma: "You don''t want the others to know about this file?"
Blaine: "Anders knows about it. It''s what exonerated me, apart from the fact that there was no blood on my shoes."
Emma: "So why only me?"
Blaine: "There''s something I didn''t tell you guys earlier- something that my reflection said to me."
Emma: "And this video has to do with that?"
Blaine: "Yeah. Emma- I need you to trust me."
Emma: "I do."
Blaine: "No, you don''t understand. I need you to trust me, even when everyone else is telling you not to. I may need you to pretend you don''t trust me. I just need you to trust me, and only me, even if it seems like everything''s gone fucked."
Emma seems startled by this, but her expression clears, and she is quite calm.
Emma: "I''ve trusted you for a long time, Blaine. I still trust you. Completely and fully."
Blaine stares into her face for a long moment. Whatever he sees there must give him peace, because he seems to relax, before getting up and moving toward the camera. He utters only one word- "Good"- before turning it off completely.
File 053: Game Time
THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS INTENSE GRAPHIC DEPICTIONS OF ABUSE AND NEGLECT.
--File 053: Game Time--
The video begins in the morning. There is a sense of grim, anxious expectation as Blaine handles the camera. Emma is seated in the center of the room, on the edge of one of the beds; Alex is pacing nervously by the door; Bartosz is standing by the window and occasionally looking out the blinds, deceptively calm as he leans against the wall; Anders is standing close to Emma, concern on his weathered face.
Blaine: "All right. 9:57. It''s game time."
Emma: "Recap."
Anders: "The last game you played, we learned that there''s some group that orchestrated the death of Grantham''s father. We don''t know why, although I think we can sort of guess who, and what the outcome is."
Blaine: "We also don''t know how Weiss fits into this tale."
Alex: "Or you."
Blaine: "If your convenient amnesia isn''t going to offer any actual help, you can sit your ass down and shut the hell up."
Emma: "You two- cool it. We need to focus."
Alex gives Blaine a dark, openly mistrustful look. It''s unclear how Blaine responds to this, if at all, because the camera is mostly trained on Emma and the gray game console she is gingerly holding in her hands.
There is a small noise suddenly from the speakers, and Blaine strides over to record the screen flickering to life once more.
Instantly, the graphics display a small figure standing in what appears to be the pixelated depiction of a sidewalk beside a road. The figure is simply clad, but the shapes of the pixel art by the side of the road appears to be depicting snow.
Emma doesn''t say anything, navigating the character in one direction down the sidewalk. There is the sound of pixelated snow crunching coming from the speakers as she does this, and after a moment of this, text appears at the bottom of the screen, which Anders reads aloud:
"SHE NEVER GAVE ME ENOUGH TO KEEP WARM."
Blaine: "Neither did my mother, and here I am-"
Alex: "Oh, yeah, just a convicted killer across multiple realities."
Emma: "Alex. Jesus, cool it."
The figure continues on, until Emma reaches a path leading north. Her forward motion is blocked by a pile of snow, so with no other option, Emma turns the character to the north and begins moving forward. The pixel art depicts the front stairs of a house that Emma directs the character up, toward a door. When nothing stops her, she activates the "action" button on the door. At once, there is a small text window that appears across the bottom of the screen, indicating conversation.
HER: "YOU KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO, DEMON."
ME: "MOM, PLEASE-"
HER: "DO IT. FIND WHAT YOU NEED. I THREW THEM OUT THERE FOR YOU. WHEN YOU''RE CLEAN, YOU CAN COME IN."
Blaine: "''Clean''?"
Emma: "I''m telling you. Serial killers are generally born from suffering."
Alex: "Suffering, huh? That sounds strangely familiar."
Bartosz: "Save it for after the level, Alex. Stop antagonizin'' everyone. Emma''s life depends on gettin'' this right. We''ll worry about the rest of the shit later."
Alex: "...Right."
Emma: "Okay, so now I need to find some items. There''s a little thing up here, see? I''ve got to find 5 items."
Blaine: "What''s that one?"
Emma: "That looks like... a timer. I need to find the items before the bar runs out."
At the top left corner of the screen, there is a simple 0/5 displayed, indicating 5 items that need to be located. In the top right of the screen, a simple bar has appeared, and the colored portion is slowly draining as time ticks by.
Everyone falls silent as Emma continues to navigate around the screen. She guides the character into the cold snow, and begins meticulously checking everything she can. Under a semi-hidden pile of snow near the house, she finds the first item.
YOU FOUND THE BLONDE WIG.
Anders: "Ah, hell."
Blaine: "What?"
Anders: "I think I know where this is going. And if it''s going where I think it''s going, we''re about to get some answers, Bartosz."
Bartosz: "I''ll be sure to alert the press."
Emma continues navigating, and the bar continues to steadily drain. She finds under another snow pile the BLACK SKIRT, and under the front stairs, the SHINY SHOES.
Blaine: "I think I know where this is going, too."
Bartosz: "There was another serial killer whose mother forced him to dress up as a girl. It''s... sadly not uncommon."
Emma: "One more item."
Emma backtracks to the front of the house; the timer is now more than halfway depleted. She quickly moves to check a rickety mailbox, and exhales a sigh of relief when the prompt appears.
YOU FOUND THE CUTE SHIRT.
Emma: "Just in time..."
She quickly navigates back to the door and activates it, prompting more text.
HER: "PUT IT ON."
ME: "MOM, PLEASE, I DON''T WANT TO-"
HER: "PUT IT ON, SO HELP ME GOD, I CAN''T FUCKING SEE HIS FACE!"
Emma: "She hated that Jake looked like his father."
Blaine: "So she made him dress up like a girl?"Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
Bartosz: "Lotta sick people out there, kid. You know more''n most, but still not all there is to know about the depravity of humanity."
The screen fades to black momentarily, and when the game reappears, instead of Jake''s original avatar, it''s now one with a curling blonde wig and a skirt. The door opens, and Emma navigates the character through the door, though the screen now just fades to black and begins displaying text.
"IT WAS MY FAULT THAT MY FATHER DIED. THAT''S WHAT SHE TOLD ME. I SHOULD HAVE DIED IN HIS PLACE, SO SHE COULD STILL HAVE HIM. I FOUND MYSELF WISHING I HAD... BECAUSE SHE WASN''T THE ONLY ONE TORMENTING ME. THE REST OF THE WORLD JUST WANTED ME TO TAKE OUT THE TRASH."
Emma''s head tilts somewhat as she reads the last of this text, but the game begins to fade back in. Now, she''s Jake Grantham again, but in a different location, and no longer dressed as a girl. At first glance, it appears to be a school ground, and there''s other characters facing Emma''s player character.
BULLY 1: "YOU''RE SO FUCKING GROSS. YOU SMELL LIKE SHIT ALL THE TIME."
BULLY 2: "DOESN''T YOUR MOM GIVE A SHIT THAT YOU COME TO SCHOOL IN THE SAME FUCKING CLOTHES ALL THE TIME?"
BULLY 3: "YOUR PANTS DON''T EVEN REACH YOUR ANKLES! HAHAHAHA!"
ME: "STOP..."
BULLY 1: "WELL, IF YOUR MOM DON''T WANT YOU, THEN WE CAN JUST TAKE OUT THE TRASH FOR HER!"
Before Emma can mention anything, there trio of boys suddenly surge forward and, before Emma can process, they grab her character. The screen goes black, and there''s a nasty noise that emits from the speakers. White letters appear across the black void of the screen, shaking in an odd, jarring fashion.
YOU FAILED. YOU WILL BE PENALIZED.
Again, before anyone can react, there''s another piercing shriek from the speakers, and maggots begin wriggling out in torrents. Emma screams as they drop onto her arms and immediately begin scrambling up toward her face- but the screen has already begun to fade back in to the scene, which begins replaying. Blaine instantly thrusts the camera at Anders, who grabs it haphazardly in shock as Blaine lurches forward to start brushing the maggots off of her, even as they continue pouring out, aggressively trying to reach her face.
Blaine: "Fuck, keep playing, keep playing, I got it!"
The camera is being moved around in a fashion that makes it difficult to see what Emma is doing, but it appears that on the second run, in spite of the distraction of the maggots and Blaine trying to keep them from getting to her face, she does the right thing. When the camera is stabilized, her character is moving fast to the south, and the three boys are running after him.
Maggots are still crawling, somehow, out of the speakers of the game, but Emma, stiff and with veins popping in her neck from clenching her teeth, continues running from the bullies. At the last second, as she passes a seemingly innocuous part of the background, she suddenly gasps and jerks Jake Grantham back around toward a collection of dumpsters.
This appears to be the right thing to do. Maggots immediately stop pouring out of the speakers; the camera jitters, and beyond, both Bartosz and Alex are trying to stamp them out in the motel room as Blaine continues keeping the things off of Emma, seemingly hell bent on getting to her and no one else. On the game screen, a cutscene takes over, and Jake''s character leaps forward, grabbing something off of the ground and spinning around to throw it into the faces of his attackers.
BULLY 2: "HOLY FUCK- WHAT THE FUCK- WERE THOSE MAGGOTS?!"
BULLY 3: "I''M GONNA THROW UP-"
BULLY 1: "YOU''RE FUCKING DISGUSTING, TRASH!"
Unable to handle the situation, they turn tail and flee, leaving Jake Grantham standing in the midst of the disgusting dumpsters. There are small pixels moving slowly across the ground on the still screen, and the trash is apparently overflowing, despite the number of receptacles.
For several moments, nothing happens, and Emma appears to still be unable to control Jake Grantham. Finally, text appears.
"AND THEN HE APPEARED."
WEISS: "THAT WAS A BRILLIANT MOVE."
Emma: "I fucking knew it."
Blaine: "What?"
Emma: "Weiss just appeared."
Anders: "Is that who that is? This little screen is hard to look at for so long."
There''s a new character walking on screen. He''s thin, but seemingly tall, matching somewhat the description of the real deal. He walks toward Grantham, who takes a step back.
WEISS: "I''M NOT HERE TO JOIN IN. I''M HERE TO STRIKE A BARGAIN."
ME: "WHAT BARGAIN?"
WEISS: "MUTUAL SURVIVAL. I''VE BEEN WATCHING YOU. I THINK WE ARE ALIKE."
ME: "ALIKE? US? YOU DON''T EVEN KNOW WHAT I GO THROUGH."
WEISS: "NO. BUT YOU DON''T KNOW WHAT I GO THROUGH, EITHER."
The screen fades to black, and new text appears.
"I DIDN''T TRUST HIM AT FIRST... UNTIL I SAW. I SAW HOW HIS FAMILY TREATED HIM: THE SACRIFICIAL LAMB. HE KNEW, AND EVENTUALLY, I KNEW THAT HIS FAMILY WAS ONE OF ''THEM''. THE ONES WHO SACRIFICED MY FATHER TO CREATE MY MOTHER.
"HOW LITTLE WE REALLY KNEW."
Nothing appears for several moments, and then a new timer appears, one that, this time, is ticking down from about 24 hours.
Emma: "I feel like that gave us so much and so little."
Alex: "I saw none of what you saw, and I was a little... distracted. God, those fucking things really pop, don''t they?"
Bartosz: "Kid, never, ever say that again."
Emma: "We learned a lot from this."
Emma gingerly places the game down on a table at the far end of the room, her hands and arms jittery. She moves to stand next to Blaine, who is watching her carefully; he takes her hand and laces his fingers through hers, and she immediately squeezes his hand, seemingly without thinking.
Emma: "We learned that Grantham''s mother abused him. She forced him to dress in a blonde wig and little girls'' clothes."
Anders: "By extension, we can also say why he targeted the Lost Girls."
Bartosz: "Thought I''d be happier to have that answer, after all this time."
Anders: "No. Answers just give clarity to the depression."
Emma: "We also learned that Grantham was bullied at school. His mother did not provide enough for him."
Bartosz: "Boo fucking hoo. Cry me a river. I don''t feel jack shit for him."
Emma: "At that time, he was just a child, Jakub. If something had been done for him, all of this could have been avoided."
Anders: "Go on with what you were saying, Emma."
Emma: "Right. We learned that this bullying drove him to hide in the dumpsters."
Anders: "How did you know that''s where the game wanted you to go?"
Emma: "It kept emphasizing ''taking out the trash''. Everyone thought of him as trash, including his mother. Where else was he going to find safety, but in the disgusting, untouchable zone of the dumpsters?"
Bartosz: "I never was very good at pitying serial killers."
Emma: "On top of that, he met Weiss shortly after the discovery that maggots would keep away his attackers... and Weiss''s family was behind what happened to his father. He also said Weiss''s family treated him like a ''sacrificial lamb'', and that they wanted Grantham''s mother to become what she became."
Blaine: "That is a lot of forward planning."
Alex: "Why would they treat Weiss like a sacrificial lamb? For what?"
Emma: "We don''t know, and we don''t even know what that entails. If they were planning on actually sacrificing him for... something... then that would explain what they were doing."
Blaine: "But Weiss wasn''t sacrificed."
Emma: "No. Neither was Grantham, if they were both supposed to be sacrificed."
There''s a long moment of silence as all of them think this through.
Alex: "Back when we were at the church... Weiss said something. I remembered it earlier, when Emma mentioned that serial killers are born from suffering."
Blaine raises a single eyebrow, which Alex notices, because he''s staring directly at him, rather pointedly.
Alex: "He said that you and he were alike, Blaine. That you were ''born of suffering''. He had a big thing for suffering, didn''t he?"
Emma: "You think the cult made it so that both Weiss and Jake would suffer?"
Anders: "That''s starting to seem to be the reason."
Bartosz: "Why treat him like a sacrificial lamb?"
Emma: "Because..."
Blaine: "Because Weiss wasn''t the intended sacrifice. His family was."
They all turn to look at him in surprise, but Blaine is staring off into though, frowning.
Anders: "How do you figure?"
Blaine: "Think about it. If Weiss''s family needed to treat Weiss badly enough to turn him into a murderous psychopath, then they needed to do it with as much intentional direction as possible. You don''t tell a family that THEY''RE the sacrifice and they''d better treat their kid like shit."
Bartosz: "Ah. I get it. They told the members of their little cult that their kid was going to be sacrificed, so of course the fuckers were all too happy to play along, never realizin'' that they were linin'' up their own killer."
Emma: "This is all conjecture. We won''t know for another 24 hours."
Anders: "And what happens after that?"
They all turn to look at Alex, who shakes his head, looking dismayed.
Alex: "I''m sorry. All I remember is waking up in the hospital, having that second journal, and... and nothing else."
Several long minutes pass, and then Anders sighs.
Anders: "You want me to turn this off? I think we got what we were going to get."
Blaine: "Yeah. Go ahead, Jim."
Anders fiddles with the camera, swears a few times, and then finally manages to turn it off.
--END TRANSMISSION--
File 054: Fire Power
AS A REMINDER, ALL FILES WITHIN THIS DOCUMENT ARE CONSIDERED CLASSIFIED. THE EVENTS CONTAINED HEREIN ARE NOT CONFIRMED TO HAVE OCCURRED. THIS IS A RECORD OF RELEVANT FILES, WHICH CONTINUE TO BE ADDED, IN AN ONGOING INVESTIGATION.
ANY FOUND TO BE LEAKING THESE DOCUMENTS WILL BE PUNISHED TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW.
--File 054: Fire Power--
The video begins with Blaine recording from inside of the car. It would appear all five of the main group are now traveling together; Jakub Bartosz is driving in the front driver''s seat, Jim Anders is now in the passenger, and Alex, Emma, and Blaine- in that order- are now piled into the back.
They appear to have stopped outside of a convenience store.
Blaine: "Bartosz didn''t say anything about why we''re here?"
Anders: "You heard the same thing I heard. He said ''hang on'', hopped out of the car, and that was it. That''s all the warning we got."
Alex: "He doesn''t explain much of what''s going on in his head, does he?"
Emma: "At this point, you know him better than I do."
Alex: "Not exactly. Father- Father Perez knew him better. I was a... recent addition."
Blaine: "Speaking of, how''s remembering anything helpful going?"
Alex: "How''s not killing Emma going?"
Emma: "Oh, my God, you''re like toddlers."
Anders: "There he is."
The driver''s door opens a second later, and in comes Bartosz. He drops a brand new backpack on Anders''s lap- a simple, two zipper affair typically used by teens starting up at high school, no name brand- and it''s already loaded with something that clinks ominously. Anders immediately unzips it and exclaims in surprise.
Anders: "Hairspray? You planning on doing someone''s hair up?"
Bartosz: "Front pocket, asshole."
Anders snorts and pops open the front pocket, displaying a large menagerie of lighters.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Anders: "They let you walk out with all of this? Seriously?"
Blaine: "Flamethrowers?"
Bartosz: "Bingo. We need some kind of weapon against these buzzin'' nightmares, and guns ain''t gonna cut it. Fire''s the only thing."
Alex: "Not all hairspray works the same."
Bartosz: "Trust me, kid, I know my flammable substances. That brand- [REDACTED]- that''s the good shit. We''re not talkin'' several feet worth of fire, but it''ll keep burning if you keep spraying. All we need is fire and flammable fuel."
Anders: "That''ll do it, I guess."
Emma: "But how did they seriously let you buy all of that?"
Bartosz: "Word''s spreadin''. Haven''t you noticed? The streets are empty as hell. Folks''re scared stiff of us. After what happened at the diner yesterday, they wanted me out of that store ASAP."
Alex blanches visibly on the camera. Emma closes her eyes and tightens her fists, but says nothing.
Anders: "All right, then. So, to Grantham''s?"
Bartosz: "The road''s being watched. I don''t think they''ll really stop us, but I also don''t really want to test it. We''re going back to the church, and then we''re taking a straight line to the lake."
Blaine: "But not OVER the lake. We need to go around it."
Emma: "Like hell I''m touching that water. There''s something in there."
Bartosz: "We''ll be lucky if we make it there by evening."
Anders: "Better that than dealing with... whatever the kids saw."
Bartosz: "Hmm."
Blaine: "You''ve seen a walking hivemind, Bartosz. What more do you need to believe other shit''s going on?"
Bartosz: "It''s hard. I''ve spent my whole life searching for an unreality, with everyone telling me I''ve cracked. I''ve watched colleagues- respected colleagues, people who knew what I went through- young people, people with families, people with lives ahead of them, and old people. I''ve watched nearly all of them, one by one, off themselves, because the strain of dealing with the things we saw was too much. Now, I''ve got everything laid out before me, and I''m scared to fuckin'' pieces to accept that all of it is real, because what the fuck does that mean for the rest of the world?"
Emma: "What... do you mean?"
Blaine: "He''s saying that this can''t be the only thing going on."
Bartosz: "Exactly. Kid gets it. We''re just dealin'' with what''s happenin'' on our side of the pond, we''re just lookin'' at what''s targetin'' us right here, right now. What''s someone else dealin'' with that we don''t know about?"
Alex: "I think I''m going to be sick."
Bartosz: "Exactly."
Alex: "No- I- look-"
Blaine leans around the seat almost at the exact same time that Bartosz suddenly slams on his breaks. He''d been so busy talking that he hadn''t realized something has changed about the church.
The building has been razed to the ground, perfectly; on either side, the other buildings stand totally untouched. In the center of the road leading up to where the church once stood, stabbed into the asphalt in a display of inhuman strength, is a giant, upside down cross with Father Perez''s horrifically mauled, bloated, maggot filled corpse hanging from it.
Silence sits heavily on the car.
Emma: "Oh, Alex-"
The video cuts short.
--END TRANSMISSION--
File 055: Return to the Lake
THE FOLLOWING TAKES PLACE SOME TIME AFTER THE EVENTS OF THE PREVIOUS FILE, PAST THE CHURCH. WHAT WAS SAID BETWEEN FILES IS UNCERTAIN.
--File 055: Return to the Lake--
When the video begins, the group is trudging through the woods. It is unclear how long they have been walking, but the silence is still heavy. Blaine is recording; Bartosz and Anders are silently leading the group through the woods, and Alex is bringing up the rear, alone. Emma is walking close to and beside Blaine.
Emma takes notice of the camera first. When she talks, she keeps her voice quiet.
Emma: "Recording?"
Blaine: "We''re almost at the lake."
Emma seems surprised by this.
Emma: "How can you tell? It just looks all the same to me, right now."
Alex: "He can tell because he can feel it."
Blaine doesn''t respond, but Emma just sighs.
Emma: "Alex, look. I can''t begin to guess what you''re feeling right now, but infighting isn''t going to fix things."
Alex: "I''m not accusing him." Alex pauses. "This time, anyway. I know because I can feel it, too."
Ahead of them, Anders and Bartosz slow down, turning to look at them with concern. Apparently, they were only pretending not to listen.
Anders: "Sorry, what are we feeling?"
Alex: "I don''t know what Blaine''s feeling, but I''ve got this heavy dread that''s increasing with every step we take."
Bartosz: "Kid, that''s not a super power-"
Alex: "No, you don''t get it."
Alex struggles for a minute to collect himself.
Alex: "I thought, at first, it''s just because I''m anxious about... you know. My supposed impending doom. I thought it was because I''m getting nervous and scared, and obviously, I don''t want to die."
Alex looks directly at the camera- or rather, Blaine.
Alex: "That''s not it, though. And I bet it''s different from what you''re feeling."
Bartosz: "Why would you two be the only ones feeling shit? Why not us?"
Emma: "I don''t feel anything."
Alex: "I feel like every step is getting harder to take, physically, literally. Like I''m pushing through a swamp that''s getting higher up my calves- but at the same time, it feels like I can''t go any other way. I''m stuck and I can''t stop going this way. If I turn around, something else will get me."
Blaine: "I..."
Blaine doesn''t say anything, and Emma looks at him in concern.
Blaine: "I am... I''m not sure what I''m feeling."
There is a long, pregnant pause following this. It is very obvious that Blaine is lying, and from his stand point, Blaine captures everyone''s reactions. Anders and Bartosz immediately glance at each other, the former looking defensive, the latter very pointed. Alex narrows his eyes and looks away, shaking his head.
Emma looks directly at Blaine and gives a tiny nod of her head, looking grim. That is her only response.
Anders: "Look, whatever it is you lot think you''re feeling, we won''t know we''re close until Bartosz says we are."You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Bartosz: "You''re all in luck, or crazy lucky, or just insane. We''re pretty damned close."
He turns to stiffly lead the way through the trees, and sure enough, after just a few more minutes of walking, they arrive at a shockingly similar spot to where the kids had walked up to previously.
The small dock is more noticeable at this time of day. Immediately noticeable is the sudden silence that sits, ironically, very loudly in the area. It''s like the absence of sound is a sound in itself.
There is something inherently wrong about the lake, but it is unclear what, immediately. Because it is broad daylight, in the very far distance, at the other end of the light, one can just make out the shape of the Grantham house.
Bartosz: "I know we already nixed the boat, but-"
Emma: "No. No way. We''re going around."
Bartosz: "Kid, it''s already past midday. If we want to reach the house before it gets dark, we need to cut down our time by-"
Blaine: "Shut up. Listen."
Everyone stops moving; there is a faint sound similar to the aforementioned glass euphone instrument, but it is distant. As they stand, the surface of the lake suddenly moves, but it doesn''t move like the surface of water. The crackling of broken glass reaches their ears, and a single long, tentacled arm made of shimmering glass briefly breaks the surface.
Just as quickly, the heavy silence falls on the entire area once more, and the surface of the lake becomes abnormally still once more.
Bartosz immediately begins gesturing sharply; he motions for the group to stay silent, and then to back out of the area of the lake, which they all do as silently as possible. It isn''t until the heavy silence fades and the lake is no longer in view that he stops the group.
Bartosz: "The fuck was that?"
Alex: "We told you everything about that night."
Emma: "That''s the thing that''s supposed to kill Alex. It almost succeeded last time, but Blaine saved him."
Alex: "Wouldn''t expect it to happen twice."
Blaine: "Look, point is, that thing is not safe. We need to go around the lake, and I''m getting the sudden feeling that it does not like sound. Was the lake always like that?"
Alex: "What? No. I told you, Father Perez and I used to use that boat to cross the lake all the time, to try to look around the Grantham property. None of this happened before. Father- Father Perez openly stood against the cult, and was openly looking into what had happened fifteen years prior. We didn''t find out much, granted, but no one ever did anything to stop us. Not until you came."
It''s not to Emma, Bartosz, or Anders that he directs this accusation, but to Blaine.
Blaine: "Ah. I get it. You''re blaming me for Father Perez''s death."
Alex: "Blaming you? It is your fault. The second you showed up, everything changed!"
Emma: "Alex, hang on-"
Blaine: "No. Emma, take the camera. Come on, Alex, let it the fuck out."
Alex: "This is your fucking fault, and we''re all acting like we''re not walking around here with a literal smoking gun!"
Blaine: "That''s it."
Anders: "Hang on-"
Bartosz: "Don''t. Kid''s right. It''s gotta happen."
Alex: "We KNOW you''re a murderer! I know it! He knows it! Your biggest defender knows you''re a ticking time bomb, and don''t you fucking deny it! Weiss is excited you''re here because you are the signal for everything to kick off!"
Blaine: "Yup. That''s me, ain''t it? Glad you got it all figured out."
Alex: "You''re fucking right I do! I''m not going to let you kill Emma!"
Blaine: "Good! That''s the whole fucking point, isn''t it? Not to kill Emma? That''s what this has all been leading up to, right?"
Alex: "No! Because no one will listen to the warnings being screamed at us! I brought that journal back to warn us about you, and no one is listening! She''s acting like you''re a fucking saint!"
Blaine: "That''s right. Because if you''d figured this all out, if everyone would just listen to you, right? Everything would be fine. But it''s everyone else''s fault. Not yours. Except you''re not that big of a help at all, are you?"
Emma: "Blaine-"
Blaine: "No. He needs to hear it. He''s a liability right now. He''s done fuck all, apart from bring you the journal. He can''t remember shit, except for a few nightmares that are all he''s decided he needs to have the answers."
Alex: "I do have the answers, asshole! You''re going to get us all killed! You''re not like us! Weiss said it himself- ''born of suffering''. You''re just another serial killer waiting to hatch, waiting to wake up and kill us all, aren''t you? You fit all of the fucking signs!"
Blaine: "Then DO something about it! Remember something! Do something! The fuck did you beat that bullshit game for if you aren''t going to come out of it with more than just a few fucking nightmares?! How are you actually helping Emma apart from just whining like a little bit-"
Blaine doesn''t get to finish. Alex roars and leaps at Blaine, swinging, and lands a good hit in Blaine''s jaw, sending the two of them to the ground. Emma yelps, starting to move forward, but Bartosz manages to stop both her and Anders from reaching the two boys fighting it out on the ground.
Emma shouts again, the camera slips from her grasp, hits the ground, and rolls across the dirt behind her. It points toward the lake, upside down, and displays, for just a moment, a widely smiling Weiss standing in the shadow of the trees. As the sounds of shouting and fighting continue, Weiss steps back toward the lake, turns, and leaves.
Of its own accord, the camera shuts off.
--END TRANSMISSION--
File 056: Face-Off With Fate
THE VIDEO FOR THIS FILE WAS FILMED BY AN UNKNOWN PERSON. IT IS MOSTLY ACTION, AND IS THEREFORE MOSTLY DESCRIPTIVE. GREAT CARE HAS BEEN TAKEN TO DOCUMENT THE EVENTS THAT UNFOLDED AT THIS TIME, DESPITE THE HECTIC NATURE OF THE VIDEO.
--File 056: Face-off With Fate--
The video begins not where it left off, but in a new location. It is immediately unclear who is recording, because all of the members of the group are within the shot.
Blaine and Alex have been separated; both are sporting split lips, and neither are looking very happy with the other. Emma is standing between them, looking furious, but no one is saying anything at this point. The group is standing, tense, waiting for something to break the tension... and something does.
The sudden piercing tone of the glass alien music splits the air, and everyone jumps to the alert, Alex and Blaine scrambling to a standing position. All heads turn toward the lake- and just as well, because the sudden sound of trees being smashed immediately follows.
Bartosz: "GET DOWN!"
Everyone hits the dirt. Whoever is filming moves smoothly and without concern, lowering themselves to the floor. While it seems that the camera would be in blatant view of everyone being filmed, there is absolutely no recognition or notice of the camera or of whoever is holding it.
The groaning of trees is joined by the sound of thrashing, and then suddenly, trees and debris are flying in every direction; screams and shouts fill the air, and when things clear up, the camera tilts almost lazily upward to display the full, writhing wrath of the lake creature''s glass arms.
In broad daylight, sunlight flashes and glitters blindingly off the millions of shards that make up the creature''s entirety. The sound of glass scraping and moving is joined by the bassline blasts of dark, jarring musical tones that clash and blare.
Blaine: "Emma!"
Emma: "I''m here!"
The camera tilts back down to show the group standing and trying to move around the debris that has fallen around them. Blaine is immediately at Emma''s side, helping her over trees; Alex is trying to make his way toward them, deathly pale, while Anders is helping Bartosz to his feet, the latter swearing too much to properly record, too rapidly to capture it all. It is a lot of swearing.
Quite suddenly, Alex screams, and he disappears into the fallen foliage.
Anders: "Shit! Alex?!"
Emma: "Oh, God- NO! ALEX!"
Emma is pointing upward, and when they all turn, it''s to see that the arm of the creature has snaked Alex through the debris and is now dragging him up and off the ground.
Blaine is the one to respond first. He takes off through the smashed trees and leaps up off of a stump, narrowly missing Alex''s outstretched hand and crashing back down to the grass.
Emma sprints past him next, screaming as she starts to make a run for the lake; Alex is already in the air, shouting and swearing and trying to dislodge himself.
There is a bang- a deafening crack- and the glass tentacle suddenly jerks back, releasing Alex. He falls for a horrifying second through the air, before both Blaine and Emma smash into him, barely cushioning his fall, the three of them tumbling through grass and leaves and sticks. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
The camera turns to show Bartosz standing in the wild chaotic mess of trees, eyes hard and calm, a gun in hands that are steady. He is lining up another shot, but sudden blasts of angry, irritated music fill the air, and the tentacle makes to slam toward him.
Anders grabs Bartosz and throws the two of them to the side and into the foliage; plant matter is thrown in a myriad of directions as the glass arm crashes into the dirt. It rips itself up and out of the earth, before snaking around to twist back and point toward Alex, Emma, and Blaine once more.
Emma screams and moves to stand in front of Alex, but- with a surprising gentleness- the tentacle grips her by the waist and gently tosses her to the side. She lands with a loud yelp into a nest of greenery, just as the tentacle whips back around and smashes into Alex''s chest, sending him sliding onto the lake, the surface of which no longer appears to function like water. It is a solid, yet strangely fluid surface of glass.
Blaine: "ALEX! Get UP!"
Alex: "Get this thing the fuck off of me!"
There is a cacophony of voices that are difficult to follow as events fly past. Alex manages to roll to his feet just in time to narrowly avoid the glass arm as it smashes onto the surface of the lake, which rolls like the waves of solid, unbreachable water; when he attempts to run from the creature, however, the glass surface reacts and bucks him, sending him onto his back.
Blaine is, meanwhile, sprinting for the water line; the second his feet touch the surface of the glass, however, he slides and falls, gliding across his back. He alone is the only person not shouting or swearing; there is grim determination on his face, which is ashen with concentration.
All the time, the unknown camera person maintains perfect pace with every shot, every angle, every point of interest.
Alex attempts to scramble to his feet again, but the surface bucks once more. He successfully rolls as the pointed, fractured tip of the glass creature suddenly stabs into the surface where he was lying moments before; he rolls again, narrowly avoiding yet another direct attack. Back on the shore, Emma is screaming for Blaine to get to Alex, while Bartosz is attempting to line up another shot. The glass creature whips around once more and slices at them, sending the two men flying. Bartosz drops his gun and swears as he and Anders roll, almost an afterthought, into the woods.
The creature turns once more toward Alex. Blaine has regained his footing, but he isn''t fast enough. With a speed that belies its size, the tentacled arm stabs into Alex''s shoulder, slamming him hard into the surface of the lake.
He screams, and the entire area freezes, horror filling the air almost palpably as Alex is lifted up and flung further into the center of the lake. The surface of the glass is smeared with his blood. As this occurs, the camera effortlessly scales upward on some unseen surface, keeping pace with Alex''s relative position.
Blaine sprints toward Alex as the horrifying base tones of the creature fill the air, positioning itself with its fragmented glass point, and stares down at its target. It flies toward Alex, who is unable to move himself in time, and is stopped only by Blaine suddenly positioning himself between Alex and the creature, arms thrown out wide, chest heaving.
The creature freezes. The glass glints off the sunlight, reflecting Alex''s blood, the green of the woods around them, and the gray clouds in a slowly darkening sky.
Something is said by Blaine, but the camera is too far to pick up his words.
Time seems to hang heavily; the timer on the video continues to fluctuate uselessly. There is no sound as the tentacle seems to regard Blaine for several very long moments.
With a near begrudging steadiness, the tip of the creature''s tentacle reaches forward to caress Blaine''s cheek, before sliding eerily back into the glass surface, which is completely unperturbed by the enormity of the beast. Everything returns to a still, flat glass surface, and Blaine''s shoulders heave with effort as he stands over Alex, who is still lying on his back, a small pool of blood beginning to collect beneath him.
Blaine suddenly whips around and stares directly at the camera, eyes locking with whoever it is that is holding the device. There is a low laugh- the only sound that has been heard at all- and then the camera is lowered and turned off.
Audio testing against previous files indicates that the voice is a direct match to Blaine''s.
--END TRANSMISSION--
File 057: Into the Grantham House
THE CAMERA USED AT THIS POINT NO LONGER APPEARS ABLE TO TELL THE PROPER DATE AND TIME. IT DOES, HOWEVER, BEGIN TO DISPLAY THE WORDS "THEEND", INSTEAD, WHERE THE DATE AND TIME SHOULD BE DISPLAYED.
--File 057: Into the Grantham House--
The video begins much later. The group appears to have quickly traveled from the lake to Grantham''s house, and filming begins just outside of the building. It is now late afternoon, and the sun is setting; time is no longer clear from the camera, so it is uncertain how much time has passed since the face off with the lake creature.
Blaine is standing apart from the group, and he is the one with the camera. When it turns on, there is several long seconds in which the camera is angled at the ground. There is no talking, nor are there any sounds from the forest; it is eerily silent. When he raises the camera, Jake Grantham''s home is visible in its full scale, just beyond them. It appears in relatively good shape, a wooden construct from which a dirt road stretches out, away from them. It possesses two floors, and seems to loom ominously in a way that is difficult to describe; even from a scientific perspective, there is something strange about the house, which now has no lights on, despite Alex''s previous claim that the lights are never turned off.
Alex is a short ways in front of Blaine, sitting in the grass. He is pale and gray; a series of heavy bandages have been expertly tied around the wound he''s sustained from the creature, and Bartosz is silently in the act of changing out the bandages. A lot of blood has seeped into the surrounding shirt area; Bartosz takes a moment to use a knife to clear most of it off, presumably to fight infection. Alex grimaces, but says nothing, expression tight and exhausted.
Emma notices Blaine recording. Her expression is also tight and exhausted, and she walks over slowly to stand close to him. Anders is staring out in the direction of the lake, occasionally looking around them, alert but similarly tired.
Once the bandages are exchanged, Bartosz gives a heavy sigh and steps back, putting a full first aid kit back into his bag.
Bartosz: "He''s on a timer. We''ve got to get him to some kinda hospital, sooner rather than later. If I''ve got to, then I can give the kid stitches, but I''m not a professional, and it''s an ''emergencies only'' typa skill."
Emma''s voice is very soft when she responds, with no hint of reproach or irritation.
Emma: "This might be an emergency, Bartosz."
Bartosz: "We all know it is, kiddo, but I need a sterile environment if I''m gonna do that sorta thing, and Jake Grantham''s house hardly strikes me as sterile."
Blaine: "This is fucked."
Anders: "That''s putting it mildly."
Emma: "The heroes in books never seem to struggle quite this hard. It always seems like they have the upper hand no matter what- or maybe I never had a frame of reference for what they were all really going through."
Alex finally speaks for the first time. His coloring has gotten more pale as the conversation has gone on; how he has walked this far with such a wound is unbelievable.
Alex: "That''s because we''re not heroes."
Bartosz: "It doesn''t matter what we are. We''re here, and there''s nothing we can do about it."
Anders: "Oddly sentimental, for you."
Bartosz: "Hardly. It''s pragmatic, is what it is. We''re the fuckers who got picked for the job. Now we just gotta get it done."
Alex suddenly looks up toward the camera, his eyes trained on the person behind it.
Alex: "I''m sorry."
Blaine: "Shut up, dude, you''re going to be fine."
Alex: "No, you shut up and let me talk for five minutes. I''m serious."
There''s a moment where he grimaces, waits, and then keeps talking.
Alex: "I haven''t been handling any of this well. I have this giant hole in my life that has haunted me for years, now. All I know is that whatever happened, it took everything from me, and I mean everything. My entire family and the life I''d led till then was gone. I woke up in a hospital from rampaging nightmares I couldn''t remember to a Priest, the only person in the whole town who would so much as look at me, because everyone thought I was fucking cursed."
Everyone exchanges looks, but says nothing.
Alex: "He raised me. He brought faith to me. I know- I know, you don''t want to hear me preach, but just... give me a second. He brought God to me. It was the only way I could stay sane. I had done something, or someone had done something to me, and all I had to show for it was a small journal with someone''s name I''d never heard of written on it, and I couldn''t even open it. And then you lot showed up."
Emma: "Alex..."
Alex: "I''m not blaming you. Clearly, this is the way it''s gotta be. It''s always had to be this way. I had to deal with not only the horrific death of Father Perez- the only human willing to look at me, because again, the whole town thought I was literally cursed- but also the realization that it was inevitable. It had to happen. It''s happened before, and it happened this time, too. So..."
Alex''s voice cracks, and he turns somewhat green as he clamps his eyes shut.
Alex: "So the more I remember, the more I realize that I''m not... I''m not supposed to get this far. I''m supposed to die."
Blaine: "Shut the fuck up, Alex. You''re not dead."
Alex: "As good as. You told that thing to back off, and it did, and what for? It probably backed off because I''m good as dead."
Bartosz''s expression is not very good at hiding the grim reality of Alex''s situation.
Alex: "I''ve been taking it out on you, Blaine, because if Father Perez''s death was inevitable, then that has to mean that mine is, and if mine is, then... then your fate is also inevitable."
Blaine: "I haven''t turned yet."
Alex: "No. But trusting you..."
Alex''s voice flounders, and he pushes up to his feet, looking both exhausted and defeated.
Alex: "I want to. I want to so bad. If I could trust you, then that means I can believe you won''t turn, and if you won''t turn... I can live."
Emma: "If it makes you feel any better, Alex, we all die."
They all look blankly at Emma, who just shrugs, somewhat embarrassed.
Emma: "Think about it. We all die, everyone except Blaine. All of us are trying to subvert fate, Alex, not just you."
There''s a long moment, and then Bartosz scratches his chin, looking thoughtful.
Bartosz: "You know? That kinda makes shit better."
Alex: "I... I don''t know how."
Anders: "No, I get it. We all have the same fate, Alex. You''ve already subverted yours- what, twice? It''s a good sign... and you''re not the only one. You''re not the only one trying to beat fate, here. We all are."
Alex pauses, and then snorts with amusement- though it quickly turns into a grunt of pain, the color in his skin rapidly draining again.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Bartosz: "I don''t think I''m going to have a choice. I know what we''re all doin''- we''re tryin'' to stall. Let''s get this fuckin'' bullshit over with."
Blaine hands the camera to Emma, who wordlessly takes it, before moving over to Alex and offering a hand. Anders steps up to the other side, and the two of them help carry Alex toward the hulking house, the setting sun a blaze of fire behind it.
The steps creak as they begin to walk up them. There is no other sound, not in the house, around the house, or in the surrounding nature. The floorboards of the porch creak; a nearby rocking chair rocks slightly. There is no light in the windows, and though Emma focuses on both front-facing panes, there is no movement beyond.
Bartosz steps forward, removing his pistol from his belt, and stands at the ready to the side of the door, grimfaced. His expectations are correct; he simply turns the knob, and the door swings inward. He quickly raises the pistol to point beyond, but there is still no movement.
Bartosz: "I want you all to stay here."
Emma: "What? You can''t be serious."
Bartosz: "Deadly. I wanna check the premises. Anders has got another pistol; you stick with him. I''ll be back in a jiffy."
Before anyone can stop him, Bartosz steps in through the portal, swallowed by the darkness of the house beyond.
Nervously, the crew steps back away from the entrance onto the porch, as if afraid someone might still peek a head through. Seconds tick by, dissolving into minutes, and there is no sound anywhere. So tense is the air that it is palpable even through a screen, and there is a collective jump when Bartosz reappears.
Bartosz: "As far as I can tell, we''re all by ourselves in here, but I don''t trust it as far as I can throw it. Come on."
They all slowly step in through the doorway into the darkness beyond. Bartosz takes a moment, pistol still out and armed, to begin flicking on some lights; he drops the curtains to conceal their presence, though it can easily be assumed that the Enemy already knows they''re there.
The front entrance is uncannily similar to the one level Emma played so long ago. A table with a few photographs, mostly depicting Jake''s father, greets anyone entering into the domain. There is a moth-eaten runner leading away from the door, and an open doorway that leads into a living room.
There is no sound in the building at all. Outside, the silence was heavy, but inside, the silence is so oppressive that it is nearly physical tangible. There is no food in the kitchen, no sign of any flies or maggots, and not a sound reaches their ears. Even their footsteps appear to be muted in the heavy stillness.
Bartosz: "There''s a bathroom upstairs that I can probably work with, if the shit''s clean enough. Can''t really tell. I got a lot of crap in my bag though, so we''ll try to use only what I''ve brought and nothing in here."
Alex: "At this point, I''m willing to take risks."
Bartosz carefully takes Blaine''s place, motioning for Blaine and Emma to stay there.
Bartosz: "It''d be good if you two could keep an eye on things down here. Secure the only entrance we know of, and all that."
The two nod- presumably, anyway, as Emma''s camera shifts slightly- and then they watch as Bartosz and Anders slowly walk Blaine up the stairs. Neither speak until Alex is completely out of sight.
Emma: "I can''t believe we''re in here."
Blaine: "I can''t believe we''re all alive."
Emma: "What did you say to that thing?"
Blaine: "I... I told it I still needed him."
Emma: "What? And it listened?"
Blaine: "It was a shot in the dark. I''m supposed to be some kind of harbinger of death, right? If that thing is from some dimension that knows what I''ve done- or... what I''m about to do? I dunno. Look, I was out of ideas. It was risky."
Emma: "It worked, though. That''s pretty genius."
Blaine: "Not really. I gambled with what information I had, and it took the time to make sure you were only out of the way. It needs us. They all do. It needs you and me, specifically. I banked on that, and I cashed in."
Emma: "You''re right. Risky."
Blaine: "How are you feeling?"
Emma: "Tired. Scared. Mostly tired. I feel like I''m adapting to a life of constantly living in fear and terror."
Blaine: "Ain''t it a bitch?"
Emma: "Adaptability and all that... And of course, there''s that thing."
Emma jerks the camera to the side. On the table where the photographs continue to sit, in the entrance, still visible through the open arch they''ve walked through, the gray handheld console sits, looking so innocent and unassuming.
Blaine: "Tomorrow is D-day, huh?"
Emma: "Don''t remind me."
Blaine: "We have a bit more than twelve hours, and then we get... presumably the last level of the game."
Emma: "And then what? What are we even doing here?"
Blaine is silent for a long time, before glancing at the curtains. He parts them slightly and, standing just to the side, peeks outside, angling himself so he isn''t easily visible. He snorts bitterly and lets the curtain drop.
Blaine: "I can see them, phasing in and out of reality again. They know we''re here. This is so fucking stupid. I feel like we''re sneaking around in plain sight."
Emma: "Great. Love that for us."
Blaine: "Emma..."
Emma seems to realize that something is wrong, and turns to face him, the camera tilting slightly.
Emma: "What is it? Do you want me to turn the camera off?"
Blaine: "No. It''s important though. The camera- that entire thing was recorded."
Emma: "What? What thing? You mean- the lake?"
Blaine: "Yeah. The camera was recording."
Emma: "I... I know I dropped it, but-"
Blaine: "No. Not from the ground. Someone was recording the entire thing. Not just anyone- me."
Emma says nothing. Her expression can only be guessed.
Blaine: "I''m not making things up. I know what I saw. It wasn''t just me- it was my reflection. It was made up of glass."
Emma: "You''ve got to be shitting me. Like the one from the motel?"
Blaine: "I''m positive it''s the same one."
Emma: "So, what, it''s following us? Why?"
Blaine: "Your guess is as good as mine. I didn''t get much from it. I just suddenly felt like- like this weird feeling of being split, or pulled apart. When I looked, I saw my camera, and I saw... me. Weird ass feeling."
Emma: "Do you think it means trouble?"
Blaine: "I don''t know what it wants. That thing''s already killed you once- er, its version of you. I don''t know if I want to-"
Blaine''s vision suddenly seems to go out of focus, and he stiffens, looking alarmed. He spins on his heel, looking off camera, and Emma immediately follows his line of sight. One of the nearby doors has been swung open, into the room beyond. Standing in the doorway, visible from the camera, is the mirror version of Blaine.
The difference between the two is stark. For starters. he''s made entirely of glass shards, which shift and catch the light of the room, refracting his own form. His eyes are pitch black, and he''s grinning in a way that is unfamiliar of Blaine to this point. He is seemingly leaning against the doorframe, if one takes in the position of his stance, but the glass itself seems to just hang in the air.
Emma: "...Blaine..."
Blaine: "Why are you following me?"
Mirror Blaine: "We all have a part to play in this- even the forgotten."
His voice echoes oddly in this space, as if coming from a distance.
Emma: "Are you- are you on our side?"
The mirror Blaine turns to look at her, and there is a sudden expression on his face that flickers uncontrollably into place. It can only be described as hunger. Blaine hurriedly steps in front of Emma, and the Mirror Blaine shakes his head- rather, the reflection does, because the shards of glass do not move with the motion.
Mirror Blaine: "I apologize. I am what I am, and I am not you. Not quite."
Blaine: "What are you?"
Mirror Blaine: "Forgotten. A fragment. A memory. I am all that is left of my timeline."
Emma: "Why?"
Mirror Blaine: "What exactly do you think this cult wishes with this world? What do you think the Others desire? What I desired?"
Blaine: "Control?"
Mirror Blaine: "Hardly. Destruction. Consumption. Erasure. Finality."
Emma: "Wait- they want to destroy the world?!"
Mirror Blaine: "And they have succeeded again... and again... and again."
Blaine: "Why the time loop? What''s going on? Why isn''t it just ending there?"
Mirror Blaine: "Your guess is as good as mine. The Others pretend to know, but I have realized they don''t. Just as everything is about to end... it begins again. Rewind, stop, play... repeat."
Emma: "What makes this time different?"
Mirror Blaine: "A buildup of differences. You''ve a grand part to play."
Emma: "Why?"
Mirror Blaine: "You are the corruption of the greatest piece. Him."
Silence falls on the room as they both take that in, stunned.
Emma: "I... corrupt him?"
Mirror Blaine: "Your death does. You die, and he is embraced by Weiss and Grantham as a long-lost brother. We suffered together, my found family and I, and then we made the world suffer, too. We reveled in it... and it solved nothing."
Emma: "What changed?"
The reflection seems to consider this.
Mirror Blaine: "Futility. As my timeline faded, I remained, and I questioned. I thought. As time rewound and began again, the loop started over, I wanted to know why. Why keep trying? Why are we so desperate to suffer and create suffering? And also..."
Here, Mirror Blaine grins so widely, it seems nearly to split his face in half- the Smile.
Mirror Blaine: "Boredom. I have upped the stakes."
Alarm runs through Blaine, and presumably, Emma.
Emma: "What the hell does that mean?"
Mirror Blaine: "I have created a tipping point. I have made a change. How this Blaine runs with that change will dictate whether there is another run."
A palpable chill runs through the room.
Blaine: "What have you done?"
Mirror Blaine: "It will become clear. Fuck up, however, and it really will be the end. The power accumulated in this run is astronomical. It is boiling over. They can feel it, too- the Others, and Weiss, and Grantham. They are champing at the proverbial bit."
He smiles that same Smile again.
Mirror Blaine: "Don''t fuck up."
And then just like that, the glass drops to the floor and shatters, the reflection of Blaine gone. They both jump, and the sound of the glass alerts the team above, and there is the sound of thumping coming down the stairs. Hurriedly, Emma switches off the camera, ending the footage.
--END TRANSMISSION--
File 058: Mommy Dearest
THE BEGINNING PORTION OF THIS FILE APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN FILMED UNBEKNOWNST TO ANYONE IN THE ROOM.
--File 058: Mommy Dearest--
When the video begins, the camera is facing toward the floor. Emma appears to be holding the camera now, recording purely to pick up the voices that are speaking, presumably still in the living room.
Blaine: "I''m telling you, that''s all that happened."
Anders: "But that makes no sense."
Blaine: "That''s where you''re going to draw the line?"
Bartosz: "I dunno kid, that''s too supernatural even for all of this. Everything that''s happened has had a point till now; there''s no point to this."
Blaine: "It could''ve been another attempt to talk to us. Look at how the glass is formed. Surely that counts for something?"
Anders: "So the door opens on its own, and then a glass shatters on the floor, and it''s in the shape of Emma''s name? That''s just all that happened? Emma?"
Emma: "That''s what happened."
There''s a brief pause, and then a heavy sigh.
Anders: "The fuck is it supposed to mean?"
Alex: "What about those possessions? Those haven''t happened in a while, right?"
Bartosz: "No. Not since the mirror incident."
Blaine: "Look, it''s fine. Nothing else happened down here. You can keep working on Alex."
Bartosz: "I finished up while Anders ran off to check on you. It''s as good as it''s gonna get. Took it like a champ, too. He''ll still need a Doctor, but until we can actually get one of those, it''ll do."
It''s fairly obvious that Bartosz doesn''t trust Blaine- or at least, he doesn''t trust his story. It''s also clear at this point that neither Blaine nor Emma are revealing that Blaine''s mirror self appeared to them, nor are they divulging what the alternate dimension Blaine said to them. Their reasons are unclear; hypothesizing ideates that perhaps it is to keep the group from further suspecting Blaine of treachery, whether out of good will... or not.
The video stops shortly after; Emma appears to have recorded what she wanted, OR realized she hit record at all, in the event that this was a mistake.
It is unclear why no one has asked to look at Blaine''s camera. Despite being a perfect record of everything that goes on both with the entire group and without, it is almost as if its presence is an after thought, or an expected variable; no one appears to acknowledge the device''s presence, though they may note its absence. There is a sense of expecting it to be out that is inexplicable, as much else that is going on is.
When the next video begins, Blaine is holding the camera, and they are all seated in the living room. The glass has been cleared off of the floor. Alex is seated and still somewhat off color, but he seems to be doing better, now that he is no longer actively bleeding. On the coffee table in front of them all are various food stuffs that were brought along with them, which has likely helped contribute to Alex''s improved looks.
Emma: "So. What now?"
Bartosz: "We need to actually know what the fuck''s up with this hell hole. We haven''t been stabbed yet, that''s all well and good, but the best I did was an initial sweep. I wanna tear this place apart before we settle in for the night and wait for... you know."
They all look off in the same direction, and the camera swivels slightly to display the gray game console sitting as harmlessly as before on the table in the entrance.
Emma: "Don''t remind me."
Alex: "I wish I remembered more."
Anders: "Does any of what she''s going through seem familiar?"
Alex: "No, and that''s kind of the weird part. Every time I''ve recalled a memory, it''s because I recognized something. This overpowering sense of familiarity was like having a word on the tip of your tongue, but I''m getting none of that with her game."
Blaine: "Huh."
Anders: "What?"
Blaine: "I wonder- do you think he experienced a different game?"
Silence falls on the group as they contemplate this.
Emma: "The idea that each console is tailored to the person dealing with it isn''t as crazy as an entire hive mind spirit coming out of a game console."
Bartosz: "No, nope, nothing beats that, that''s for fuckin'' sure."
Alex: "It''s... possible. I can say that."
Blaine: "Food for thought. We''re not getting anywhere with that, so I guess I''ll start with the tour."
With that, he turns and promptly throws open the nearby door that was the location of their earlier problems. The room beyond is the kitchen.
They all file in after Blaine; Alex is the last to step into the room, moving gingerly and looking somewhat nausous as he does so. Emma is the first to notice.
Emma: "Alex, maybe you should rest for a bit... you''ve lost a lot of blood."
Alex''s response is only to grunt, before turning and retreating back into the living room, where he presumably drops back into his seat.
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The kitchen appears to be fairly average. It is clean, but in a way that suggests great use. They look around warily, opening cabinets; Blaine and Bartosz seem to be of the same mind. Blaine begins tapping electronics, presumably to look for any kind of hidden recording devices, while Bartosz begins tapping the backs of cabinets, presumably for similar reasons. Between the two of them, they easily canvas the entire kitchen in silence, Emma and Anders choosing to step aside and keep out of their way.
For whatever reason, the fridge is saved for last.
Blaine: "I''m going to check in the fridge."
Blaine moves toward the old refrigerator, a device from a decade ago, if not older. The style could be considered, at best, retro, and at worst, old.
When he opens the fridge, the immediate and familiar sound of buzzing floods the room; he slams the door shut at once, and silence falls back on the kitchen. A few maggots have fallen to the floor, squirming angrily on the tile.
Emma: "What was in there?"
Blaine: "I didn''t see. The second I heard them, I shut it."
Bartosz: "Here, back it up, and I''ll swing it open from the side, so we''re not directly in front of it."
Bartosz takes Blaine''s place, and Blaine backs away from the fridge, keeping the camera trained on the door. Bartosz counts down with his fingers before finally flinging the door wide open.
Whatever they were all guessing the contents of the appliance to be, none of it apparently matched up to the truth.
Emma makes a noise somewhere between gagging and horror; Anders startles and swears silently, but otherwise does not respond. Blaine swears loudly and profusely, stepping back, while Bartosz peers grimly over the top of the door at the single item being displayed prominently in the middle of the fridge:
The head of Mrs. Grantham.
Emma: "Oh, God, that is vile!"
Maggots are piled in the fridge around the head, but oddly, it is in perfect condition. The eyes loll somewhat in different directions, the skin is a gray, frigid color, and her hair is oddly perfect, as if regularly combed in place.
Anders: "How the fuck has the head been in that fridge all this time?"
Bartosz: "The real question is why it ain''t rotten. When was she killed? The bitch looks like she died five minutes ago."
Emma gags and runs into the living room, tears streaming down her face. Anders and Bartosz grimace, but continue to look at the head; it''s unclear exactly what Blaine is doing, but the camera remains trained on the head.
Bartosz: "Well, I don''t think we''ll be getting any food from here."
Anders: "No."
Bartosz slams the fridge door shut and grimaces as he steps back. He turns, seems to consider his options for a moment, before moving to turn on the faucet. For another long moment, there is only the faint sound of working pipes, before suddenly an enlarged maggot begins trying to force its way out of the faucet. Bartosz immediately turns the water off, expression disgusted as he backs up.
Bartosz: "Shoulda known better."
They move back into the living room, where Emma is currently standing, clammy and pale and leaning over with her hands on her knees. Alex is watching in a mixture of concern and alarm.
Alex: "What happened?"
Bartosz: "We found a piece of Jake''s mamma. Her head''s dead center of the fridge."
Blaine: "I''m not exactly thrilled at the prospect, but I''m assuming there are more surprises for us all over the house."
Emma: "Wait."
Everyone pauses and looks at Emma, whose eyes are still shut tight, still looking somewhat ill.
Emma: "I think I saw something else in there."
Blaine: "What? Like what? We stared at that thing way too long, and I didn''t see anything else."
Emma: "Then I noticed it, because I''m me- but there was a piece of paper with writing on it in there."
Blaine: "Can I just pretend like I don''t fucking believe you?"
Emma: "Believe me, I wish you could."
Bartosz:"Ah, fuck. No, I''ll get it."
Blaine: "Hey- wait-"
But Bartosz has already disappeared back into the kitchen. Several very long, agonizing seconds pass where no one moves to join him- likely because they do not want to see him reaching toward the horrific nightmare fuel maggots in the fridge- but he returns nonetheless, looking severely disgusted and simultaneously done with the entire situation. In his hands is a single lined piece of paper.
Bartosz: "It''s a letter of sorts. My eyesight''s shit, you wanna read it, kiddo?"
He holds it up for Emma to read, shaking his head when she goes to take it from him. She doesn''t ask, just moves forward to scan the words.
Emma: "It''s very... cryptic. This is what it says:
''Mommy dearest was so cold
At least, inside that heart of ice
I thought I''d put her somewhere bold
To showcase her nasty vice
Of being so horrifically cruel.
She wasn''t ever a mom to me
The type that loves their kids
I thought it''d be nice to make her see
Exactly how she acted
To me, to Weiss, and to all the world beyond.
She struggled at first, it was in vain
But with joy I drowned her guts in flies
She''ll never cause me any pain
Ever again, ever more, ever ever,
Ever ever ever ever ever ever ever
Because she''s dead
I killed the bitch
I loved her death
I killed the witch
They gave me powers
And I used them to fucking kill the bitch''-"
Emma leans back and looks at them, eyebrows raised.
Emma: "It just sort of gets more and more unhinged from there, until the writing''s so agitated it just becomes a scribble that rips up the sheet."
Anders: "Fabulous. I knew he''d had a rough childhood, but this... What does it all even mean?"
They all look expectantly at Emma, who looks between them before realizing that they''re waiting for her to supply the answer. She snorts.
Emma: "I was an English major taking creative writing courses, guys, I''m no master of the written language."
Bartosz: "No, but your track record is pretty excellent for these things."
Emma: "That''s because I had no social life until very, very recently."
Anders: "Aww, we constitute a social life?"
Emma: "Yeah. Sure. The old Detective with PTSD, the retired paranoid maniac who used to work for the FBI before conspiracies took over his life, and the kid who potentially murdered his step dad in cold blood. Good social life. My mom would be so proud."
Both Anders and Blaine seem to appreciate this joke very much, because they just laugh in response to it.
Emma: "On a serious note, let me think while that''s the only one we have."
Bartosz keeps her from grabbing the paper as she reaches for it, before placing it on the table. She sits down, frowning slightly, to begin the long work of translating what the poem means.
Blaine takes a moment to fiddle with the camera.
Blaine: "No reason to keep this going while she''s thinking."
And with that, the video is shut off.
--END TRANSMISSION--
File 059: Requiescat in Miserii
THE VIDEO BEGINS SOME TIME AFTER THE PREVIOUS FILE.
--File 059: Requiescat in Miserii--
The video starts up in the same room as before. The lighting has dimmed noticeably; evening approaches. Emma is leaning back in the chair she was in before and looks tired.
Blaine: "Okay, camera''s rolling."
Emma: "I think this poem might be about as straightforward as it gets. There are two big takeaways here."
Bartosz: "I think I might know one of ''em, at least."
Emma: "His mother died after he got his ''powers'', which I''m assuming is control over flies. He used the power to kill her. We can''t date the event exactly, but the poem makes it seem like it happened pretty soon after the event."
Alex: "Sorry- so this apparently well-preserved head has been dead for over a decade? How can that be?"
Blaine: "Remember what we''re dealing with- what was outside in the lake. Is it so hard to believe that a corpse transcends time?"
Anders: "My head''s starting to hurt."
Emma: "Did you get that one?"
Bartosz: "More or less, yeah. Not my favorite thought."
Emma: "The other is pretty straightforward as well. He was granted the powers. Something gave him powers."
There is a beat of silence following this.
Alex: "Was... that part not obvious?"
Emma leans forward, agitated.
Emma: "Maybe I''m thinking too deeply on this. In the game, we''re getting snapshots of his life. There''s a cult that''s targeted him for whatever reason- and we can assume Weiss, too, because he''s, you know, involved- so this cult did something that gave him these powers. The death of his dad played a part in this."
Alex: "So you''re saying... giving him powers was all part of the end goal?"
Emma: "Part of the end goal... or required. Suffering. They made Grantham suffer, because it was required for him to get the powers he got. So... Weiss must have suffered, too."
Alex: "Wait- so- Hang on."
Emma: "The reason they''re so interested in Blaine is because he knows suffering."
Everyone''s eyes all turn to Blaine, holding the camera. He involuntarily takes a step back.
Blaine: "Hang on- you think I get powers?"
Emma: "My journal gets weird toward the end. Really disjointed, more like snatches of writing in quick moments. Not a lot of it makes sense, and most of it is just... random lines on repeat."
Emma takes the small journal out of her back pocket.
Emma: "There''s one that stuck out to me though: ''Beware the cameras''."
The silence in the room thickens, and once again, everyone turns to look at Blaine- or rather, the camera in his hands.
Anders: "The camera."
Bartosz: "Of fucking course."
Blaine: "What?"
Anders: "The camera. It was- you know. You''ve said it yourself. You feel comfortable behind a camera, with a camera on you. It''s a part of you. It was your saving grace following the death of your step-dad. You set them up originally to collect evidence of the abuse going on in your home."
Alex: "What? Abuse?"
Emma: "I''ll explain what I can later, Alex, just stay with us. The cameras- that was your focal point. Weiss''s must have been video games, and obviously, we saw that Grantham''s was what it was."
Alex: "W... wait."
Everyone turns to look at Alex, and there''s an odd look on his face. He''s staring into the distance, and he tilts his head, flinching suddenly.
Alex: "I... this... it''s familiar. Something... this is familiar. I... I''ve heard this before. Or... have I? Have I seen it?"
There is a collective intake of breath, but no one says anything. No one moves. The assumption is clearly that Alex is remembering something from his run with the game.
Alex: "Yeah, I... I saw..."
His voice trails off, and he stares off again.
Alex: "I don''t think I saw... what I was supposed to see."
Emma: "What do you mean?"
Alex: "I was supposed... to see what you saw. We all were, anyone that the game chose. That Weiss chose. But I saw... I saw one of the Turns."
There is a general exchanging of glances.
Bartosz: "A turn?"
Alex: "A turn of the loop. The ouroboros, the snake that eats its own tail; an imperfect loop, changing as the snake gets tighter and tighter. My game... played out a Turn."
Emma: "And what did you see?"
Alex: "I saw it all, beginning to end... but I can''t... remember. I saw our deaths. I saw my death. I saw your death- repeatedly. Not just in the game; I completed it, I won, and then everything... and then I saw your death again and again and again. Not just ideas. Actual deaths, played out, recorded through time. Blaine killing you, and using it to gain... powers."
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The silence is heavy now, and suddenly, Alex''s eyes dim, and he slumps back into his chair; his skin loses a bit of its color.
Emma: "Alex, you need sleep."
Alex: "We can''t. We''re in enemy territory. How the hell are we going to sleep in here?"
Blaine: "They''re not going to do us in early. They won''t fuck with us until it''s time. Emma''s got one more level- and I shudder to think what happens afterward."
Bartosz: "D-day, most likely."
Anders: "Literally."
Blaine: "Look. Let''s go take a look through the rooms. If anything''s even remotely passable for a sleeping space, we''ll set Alex up in it, and we can take turns taking watch."
Bartosz: "Not you."
There is a very long, pregnant pause following this. The unspoken accusation hangs heavily in the air; Emma is the one who bristles at it.
Emma: "He hasn''t done anything, Bartosz."
Bartosz: "Yes he has. That''s the problem. How many ''turns'' is it that Alex saw where he betrays us? He''s not taking a watch."
Blaine: "Fine. That''ll put me at a full night''s sleep, which I''ll probably need tomorrow."
Blaine''s voice is stiff and angry, but he is obviously trying to hide it. There is bitterness that he cannot conceal.
Anders: "Bartosz, we are a team. We only have each other."
Bartosz: "There''s too much evidence against him, Jim. You''re biased in his favor, and you''ve made that mistake God only knows how many times."
Alex: "I think... he''s on our side."
Silence falls again, and they all turn to look at the ashen Alex, who was initially Blaine''s biggest detractor. He is grim-faced, and almost resigned.
Bartosz: "Kid. He''s got to be good at what he does. He''s got to get us to trust him. That''s the point."
Alex: "He saved me, at risk of his own life."
Bartosz: "Could be calculated."
Alex: "I was there, Jakub. You weren''t. You didn''t see it play out. I trust him. I trust Emma."
The silence hangs heavy once more, and Bartosz shakes his head, stubborn to the end.
Bartosz: "No. I didn''t get this far because I trusted every fuckin'' sob story I came across. They''re usin'' him to destroy the world; they''ve done it already before, and they''re convinced they''ll do it again. He''s just gettin'' better at it, I''d wager."
Blaine: "Why not just cut me free, then?"
Bartosz: "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. I want to be there when it happens, so I can do you in myself."
Emma: "That''s enough."
She stands up out of the chair, and for a girl of such average height, she suddenly seems a lot taller- and a lot angrier.
Emma: "Blaine and I will go upstairs and look for a bed. You stay down here together and stew in your misery."
Bartosz: "Kid, I''m tryin'' to look out for you."
Emma: "I''m not the same Emma I was in that Turn, and he''s not the same Blaine. I trust him. If you can''t, then you can sit here by yourselves and wait."
Emma strides forward and grabs Blaine''s hand as she passes him, causing him to stumble slightly as he walks after her. She does a quick check of the rooms below- there''s a mud room and a bathroom- but quickly moves to go upstairs, Blaine quietly following behind. They leave silence behind them as they go.
The lights in the upstairs hall are already on, and a trail of now-dried blood shows the route the others took when patching up Alex earlier. The hall stretches down the length of the house, and there are three other closed doors. Emma pauses for a moment, breathing hard, before turning and popping open a door before Blaine can stop her. There is nothing on the other side but a very simple guest room; a single bed, perfectly laid out and fresh as if it were used regularly is against one wall. The colors of the setting sun dye the walls orange-red; there is a simple wood desk against one wall, and a very small, sparsely filled bookshelf. There is little else.
Emma stands in the room for a moment, and Blaine steps in after her, slowly and carefully. She turns and closes the door behind him, looking upset.
Emma: "They have no idea."
Blaine: "It''s fine. It''s better that way."
Emma: "They have no idea what they''re talking about."
Blaine: "They can''t. I need Bartosz to mistrust me. I''m surprised Alex changed his mind. Anders will give in, in time."
Emma: "I don''t think Alex really has. I think he wants to, though."
Blaine: "Do you trust me?"
Emma looks up past the camera, which is falling somewhat to the side. Her eyes are pinned, presumably, on Blaine''s face, and she looks very serious.
Emma: "Implicitly. I trust you completely, Blaine."
Blaine: "I need you to trust me, Emma. I need you to trust me, above all else. It''s... the tipping point."
The choice of words seems to be on purpose, and with meaning. She nods immediately, grim and determined, and takes a step toward him.
Emma: "I trust you. To the very end, I trust you."
Blaine: "Good."
Tension hangs heavy between them, and though the camera is listing more and more to the side, semi-forgotten, just in-frame, Blaine''s hand can be seen softly caressing Emma''s cheek. Then he steps back, opens the door, and moves back into the hallway.
Blaine: "Come on. We need to check the rest of the floor."
Emma follows him silently, and now he leads the way. The next door they try to open is to the right, but there is deadweight against it, and it takes handing the camera to Emma before pounding his shoulder into the door before he is able to get it open even a crack. He takes one peek inside before slamming it shut again, going somewhat green. Emma backs away as a few maggots fall to the floor between them; Blaine hurriedly stamps on them.
Emma: "I''m guessing not that room."
Blaine: "It''s the master. It, uh... It''s occupied by a large chunk of Mrs. Grantham."
Emma: "Delightful."
Blaine: "Also, it''s absolutely packed with maggots- and they''re enormous. Maybe as big as my face."
Emma says nothing, just shuddering.
Blaine: "So far, one point for the guest room. If this is Mrs. Grantham''s room, then I imagine that the last door..."
Emma: "It''s got to be Grantham''s room."
Blaine: "Surprised she let him have a room."
They move slowly down the hallway; a light overhead flickers, and they look nervously at each other. There is silence in the hallway, and Blaine holds up a hand to Emma, before stepping up to the door. Despite their reassurances that the cult will not kill them before their time, it seems that no one is able to fully trust that assertation.
Blaine opens the door, blinks into it, and then steps back for Emma, a look that is difficult to read on his face. Emma steps forward with the camera.
The room is a study in tragedy. The "bed" is a couple of frail, wooden pallets with what looks like old stains in the wood, and a blanket folded over them. The floor is totally barren, the window is boarded up, and worst of all, written across nearly every inch of the walls, are the words "WHY COULDN''T IT BE YOU". It isn''t entirely clear if it was Jake Grantham who wrote this toward his mother... or the reverse.
Either way, it is a starkly obvious that there was no sanity in either decision, and there is certainly no love.
Worse, though, is the presence of Mrs. Grantham''s arms and legs, pinned to the wall above Jake Grantham''s makeshift "bed". They are, as before, in pristine condition; dried blood marks the walls in a very old sort of way, immortalized and simultaneously time-worn. The hands have been forcibly pried open, palms outward in a twisted caricature of arms wide open for a hug.
Notably, there is a piece of paper pinned to the wall just beneath the arms and legs, though neither moves to retrieve it- yet.
There is nothing else in the room. There is no desk, no books, no artwork... nothing to suggest that a child once slept and lived here.
Emma: "Tragedy... begets tragedy."
They continue to stand there for another few minutes, and then Blaine quietly pulls the door shut. He then fiddles with the camera and turns it off.
--END TRANSMISSION--
File 060: All Shall Atone
EVENTS ARE BEGINNING TO RUN TOGETHER WITH MULTIPLE FILES TAKING PLACE ON THE SAME DAY. IT CAN BE ASSUMED THAT THE DATE IS, CURRENTLY, OCTOBER THE TWENTY-SECOND.
--File 060: All Shall Atone--
The video begins without much pomp or circumstance. It can be inferred that both Emma and Blaine returned to the rest of the group, relayed their discoveries, and now are gathered- sans Alex- outside the bedroom door that once belonged to Mrs. Matilda Grantham.
It is not immediately clear if they have retrieved the letter from the previous room in which they found the legs belonging to Jake''s mother.
Emma: "So who wants to open the door first?"
Blaine: "I think it''d better be me."
Bartosz: "Oh, yeah? Why''s that?"
Blaine: "They don''t want me dead."
Anders: "Will you chill the fuck out, Jakub?"
Bartosz: "You think I got this fuckin'' far by chilling out? Like hell."
Blaine: "Stand back. Anders- watch Emma."
Anders: "Be careful, kid. You''re putting a lot of weight on that assumption of yours."
Blaine: "It''s not an assumption."
Bartosz: "Because that''s real fuckin'' trustworthy."
Blaine: "Look, are you prepared or not?"
Bartosz''s only answer is to grimly heft up a can of whatever hairspray he purchased previously and a lighter.
Bartosz: "I''d really rather not set this place a-fuckin-blaze, but if we need it, I''ve got it."
Blaine: "Good. Wait for my signal."
Blaine hands the camera to Emma, who is gently pushed behind Anders. She puts in the effort to raise the camera so it peers over the shoulder of Anders as Blaine prepares himself, before he begins applying serious pressure to the door. It still takes several very long, tense seconds before the door begins to seriously budge; at once, massive maggots that are, as Blaine so elegantly phrased it, "as big as his face", begin dropping heavily and wetly onto the hallway floor. As per usual, they begin making an eager beeline for Emma, only to be met with vicious- and horrifically wet- stomps from both Bartosz and Anders.
The door is still opening as this continues; a maggot plops onto Blaine''s shoulder, but as he predicted, it slides directly off of him, making no motion to harm him. If they''re planning on harming Emma, it''s unclear, but they still continue to make a direct line for her. For several tense seconds filled with nothing but the overly-loud squelching of bursting maggots, the camera is unevenly held, presumably due to Emma trying to dodge the horrifying bugs, as well as the deep-seeded fear now associated with them.
It is only when no more are immediately forthcoming- and the carpets are thoroughly soaked through with pasty white bug guts- that the camera raises to show that Blaine has gotten the door open. He is standing in mute horror as he stares beyond, and Emma moves quickly to get the camera into position, almost as if it is more important to her for the camera to see things than it is for anyone else to see it.
Emma: "Holy fucking hell..."
The expletive hangs heavy in the air, pregnant with the horror of what lies beyond. Neither Anders nor Bartosz say anything.
The room is alive with the deep thrumming of flies that have not yet lifted off to greet them. They sit on top of every surface, buzzing in a strange contentedness. Very little of the room is actually visible, apart from the wall just above the bed, on which the torso of Matilda Grantham has been pinned; it is only clear that it is the torso due to the shaping beneath a floral dress that hangs limply off of it, surprisingly prim and looking as fresh as the day it was likely put on.
It is very, very clear what is wished of them, because painted on the wall above the clothed torso is the words, "RETURN HER TO HER FORM".
Bartosz: "Is this... is this fucking necessary? Do they have to toy with us?"
Blaine: "Yes."
Bartosz: "Don''t sound so fuckin'' sure, kid."
Anders: "Quit it. What exactly are we supposed to do?"
Blaine: "Exactly what it says. Look- there are hooks on the wall. We need to bring all of the body parts in here and hang them all together."
Emma: "Is it just me, or is the torso... moving?"
They all fall silent, and Emma zooms in with the camera. The dress near the center of the sternum appears to occasionally be moving, dipping and expanding. It is less like breathing and more like something trying to escape.
Blaine: "Lovely. We''re all going to be sleeping on the couches downstairs, aren''t we?"
Bartosz: "If you want to sleep up here, be my fucking guest. They''ll probably leave you alone."
Emma: "I don''t see a note in here... and we still haven''t read the other one."
Anders: "Look, I''d rather be done with this shit before nightfall, yeah? It''s already starting to get dark, and I really, really hate this place."
Blaine: "Seconded. Come on. Let''s get this over with. Who wants to get the head?"
Bartosz: "I did it once, I''ll do it again."
Anders: "I''ll get the legs, I guess..."
Emma stands back, and she and Blaine wait silently in the hallway as Bartosz heads stiffly and tensely back down the stairs, Anders in the immediate opposite direction down the hall. Her only motion during this- apart from flinching when Anders makes noises of disgust- are to reach out and gently squeeze a mostly unresponsive Blaine''s shoulder. There is bitterness in his face, but it softens when he glances in her direction, smoothing out.
Bartosz returns quickly, looking somewhat ill as he holds forth the head of Matilda Grantham. Her mouth is gaping now, eyes still pointing in somewhat wrong directions, and she is still horribly gray. Emma shrinks away quickly, but makes a sound of distress when a moment later, Anders hurriedly walks down the hallway, looking almost as ashen as Mrs. Grantham''s head as he holds a leg in each hand.
Anders: "I''ve got to- to go back for the hands. Fuck, this is the weirdest shit I have ever had to do, and I''m a homicide detective."
Bartosz: "You wanna fuckin'' trade?"
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Anders doesn''t answer, placing the legs on the floor and hurriedly walking back to the room. A moment later, he returns with the arms, looking like he''s about to be sick.
Emma: "I can-"
Anders: "Don''t. I''ve got it."
Emma doesn''t offer again, and backs up against the wall as both Anders and Bartosz join Blaine on either side.
Blaine, however, doesn''t move, staring into the room for a moment.
Bartosz: "Kid, I bet you''re just lovin'' me standing here with this broad''s head in my hands, but if you don''t move out of the fuckin'' way and let me through-"
Blaine: "Give me a second. It can''t be you. I- I have to do it."
They all realize as one that it does have to be him. He is flexing his hands, and takes a moment to put one foot over the threshold of the door. The floor is covered so completely with flies that it should be impossible to do without stepping on one hundred of the horrible things, but as his foot nears the floor, the flies all immediately move away. His foot lands on a perfectly empty space of carpeting.
Bartosz: "Great."
Blaine: "You can complain, or you can try it. Give me the arms, first."
Bartosz: "That was on fuckin'' purpose."
Blaine: "Again, complain, or do it yourself. You''re not the one who''s got to pin body parts up on a wall in front of whatever the hell is going on with her torso."
No one says anything as Blaine accepts the arms from Anders, blanching as his skin comes into contact with hers. The second he touches the arms, both hands immediately close into fists, making Anders leap back in horror. Blaine nearly drops them, the blood draining out of his face, but he manages to maintain his hold on the limbs before turning back into the room and stepping forward.
The flies all make way for him as he walks with pointed care across the room, the arms held as tightly as he dares in his fingers. As he steps further into the room, however, the buzzing of the flies suddenly begins to rise and fall in a familiar fashion. Indeed, after a moment, Emma suddenly starts.
Emma: "The flies- they''re talking. They''re doing that thing Grantham does to communicate."
She''s right. There is a word being sounded out clumsily through the buzzing: ATONE.
Anders: "You''re doing great, kid."
Blaine doesn''t answer. The word continues to rise and fall with continued awkwardness as he approaches the bed, steps up very carefully, and then turns to face the now-pulsating torso.
Ashen with fear, Blaine leans forward to place one arm on a hook. Immediately the hand opens and the palm twists heavenward in some sort of horrible approximation of prayer or exultation. When Blaine places the other arm, it performs the same motion.
Tense and sweating, Blaine steps down and crosses back, accepting the legs from Anders. The flies are now doing better at relaying the spoken language through their buzzing, and the words are changing, becoming more complex: ATONE FOR SINS.
Blaine: "I fucking hate this, I want you all to know this."
Emma: "I could try-"
Emma''s attempt to offer help is shut down by a resounding "no" from Blaine, Anders, and Bartosz, all at once.
Blaine reaches the bed, steps up once more, and places the legs on the cleverly placed hooks. The torso begins to pulsate more violently, and this time, he scrambles off the bed, his expression twisted and complex.
Emma: "Blaine, are you sure you don''t want-"
Blaine: "Just give me the head, Bartosz."
Bartosz silently holds it up; when Blaine grabs the head of curling hair, the eyes suddenly roll forward, and fresh blood- an impossibility- begins to pour from the tear ducts. Blaine blanches again, and both Anders and Bartosz take involuntary steps back, but Emma steps forward now, presumably to try to take the head from him. Blaine shoots her a look, before turning back into the room. Again, the buzzing has once again evolved: ALL SINNERS WILL ATONE FOR THEIR CRIMES.
Blaine says nothing as he crosses the room and, jerkily, places the head on the last hook before scrambling away as quickly as he can.
Just as well, because not a moment later, the chest of the torso bursts open, and flies and maggots pour out of the cavity, ripping straight through the fabric. The flies coalesce and collect in the room in front of Blaine just as he tries to flee and take the form of none other than Jake Grantham himself, in all of his hive mind formation.
Grantham: "Hello, Blaine."
Silence falls. The buzzing of the room immediately drops to a near inaudible hum, presumably in connection to the "hive" of flies. Blaine is staring at Grantham''s form in a state of frozen fear; Grantham seems hardly bothered by the presence of either Anders or Bartosz. When the latter steps forward with the can, Blaine suddenly comes around and shakes his head.
Blaine: "The hell do you want?"
Grantham: "I should be asking you that. This is my home."
He has become infinitely more skilled in the art of speaking through the buzzing of flies. His words are not difficult to decipher, though they are somewhat drawn out.
Blaine: "What is the point of this?"
Grantham: "To show you what you could do."
A pin dropping could be heard in the silence that follows this.
Blaine: "I''m... I''m sorry?"
Grantham: "Look at them, boy. Look at them. They''ll never trust you, and you know it. You work so hard to prove yourself time and again, but the moment anyone finds out what you had to do- what we all HAD to do- they turn on you."
Blaine''s face screws up in anger.
Blaine: "Don''t act like you fucking know me."
Grantham: "You want answers? We are your answers, boy."
Emma: "Let me get this straight."
Grantham turns at the sound of Emma''s somewhat pitchy voice, but there is discernible rage that causes some shaking in her words.
Emma: "You offer him power to do- what, exactly? Kill people? Why? What''s the fucking point? He''s trying to prove himself, and you want him to turn around and just throw that all away?"
But Grantham laughs. It''s not a nice sound, and is instead a horrible, nasty grating of flies, the buzzing swelling with awkward timing; everyone flinches automatically from it.
Grantham: "You don''t understand. You can''t understand. To give in and become what all the world expected of you- it feels good. You turn around and you tell them, ''Well, you made me this way''. And then you give them exactly what they predicted, and they''re not the ones laughing anymore, are they? They''re dead."
Anders: "Blaine. Don''t listen to them. You know I trust you."
Grantham: "Does he, though? You know he quietly worries, boy. He always did. And you know what it is I speak of: the desire to show them all what suffering actually feels like. And you can."
Emma: "Oh, please, that''s the stupidest-"
Grantham: "Of course it''s stupid to you! You don''t understand, in your perfect home with your loving parents, your perfectly easy way of making friends! You, who exemplifies the normalcy that we so desperately crave and can never, ever, ever have!"
The outburst is enraged, and Grantham''s fly form whirls toward her. The shape writhes with agitated insects; where eyes should be are gaping holes, and maggots wriggle out of them, dropping onto the floor like disgusting teardrops.
Grantham: "You represent all the world that was somehow chosen. The favored. You complain about your mild little problems day in and day out, and you pretend you understand suffering- what do you know?! What do any of you know?!"
Bartosz: "Yeah. Because I know nothin'' about suffering. Watching my friends and colleagues all kill themselves over your fucking asshattery- that''s not suffering, is it?"
Anders: "And her being followed by a video game that spews forth homicidal insects, that''s definitely not suffering, is it?"
Grantham: "Again, you miss the point. This is to show you suffering. Now you begin to understand what I went through- what he went through- for years, while no one did anything!"
He whirls back around to Blaine, who is frozen like a statue in the room, expression unreadable.
Grantham: "How many calls were made? CPS visits? Neighbors knocking? No one ever did anything. A friend taught you self-defense, but that''s the bare minimum, isn''t it? Why didn''t anyone do anything? And now they all want to pretend like it made you ''better''. Made you ''stronger''. It''s your cross to bear, isn''t it, boy?"
Blaine says nothing, and Emma steps forward- but the flies all begin to buzz near her feet, and she steps falteringly back, distressed at her inability to reach Blaine.
Grantham: "You know you''re like us, boy. You know you understand what we went through. You know what it felt like to finally dish it out- it felt invigorating."
Blaine says nothing again, and the only sound is the horrible buzzing of the flies as Grantham laughs again.
Grantham: "Soon. Read the clues, little girl, and you''ll get the last of your answers tomorrow- and then you can find us. We wait for you- welcome you."
He spreads his arms of flies wide in welcoming toward a still staring Blaine.
Grantham: "You will join us soon. You always do, boy."
And then as one, all the flies in the room suddenly burst upward and into the vortex that is the figure of Jake Grantham; the window in the room explodes outward, taking the frame with it, and all of the flies exit the room as one horrible cloud of horror.
Blaine stands stock still in the room, staring at nothing. On the bed behind him, once covered with flies, is a conspicuous sheet of paper. Emma steps over the threshold first and moves toward him. She tosses the camera onto the bed, and just within frame, she grabs him in a hug that he doesn''t immediately return. In the silence, she says so softly that only audio editing picked it up, "I trust you."
By the time anyone moves again, it is only so Emma can reach over, pick up the camera, and turn it off.
--END TRANSMISSION--
File 061: Letters
THE FOLLOWING FILE TAKES PLACE AFTER THE SUN HAS SET.
--File 061: Letters--
When the video starts, all are gathered back in the living room. Darkness has fallen by now, but the house is brightly lit; all curtains appear to be tightly drawn. Bartosz is leaning against the wall by the window, looking occasionally through a crack in the fabric into the darkness beyond. He makes no comments, but his expression is moody and unhappy.
It can be surmised from all who are currently visible in the frame that Blaine is holding the camera. Emma is seated before him, back turned to the camera, on the one couch; Alex is leaning back in one of the chairs. He is looking unwell and tired, his eyes drooping closed every few moments, his head nodding forward. Across from him sits Anders.
Emma is pouring over the three sheets of paper that have been laid out on the coffee table in front of her. Anders is watching Alex with palpable concern, but says nothing.
Blaine: ¡°Still feel like you¡¯ve got it, Em?¡±
Emma: ¡°Yeah, no, I¡¯ve got it. Come here. I¡¯ll explain.¡±
Blaine steps around the couch to sit beside her, camera zoomed in on the papers and the messy handwriting on them.
Emma: ¡°We know the contents of the first letter we found. This second one is different.¡±
She begins to read out the contents of the note:
¡®They came to tell me the truth. At first, I was angry, but it was Weiss who made me through it all. They had orchestrated my suffering- the suffering of us both- but it was Weiss who showed me the way.
The Others are the true end to us all. This reality cannot be shaken. I am filled with a peace I have not known in all my life. Excitement fills me at the prospect of what I must do. The best news of all?
My bitch mother must die first.
I shall kill her at last, and I will become who I was meant to be. Weiss and I will begin the cycle anew. I always felt that I was forgetting something was missing. We have been here before. We have won before. Time and again, we bring suffering to all the world.
There is comfort in knowing that victory is assured.
All we need is our missing brother. He who knows what we have felt, untouched by the cult, yet so awash in suffering.
He will come home when the time is right, and we will be waiting for him where it all began and where it all came to an end.¡¯
Silence falls following this recital. Bartosz is frowning and still continuing to look outside, but says nothing; Anders is pondering the letter. Alex has been roused to wakefulness, but seems uncertain as to the meaning.
Blaine: ¡°What are you thinking, Em?¡±
Emma: ¡°For starters, he¡¯s a passably good writer. Shame he put all his life into whatever this cult did to him.¡±
Anders: ¡°We¡¯ll be sure to let him know.¡±
Emma: ¡°Don¡¯t bother. The amount of ¡®I¡¯m the Chosen One¡¯ here is over the top. It¡¯s so cringy, I feel like I want to fold up and die in second-hand embarrassment.¡±
There is a snort of laughter from both Alex and Blaine; the contempt in Emma¡¯s voice is comical.
Emma: ¡°That aside, there¡¯s an important clue at the very end.¡±
Bartosz: ¡°You think it¡¯s a hint on where we have to go.¡±
Emma: ¡°Exactly. I think these letters, along with tomorrow¡¯s game, will tell us where to go next¡ and last of all.¡±
A heavy silence falls on this. Bartosz looks with meaning at Blaine, and then turns to look back through the curtains.
Alex: ¡°Anything else, then?¡±
Emma: ¡°What do you think?¡±
Blaine: ¡°I think they¡¯re cocky.¡±
Anders: ¡°How so?¡±
Blaine: ¡°Grantham says it himself. What was it? ¡®There is comfort in knowing that victory is assured.¡¯ They¡¯re getting cocky and sloppy.¡±
Bartosz: ¡°You would know, eh?¡±
Emma: ¡°Bartosz. Quit it. Do you see anything out there yet?¡±
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Bartosz: ¡°I¡¯m still trying to figure that out. Keep talkin¡¯."
Emma: ¡°I agree with Blaine. They¡¯re getting cocky. It¡¯s going to make them mess up, sooner or later.¡±
Alex: ¡°Preferably sooner.¡±
Emma: ¡°I think Grantham here is talking about some kind of ritual.¡±
Anders: ¡°What makes you say that?¡±
Emma: ¡°He says his mother has to die first, and then he¡¯ll ¡®become who he was meant to be¡¯. There¡¯s a murder ritual here- that¡¯s why Blaine has to kill me.¡±
A heavy silence falls on the room. Emma has said this statement so completely matter-of-factly that it has thrown everyone else off guard, including, apparently, Blaine. Emma continues without pausing, unaware either by choice or by accident.
Emma: ¡°Grantham killed his mother, and he got powers over flies. Weiss probably had to kill someone, too, and he got his powers. Blaine kills me¡ and he gets powers.¡±
Blaine: ¡°How do you figure?¡±
Emma looks at him very pointedly. One can assume she is thinking of the ¡®Other Blaine¡¯, but that is assumption, as she does not say this.
Emma: ¡°Some strange notes near the end of my ¡®other journal¡¯. Someone starts to write very short, cryptic messages. ¡®Beware the screens¡¯, ¡®beware the cameras¡¯, ¡®it¡¯s the camera¡¯- stuff like that.¡±
Anders: ¡°What do you mean, ¡®someone¡¯? Wouldn¡¯t it be you?¡±
Emma pauses delicately for a moment.
Emma: ¡°It¡¯s not my handwriting¡ and based on the ramblings on a mess of pages, I¡¯m pretty sure it takes place after my death.¡±
Another unhappy silence falls. Emma pushes past it.
Emma: ¡°So there we go. Murder is the required component for magic demon powers, it would seem.¡±
Alex: ¡°And the last letter?¡±
Emma: ¡°This one is¡ I think¡ I don¡¯t know if there¡¯s anything to this one, in all honesty, except to freak us the hell out.¡±
Alex: ¡°More than we already are?¡±
Emma: ¡°Maybe it¡¯s more accurate to say that he¡¯s trying to freak me out.¡±
Emma begins to read, but it¡¯s done awkwardly:
¡®Little moth trapped in the spider¡¯s web.
To you, we owe the most, for your death frees us from this world.
I yearn to see your blood spilled,
Yearn to see our brother born anew,
Yearn to see the world end.
It is thanks to you,
Time and again,
Broken little bird.
You hope, and you trust,
And every time, you believe.
And always you are betrayed.
Trust the lion, little lamb,
And come to us again.
Come to me, as you know you will,
Believing you will avenge poor little Wynona.
So pretty in her mutated corpse,
Bloated with my gift,
You, too, will join her soon
And bring to us the gift of peace.
To Emma, a goddess who will be sacrificed
Again
And Again
And Again And Again
And Again And Again and Again-¡®
Here, Emma looks up, placing the paper down on the table and shrugging.
Emma: ¡°You get the point.¡±
The camera suddenly jerks up as Blaine stands and moves away from the couch. It drops to his side, and he paces in agitation. No one says anything.
Blaine: ¡°Fucking¡ psychopaths.¡±
Emma: ¡°Blaine. It¡¯s fine. I¡¯m fine. Nothing¡¯s going to happen.¡±
Blaine: ¡°That¡¯s disgusting. I do not want him talking to you. I don¡¯t want him anywhere near you.¡±
Bartosz: ¡°What¡¯s it matter who goes near her? You all just want the same thing.¡±
Blaine: ¡°He does not get to leave her weird ass fucking letters about how she¡¯s a goddess to be sacrificed!¡±
Alex: ¡°It¡¯s just a letter. He¡¯s trying to get under your skin, Blaine. You can¡¯t let them get to you.¡±
Anders: ¡°Kid, you need to relax-¡°
Blaine: ¡°Shut up! She¡¯s mine! Not his! Not Weiss''s, not Grantham''s- mine!¡±
There is a long beat of very, very intense silence that follows this, in which Blaine and everyone else in the room has frozen. Emma¡¯s eyebrows have shot up, but compared to the stricken looks on the others¡¯ faces, she is not nearly so affected by the outburst.
After a long moment, Blaine spins around, drops the camera on the table in the hallway, and presumably shuts himself on the bottom floor bathroom. Another several seconds of silence follows this.
Bartosz: ¡°You don¡¯t seriously fuckin¡¯ trust him, do you?¡±
Emma: ¡°I do.¡±
Anders: ¡°I¡¯m¡¡±
Alex: ¡°They¡¯re trying to get into his head. They¡¯re fucking up his ability to think.¡±
Emma: ¡°No, they¡¯re not.¡±
Emma is the only one who appears calm. She stands, picks up the three letters, shuffles them together, and places them at the corner of the table before moving around the couch and heading toward the camera, which she picks up. The others watch her with oddly stricken looks. She alone appears unaffected.
Emma: ¡°That¡¯s everything there. We need to get sleep. Alex, I¡¯ll show you to the one room upstairs. The rest of us can all take turns with the couch.¡±
Bartosz: ¡°No. We¡¯ll take the floor. You need rest, if you¡¯re going to handle that game tomor-¡°
In true Emma fashion, the camera clicks off without warning.
--End Transmission--
File 062: The Final Level
THE FOLLOWING IS MADE UP OF A RECORD OF TWO SEPARATE DOCUMENTS.
--File 062: The Final Level--
When the next video file starts up, the camera appears to be sitting on the table where Blaine left it the night before. It is unclear who has turned the camera on, as it continues to sit completely still.
The living room where Emma is currently sleeping is now unlit; all of the curtains remain drawn. What light there is comes from a small amount of fire still sparking in the fireplace, which was apparently lit at some point between now and the previous video.
There are whispers coming from just off-screen. The speakers are identified quickly as Anders and Bartosz. Their voices are low, and they seem to be in the area just inside the front entrance, in the hallway.
Bartosz: "He''s been in there since he said that. You don''t think that''s fuckin'' weird?"
Anders: "This whole situation is testing all of us, Jakub. You need to lay off."
Bartosz: "I never would''ve thought were this dense, Jim. You can''t seriously still think the kid is innocent?"
Anders: "I think we''re fucking around in something that is so far over our heads that I don''t know what to think."
Bartosz: "So, what, you''re fine just risking him killin'' the girl? Again, supposedly?"
Anders: "Obviously not- but pushing him the fuck around and making all those snide comments is not helping."
Bartosz: "I want him to know I''m keepin'' an eye on him."
Anders: "Yeah, and you''re proving those psychopaths right. Were you even listening to them, or do you just... enter into like a blind rage whenever anything related to Grantham shows up?"
Bartosz: "I was listenin''. They''re already convincing him to go dark side, what more proof do you want?"
Anders: "Yeah, asshole, by telling him that no one trusts him. First it was Alex, and now it''s you. You need to cut that shit out."
Bartosz: "I can''t."
Anders: "Then if he kills her, it''s your fault, because you couldn''t shut your fucking mouth for five seconds. You want to shoulder that for however long we all live after?"
There is a beat of silence following this, before Anders continues.
Anders: "I don''t know what to think. I saw that kid. I was there that day. I looked at him. Before today- or yesterday, or... any of this- I''d have told you that the kid was going to be a champion. He was going to rise above it all."
Bartosz: "And now?"
Anders: "Are you kidding me? The fuck do I know anymore? Emma''s got two versions of her journal, one of which comes from apparently a version of our reality where everything and everyone is dead and consumed by whatever the fuck these ''others'' are. We''re being followed by a video game, and that''s not even the worst of it. How do I even sum up whatever the fuck that walking fly nightmare hive mind creature that Grantham''s become?"
Bartosz: "Sooo... you don''t trust the kid."
Anders: "I don''t know what to trust. I feel like I''m in a madhouse- or like I''m a small mouse running a little maze for some diabolical researchers who''ve put pesticides in the cheese at the very end."
Bartosz: "So what do you want me to do?"
Anders: "Lay. The fuck. Off. You''re doing exactly what Grantham wants, you realize that, right? You''re being played like a wind up doll."
Bartosz: "It''s ''played like a piano'', Jim."
Anders: "What the fuck ever, I haven''t slept in like three days."
Bartosz: "Fine. Go sleep. Emma took the smaller couch, you can stretch out on the bigger one."
Anders: "You''re the one with the gun. You go sleep."
As they continue to argue, the video flickers; for a moment, in the living room where Emma is peacefully sleeping, the moonlight coming in through a crack in the curtains catches on hanging shards of glass. The figure reflected within is staring down at her. It is too dark to see its face, but given past experience, it can be assumed that this is the Other Blaine.
Then the video ends.
When the next video starts, it is morning. The curtains are still drawn, but the lights are all on, and everyone is gathered in the living room once more, including Alex and, presumably, Blaine at the helm with the camera, as he is not visible and everyone else is accounted for in the shot.
There is a tense air of silence that hangs over them all; on the coffee table in front of them sits the gray game controller. Emma is tapping her knees anxiously as she stares with nervous eyes at the screen, on which the timer is now counting down toward one.
Alex: "You guys don''t think we should maybe stick this thing outside?"
Blaine: "Tried that before you came down. We closed the door, turned around, and it was already on the table."
Anders: "It''s more aggressive."
Emma: "Because that''s what I want to hear in regards to this thing."
Bartosz: "What more can they do to us at this point? We already know they don''t want either Emma or Blaine dead."
He gives a very pointed pause.
Bartosz: "Yet."
Everyone shoots him an annoyed look, but at that moment, the timer hits Zero, and Emma tenses up, while Blaine immediately moves to standing, camera angled so the screen is perfectly shown.
It flashes several times, and then, unexpectedly, it just loads up the next level. Nothing paranormal happens whatsoever outside of this event.
Emma immediately snatches the game up, and Blaine moves around to continue showcasing the screen. Anders and Bartosz immediately move behind the couch; Alex is not within the frame, but there is no sound from him at this time.
The game screen shows, in its usual pixel art format, a somewhat familiar room. Jake Grantham''s horrible excuse for a bedroom is laid out in all its pixelated glory, and he is standing in the middle of the room, beside the bed. There is little else in the room.
Emma sends Grantham forward a step, and immediately, text appears on the screen:
MOTHER: "GET THE FUCK UP."
Anders: "I''m inclined to blame his mother for everything we''re going through right now."
Emma: "Technically, it''s the fault of the cult. They pushed him into this with the death of his father."
Bartosz: "You''ll learn that people like this only need the barest excuses to get started, kid."
The dialogue in the game continues, and Emma reads the dialogue aloud as it appears:
MOTHER: "GET MOVING, YOU LAZY BUM. TODAY IS THE DAY I HAVE LABORED TOWARD SINCE YOUR BLESSED FATHER DIED."
Another line of text appears, this one above Grantham''s head:
JAKE: "WHERE ARE WE GOING?"
MOTHER: "WE ARE GOING WHERE IT ALL BEGAN. AT LEAST YOU''LL HAVE YOUR PISS STAIN OF A FRIEND WITH YOU- AND WE''LL ALL GET EXACTLY WHAT WE WANT."
Bartosz: "Ding ding- that''s familiar. ''Where it all began, and where it all came to end.''"
The screen shakes as a door is thrown open, and a second later, a figure darts into the room, and a shriek is emitted from the speakers, causing everyone to jump.
The screen goes dark, and when it returns, they are surprised to see that Emma is now playing as the sprite that depicts Grantham''s mother. They are standing outside of their home, on a familiar dirt road. Text appears across the screen.
HEAD TOWARD THE MIRROR THAT SEPARATES THE LAND FROM THE SKY
Emma: "Here we go. Riddle time."
Blaine: "What are you thinking, Em?"
Emma: "This one''s easy. It''s the lake."
She guides the mother toward what they can all presume will be the lake; despite not being immediately visible in the top-down format of the game''s layout, the position of the house and the direction the player is facing apparently gives Emma enough clues to deduce that the lake is directly forward.
Sure enough, the lake appears, but it looks... odd. Up until now, the game has made it a point to preserve the pixel art aesthetic; nothing has broken out of the bounds of that style of artwork, that self-enforced limitation.
The lake, however, moves with a fluidity that the rest of the game does not; and it reflects a hyper-realistic sky. The affect is hard on the eyes, trying to balance the rough edges of pixel art- in which the animation for the character could come down to roughly 9 separate cells on an animation sheet- and the animation of the lake, which looks to be rendered so fluidly as to look like it is in real time.
When Emma approaches the lake, more text appears:
DRINK OF THE FOUNTAIN FROM WHICH ALL LIFE SHALL DIE
Emma: "You could not pay me money to drink out of that lake..."
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Bartosz: "We''re probably going to have to, kid."
Emma moves the character all the way up to the edge of the water and presses the ACTION button; there is a nauseating sound of drinking. Mrs. Grantham''s sprite steps aside, and Grantham''s sprite is thrown forward. A heavily distorted voice crackles through the speakers:
MOTHER: "DRINK."
No one says anything as another nauseating sound of distorted slurping comes through the otherwise silent speakers. The screen flashes and flickers rapidly, before more text appears:
RETURN TO THE PLACE WHERE SINNERS LIE
There is a pause of silence as this line is considered. Emma hums.
Anders: "Emma?"
Emma: "I''m pretty sure that means go back inside the house. After all, Grantham''s mother thinks he''s the sinner, right?"
Bartosz: "I won''t argue with that."
Emma takes a deep breath and guides the character back toward the home, climbing the stairs and stepping inside. Immediately more text appears, this time in a couplet:
AND FIND THE DOOR PREPARED NIGH
IN THE ASHES ON WHICH THE PHOENIX FLY.
Blaine: "That''s... door prepared nigh? Is that even proper English?"
Emma: "This is surprisingly straight forward for a riddle. I kind of expected something harder, for all the pomp and circumstance this thing has put us through."
Anders: "The fireplace?"
Emma: "Exactly. There''s a hidden door in the fireplace."
As one, they all glance up at the fireplace, but turn back toward the game.
Emma guides the character toward the fireplace. Without pressing anything, as she stands in front of the pixelated representation of the very same fireplace which they''re all sitting across from, there is a sudden rumbling sound; a thump comes through the speakers, and a moment, later, a door is revealed. Nothing of the sort happens in reality, but Emma pushes the character through the new door.
The following screen is mostly dark, but there is what looks like a staircase now; the camera has changed to a side view, and Emma guides the character down the seemingly endless descent. After a moment, text appears, but before Emma can read it aloud, a strange, somewhat disconnected voice reads the words instead, coming from in front of them.
Alex: "''From the ashes of the phoenix, a legend is born.''"
Everyone''s heads snap up; Emma''s character stops moving, and the camera shows Alex sitting in his chair. His eyes have glossed over, and he is ramrod straight in his seat, expression flat.
Blaine: "Alex?"
Emma: "Alex, what are you doing?"
There is no answer. Bartosz moves around the couch to grab Alex by the shoulder, but he has become stiff and unmovable. His eyes are trained on a point ahead of him.
Blaine: "Oi, Alex!"
Emma: "Hang on."
The camera swings back down, and Emma continues her character''s descent; a few moments later, more text appears, and as before, Alex reads them aloud, despite being on the opposite side of the room.
Alex: "''But the fire is suffering, and the heroes are Death.''"
Anders: "Oh, for fuck''s sake..."
Emma: "The heroes are death? Really?"
The endless descent continues, and more text appears.
Alex: "''The world is ruined, beyond repair. The chance for rebirth has been lost.''"
Bartosz: "Couldn''t even make it fuckin'' rhyme."
Despite the joking, the camera shows that Emma is tense, and her brows are tightly knit in worry every time she looks up at Alex. Bartosz is hovering beside him, expression tense and hands stiff; Anders looks concerned. Their voices, as well, carry little to no real mirth. They are all very, very nervous.
Alex: "''Where the Others came from, no one knows. They come again, and again, to mete out justice.''"
Emma: "Do you think he... saw this when he beat the game?"
Only silence meets this question.
Alex: "''But for some unknown reason, it begins anew, the ouroboros eating its tail.''"
Emma: "Interesting."
She has paused her forward movement. Alex doesn''t move, and Bartosz keeps his eyes trained on Alex''s face.
Blaine: "What is?"
Emma: "I thought... I thought that everything was the doing of the Others."
Anders: "But this is saying they don''t know why."
Emma: "Exactly. I thought everything starting over again, on repeat, was because the Others were doing it? Or... maybe Grantham and Weiss?"
Blaine: "That doesn''t make sense, either, though. If the ultimate goal of the cult is to just flat out destroy everything, period, then why let it start over again and again?"
Emma: "So... how is it restarting?"
Anders: "I have a bad feeling that''s even more complicated than this whole ''others'' bullshit, whatever the fuck they even are."
Emma continues walking down the stairs- the surroundings do not ever appear to change, apparently on an infinite loop until some trigger is met. In the meantime, dialogue keeps appearing.
Alex: "''So again, we suffer, and again, we kill, and again, we win. We will always win.''"
Emma: "This is the kind of shit people would put on their AIM statuses in the 2000''s."
Anders: "You just spoke gibberish to me."
Emma: "Nevermind."
Suddenly, the screen changes, and the darkness is slowly driven back. The characters for Mrs. Grantham and her son move into the next screen, which returns to a top-down depiction of what looks like a tunnel in an underground cave system. Now, everything is silent, but Blaine''s camera shows that Alex still appears to be in a trance.
She continues down the path, until it finally opens up. A cut scene begins; Mrs. Grantham steps forward, leaving her son to stop abruptly behind her. Behind him, cultists move to block the path down which they came.
When the text appears, Alex''s mouth opens, but this time, it''s not his voice that exits his mouth. It is a woman''s voice, echoing as if her was speaking in a cavern.
MOTHER: "I BROUGHT HIM, NOW YOU GIVE ME WHAT I WANT."
The others look up in alarm, but the cut scene continues whether they want it to or not.
Mrs. Grantham''s pixelated character stops before another model in the game that, like the lake, does not belong. A glass pool sits in the center of the cave, wide and circular and seemingly manmade in is perfection. Someone in a black robe approaches Mrs. Grantham.
When Alex speaks, an unrecognizable man''s voice comes through his mouth.
CULTIST: "YES. YOU WISH TO SEE YOUR HUSBAND AGAIN."
MOTHER: "NOT JUST SEE HIM. YOU PROMISED ME THAT BY SACRIFICING THE BOY, BY MAKING HIS LIFE MISERABLE, I COULD HAVE MY HUSBAND BACK."
CULTIST: "AND SO YOU SHALL."
The screen returns to Grantham, who, depicted in the simplistic pixel art, appears to be grabbed by flanking cultists and dragged forward. A voice that can only be Jake Grantham''s now comes out of Alex''s mouth.
JAKE: "WAIT, MOM, PLEASE-"
MOTHER: "I NEVER WANTED YOU."
JAKE: "PLEASE, THIS ISN''T FAIR! I''VE DONE EVERYTHING YOU EVER ASKED OF ME! WHY CAN''T YOU JUST LOVE ME?!"
MOTHER: "I NEVER ASKED FOR YOU! AND WHEN YOU CAME, YOU WERE ALL HE TALKED ABOUT!"
CULTIST: "BRING FORTH THE OTHER ONE."
Another character is dragged forward, this time by two people in regular street clothes. Behind them are three other figures; their heights and general sizing denote potentially younger characters.
WEISS''S FATHER: "WE''VE DONE WHAT WAS REQUESTED. NOW YOU OWE US."
WEISS: "A CULT. YOU WERE IN A FUCKING CULT? THAT''S WHY YOU TREATED ME LIKE SHIT THIS WHOLE TIME?"
The text of the cut scene continues at its own pace. Every time Alex finishes a line, it immediately moves on, and the voices continue to change, coming out of his own mouth. No one has any time to actually react to what''s happening right in front of them, and the tension is thick enough to feel through a screen.
WEISS''S FATHER: "THROUGH YOUR SACRIFICE, YOU''LL ACTUALLY PROVIDE SOMETHING FOR YOUR FAMILY. YOU SHOULD BE HONORED."
CULTIST: "WE WILL BEGIN WITH WEISS HOLTMAN. PLEASE- ALL OF YOU, STEP ONTO THE POOL."
Weiss''s character is dragged toward the pool and placed at the center; the water shifts, and shapes move beneath the surface, tentacle-like. A great eye rolls open just beneath the water on which Weiss and all of his family now stand.
WEISS: "FUCK YOU! WHY DO YOU DESERVE TO LIVE, AND NOT ME?"
WEISS''S FATHER: "BECAUSE I BROUGHT YOU INTO THIS WORLD, AND I CAN JUST AS EASILY TAKE YOU OUT OF IT!"
CULTIST: "WEISS. YOU WILL STAND AND DO AS YOU ARE TOLD."
The cultist steps forward slowly and hands an item to Weiss. In a comical recreation of a video game, Weiss displays a crude, jagged, pixelated dagger over his head, though no sound or music is displayed.
WEISS: "DO AS I AM TOLD? WHAT, AM I SUPPOSED TO KILL MYSELF?"
CULTIST: "LISTEN, WEISS... AND DO AS YOU ARE COMMANDED. THE OTHERS CALL TO YOU."
There is only silence now. For a long moment, nothing happens, and then out of Alex''s mouth comes a horrible sound that is indescribable. A combination of the spoken word in English and that same alien music that accompanied the creature in the lake comes out in an audible whisper:
Alex: "''KILL THEM ALL.''"
This text is not displayed on the screen. Emma looks down, experimentally presses a button, and Weiss takes a step forward.
Emma: "Ah, fuck me, it''s going to make me do it..."
No one says anything as she sends Weiss forward. She presses first the action button, and then the one other button, and the dagger in front of Weiss slices outward with another surge of detail; blood, colorful and as highly detailed as the two ponds, splatters across the screen. Indeed, it begins to leak out from around the edges of the game, causing Emma to yelp.
Immediately, Blaine shoves the camera at Anders, who clumsily takes it, and grabs a pillow on the couch to stop the blood from falling onto Emma.
Meanwhile, the sounds of screaming and shouting are pouring out of Alex''s mouth; his skin is growing pale, but otherwise, he doesn''t react to any of this, just continues to emit voices and sounds from another time, all recorded in a horrific video game console.
Alex goes silent, and it''s just Weiss now standing on the pool, which is covered in the blood; it drains into the waters, and for a moment, Weiss is covered from head to toe in it. As it drains off of him, he steps back.
WEISS: "I FEEL... STRANGE. I DON''T UNDERSTAND."
CULTIST: "MRS. GRANTHAM. IT IS YOUR TURN."
Alex begins to read out the shrieking of Mrs. Grantham, who is now being dragged toward the pool. It is clear to her now that she was lied to.
MRS. GRANTHAM: "YOU LIED TO ME! YOU LIARS! YOU TOLD ME! YOU TOLD ME THAT YOU''D KILL HIM!"
CULTIST: "I NEVER SAID THAT. I SAID YOU''D GET WHAT YOU WANTED. YOU GO TO YOUR HUSBAND, MRS. GRANTHAM, WHO RESTS NOW AS ANOTHER GRAND SACRIFICE TO THE OTHERS. JAKE- STEP ONTO THE POOL, AND DO AS YOU ARE TOLD."
JAKE: "I... I DON''T UNDERSTAND. WHY?"
CULTIST: "ALL WILL BECOME CLEAR, JAKE. THIS IS HOW IT IS TOLD TO US. YOU ARE THE FAVORED OF THE OTHERS; YOU ARE TO BE GIFTED. YOUR FIRST GIFT IS TO KILL YOUR MOTHER."
JAKE: "...THAT ISN''T RIGHT."
CULTIST: "THAT IS NOT HOW YOU TRULY FEEL. STEP ONTO THE POOL, JAKE GRANTHAM, AND ACCEPT YOUR FATE."
The scene passes remarkably quickly. Emma guides Jake Grantham''s pixelated character onto the pool. Once again, a beat of silence, and then from Alex''s mouth, that horrible "voice":
Alex: "''Kill her as you please. Revel in it, Jake Grantham.''"
In the game, it would appear Jake only needed to hear this voice. A gross, disgusting sound of joy comes through the speakers, and then the sounds of someone hacking away at someone screaming. These sounds come straight out of the game, which once again begins to overflow with blood; prepared, Emma jumps to her feet, and Blaine attempts to stem the flow of the viscous liquid with several pillows, uncaring of who owns them.
Meanwhile, Alex''s eyes have rolled back into his head, and he slides off of the chair, narrowly caught by Bartosz before his head hits the floor.
Bartosz: "Hey! Kid! Alex! Wake up!"
Emma: "There''s more!"
More text begins appearing across the screen, which has gone black.
I FELT THE OTHERS IN ME. I SLICED HER TO PIECES. I WILL WRITE OF MY FEELINGS LEADING UP TO THIS MOMENT, AND I WILL PRESERVE HER, TO LIVE IT AGAIN AND AGAIN. THE OTHERS HAVE TOLD ME THAT ONE DAY, OUR THIRD BROTHER WILL COME, AND HIS POWERS WILL SURPASS EVEN MINE AND WEISS''S. HE WILL BE ABLE TO ALLOW ME TO RELIVE THIS MOMENT, THIS BEAUTIFUL MOMENT, WHERE I FINALLY TAUGHT THAT FUCKING BITCH A LESSON. TO THINK SHE WANTED TO KILL ME, JAKE GRANTHAM.
COME TO US, BLAINE.
COME TO US, EMMA.
COME TO US, OR DIE.
At this point, the game begins making a shrill sound, and Emma suddenly yelps, bouncing it on her palms.
Emma: "It''s getting hot!"
Blaine: "Give it to me!"
Blaine snatches it, and Anders follows him with the camera, shouting for Blaine to hurry. The sound of the door opening in the hallway can be heard, and presumably, Blaine chucks the game before slamming the door shut.
There is a very audible explosion that causes the windows to burst inward; Emma screams, and Anders drops the camera on the couch, diving to protect her from the flying glass. Likewise, the camera catches Bartosz doing similar for Alex, who is still unconscious.
Silence follows this, apart from Blaine''s footsteps as he runs back into the room; the camera shows him reaching out toward Emma and helping her up.
Just as suddenly, Alex jerks up, eyes snapping open, and he lets out a horrified sob.
Alex: "I remember!"
At first, no one says anything, too shell shocked.
Alex: "I remember, I remember!"
Bartosz: "Remember what?"
Alex: "The game- it exploded!"
Anders: "Yeah, no shit, that happened just- wait."
Alex: "I completed it, and I tried to run. It exploded, burned down my house, killed my family!"
Alex bursts into sobs.
Alex: "It''s all my fault!"
There is confusion now in the room. Everything is weighing on them all, heavily, and finally, Blaine is the one who reaches over to turn off the camera.
--END TRANSMISSION--
File 063: Into the Valley of Death
THE FOLLOWING TAKES PLACE SOME TIME AFTER THE EVENTS OF THE PREVIOUS FILE. IT IS STILL DAYLIGHT. DUE TO THE LENGTH OF THE FOOTAGE CONTAINED, THE RECORDED TRANSCRIPT WILL BE SPLIT INTO MULTIPLE FILES.
--File 063: Into the Valley of Death--
When the video begins, it becomes abundantly clear that everyone is beyond exhausted. The camera is immediately pointing to a crater in the ground some distance from the cabin; grass, dirt, and debris are everywhere, and there is a writhing mass of maggots at the center of it all. Blaine is the one recording, as per usual.
Emma: "I thought I''d be a lot happier to be free of that thing."
The camera turns to show a pale and drawn Emma staring into the hole with an unreadable expression. There is clear exhaustion in her face.
Blaine: "It''s not over until it''s over."
There''s a general consensus. The camera pans across everyone: Anders and Bartosz are standing like grim gargoyles on either side of Alex, who, while he seems much more lively than before, also seems to have withdrawn. It is unclear what was said between files, but whatever it was, it wasn''t enough to free him of his guilt.
Blaine: "We''re at a crossroads. Where do we go from here?"
Emma: "Where else? Exactly where the game told us to go. Thank God you''ve got a camera, or we''d have been screwed two ways from Tuesday."
Anders: "Let''s pretend I''ve already forgotten. Where do we go?"
Emma: "For starters, we get the absolute pleasure of drinking from the lake."
Dramatically, Blaine turns to take in the lake, which is only a short walk from the cabin. The water is deceptively calm, far too clear for a lake of its caliber and size, and reflects the sky with dazzling perfection.
Bartosz: "If that''s not a portal to hell, then my fuckin'' name''s ''Steve''."
Blaine: "Who wants the honors?"
Emma: "Bad news. We all have to drink it."
Anders: "You sure?"
Emma: "Highly. In the game, Grantham''s mother made him drink it, along with her."
Bartosz: "How do we know this wasn''t performative?"
Emma: "I checked that fireplace to heaven and back, and I found a switch... but nothing happened when I pressed it. Not a single thing."
Alex: "I''ll start."
Without any preamble, Alex tiredly walks to the lake. It is easy to forget everything Alex has seen and been through over the last three days, much less what he has remembered. Still, he walks up to the lake, cups his hands, and drinks from the water.
A moment later, he gags, stumbles back and shakes his head, looking disgusted.
Emma: "What?! What is it?"
Alex: "Tastes like fucking hell. It''s awful."
Anders: "Don''t sell it to us or anything..."
Alex: "You couldn''t sell that if you wanted to. It''s like- it''s like..."
Blaine: "What?"
Alex: "Like I drank a cup of blood. My mouth feels like it''s full of blood."
As one, the others- Blaine included- lean toward him, as if subconsciously wanting to make sure his mouth isn''t. He notices, rolls his eyes, and opens his mouth wide. There is no blood.
With a deep sigh, Emma strides toward the lake as well, cupping her hands and likewise taking as good a drink as she can get. Similarly, she gags, and Blaine steadies her as she retches.
Emma: "That''s foul."
Bartosz: "All right, move over."
Bartosz and Anders both step up and mimic Emma and Alex. Anders swears and leans on his knees, grunting; Bartosz valiantly screws up his face, turns slightly green, and says nothing.
Last, Blaine hands the camera to Emma, who accepts it gingerly, and walks up to the edge. He drinks, pauses, and he looks up, face falling.
Emma: "What?"
Blaine: "I... taste nothing."
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Silence falls on the group. Blaine looks down at his hands, then wordlessly gets up and reaches for the camera. As it swaps hands once more, it briefly captures Bartosz giving Anders a blatantly "loud" look. When Emma speaks, it''s loud, as if to drown out a voice that isn''t speaking.
Emma: "All right, everyone back in the house. The fireplace should open up, now."
Sure enough, Emma marches up to the fireplace, reaches upward toward the flue, and there''s an audible *click* that sounds before the grating of a heavy door falling fills the air. The back of the fireplace falls out, and everyone exchanges grim expressions.
Alex: "Anyone else getting the feeling like... we''re stuck in a rollercoaster, headed toward a track that''s been cut off?"
Anders: "Hurtling towards something we can''t escape? Yeah."
Bartosz: "I''ll go first. I can''t stand this kind of fuckin'' around to buy time. If we''re gonna die, let''s go fuckin'' die."
Bartosz shoulders his way in through the opening, and after a moment, Alex follows. Emma glances at Blaine before ducking in after him, but as Blaine is about to step in himself, Anders catches him by the shoulder. His expression is pained.
Blaine: "...Yeah?"
Anders: "You know I have faith in you, right?"
Blaine: "...Don''t worry about it, Anders."
Anders: "I''m serious, kid. I was there. I know you ain''t capable of what Jakub thinks- you just gotta understand, the man''s been living a life of nonstop paranoia that got him ostracized for the past fifteen years."
Blaine: "I know, Jim."
There is a long silence in which neither says anything. A gruff shout from the fireplace calls out to them, and Anders drops his hand, seemingly unhappy with the turnout from this conversation. He gestures forward, and Blaine enters into the secret entrance. Anders follows last.
The space beyond is filthy. There is so much dust, it seems as if no one has stepped there in centuries, let alone even within the last fifteen years. Torches on the walls have sprung to life, however, lighting the dim space in a way that allows for still-too-little visibility.
A set of stairs stretches downward in a spiral; darkness is all that is visible, even from the camera.
Bartosz: "And away we go."
Without hesitation, Bartosz steps onto the first staircase... and instantly disappears.
Everyone starts shouting all at once; Anders darts toward the top of the staircase, waving a hand through the shadows, but there is nothing there. It is as if Bartosz never existed.
Emma: "Bartosz!"
Anders: "JAKUB!"
Alex: "Oi- hey! Do you guys hear anything?!"
They all immediately quiet down, but there is nothing apart from the heavy stillness of a deep silence.
Blaine: "Where the fuck did he go?"
Alex: "It''s got to be the stairs."
Emma: "That didn''t exactly happen in the game!"
Anders: "Guess it''s happening now."
Blaine: "So, what do we suggest here?"
Alex: "You got any ideas? You''re supposed to be the brother they''ve been waiting for."
Blaine seems to consider Alex for a second, but the hysterical edge to his voice seems to suggest that Alex is mostly joking.
Blaine: "You gotta do better than that, man, I thought you turned on me again."
Alex: "Sorry. The insane part of me wants to joke around, and the sane part of me wants to scream."
Emma: "That sounds almost like the best idea anyone''s had in ages."
Alex: "What, joking around?"
Emma: "No."
Anders: "Dammit, he''s not coming back."
The others look and seem to realize that Anders is distraught. He is pacing back and forth, clearly too cautious to take a step onto the staircase, but too agitated to be able to stand still.
Blaine: "Hey, Jim, he''s going to be fine."
Anders: "You don''t get it. Do you now how many of us there are left?! So many of us killed off because of this insanity. I can''t lose any more of my old colleagues, can''t bury another friend. We need to find that motherfucking asshole!"
Alex: "Anders, we will-"
Anders: "No. I''m going to find him."
And then he steps on the first step and vanishes.
The others appear stunned.
Emma: "That seemed- did he seem okay?"
Blaine: "I think... it''s as simple as he said. They''ve... buried a lot of people. Seen a lot of death. The only ones who have ever believed their side of things is probably the people within their group, but as each one dies off... who the hell are they going to talk to?"
Alex: "He lost his cool. I don''t think they''ve been able to contact anyone else, either, so in this case..."
Emma: "They''ve only got each other for any kind of normalcy..."
Blaine: "It could be all that, or it could also be that there''s some crazy shit in the air making it really hard to think straight."
Alex: "That is also entirely possible. My head''s starting to hurt."
Emma: "Okay- let''s try going together?"
Blaine: "Yeah. Yeah, all right. As one, together, at the same time, we move onto that top step."
Emma: "Here- Blaine, you take my left hand, and Alex, you take my right. Maybe if we''re touching, we''ll be okay."
Alex: "I''ve got a bad feeling about thi-"
Blaine: "Dude, shut up! Rule of thumb: Every time someone says that in a horror movie, some insane shit happens."
Emma: "Stop procrastinating. Come on."
Together, the three of them line up just above the first step on the staircase. There is a collective breath together, then they all silent nod in each others'' directions. Then, as one, all three step onto the first step...
And then darkness slams into them all. The camera goes pitch black, and the sound of wind buffeting the mic can be heard; in the background, Emma lets out a shrill shriek of fear.
When vision comes back to the camera, their surroundings have changed. Gone is the stone entrance of the fireplace''s secret opening, and now, they are standing in a dimly lit tunnel, just before a cave entrance.
Alex is gone. All that remains is Emma and Blaine.
Blaine twists around. The space behind him is just a single cave; there is no immediately visible exit from this space. There is a hole in the roof of the little cave, but when Blaine shines a light up through it, they only catch the barest hint of the shape of steps beyond- otherwise, it is just endless, fathomless pitch blackness. The cave stretching away from them opens out into a yawning, black void.
Emma: "Where... where do you think Alex is?"
Blaine: "I''m afraid to try to guess."
Emma: "What do we do... now?"
Blaine: "Go forward and hope we run into everyone safe and sound."
There is a heavy silence that follows this that suggests that no one really believes anything to be that easy.
The first file ending is here.
--PAUSE TRANSMISSION--
File 064: Confrontation
THE FOLLOWING TAKES PLACE IN CONTINUATION WITH THE PREVIOUS FILE. FOR BREVITY''S SAKE AND FOR THE SAKE OF CAREFUL INVESTIGATION OF SUCH LONG VIDEOS, THESE FILES HAVE BEEN SPLIT INTO SEVERAL PARTS.
--File 064: Confrontation--
It is not just Emma and Blaine by themselves in the tunnel. There is no other direction to go but forward. After a moment of deep silence, Blaine holds the camera out to Emma.
Despite having done so many times before now, there is a sense of slow finality to the motion, and Emma doesn''t miss it. She looks up over the camera at Blaine behind it, concerned.
Emma: "Blaine?"
Blaine: "Take it. Someone has to get this all on film. Just feels that way."
Emma: "It should be you."
Blaine: "It won''t be. I''m going to... have my hands full."
Emma: "You know I still believe in you, right?"
There is a moment of silence. Emma continues to stare over the camera with a calm expression; whether Blaine is looking back or not, is unknown.
Blaine: "Yeah. I can see you do. You''re the only one who really does."
Emma: "Anders does."
Blaine: "He doesn''t- not really. I don''t know how I can tell, but I can."
Emma: "Really? Like- like, what, supernaturally?"
Blaine: "Kind of. Like something out there wants me to know, more likely. I look at Bartosz, and I know he doesn''t even want to hide the fact that he doesn''t trust me. Alex wants to trust me, but I can''t blame the fact that he can''t trust anyone anymore. He''s so broken, I can''t quite figure out how he''s still moving forward. And Anders..."
Emma: "He cares about you."
Blaine: "He does. Which somehow makes it worse. He''s doubting, even doubting what he''s seen with his own eyes. Just take it, yeah? It''s gotta be you. No one else."
Emma sighs, but nods, taking the camera from his hands and holding it. When she lifts it up, it shows Blaine''s face, and he seems tired. He holds out a hand to tell her to wait, then takes a step into the tunnel, leading the way into the darkness.
Emma: "Have you noticed something weird about the camera, today?"
Blaine: "The fact that the battery''s not draining?"
Emma: "Yeah."
Blaine: "Might as well turn on the flashlight on it. I was going to use my phone, but it looks like the battery on that is draining twice as fast."
Emma: "I used to be into paranormal stuff- they''d say ghosts would zap the energy out of camera batteries and make them die."
Blaine: "Maybe the camera''s zapping the phone batteries."
Emma: "That would mean the camera''s alive in some way, and I absolutely cannot handle that idea."
They stop talking, and Blaine holds out a hand, tilting his head. For a second, there''s no sound... and then there''s the faint sound of deep, low humming drifting through the tunnel.
Emma: "Cults. Lovely. Fantastic."
Blaine: "It''s almost comical how much like a movie this has become. If it weren''t way too fucking real, I''d laugh my ass off."
They stop talking and continue moving forward. The tension is building, and Emma steps closer to Blaine, perhaps subconsciously, perhaps purposely.
As they round a bend in the rock wall, there is a thrumming in the cavern that begins, matching up with the low, almost continuous humming that sinuously fills the air. At the same time, a faint glow begins to dance across the surface of the rocks in the wall, like phosphorescence, but when Emma leans in to try to get a closer look, there is nothing visible that should cause this.
Blaine glances over his shoulder at her, but otherwise, there is no other comment regarding the current situation.
The tunnel continues for some time. As they round yet another bend, now sloping downward, a new sound is added to the humming of voices and the audible thrumming of energy, sounding in time to the now pulsating lights in the cave walls: the alien, musical sounds like the glass harp, eerie and out of pitch and unearthly.
At last, the round one more bend in the cave, and it opens up into an eerily familiar scene.
A massive cavern opens up before them, oddly smooth on every surface, nearly perfect in size and shape. An enormous glass pool sits in the center of the space, a light coming off the inhumanly still surface.
A path stretches out before them, lined with people in black robes and hoods that cover their faces, much like the scene in the game. As soon as Blaine and Emma appear, the rows and rows of people all immediately kneel, then place their hands on the floor; the humming and the alien music stops, but the thrumming continues. The lights pulsating along the walls of the cave are so bright that they almost give better lighting than the countless torches that line the walls at evenly spaced intervals.
Emma: "Blaine!"
Emma''s pointing hand jerks out past the camera, and at the end of the path, they can see several familiar faces.
For one, Weiss is standing calm and controlled, hands behind his back, smiling and friendly. Beside him is Grantham in his horrifically more solid form of wriggling maggots and flies, poorly concealed with a trench coat. In front of them, bound and forced into kneeling positions, are Anders, Bartosz, and Alex. The latter has a bloody nose and an enraged expression; Bartosz is sporting a black eye, and Anders is unconscious, being supported by a cultist.
Emma suddenly yelps, and spins around; the camera reveals that their way has been blocked by a wall of cultists, all of their faces oddly concealed despite the bright lighting. Their robes are unmarked black cloth robes of no significant material.
One of the cultists reaches for Emma as if to keep her from running, but Blaine suddenly strikes out and smashes their hand away; they recoil.
Blaine: "She won''t run."
The cultist immediately bows and shrinks back from him, almost as if in awe.
Weiss: "Blaine! Brother! You have joined us at last!"
Blaine says nothing, staring ahead with a hard expression. He glances at Emma, then begins to walk forward; she follows behind him, close, gripping the camera closer to her, as determined by the position of the camera and her breathing hitching up in speed and intensity.
Grantham''s language has become more controlled and somehow easier to understand... but it is always accompanied with a continuous, familiar buzzing, ever shifting and changing, yet far more smooth and graceful than ever before.
Grantham: "You amaze every time. You get better and better at concealing what you are- even, it seems, from yourself."
Blaine: "I don''t follow."
Weiss: "The closer we get to the day, the more Grantham and I seem to remember- but each time, it takes up until the very end for you to recall every past iteration you''ve lived. Perhaps it is all designed that way by the Others."
Bartosz: "What the hell took you so long to get here?!"
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Both Emma and Blaine pause at that.
Blaine: "The hell are you talking about? We saw you maybe fifteen minutes ago."
Alex tries to speak, but has to spit out a wad of blood before he can do so. As they get closer, Emma exclaims in dismay; his face is swollen.
Alex: "You''ve- you''ve been gone for hours. We''ve been waiting for you."
Emma: "That- that can''t be right. It''s been literally fifteen minutes."
Bartosz: "Longer for him. He stepped into the darkness first. It was almost thirty fuckin'' minutes before Anders showed up, and he tried to take ''em all out."
Weiss: "We didn''t kill any of them. You always wanted to be the one to do that, once you''d conducted business. Although to be fair, Alex has never made it this far before. It''s always just been these two. Everything about this iteration is so special. Remember anything, yet?"
Blaine: "I''m starting to."
As Blaine and Emma get nearer to Weiss and Grantham, she keeps furtively turning the camera to look up at his face. Blaine''s expression seems to change between the lighting of the torches and the shadows of the waning pulsations of the cave walls; one moment he seems serene, and the next, sinister.
Weiss: "I knew there was something special about this iteration. Look how she follows him. I can''t believe it."
Bartosz: "Dammit, Emma, fight for your fucking life! Are you a goddamned lemming?!"
Blaine: "It doesn''t matter what you say, Bartosz. She trusts me."
Grantham: "Unbelievable. She really does. Look at her."
Emma''s breathing hitches again, but she only steps closer to Blaine, almost stubbornly so.
Bartosz: "EMMA! Wake the fuck up! He''s just lied to us this entire time!"
Emma: "No. No, Bartosz. I trust him."
Bartosz breaks into an endless stream of agonized swearing and attempts to throw off the cultists holding him; he almost manages to succeed, but several more jump forward to hold him down on the ground, flat. He stares up at Blaine, this furious, aged-beyond-his-actual-years man, with real rage and hatred in his eyes.
Bartosz: "Jim trusted you, kid! He had faith in you! He fucking believed in you! That girl doesn''t deserve to be a sacrificial fucking lamb again and again!"
Blaine: "Why do you two do this? Jog my memory. It''s hazy."
Blaine and Emma have come to stand before them, now. The pool glitters beyond; Emma stands beside Blaine, close to him, one hand pinching his shirt as if to keep hold of him. Blaine stares at the delighted Weiss and Grantham head-on, unbothered.
Weiss: "The same reason you did anything. You know Jake''s story- but I could never make myself put down my own. The issue with being the artist behind the creation; depicting my own story felt dirty, but depicting my beloved brother''s? Far more honorable."
Grantham: "We were raised as cattle by the ones who were meant to love us. Weiss''s family had him purely to sacrifice him; in each iteration, his family has spent generations building to this moment, believing- wrongly- that the time would come when Weiss''s father would rise to the ranks meant for Weiss. Each time, his father is punished for his ego."
Emma: "That... that makes no sense. The cult is the reason you''ve suffered, every single time. The cult is the reason your mother turns on you, and if the cult didn''t exist, your father wouldn''t have planned to sacrifice you!"
Grantham: "That''s what we thought... at first."
Weiss: "Here''s the beauty of it all: it was inevitable. The cult is the reason we are able to rise above. You understand... don''t you, Blaine?"
Blaine: "The cult was just... an excuse. It would have happened even without the cult. Jake''s mother would have begun to resent him more and more for stealing his father''s attention."
Emma: "Yeah, based on information they gave us- biased information!"
Weiss: "But true. And if not for the cult... I very well would not have come to exist."
Bartosz: "What... a... fucking... pity."
Alex: "Blaine... you can''t seriously be entertaining this? You can''t seriously be entertaining hurting Emma? Not when she is the only one who trusts you?"
Blaine makes a face, but doesn''t look at him.
Blaine: "You admit it. No one trusts me. No one who ever learns about my past ever does."
Alex: "Look, I don''t- cough!- I don''t claim to understand what you went through, but you are not the only person in the world who knows what the fuck suffering is! So many others suffer- you''re not special in your suffering!"
Blaine: "It''s all inevitable, Alex."
Alex: "It''s not, though! I''m still alive!"
It is at this point that Anders seems to wake up, swearing and jerking around as he tries to figure out where he is. When he sees Blaine, his bruised and swollen face falls, and he tries to leap out of the hands of his captors. Blaine doesn''t look his way.
Anders: "Blaine! Kid! Come on, I know you''re better than this! The bullshit these fucking insane lunatics have been spouting- you can''t seriously believe in all of that!"
Blaine: "You don''t believe in me. No one does- except the only one that matters."
Anders: "Then don''t fuck this up! Don''t do this to her! Emma, please, for the love of God, stop just blindly following him!"
Weiss: "I have never seen you just... walk her to the pool. The Others said the energy of this iteration had rebounded so hard that it might... it might finally end. Everything... could end. No one here understands what it''s like to spend your life as someone else''s punching bag, never strong enough. You keep hoping that someone who is supposed to love you unconditionally will step up and save you... and instead, she hid her head in the sand... until you couldn''t take it anymore. Could you?"
Anders: "No! That wasn''t him! He didn''t do it!"
Blaine: "Didn''t I?"
Alex: "What? You- you killed your mother?"
Bartosz: "I fucking knew it."
Anders: "No! NO! The evidence went against him! There was no evidence for it- the footage- everything-"
Bartosz: "Fucking murderer. Killers never come back after they taste their first kill."
Weiss: "So? Ready for the end of the world, brother?"
At this point, Weiss and Grantham step to the side, and the cultists drag Alex, Anders, and Bartosz out of the way. All three are now shouting over each other various lines of dialogue; Alex is begging Emma to fight, Bartosz is just swearing and cursing at Blaine, and Anders is begging for Blaine to listen to him.
Blaine, without turning to look at Emma, walks forward. A cultist takes a step toward her, which she shies away from; again, Blaine turns and harshly slaps the person''s hands away.
Blaine: "She''ll follow. I don''t need help."
Emma continues to walk behind Blaine, ignoring the shouts of the others. As they pass Weiss and Grantham, the former pulls out from behind him a long, thin, horrible black dagger. Instinctively, Emma jerks away from it, moving to stand on the other side of Blaine wordlessly.
Blaine takes the dagger.
Weiss: "Feels familiar, doesn''t it? This has traveled between iterations. It is not a copy. It is the one- the original. It has drunk the blood of those we have killed before us over and over and over again. It hungers for her- it recognizes her. It knows what must be done."
Blaine nods once, then turns and continues walking toward the pool. There is silence behind them; the alien music begins again, coming from the still pool of water.
Blaine steps out onto the water first; no ripples spread from his feet. He turns, holds out a hand, and Emma takes it, the camera shaking slightly in her other hand. His expression is impossible to read; it is not permanently swathed in dark shadow, despite the lighting.
The further they step out onto this underground pool, the harder it is to hear the people behind them. Emma gives a sudden sharp intake of breath, jerking the camera toward her feet, and she stumbles closer to Blaine. They can see into the water below them, and it is not the cave ceiling that is being reflected back, but... something. Something Other.
It is formless, and yet a familiar shape. Made entirely of blinking eyes like some sort of all-seeing Greek myth, it is black and shapeshifting; tendrils made of the void writhe beneath the surface of the mirror pool, and the eyes are trained on Blaine as he approaches what must be the center.
Here, there is a single slab of stone, which is too smooth and too black. Wordlessly, Blaine guides Emma to lie on the stone; her expression is invisible, but she allows him to guide her, never saying anything. Blaine''s expression is still completely hidden in blackness, with only the flashing of his eyes occasionally visible.
The camera is tilted slightly as Emma lies down, and from around the slab, rings begin to pulse outward. The creature reflected in the depths retracts, as if to prepare itself; above, Blaine raises the dagger high above Emma.
The camera suddenly seems to relax, and for a moment, Blaine is only partially visible. In a mere frame of the video, another familiar figure is reflected beneath the surface of the pool, smiling and almost radiant in its excitement: the Other Blaine.
Blaine tilts his head back, and then suddenly brings the dagger down.
The camera''s position obscures exactly what happens. There is no sound from Emma- however, there is an abnormally loud sound of the shattering of glass, and then a sudden silence that falls so completely on the cavern that it is unclear even if the speakers of the camera have been destroyed.
Suddenly, the camera jerks up, and Emma is flipping around; seen in the camera itself, the dagger is buried not just in the mirror surface of the pool, but in the heart of his reflection: the Other Blaine.
It is smiling at him, wider and wider, a smile that splits his face, before he shatters into millions of pieces- the surface of the pool shatters into millions of pieces- and Blaine is doused in an explosion of viscous black blood.
And then the screaming begins, and suddenly, mirror shard tentacles burst, enraged from the surface of the pool.
Emma: "BLAINE!"
Her voice is barely audible over the screaming and confusion. The cavern is now shaking; the ominous sound of cracking, splitting, groaning, and all other hallmarks of an imminent collapse reach their ears.
Weiss: "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"
Emma whirls around to show that Weiss, Grantham, Anders, Bartosz, and Alex are sprinting across the surface of the lake; no other cultists are following. Weiss looks horrified, and skids to a halt at the sight of Blaine.
When Emma turns back around and shows a doused and dripping Blaine, covered head to toe in, apparently, his own cursed, rotted viscera and blood. He looks stunned, gripping the black dagger in his hands.
Suddenly, the glass beneath his feet opens up, and a tentacle breaks forth from the surface, wraps around his legs, and drags him downward, leaving a gaping hole that already begins to close over with shards of glass.
Emma: "BLAINE! NO!"
Emma drops the camera, which, as it falls, captures her take several steps forward and dive into the yawning black abyss that Blaine has been dragged into.
For the sake of proper cataloguing of information, the file has been cut here.
--PAUSE TRANSMISSION--
File 065: DONTFORGET.mp4
THE FOLLOWING FILE IS A TRANSCRIPT OF A VIDEO THAT APPEARS IN BETWEEN THE PREVIOUS FOOTAGE AND THE NEXT FOOTAGE. AT THE POINT IN WHICH EMMA FOLLOWS BLAINE INTO THE UNKNOWN PORTAL CREATED BY THE CREATURE, THE FOOTAGE BECOMES CORRUPTED AND SPLITS ITSELF INTO MULTIPLE FILES.
THE FIRST OF THESE FILES APPEARS TO ACTUALLY BE "DONTFORGET.mp4", WHICH, WHEN AN ATTEMPT WAS MADE TO PULL THE FILE FROM ITS ORIGINAL SOURRCE- BLAINE''S COMPUTER- HAD ITSELF BECOME CORRUPTED.
THIS FILE LIKEWISE APPEARS TO BE DAMAGED, BUT WITH EDITING, WAS MOSTLY RESTORED. WHEN COMPARED TO THE RECORDS ON HAND PORTRAYING THE EVENTS LEADING UP TO AND ENCOMPASSING THE ACCIDENTAL MURDER OF BLAINE''S STEPFATHER, THERE ARE NOTABLE DIFFERENCES.
WARNING: DEPICTIONS OF CHILD ABUSE ARE CONTAINED HEREIN.
--File 065: DONTFORGET.mp4--
There are several important sequences that lead up to the Day, as it is referred to unofficially.
Blaine is horribly abused by his stepfather. Important to note in the video files recorded in secret by Blaine is that his mother never once steps forward to defend him. Constantly covered in bruises herself and looking frail and older than she should, Blaine''s mother seems to shut down whenever Blaine attempts to protect her, defend her, or strike back at his step-father.
The first of several inaccuracies between this file and the ones on record with the Police can be found between incidents.
Blaine rushes out of the apartment, his mother- Evelyn- locks herself in a bedroom, and his Step-father leaves shortly after, a whirlwind of drunk anger and violence.
The camera is situated behind a television set, which appears to be sacred to Blaine''s step-father, a man by the name of Carl [REDACTED]. Records indicate Blaine cunningly hid the device in the pot of a fake plant sitting behind the television set. Along the wall to the right of the television is a tall, cracked ceiling-to-floor mirror that has several bills taped haphazardly to its surface.
In the silence that follows this particular blowout, there is a sudden static that crackles repeatedly across the footage, and from the mirror steps a particularly familiar figure: the Other Blaine.
He stands in the living room, before the too-wide-smile fills his features. He walks leisurely about the room, made entirely of shards of glittering, sometimes blackened glass, and finally stops in the kitchen. The static on the camera flickers, and the Other Blaine turns, points to the device, and the screen goes dark briefly.
There are moments following this in which the static is again present, particularly when Blaine is at his angriest with his stepfather. It is unclear where the Other Blaine is in these scenes, but he appears to be present to some degree and reacting to the scenarios playing out for him.
There are a great deal of scenes in which Blaine is badly abused by his step-father, and his mother never once steps forward to assist. Though devastating and tragic, it is important that this note is made.
When The Day arrives, Blaine''s step-father gets in an argument with his wife. For the first time, Blaine doesn''t come to her defense, watching from the kitchen as his step-father shouts at his mother for the lack of beer in the fridge. The woman collapses, shaking, to the floor, and Carl swears furiously as he turns and storms out of the apartment to purchase more alcohol.
Blaine''s mother has collapsed on the floor, breathing hard but seemingly unable to cry. Blaine watches her with an unusually flat expression. He pushes off the edge of the counter, still looking odd, and speaks to his mother.
Blaine: "Why are you still with him? Answer me."
His mother doesn''t answer for several minutes, hugging her arms.
Blaine: "Mom. Answer me. Why are you with him?"
Evelyn: "There is... nowhere else... to go."
There is a very long pause.
Blaine: "Why do you never stop him from hitting me?"
It is an even longer pause.
Evelyn: "If he... hits you..."
Her voice is shaking, and from the vantage point, her eyes are as wide as they will go, staring off into space; there is a void of sanity in her expression, and she does not finish her whispered sentence. She does not have to.
Rage flashes across Blaine''s face.
Blaine: "If he hits me, then he''s not hitting you?"
She does not answer, which in itself, may as well be its own answer.
Blaine turns and rips a large knife from the knife holder. Here, the footage splits from the official files on record with the Police.
In the official file, Blaine holds the knife, looks at it, before placing it back on the counter and telling his mother he can''t be there. He calmly walks out of the apartment and leaves.
In the file taken off of the camera, static begins dancing across the footage once more. Blaine takes hold of the knife, breathing hard, and begins to advance on his mother, rage etched on his face. Between one step and the next, however, something catches his eye. He looks at the knife in his hand, and all of the color drains out of his face. His mouth drops open, and he jerks his hand back and away; the knife clatters to the ground, the blade shattering, strangely, like glass.
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Evelyn does not react to any of this, continuing to stare into space. After a moment, Blaine''s expression is filled with horror, and he immediately sprints out of the apartment, seemingly mortified about what he was about to do.
The static begins to play again across this file, and the shards of glass all begin to reform, silently, behind Evelyn to an increasing amount of white flickering across the screen. The glass form of the Other Blaine is created, and he closes his eyes, looking up at the ceiling. He raises his arms out in a mockery of the crucifixion, before dropping them. He lifts his head, then turns to walk back to the counter; bursting into a cloud of shards once more, he takes the shape of the knife that Blaine had held just moments before, right at the edge of the counter, by the door.
For a long while, nothing else happens. Evelyn remains in her spot on the floor, leaning against the wall, blinking so little it is uncertain how her eyes have not dried out.
Finally, Blaine''s step-father returns home, a white bag in his hands filled with beer. He looks, sees Evelyn leaning against the wall, and becomes enraged.
Carl: "Have you not fucking moved this entire time, you stupid bitch?!"
Evelyn flinches, but doesn''t move, curling tighter.
Carl furiously drops his bag of clinking bottles on the counter, and notices the knife. He snatches it up and holds it in the air, waving it in her direction.
Carl: "Are you fucking crazy? You''re just going to leave shit like this on the counter, where anyone could fucking stab themselves?! Do you even do shit around here, or do I have to fuckin'' do-"
Carl''s voice is suddenly cut off, and he examines the knife more closely. Static begins to flicker and dance across the screen, and there is an odd light coming off of the knife in his hands.
Carl''s expression changes, and the familiar, too-wide smile stretches across his face. He turns calmly toward Evelyn and walks in her direction.
She does not scream when he grabs her by her hair, but when she sees the knife, she screams once. Carl slams her against the floor, and proceeds to stab her 197 times.
The details of the scene are not necessary, except that Carl is silent the entire time, and static continues to play across the scene.
How this differs from the Official File on record is that, in that file, Carl appears to lose his mind, begins screaming and shouting at Evelyn, and grabs the knife from where the "official record" of Blaine left it, before rushing his wife and proceeding to stab her 197 times. He shouts and swears all the while, his tone suggesting that he is drunk, despite the toxicology report showing zero presence of alcohol within his body at the time of examination. In fact, toxicology suggests that there were little to no substances in the man''s body, though substance abuse is clear on his record.
Blaine returns home in the file found on the camera to his father still stabbing away at his mother. Carl looks up and stands, still smiling- but it is a visibly "normal" smile, now.
Blaine freezes, and Carl lurches at him. Reacting in a practiced, trained manner, Blaine sidesteps his step-father''s clumsy attempt to stab him. He grabs his step-father around the neck in a proper choke-hold, the type meant to disarm a dangerous opponent.
Carl fights his step-son for a brief period of time, during which Blaine seems to be fueled by a combination of fear and rage and adrenaline. He continues to block and eventually crush his step-father''s windpipe, even past the point of which Carl ceases all movement, and only stops when his senses return to him. Horrified, he drops his step-father... but the man is now dead.
He immediately takes stock of the room and shouts, scrambling away from the bloody mass that is all that remains of his mother. Scrambling outside in sheer terror, Blaine now retreats to find a neighbor and use their phone to dial 911.
Static dances across the screen once more, and the Other Blaine reforms off of the knife, smiling a too-wide smile. He moves silently to stand over the mutilated corpse of his mother, sneers, and then turns to point at the camera.
Other Blaine: "One day, you''ll see this. One day, you''ll thank me."
He drops his hand, and the too-wide smile drops off, revealing a nasty expression of someone who is too tired, too angry, too evil, too much.
Other Blaine: "Or maybe we''re always meant to be a certain way. We shall see what you do, now, Blaine."
With that, he turns, walks toward the mirror, and, in a burst of static... disappears.
THIS IS NOT WHERE THE VIDEO ENDS.
AFTER ANOTHER BURST OF STATIC, A NEW VIDEO BEGINS- ONE THAT TAKES PLACE SHORTLY AFTER FILE 052: TRUST.
When the file begins, Blaine and Emma are seated across from each other, and Emma is watching the video that Blaine has just played for her.
Emma: "I don''t understand."
Blaine: "That day is really hazy for me. I remember looking at the knife... the person I saw in it, my reflection... it was like a monster. It woke me up. But Emma-"
Emma: "Yes?"
Blaine: "You need to know. I wanted to kill her. I wanted to kill my mother. I wanted to rip her apart, I was so angry- so angry for who she''d become, who she could have been, everything I could have had..."
Emma: "Blaine... that''s not your fault. You... no one can speak for you. No one can say they''ve ever experienced something like that."
Blaine: "But you have to realize something else, Em."
Emma: "That this is the only version in which you didn''t kill your mother?"
There is a long period of silence where they look at each other solemnly.
Blaine: "I don''t know anymore if it''s because I decided not to kill her. But Weiss... I think Weiss thinks I killed her. I think a lot of people think I killed her."
Emma: "And you''re not going to correct them."
Blaine: "Anders has seen the footage, but he never got concrete answers as to why my step-father so brutally killed my mother. That rat bastard was the most sober he had ever been in all my time knowing him. A Doctor suggested that that was why he killed her- that the stress of not being coked out of his mind and drunk off his ass drove him over the edge."
Emma: "But you think he doubts something."
Blaine: "There has been doubt in the minds of everyone who''s ever been involved with the case, regardless of the footage in front of them. I think they saw that I wanted to kill her, too, and even if I stopped... they looked at me and saw someone who was just one wrong step from becoming a murderer. What if I didn''t stop myself the next time?"
Emma: "You did stop yourself."
Blaine: "I wonder."
They stop speaking for a while, and then Blaine looks at her.
Blaine: "I''m not going to correct anyone, Emma. I need you to know all of this. I need you to trust me."
Emma: "Why?"
Blaine: "I don''t know yet. I don''t know... I don''t know. I feel like I''m a step away from remembering something- but it doesn''t matter. I need you to trust me, if we''re going to have a chance at getting out of this alive."
Emma: "I do, Blaine. I trust you."
There is a long pause, and then static flickers across the screen, and the video ends.
--END TRANSMISSION--
File 066: An End
THE FOLLOWING CONSISTS OF A SERIES OF BROKEN, CORRUPTED DATA, FOLLOWED BY MORE STABLE FOOTAGE DEPICTING THE RESULTS OF THE PREVIOUS FILE. THE GREATEST OF EFFORTS HAVE BEEN PUT INTO RECOVERING THE CORRUPTED DATA, BUT IT WOULD APPEAR THAT, LIKE MUCH OF THE CASE INVOLVING THESE EVENTS, THINGS ARE OUT OF OUR CONTROL.
--File 066: An End--
Chaos follows the disappearance of Emma into the hole formed in the glass surface of the pool.
Immediately, the cavern begins shaking, a deep rumbling filling the air. The camera is snatched up by, it would appear, Alex.
The footage clips several times, showcasing different parts of the rush to get out of the cavern. Where Weiss and Grantham go is not immediately clear, except that it is not with Alex, Bartosz, or Anders.
In the first stable clip, they appear to turn back toward the entrance of the cavern from which Emma and Blaine had entered, only to see the ceiling cave in on top of fleeing cultists. There is a burst of static and corrupted audio, and in the next frame, they are sprinting along the length of the pool toward the back of the cavern.
Anders shouts that there appears to be several tunnels along the back wall of the cavern, and there is another burst of static and corrupted audio.
In the next frame, they are sprinting wordlessly down the length of a black tunnel, occasionally swearing when the shaking of the underground cavern causes someone to lose footing. The only light they have is from the camera.
There are bursts of racing through tunnels and dodging falling debris, even having to double back down another tunnel when coming across a newly formed dead end from fallen ceiling.
At last, however, following a burst of static and still corrupted audio, the three burst out of the caves into a section of the woods. There are shouts in the distance that they hear as they exit out into the night air, shouts and screams, and the ground is still quaking ominously. Without a word, the three take off in the direction of the shouts.
It is unclear how long it takes to reach the location due to more corrupted flashes of footage, but when they arrive, it''s with a sudden burst from the woods into the space which has the lake.
The glassy water is roiling like ocean waves during a hurricane, spewing shards everywhere; the unnatural alien music splits the air in enraged discord. Cultists are shouting all along the edges of the lake in confusion; some appear to be trying to do something to calm the raging glass water, but nothing appears to be working. As Anders, Bartosz, and Alex stand and stare at the scene unfolding in front of them, the nearest group of cultists is suddenly engulfed by a wave of glass water, and they are eviscerated on the spot.
Alex: "Don''t let the water touch you!"
Bartosz: "No SHIT, Sherlock!"
Anders: "INCOMING!"
Alex turns on his heel, and they see, emerging from the direction of Grantham''s home, a collection of the people who were underground. Included in this group is the unmistakable form of an enraged hive mind of flies.
Anders: "If you were ever going to open that fucking backpack, Bartosz, now is the time!"
Bartosz: "Shut the fuck up and take a can! MOVE! Get the fire going!"
They are moving fast even as the sound of buzzing hits the speakers on the camera. Alex drops the camera on the grass and accepts a can; from the angle of the camera, we see the three create a triangle of defense, backs against each other, as they raise up the cans of hairspray.
The night is immediately lit by fire. Alex is shouting meaninglessly as they arc the flames around them in an attempt to curb the murderous supernatural flies; either they are weakened by the events below, or the trio manages to keep it up.
Weiss and Grantham appear to catch up to them, and the flies fall back; the arcs of flame stop, but no one steps out from the defensive position.
Weiss: "What the hell have you all done?!"
Alex: "You''re gonna put the fucking blame on us?!"
Grantham: "Death! Destruction! Murder!"
There is no forthcoming explanation that can clear up what is happening to Grantham, but he seems less in control, the shape of his form rippling like water.
Bartosz: "Losing control, Grantham? I love to fuckin'' see it."
Weiss: "Shut up! You don''t understand anything! We''re GODS!"
Alex: "Oh yeah? Some kind of gods you are- can''t seem to fix fuck all!"
Weiss: "Where the hell are they?!"
Anders: "How the hell are we supposed to know? It''s your pool! You''re supposed to be the all-knowing time travelers!"
Bartosz: "I don''t even fucking care. I spent my whole life waiting for this moment. I''m going to take the two of you down, if it kills me."
Weiss: "Do try, old man, I''ve been dying to kill you for fifteen years!"
Bartosz drops the can of hairspray and removes the gun from his waste. Weiss, simultaneously, removes a familiar gray device from his own person and drops that, too, on the ground; the camera stutters, and the shape of him seems to pixelate, before shifting into multiple copies. Bartosz chases after the figures, firing a bullet at one figure before it assimilates into another, creating a deadly game of "Find the fake". Every time Bartosz misfires, Weiss reforms and takes a jab at Bartosz, who manages to barely dodge several before getting hit square in the jaw.
In the meantime, Alex and Anders slam together to make up for the missing third of their triangle of defense, and the arcs of fire spout out once more as a haphazard cloud of flies descend on them; the burning bodies of flies and maggots drift down into the camera''s view like little burning confetti.
Suddenly, however, everyone''s attention is grabbed by the lake, which stills as suddenly as it has been roiling. Defying the laws of gravity and physics, the lake instantly becomes a still, glassy surface, and silence descends on the entire area. All, including everyone involved in the current fight, turn to look.
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The surface of the lake shatters and explodes outward.
An enormous creature lunges up out of the water, a horrific, dark shape made entirely of eyes and shrieking in an ear-splitting sound like something sharp on shards of glass, and a mass of tentacles burst out of the lake. A scream pierces the air, and as one, Anders, Bartosz, and Alex all turn to the lake; Alex dives for the camera to use the zoom function.
Along with the mass of the creature, there are two other shapes that are expelled from the surface of the lake: Emma and Blaine.
Alex: "It''s them! It''s Emma and Blaine!"
Anders: "Thank FUCK!"
Grantham: "Pay attention!"
Weiss: "It is not too late! We can still right this wrong, if she dies!"
Alex: "No you fucking don''t!"
Alex, somehow gripping the camera and a lighter, manages to arc his jerry-rigged flamethrower in the direction of Weiss and sets his shirt on fire. Grantham''s flies shriek in an inhuman, unholy sound, and he turns as if to try to ward the fire off. Anders immediately sends a burst of fire in the direction of Grantham, and Bartosz leaps forward to land a punch square in Weiss''s jaw, even as he''s trying to silently put out the fire rapidly spreading across him, like he''s doused in some sort of flammable fuel.
Alex, however, turns and begins sprinting across the surface of the lake, camera in one hand as he does so. He is able to catch the seconds of chaos leading up to his rejoining with Blaine and Emma.
Emma appears to have the dagger from before; one of the tentacles slashes toward her and Blaine lying dazed on the surface of the lake, but Emma swipes at it; the glass shatters down the length of the tentacle, and the creature howls in that glass tone.
Another tentacle from behind manages to swipe at her, sending her sliding with a pained shriek across the surface of the lake; the dagger drops from her fingers.
Blaine scrambles up to his feet and dives for the dagger, narrowly missing another tentacle that makes an angry slash toward him. He flips around and slices at this tentacle, which also disintegrates into shards of shattered glass.
Alex is still too far off, but gaining distance, breathing hard. Blaine is knocked off of his feet and the dagger goes flying once more. It would appear that the creature is trying desperately not to lose this implement that has supposedly traveled across dimensions, the only one of its kind, no copy.
Emma has managed to get to her feet, grabs the dagger, and shatters another tentacle; she now throws the dagger across the surface of the lake, where Blaine catches it. The tentacles trying to attack them are dancing uncertainly, afraid to lose the dagger but also afraid of being slashed at. Blaine rushes toward the main center of the shape, the creature made purely of eyes, and this seems to frighten it enough into action. It slashes at him, sending him flying backward; Emma dives for the dagger, but is pinned down.
Alex: "HEY! Over here!"
Emma looks up, sees Alex running toward them, and slides the dagger in his direction. He, in return, slides the camera at her; the creature, confused, watches the two devices exchange hands.
Alex snatches up the dagger and begins running for the creature; it tries to cut him off, but he throws the dagger toward Blaine, who is still mostly covered in drying black, viscous body fluids. He catches the dagger and begins trying to get through a sudden onslaught of tentacles, most of which he slashes through in a showering of glass particles.
Unheedful of this danger, he slides the dagger back toward Emma, who trades for the camera; it slides with unering accuracy toward Blaine, who catches it easily, and Emma, running parallel to Alex through another attempt to stop them, manages to get through another attack before getting swept off her feet. She slams into the surface of the lake before sliding the dagger toward Alex in the center.
He''s already at the creature when he catches the blade, turns, and sinks it straight into the creature.
The music that pierces the air is filled with a howling rage, but Alex doesn''t stop there. He slams the dagger repeatedly, over and over, into the monstrosity, carving his way through it to the center, methodically and with some level of insanity.
Then, suddenly, them eerie, horrific sound that has been shredding the air ceases, and there is a horrible rumble.
Blaine: "TO ME!"
Emma turns and begins running across a suddenly uneven surface of the lake, but Alex doesn''t seem to hear him, still carving his way through.
Emma: "ALEX, IT''S DEAD!"
Alex still doesn''t hear. Swearing, Blaine and Emma take off in his direction, grabbing him by his shoulders and wrenching him from out of the center of the creature.
Inside, the creature appears to be made of some organic material that, at the quick glance in the dark afforded to the camera, is difficult to identify. It is shiny, black, thick, and seems to be both solid and fleshy. Alex is covered in black viscera, but allows himself to be hauled away. The dagger glitters in his hand.
As they begin sprinting back toward shore where short bursts of fire can be seen, there is a rumbling- a deep rumbling that seems to go further than just the lake- and a horrible, crooning sound that rends the air. Something shimmers all around them, a falling of a celestial net, a disintegrating of something paranormal, and the glass surface of the lake begins to dissolve in spaces around them- everywhere but beneath Blaine''s steps.
There is another burst of static and corrupted audio, and then in the next frame, they are crashing onto the shore of the lake. There is no time to waste, however.
Bartosz is still fighting Weiss, but he is injured and winded and unsteady. Anders is holding off a cloud of flies and maggots on his own; his pant legs are covered, and he is sweating and appears to be in pain.
Emma rips the dagger from Alex''s hands, sprinting forward before anyone can stop her. With a vengeance, she rips the dagger straight into the heart of Grantham''s nasty, disgusting form of flies, and everyone and everything around them freezes. Silence falls, except for Emma''s clear words:
Emma: "That is for Wynona."
She rips the dagger out of Grantham''s form, and for a second, he hangs in space.
Unceremoniously, the flies and maggots all melt into the same disgusting black ooze onto the floor. Not a sound escapes Jake Grantham''s form as he collapses; any loose attackers drop dead around them, before bursting and turning to ooze themselves.
There is the sudden shot of a gun in the silence that follows, and they turn to see Weiss standing in front of Bartosz, too stunned at the death of his "brother" to remember his own danger.
Blood begins to pour from a bullet wound in his chest, a perfect shot to where his heart should be. Even so, Emma tosses the dagger to Alex, who charges forward and buries the blade deep into his chest.
There are no more words shared beyond this. Weiss looks up, past Alex, toward Blaine. His expression is odd, even as the unknown black substance begins to leak from every orifice of his face.
Weiss: "Why did you... betray... your brothers?"
But Blaine doesn''t answer. All of them watches as he collapses, then disintegrates, and when they turn, they see the shape of the creature slowly beginning to dissolve as well, turning the now-watery lake into a black miasmic, viscous fluid.
They stand for several moments in the following silence. All cultists have either fled or died in the chaos, and both Grantham and Weiss are dead.
Emma: "Is it... is it over?"
Alex: "Do we take the dagger?"
Bartosz: "Nah. Leave it for the cleanup crew."
Blaine: "What fucking cleanup crew?"
Anders: "You seriously think the Government hasn''t been trying to get in here since all of this started?"
Blaine: "Fair. So, what, do we just... start walking back toward town?"
Bartosz: "Hey. Kid."
Silence falls on the group.
Bartosz: "The fuck did you do?"
Blaine: "I killed myself."
There is a long beat of silence that follows this extremely subpar explanation.
Bartosz: "You know what? Good enough for me."
The footage cuts abruptly to black here.
For the record, Blaine [REDACTED], Emma [REDACTED], Alex [REDACTED], Jim Anders, and Jakub Bartosz were all picked up on the outskirts of town by the Federal Bureau of Investigation''s Paranormal Research Branch, where they were taken in for questioning. Up until this point, the Branch had been held at bay by a combination of cultists and Paranormal activity at any and all entrances into the town of [REDACTED]. Compared with the notes of present field agents, entry was suddenly free and open to all attending operatives upon the felling of the "Other" creature in the lake.
This file ends here.
--END TRANSMISSION--
Epilogue
The Federal Bureau of Investigation''s Paranormal Research Confidential Division has completed the report of compiled documents regarding the incident involving the "House of Flies", and is summed up in the following:
Re: House of Flies
Completed documentation preceding.
THE HOUSE OF FLIES INCIDENT WAS CAREFULLY MONITORED BY THOSE INVOLVED. ALL INFORMATION PROVIDED WAS REMOEVD FROM THE CAMERA DEVICE FOUND WITH THE FOUR INDIVIDUALS IN QUESTION AT THE EDGE OF TOWN, FOLLOWING THE COLLAPSE OF THE UNNAMED FORCES HALTING FBI:PR INVOLVEMENT.
To: [REDACTED]
I''ve tried to type up this document as best I could for hours. I''ve followed protocol on the heading, and I just can''t seem to get my brain to accept that protocol is good enough to contain all of my feelings on what we''ve just spent the past God knows how many days and nights pouring over those video files as a team.
This is probably the biggest Event that we''ve dealt with since- well, frankly, since the initial Grantham incident. Agent Jakub Bartosz was released by the FBI, but was unfairly dismissed by higher ups at the PR division for the following decade-and-a-half. If we''d recruited the bastard, there''s a chance we could''ve avoided the entire fiasco that coincided with the subpar, barebones investigation he was forced into conducting. I mean, seriously, hairspray cans as weapons against demon fly swarms? I''m not even suggesting that''s unbelievable- we''ve seen similar before- but he went up against that with cans of hairspray.
Unbelievable. I''ve already scheduled a hearing with the bureaucratic assholes who let him slip through the cracks. You''d better believe their assholes are going to be fried.
I know you''ll want some kind of official report following the "capture" of the survivors of the incident, but you''re just going to have to make do with what you get, because I''m running off no sleep and 18 cups of coffee.
They handled collection outside city limits well. If anything, they seemed relieved to see us. Blaine [REDACTED] surrendered the camera immediately, and requested that before questioning commence, he be allowed to shower, as, and I quote, "I''m covered in my own rotting guts". I was on scene for this, and was also present for the hysterical laughter that this sent Jakub Bartosz into.
Alex [REDACTED] will need a psych evaluation and a more in-depth analysis of what he recalls from his time with the video game he completed. During his preliminary interview, he explained his bravery as a "sudden understanding of why he''d been spared at all, this time". He believed it was his holy duty to destroy the creature the cult worshipped as a deity, as it was initially the one that was supposed to kill him.
Emma [REDACTED] refused answers until she was able to hear about the status of her family. Thanks to the efforts of Alois Brigette, however, her family was safely recovered from a maximum quarantine situation; the house was completely unsalvageable, but her efforts were able to save Emma''s entire family. Following questions, she simply explained that she felt that the existence of the "other journal"- which we have confiscated, before you ask- seemed to compound on the idea that "this Blaine" was to be trusted. I have never encountered someone so... oddly firm. I have suggested an evaluation of her psychic abilities; she has shown no physical reaction to any hidden stimuli presented, but there''s something about her that suggests these potential "iterations" have not left nothing behind on her. It is my professional opinion that we keep an eye on her.
As for Blaine [REDACTED], that should go without saying. The logic he suggested during his interview was that his powers within the other "iterations" were gifted to him by the murder of Emma [REDACTED], kickstarting the end of the world in each and every scenario with a 0% deviation rate, apart from minor variables. In this iteration, for whatever reason, a previous "other Blaine" changed. The "other" suggests that this is simply because he became bored, but there is no other data to suggest otherwise, so we''re at a bit of a standstill there. We can''t fathom the sudden change after so many repeated iterations in which total annihilation was achieved without fail.
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We also can''t explain how these iterations existed at all. It''s unclear if we ever will. Obviously, something triggered a sort of loop- a time loop?- in which these events played out again and again. It was apparently the belief of both Weiss and Grantham that these events were on repeat for the sake of repeated suffering, but Alex is under the impression that the loop was created as an attempt at allowing us to try again.
And I quote, directly from his recorded interview:
"He can''t do things Himself. He can''t change anything directly. Everything has to be done by us. It all makes so much sense to me. He wanted us to fix things. He couldn''t stop Blaine, or Weiss, or Grantham... but He did still bend the rules of reality. There''s so many implications of just that- I can''t help but wonder if He made a mistake. But surely... God never makes mistakes, right?"
Obviously, we''re science and evidence based here, but I figured we can''t rule out his input. This whole situation is beyond the ken of our department, even with all we''ve seen and done. Someone could come in here and suggest leprechauns were behind the entire thing, and I''d consider it.
Which brings me back to Blaine.
Blaine has definitely been impacted by the event, and I''m not talking about a psych eval. Under close observation, we''ve noticed he seems to be reacting to something we can''t see in his vicinity. Cameras don''t capture anything, but at the same time, the cameras were behaving oddly whenever it came to him. We swapped him between rooms, but still, footage was... odd. It''s not even simple to put to words. Blaine seemed capable of spotting all of the cameras- yes, even the hidden ones- upon entry of any room we settled him into. This seemed at first to be subconscious, but as we moved him between rooms, Blaine became more aware of this "ability" of his. On a whim, I moved him into a room with Emma, and after a small exchange, Blaine suggested that he knew why we had placed them together. He pointed up at a camera, and once Emma was looking, he dragged his finger in a direction. The camera followed it, physically, by twisting in its sockets.
This suggests that Blaine has gained some sort of ability from the destruction of his "other self", but we''re going to have to run tests to see just how far these abilities run. Emma was unsurprised, to say the least, which is another point of interest we need to keep in mind.
While I understand your sentiments in allowing Jim Anders and Jakub Bartosz to retire with sizable pensions, I believe it more prudent to offer them positions within the PR Division. Bartosz has shown unbelievable foresight and immense resilience to have survived over the course of 15 years, when so many of his peers did not. At the very least, I suggest this because setting him free might ultimately be his undoing. Bartosz has not been still or relaxed for over 15 years. Sudden freedom could be detrimental to his life, and I''m not being dramatic.
Jim Anders, similarly, showcased exceptional loyalty and mental fortitude throughout the entire series of events. Despite a lack of any inherently exceptional qualities, the man was a solid, intelligent entity in these events; his ability to think on his feet shouldn''t be dismissed. I consider him less of a danger to himself than Bartosz, but only minimally- he is still what they called a "Lost One". One can only guess at how the sudden closure of events surrounding Jake Grantham will affect him.
We will have to be careful how we proceed with Emma. Her family has been questioning her retention- obviously, they seemed to have figured out that their daughter was not on the scenic romp across the country that she had initially suggested she was going on, but there is only so much we- and she- can tell them, particularly if we plan to hold her for testing. Considering Blaine''s dependence and possessive nature toward her, which has not abated since the destruction of the entity coded "The Others", we need to progress very carefully. If Blaine has even an iota of the control I''m beginning to guess at, then he could be a considerably powerful ally, or a highly dangerous enemy. My hunch is that this will be determined by our treatment toward Emma. At the very least, while she''s been staying in our facilities, he has shown zero inclination toward leaving on his own.
That about sums up my experience so far with these events. You''ll receive the dossier of transcripts, along with all of the files themselves, by hand, including recordings of all of the interviews.
Let me know what your decision is. While I trust your judgement, I really, really think we need to be very, very careful when it comes to Blaine [REDACTED]. We don''t want him to be another [REDACTED].
Scott [REDACTED]
Deputy Director
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Paranormal Research Division