I hate to sound paranoid but I am. Really so often the choice has come down to paranoid or dead and I'm still here. That said, I'm also here, online, sending up a bright, loud signal flare for anyone who might want to see. I should bypass the metaphor this once, though, the method I'm using to send this out is one way and taxing, and I should be using this time to do more studying. All other conduits to the outside have been compromised or destroyed and other alternatives are either too risky or too permanent for me to commit to right now. It's strange though that my contact to the outside world was compromised almost immediately after I used it.
The word coincidence comes from the word "coincide" which means to exist in the same place as something else. In a sense everything in this City is a coincidence. In a sense nothing is.
Within 8 hours of my posting about "where" I was in the Empty City another individual found the library I was in and set up camp. As if a reminder that sometimes the choice is between paranoia and death, she immediately pulled a weapon and fired at me. I was smart enough not to get too close, but I fancy I have exactly the number of bullets I need and catching one from another gun wouldn't do me much good at this point.
She wasn't alone, either, the City is suddenly teeming with life. I've counted eight so far, they're all wearing the same kind of jackets and most I've noticed have masks. If it weren't for the timing of it all and the fact that most seem to have staked out sites where I've stayed I might think they were here under the banner of an old friend of mine. Maybe they are, but even that doesn't mean I should trust them. Several are setting up traps already, the Librarian isn't the only itchy trigger finger of the lot, and... well they're dangerous. Some more than others, but there's a pretty strong and diverse Fear influnce across the group. I'd give a lot for the ability to freely browse some blogs or send out an email right now, the difference between a coordinated team here to force me into a confrontation and a scattered collection of runners just trying to survive isn't one that can be determined at a glance, but it is important for how I approach them.
Not that I'd believe the emails or blogs.
It'd just be nice to have.
I suppose at least two have computer access, which means it's possibly they functionally all do. Regardless, an open statment here can't hurt. In fact I've said very little that can hurt, and mostly lied through my teeth about that. Standard M.O. and all that. Point is, if you can read this and you're in here with me. I mean you no harm. I mean you exactly as much harm as you mean me. I have been in the City for eight months and am intimately familar with each stronghold you've settled.
(Transcribed from Journal EC2) Nightlanders Experiment 4
Forward Notes: The Nightlanders have continued to avoid directly interacting with me, but have remained a somewhat notable presence. Consult NL Experiments 1-3 or EC Field Notes 3-4, 7, 9-12, and 16.
Expirment Iteration 1: I transcribed the entirety of Journal DC1 (judged after long consideration to have the least accurate and therefore valuable information) into a new blank journal and then placed the origonal on the ground and shoved it forward towards a collection of Nightlanders.
Results 1: After aproximately seven minutes percieved time one of the Nightlanders moved forward and enveloped the book. I remainded 10 feet away with established secondary precautions for the duration, shifting my attention between the Nightlander and my transcribed copy of DC1. The Nightlander remained in place obscuring the physical aspects of the book [section omitted] for one hour and 16 minutes of percieved time. When it moved the origonal DC1 remaind and I retrieved it. Comparing it side by side against my transcribed copy and later notes from DC2-3 it appears as though several of my incorrect early assumptions and hypothesies had been partially corrected against both information I later aquired and entirely new facts. (The new facts have not been verified but were recorded into DC3 with notes indicating further testing is needed.) All changes to the origonal journal appear to be in my handwriting. No changes to the transcribed copy occured.
Iteration 2: Experiment repeated with the same two journals. At present there is no methodology to confirm or deny whether the same Nightlander interacted with the text.(See notes under NL Experiment 9 in Journal EC4 but regard this note as functional for this experiment.) Experiment was carried out two hours of percieved time after the first iteration in the same location.
Results 2: Again interaction occured only after seven minutes of percieved time. I remained 10 feet away with established secondary precautions and shifted my attention between the Nightlander and my transcribed copy of DC1. This time the Nightlander only remained in place for 43 minutes of percieved time with the same obscruing and [section omitted]. This time every page of the origonal copy of DC1 was converted to a perfect black. High risk precations were observed in an initial test of the quality of the paper, but no abnormalities were found. DC1 (origonal) was stored with medium risk containment and DC1 (copy) was used to replace it in The Archive. Again no changes to the transcribed copy occured.
Iteration 3: Journal SM2 was selected and transcribed in its entirety (after determining much of its content redundant when held against journals SM1, SM3-7, and the online archive (currently inaccessible)). This time I placed the copy of SM2 on the ground and shoved it towards the Nightlanders while keeping the origonal on hand. Experiment was carried out 39 hours of percieved time after the second iteration in a visually identical location three block "right" of the origonal testing location.
Result 3: Again interaction occured after seven minutes of percieved time. I remainded 10 feet away with established secondary precautions for the duration, shifting my attention between the Nightlander and the origonal copy of SM2. This time the obscruing and [section omitted] lasted nine minutes of percieved time. I retrived SM2 (copy) and examined it. The entirty of the document had been alphabetized. An extensive count of the letters in SM2 (origonal) confirmed that the exact same number of "a"'s (968, a little over five pages worth) and "b"'s (153) appeared in both the origonal journal and the copy. The letters in SM2 (copy) were in my handwriting, but since I was not able to transcribe the origonal perfectly down to the letter style I cannot confirm that they appear in the order they were used. A more extensive count is still needed to confirm no letters were added or removed. No changes to the origonal journal occured this time.
Conclusions:
Current established minimum precautions OR an aspect of The Archive prevent the Nightlanders from interacting with an object until it has lain free from influnce for seven minutes OR it takes seven minutes for Nightlanders to get within 10 feet of me and interact with things while established secondary precations are in place.
Nightlanders seek out or enforce order, but "individual" Nightlanders have disperate views on what that means OR they are as intent as I am to test things in different ways.
It can be possible to theorize on objectives of the Nightlanders, but devloping a catchall understand of their methods is unlikely.
[section omitted]
Nightlanders are capable of interacting on objects with increasing speed and effectiveness the more times they have seen the same or similar object.
Nightlanders cannot effect the source material of something they're interacting with, nor copies of that thing, unless they interact with the source/copy seperately.(See Conclusions for NL Experiment 9 in EC4.)
Perpetual Disclaimer: As with all experiments I am testing forces that are also testing me, possibly with intent to manipulate. As such all conclusions are purely working theory. DO NOT ACT ON THESE UNLESS YOU HAVE TAKEN PROPER PRECAUTIONS OR ARE VERY DESPERATE. If you've found these journals and have no concept of what is described within return them to the exact place you found them and never return there unless you are desperate.
I’m not sure how long I’ve been here. My last record from outside the Empty City indicates that it’s been about 8 months, if the post date on this computer is correct. I have no way to verify that, though. I’ve reached out, once or twice, other opportunities allowed me the chance to comment on other blogs, send emails, once or twice I even got to leave a physical message in the human world.
For all the good that did.
Really I’ve been out of the world for years. The Real World, the Runner World, a few others I’m not ready to talk about yet. I’ve been a ghost: on my own and out of the way except for the inescapable gravity of the Fears and a few choice moments of personal weakness. I guess this is another of those moments, The Empty City generally seems to have an agenda, and letting me reach out when it’s seen me reject the opportunity before is probably intentional.
Right now I’m in what one might generously call a library. There are tall wooden shelves reaching up to nearly the ceiling, and more of the same on the second floor, all arranged into neat little rows. I’ve scoured both floors and found a grand total of six books. Two on the first floor and four on the second. I claimed all of them before I came back to the collection of desks I’m sitting at now and tried turning on this computer.
I feel an opening. If I stopped right now and ran, out the door, right, left at the building with the chipped stone, up two flights of stairs, and through the window I could make it.
I could still make it.
It’s still open, but now it’s too late. It’ll close before I get there.
The name of this place is a misnomer, this “city” isn’t empty, it’s very very far from empty. I could step outside right now and look up and three blocks away I’d see a tower, stretching so tall into an empty sky I couldn’t make out its height. Stretching the height of the earth, probably.
The opening is gone now.
I’m going to queue up three more posts. An intro, a study, and if I can manage it a story. If I can find another computer before this month ends I’ll probably pull the story. It’s that sort of indecision that got me here, hell I think it’s what made me. But it’s also kept me alive, it’s given me tools and options I wouldn’t have. If you really need me follow the alphabet, but honestly… you’re probably safer where you are.
Before I go any further I want to point something out. I am going to lie to you.
Some of these lies will be my secrets, things that aren't important and don't matter to anyone but me. Some will be hints. Clues left behind because the only way you'll ever believe me is if you're proving me wrong. People suck like that. Finally some lies will be because there are things that once you learn you can't go back. Maybe I'm protecting you, maybe I'm just protecting myself. Either way pray you never discover those lies... or don't. Sometimes it doesn't matter.
The point is: I'm going to lie. Everyone lies.
This is rule #1.
Rule #2 is that eventually, however long we put it off, the truth comes out.
Sorry for the lack of steady updates, but my internet access has been limited at best. I've finally figured out the name of the town I'm in and it's general location, but for safety reasons I'm not in a sharing mood. Not that it really matters much, I've been trying to stay out of sight anyways, keeping inside when there's people on the streets and staying in an old abandoned factory out of town. This place is big enough that I doubt everyone here knows each other on sight, but still small enough that I worry about sticking out if I am seen. I'm not sure if the fact that I'm now blind in my left eye helps me blend in better or not, on one hand hetrochromia is rare enough to be a pretty identifying trait, but on the other, it's not like wearing a bandage over half my face really is any less obvious. Mostly I'm just trying to brush my hair so that it covers the left side of my face, since it's been over a year since I got a haircut this isn't too hard to do, the only tough part is living down the humiliation that this now officially makes me a "scene" kid. Either way I haven't really been noticed to my knowledge, I move around mostly at night and avoid the unfortunately regular patrols by local law enforcement.
It does look like some damage was done here, one arson and one attempted arson, from what I can tell from the local papers, I'm not ready to take credit for those just yet, but from what I do remember from when Caged took control it wouldn't surprise me if I was responsible. Also there's news of a man in the hospital who was tortured extensively, he had, among other injuries, his hands cut off, his eyes gouged out, and his tongue cut out. I... I'm not happy about that, but it sounds like something Caged would enjoy, it leaves the victim mentally and physically scarred, with no easy way of communicating who did it too him. I... He would pull something like that sometimes, and then just show up in the hospital and whisper in the persons ear, enjoying there panic when they realized who he was. That wasn't even the worst that was done, once he...
You know what, no. I am not going into that. There are some things I'm just not capable of reliving, even if I was techinally the tormentor, there's some things no one should ever have to endure.
The point is, Caged came here for a reason, and as much as I want to get out of here I'd like to know what that reason is. For now I'm just fishing old newspapers out of trash cans and trying to read them during the day. I'm also trying to do some research, they have a library here that isn't too tough to break into, there's like a special room with documents on the towns history or something that has a fancy alarm system, but I don't really need anything out of there. Mostly I'm focusing on anything that looks like paranormal or supernatural fiction, I don't expect to find any actual history books on the Fears or anything, but some stories hold a grain of truth, maybe if I can find something that sounds like either Phillip or the tall guy himself I'll be able to get my advantage back somehow. I haven't had much success, the library's selection on what I'm looking for is limited, but I did fond this one little book that's filled with short childish stories that feels more, well, Eldridge, than your average bedtime story. Picture Brothers Grimm crossed with H.P. Lovecraft, it's pretty strange, but the closest I've found that has any potential, so I "borrowed" it for my daytime reading.
All in all I've been pretty lucky, the police here seem on edge, but no one's found my current location, I haven't seen Slender Man in the almost two weeks I've been here, and while I've seen Phillip twice he didn't seem to notice me either time. Though it was strange because the second time I saw him there were several normal people walking around not noticing him, then again, the same thing has happened with Mr. Talls, too, so I guess I can't be that surprised. In any case that's about all I have that's relevant I have to share, I'll try to get on more often but as it is I'm lucky to get any internet. Hopefully staying here won't turn out to be a big mistake.
So yesterday the always friendly Fracture asked me a question anyone still reading this has probably asked: How did I come back from being well... "uncaged"? Believe it or not I've been working on this post for a little while now, but at the moment I'm trying to balance lots of things and so I don't have quite as much time as I used to to just sit down and shoot out a post. Still, it's something that deserves an answer if any of you are to believe I actually did make a comeback, so I'm going to try to explain how I managed it.
Like I already said in the comment to Fracture, I was more or less expecting what happened the night I tried to stop Phillip and let Elizabeth get away, in fact I had kind of been counting on it for a while. Anyone with an attention span probably realized that over time I was getting... let's say darker, and that I was posting less and less as "Free." The reason for that is that I was actively shutting down as much of that part of my personality as I could, right from the very beginning, suppressing it so that when I was ultimately... redesigned it would be so far buried that Mr. Talls would either not find it or not bother erasing it. It's not easy to shut down your thought processes and hide them from the rest of your mind, it takes a lot of focus and determination, the easiest thing to do (and mind you it's still tough) is to identify which events in your life were most central to shaping who you are, and associate them with a trigger, so that seeing or hearing a specific thing would bring them to the front of your mind, and then occupy your thoughts with everything except that one specific memory the second you are no longer focused on the trigger. To understand how hard that is lets try some practice: Think of something, anything you like, don't even bother with finding a trigger right now. Now, think of everything except that one thing, empty it completely from your mind and fill your head with thoughts that have nothing to do with that. Yeah, that's about as easy as it gets, i don't even feel like describing where I went after I got the hang of that.
Anyways my first trick was the most obvious: I hide from Caged on his own blog. Among the delusional ranting and pointless emotions I was able to hide messages to myself; stupid, simple reminders of who I was, hidden in Morse code in the commas and periods so "meaninglessly" thrown about, even Caged didn't notice, he merely celebrated a little bit as more and more pieces of Free were buried there each time he posted. I had anticipated him returning and using that blog once I got dealt with, meaning he would be exposed to the hidden messages and buried memories right away. Clearly that was my first mistake.
The next thing I tried to hide myself in was the music I occasionally posted. This was easier for me to do, so I tried hiding more complicated things there, more important memories, specific ideas, and towards the end actual thought patterns. It was never intended to bring me back the way my messages on Cage's blog were, only supplement me once I had control. Unfortunately I was less cautious about hiding them from him as a result, I was able to hide a lot in those, but I also lost a lot I tried to hide there, too. They were hidden too obviously, too sloppily, and that was my second mistake, and it cost me a lot.
I had planned to continue on with just those two methods, and maybe a few other, subtler ones, but my hand was forced too soon, I had to be myself to have the nerve to take a stand against him, but I needed some final thing to focus my mind into, some final trigger to call me back when I was to be sent out as His servant. So I made my final mistake: I chose the gun. The same one I took from that runner, and used to kill Joshua, and try to stop Phillip. At the time I thought it would be easy to recover, and that when released into the world again Caged would get it quickly to have a usable weapon. Unfortunately Caged got Phillip, and didn't really need any weapons after that, and Shade took the gun anyways. I... used that gun to kill him. After seven months of harassing Shade and North, while I killed, tortured, and.... worse... my way through anyone who got in my way... I... Caged, I guess- I don't even know if I can say what he was in the end was really a part of me- finally took back the gun and killed him. At that point I think it was actually a good thing. He had suffered so much because of me, even before Caged took control, and one clean shot to the head put him out of his misery. North... wasn't so lucky, "Father" was there to take care of him, he tried charging me after I shot Shade but the Slender Man just... fuck, I can't even relive that right now... But that moment, that was enough for me to get just a little bit of a grip on Caged, and start pushing him back towards the other triggers I had set up.
I led him to his blog, and to the music, and slowly I started creeping back in. But he fought me, all that time without the rest of me to balance him out he grew into something smarter and darker and stronger than he ever was before. I won, but not before he managed to do a lot of damage, most of it which I can't even remember right now. But now I'm back, I have him under control again and I'm not suppressing myself or letting him take over again, it's not worth it. No matter how much stronger his voice is now, I have him beat, and he's only the first of my demons that I'm going to defeat.
Ok, so, I really have no clue where to begin, everything is pretty fucked up at this point. First off, at least some of the blood was mine, someone, maybe me, did a serious number on my face. Most of the cuts aren't too deep and will probably fade in a few weeks, but it looks like my left eye was almost gouged out, I can't see out of it and it hurts like hell, I've bandaged it up as well as I can, but I can't really do anything about it right now.
I have no idea where I am or what my current local reputation is. Well not, no idea, I'm in a house, it's abandoned, but it looks like someone lived here recently, which I'm not taking as a particuiarly good sign. It's in a pretty rural area, which is not comforting to me at the moment, but it might help me slip away unnoticed later tonight. I get the feeling staying here isn't a great long term plan, so as soon as can get out saftely and unseen I'm gone. There's a backpack here that Caged has used some and enough food, money, and clothes to last me for a little while, so I won't starve or freeze to death.
I've gone down my reading list and it looks like pretty much everybody I might have tenatively considered a potential ally is either dead or not talking anymore, with very few exceptions. This really sucks, but it doesn't really change my situation much, they would have had no reason to trust or help me anyways. Still, it just, it doesn't feel right.
And now for the really bad part: it's not just last week that's missing. There are lots of gaps in my memory now that weren't there before. I know for a fact some of those things were important, I knew Caged was going to take over, but it wasn't supposed to be for anywhere near this long. When I didn't take control back I started losing things, and all the most important knowledge I had, all of the strongest weapons I had in my mind, have faded away. I have no bargining chips anymore, no way through and no way out. I'm not an important peice in the game anymore, I'm just another pawn. Maybe that's all I ever was, but I don't even have any illusions about who I am now, and it's probably only a matter of time before good old Slender Man, or Phillip, or victim with a grudge, or one of any number of creatures of the night come to pick me off and be done with it.
...
I think I'm going to die this year, but I don't care. Because no matter how this goes down, no matter how I go down, I'm not going quietly.
Like me, all of me. Not Caged, I shut him up. I don't think he can take over again, but I have no idea what he did this past week, I only woke up today, covered in blood, too. What a cliche. I honestly don't know where to go from here, what I've done this past year was just... sick, and I can't say it wasn't me becuase it was but...
Fuck
Just fuck the no cussing thing I did, if ever there was a fucking time to fucking say the fucking word "fuck" it's fucking now.
After one of my more enjoyable missions for Father and taking my prize I found a note telling me to check my blog. Well I'm here. And nothing is diffrent. I don't know if the food thinks it's being clever or just misses my posts, but I'm not going to start typinig in here again just because some future dead person is a fan.
This day has been a long time coming, I have waited years under the demons control, and months of being cleansed and prepared by Father and now I am ready. I am about to begin fathers mission to go forth and spread word of his existence, to eliminate those who think they can stand in his way, and to prepare those who barely fear him to accept his righteous judgment. I have been given a handler, to direct my movements, so that I may more effectively serve my Father. In turn I have been given command over "Phillip" to help me with my assignments. It can not speak or think for itself, but Father has bonded it's will to me, and now I can use it as one of his greatest weapons when the time comes.
Tonight is the beggining, I have my first assginment, an elimination of a runner who has lost Father's intrest, but has still insisted on making a nusince of himself. I will enjoy making him suffer for his sins.
Oh so much to do and so much to say. I don't really feel like explaining it all in detail, but if I'm to put on a proper show for Father than there are some things you really should know. First off, I am not FreedomCaged, he is dead, stripped from this body slowly and methodically. He used to be a part of me, a demon controlling my actions and desires, a monster keeping me from serving. When he finally rebelled against Father openly the body that held us both was taken to be cleansed of his taint. He died slowly and painfully, and in the same manner I was built up. Where once I was barely able to think and reason beyond wanting to escape the demons oppression and restriction, Father crafted me into a powerful and effective tool in his service. He showed me how to hone my strength, and how to focus my mind, and now I am ready to go forth and cleanse the world for him.
The demon called me "Caged" because that was how he kept me, like an animal, locked in his mind. And now I take that name for my own purposes, as a final insult to the useless soul that once ruled this body. Because now I am now longer the caged one, now I am free. Free and ready to serve.
Well today I'm feeling melodramatic, and in light of recent events maybe it's actually prudent to do this. After all I'm running around, breaking proxy's noses, manipulating Hunted, leaving cryptic messages lieing around. Clearly I haven't mentioned all of this to you, but I did say that I would lie to you, didn't I? I should probably explain: this is my death post. Even when I go a rare day or two without checking this blog I never go a whole week, so I guess if I go a week without checking and pushing the publish date on this back I'm either dead, trapped, or seriously injured, and in the end they all amount to pretty much the same thing: I'm not able to update anymore. Ideally I would just be in a minor coma, but otherwise I won't be posting again, one way or the other, if you understand what I mean, I just want to prepare you for that. Heh, listen to me, "prepare you," like you need to be prepared. I actually like some of you, and to those I truly am sorry, but the rest of you, and possibly even those whose company I enjoy, probably won't even care that much about my passing, lets face it, I'm no hero to anyone. On that note, if it turns out that I just got lazy for a week and then lost my Internet connection for a couple days when I meant to update, than this is the work of a hacker, and everything said above and below should be considered a complete fabrication, and not at all the truth.
I guess I should be honest here, last chance, right? I've killed more than once. Another mercy killing, though, this time, it had none of the rage or vengeance motivated by my first murder. A couple of weeks ago a runner found me, someone I knew. I remembered going to the same school as him, we weren't really close, but I guess we were freinds. When we were kids he wasn't the most outgoing person, but when I saw him this time... brown hair and brown eyes, both ragged and worn; short, thin, and tired of running. He asked me to kill him, and at first I didn't know how to react. After I got over the initial shock I asked him why me, and he said he needed someone who would be able to do it, and he didn't have the nerve to do it himself. So, I agreed, we got in my car, drove to the nearest lake, and I shot him in the head. Now the gun only has five bullets in it, I guess. This time I gave him a proper grave instead of just leaving his corpse to the tall guy. And I knew his name this time. His name was Joshua; Joshua J. Felker.
I suppose I have some things to say to some of you specifically.
Dia: Oh the secrets we've shared, why you've even been able to get one or two out of me. You know you pretend you aren't half as clever as you really are, but even then you come out far brighter than many of the people around you. I've enjoyed our conversations, and now you know that I really did take your secrets to my grave, however shallow it might be right now. Here's hoping you weren't the one to put me there, yes, you know I've learned it's best not to underestimate you.
Knitwolf: I can't help but wonder which path I chose in the end, pins or needles. I've always respected that you looked at both paths, you considered the outcomes, and then you took the one that was best for you and didn't look back. And of course, stories are always fun. I hope you always know what path to take, and that none of them leave you with any regrets.
Gargoyle: You know, while I'm writing this you've just dug yourself out of your little hole in the ground, I'm not even sure you're alive right now. Well here's hopeing you are. Actually, scratch that, I don't want my life span to be shorter than that of an average runner, no offense. You've always been intresting, and I do hope we can continue have some of those conversations, it's nice to meet a Hunted person with a new perspective from time to time.
Robin: For the love of my sanity I hope you gave up all that ridicliouness of wanting to pay me back a long time ago. You don't owe me anything and you never did, the fact is that I'm a least partially responsible for the trouble you're in, I told Him who you were, and for that I'm sorry. If you ever find Alva tell her I'm sorry for her, too.
Aura: I'm going to say something I haven't had to say in a while: you're too nice of a person, by now you know where you stand, don't let your life just happen to you, make something happen too your life.
Overseer: You know you've never done much beyond follow orders for a while now, have you. The world you're preparing isn't a eutopia, and even if you somehow elevate your mistress byond the level of her fellow Fears. You're playing chess wrong, when you get to the other side of the board you get promoted, but you don't switch sides. Then again I've always found your research intriuging, if you're working on anything that brings the dead back to life my body is yours to try it out on.
Amy: You're a new face to me, but an intresting one. I can't quite place my finger on it, yet, but I can just tell that we're going to be good pals by the time this post goes public. What can I say, I'm a sucker for a good cynic.
Phillip: You're an idiot, if you're the one that killed me then I deserved to die.
Elizabeth: You won't see this, but know that whatever I did choose I'm sorry I took so long to choose it. It stuck you in a limbo that no one ever deserves to be trapped in. For the record, I do hope I chose to help you.
And now it's time for one last revelation: the real reason behind this post is that I just needed an excuse to listen to Mumsford and Sons. Hey, I like them, and this is kind of an ominous song, perfect for a "death post." As this is probably the last thing you will ever hear from me you are obligated listen to the whole song. And cry, you're obligated to cry, because I'm dead, and you all care about me.
So my traditional sign-off probably isn't appropriate here, so I'll just leave you with this:
It's been nice seeing you all
FreedomCaged
April 24, 2012
i shoulfdn't have done that what awas i thinking He's comeing for me now i just know it let him c om e you need to tell them it's to late toos otps now thouagh. i should join fight run. myheasd i cant thnik...
tell them
right, tongiht i took liz into the woods. i had my gun i knew what i was tgoing to do i knew what i had to do i made my cohice... anf He was there standing gloriouslymonstorously terrifingly tall as he help open his hands. elizabeth turned and looked at me, the faer ing her eyes was beutiful unbearable wrong. and than it he phillip came. i dont eeve n know from where but in a split second i felt him leap from behind me and land less than a foot in tfront of my face. he stood bewteen me and elizabteh. all you had to do was let it happenthere was only ever one choice i knew what i had to do. I put my gun so it was just an inch away from the back of its his phillips neck and prov ed m y superiority put him out of his misery shot him point blank.
he fell
b ut he didn t stop b reathin g
he just looke d at me with those yellow soiuless eyes.
four bullets left
a waste of am m un ition
the master monster Slender Man was mad, i told elizabeth to run. i told her to keep runing and not look bakc. He ignored her as she listned, and tuned to me instead. He threw me into a tree and then a tentalce snaked down to phillip somehow helaing him, as he started to move i turned and ran.
He is comeing i know it i dont have much time but i need to tell you all
My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin,
My necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin—
(They will say: “But how his arms and legs are thin!”)
Do I dare
Disturb the universe?
In a minute there is time
For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.
I'm sitting here, holding my gun, the same one I took from my first kill, about to go into the woods one last time. Elizabeth is out of the hospital, and I've already told here I found something, a way to keep us both from being stalked. In a way I did tell the truth. Tonight is the final test, The Slender Man is waiting, whatever Phillip became is going to be there, too, everything is coming together. I can't wait anymore, nor do I want to, my choice is before me and all my experiences and decisions have culminated here. Before me lays two paths, perfectly illuminated, I can see how far each of them stretches, where the thorns are prepared to scrape against my legs, and what monsters will assault me on each. And I can see how one is superior, how all actions and decisions are leading me down that path.
Tonight I Dare.
I Dare to choose.
I Dare to take my place in a war beyond human understanding.
I Dare to walk down the path I have prepared and not look back.
How do I start this, I'm still so amazed, in awe. This was beyond anything I had truly expected, beyond anything I could have ever predicted. And I was there, at the start of something so... breathtaking, oh this is the start of something incredible my friends, take note of where you are, because this changes everything. I should start at the beginning, no point in spoiling such an incredible surprise without the proper buildup, is there?
It should not be an enormous surprise that I've had more than one of my midnight talks with the Slender Man and Phillip on the nature reserve. But tonight was different. It started out the same as it has so many times before, I arrived after Phillip, and then without warning he appeared before us, taller than ever before, looming over our heads with the sliver of the moon illuminating the tree behind him ever so faintly. Phillip knelt as he always does, he was dirty and weary, having not left the woods in over a week now. Yet still, as he knelt a sense of calm drew over his face, he knew this was where he belonged, and soon, so would I. The air that had been warm and humid just moments before was now cold and dry, but completely still. It was as though the elements themselves had calmed themselves, completely ceased there activity in honor of what was taking place. I stood, as I always have, a few feet behind Phillip: watching, waiting, and learning.
The first hint that something was going to be different happened when He moved. The Slender Man took two steps forward and placed a single hand on his shoulder and looked down at Phillip, and in return Phillip stared up into the eyeless face of something so much greater than any of us. He has been speaking to me less and less, and more and more quietly, to the point where I barely hear him at all when he does choose to speak, but when The Slender Man snapped his head up to look at me I knew he was instructing me with one simple task.
Watch
And that's when it all began. The Slender Man seemed to grow even taller and the tentacles began to pour out of his back, pulsing and writhing. They grew and multiplied until I could barely even see Him, just a pale face and a hand on Phillip's shoulder, surround by a mass of moving shifting blackness. Without warning one of the tentacles shot through his chest. I expected him to start bleeding from the wound, but instead a black oily substance began flowing from the hole. The appendage withdrew and I could see straight through Phillip's back. But that wasn't the end of it, The Slender Man had barely begun. A thinner tentacle snaked it's way around over the same shoulder that the Slender Man was still holding on to, across Phillip's back, over his neck, and up his check. It seemed to stay there for a moment, almost as if it was comforting Phillip. Then his neck snapped.
I could now see Phillips face, and as I watched more and more tentacles can forward and washed over his body, mapping themselves across him like veins. Then they all began pulsing, drawing from him all that was human, Phillip began convulsing and writhing, his mind was already dead, but his body still tried to reject what was happening. Tears of blood began streaming from his eyes as they grew cloudy and yellow, losing any resemblance to human eyes. The color drained from his skin until it was a uniform white, and then it started getting darker. Splotches of black and grey appeared across his face and arms, quickly dissipating and spreading across the rest of his skin in veins. And still He wasn't finished, more and more tentacles came and surrounded Phillip, consuming him until I could see nothing else.
Eventually the tentacles started pulling back, The Slender Man recalling them as he returned to his original form. Soon He was just a man in a suit again, standing with His hand on Phillips shoulder. But it wasn't Phillip anymore, all that was Phillip was gone. What remained was beyond human, All the fat and waste had been replaced with lean muscle, the eyes had been completely changed, removed of the iris and pupil, no more windows necessary, it was a body that housed no soul. And the skin, what was once soft and malleable was now hard as stone, yet somehow, still flexible to allow movement. The color was gone, replaced by a dark grey, literally glowing with power. In an instant it was standing, and so quickly I could barely follow with my eyes it had disappeared deeper into the woods.
I stood there in silent shock, unsure of what to do, unsure of what I could do. I looked at the Slender Man, a being of such power that it could create that out of what had once been human, and I did the only thing that occurred to me. I knelt.
Threatening someone through the blog actually got them to come forward and make things easier for everyone, about time. Anyways, it turns out that I was being followed by this guy who seemed to think I was somehow responisble for the vanisihing act his "apprentice" pulled some time back. I've been following his blog, but I had no idea who Joshua was and I told him as much. Actually the entire conversation was quite cordial, I'm almost disapointed this worked out so well. Shade said he was "going to keep an eye on me" but since he won't find anything I'm not really concerned about that right now, it seems I have bigger matters to attend to anyways.
