(Name Edited) Ciphers

Xvyy zr. Whfg xvyy zr. V jnag gb qvr. Jr qvqa’g tb naljurer gbqnl orpnhfr bs Zvfgerff’f pbnpren sbe zl zragry urnygs. V UNGR UREUNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR UREUNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR UREUNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR UREUNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR UREUNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR UREUNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR UREUNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR UREUNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR UREUNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR UREUNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR UREUNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR UREUNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR UREUNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR UREUNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR UREUNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR UREUNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR UREUNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR UREUNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR UREUNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR UREUNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR UREUNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR UREUNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR UREUNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR UREUNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE UNGR URE

V uair gb erznva pnyz na        q trg gur vasb sbe znfgre. Ur jvyy or cyrnfrq. Gbjreobea erghea gb gur Gbjre. GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE.

GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE GBJREOBEA ERGHEA GB GUR GBJRE

EDIT: Elise here. That was Daniel….he’s been acting erratically all day…I don’t like it. I had no clue what he was typing, until I noticed another tab on his laptop had a cipher code on it. Here it is: http://itsecuritylab.eu/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/csc_img8.png

I’ve been working on the cipher here now that Daniel is asleep, but it’s slow and rather painstaking. I better stop typing before it wakes up Daniel. Who’s right next to me. I’ll post more, or maybe he will, tomorrow.

~Elise out.

File 13

Well, close experiences galore, but we got down another Fear. Anyways, ever since the Convention I had taken a great deal of interest in both The Unnamed Child and the Mother of Snakes. So Elise and I decided to find them. Before I left, I went to Sylvia, who had since mastered the phrase “Can I have another book?” Apparently the trauma didn’t affect her reading skill, so she mostly spends her time reading novels and whatnot. I ended up handing her Stephen King’s “Christine” absent-mindedly. In retrospect, horror wasn’t such a great idea. But either way, there’s no use regretting it now. She’s already halfway done.

Either way, after telling Mistress about Sylvia’s condition, I was about to stop when she spoke. “Vassal.”

“Yes, Mistress?” I turned and asked, forcing a smile.

“Kick some ass out there. Has Elise given you back your knife?” She grinned.

“Yep, yesterday.” I said, and turned and left. I didn’t know why, but recently, I’ve wanted to keep as far from Mistress as possible. Ever since the day I snapped. I’m not sure if it’s guilt or fear or……anger……what the hell is wrong with me?

Whatever, Elise and I got in the car. We drove out of the Empty City at the first garage door we found. The Unnamed Child doesn’t have a domain, so she could’ve been anywhere. We didn’t expect two things; that we’d end up back in Pennsylvania. And that it would be so damned HOT. Like, my god, it was sweltering. Since the car was old, it didn’t have AC, so we rolled down the windows and hoped for the best.

We drove aimlessly down back country roads, city streets, up and down freeways, hoping to find her. Eventually, we did. Her reptilian grin and weird appearance made me shudder to look at her. “Aw, she’s so CUTE!” Elise pulled over to the left side of the road, where she was standing and GRINNING EVILLY. “Hi there, little girl! Where’s your Mommy and Daddy?” She asked, sounding more like a pedophile than anything.

The Unnamed Child’s lizard-like eyes filled with tears. “Please, you have to help me! My Mommy and Daddy left me here for no reason! Help me, please…”

Elise turned to me. “We’re letting her in the car.”

“Elise, wait-” I started, but she put a finger to my lips.

“No, YOU wait. This girl needs our help, so we’re helping her. Who else would she find on this back road in god-only-knows-where? Besides, we’re just looking for the Unnamed Child, she’ll be a help if anything. Get on in, little girl! By the way, what’s your name?” Elise asked.

“Ah, ah, Adrift!” She said, and FUCKING GRINNED AT ME AGAIN OH GOD SO CREEPY.

“Adrift, huh? That’s a weird name.” Elise thought out loud.

“It was my Daddy’s idea….he said I was always looking at weird things and staying off track, so I was a little Adrift.” Adrift sobbed, before grinning at me a third time. She was in the back seat, but I could feel it, and definitely see it in the rearview mirror.

“That’s so sad….I’m glad I found you, Adrift.” Elise smiled in the mirror. Made me wonder exactly what she was seeing, cause it was sure not the same one I was seeing.

“Me too! I guess you’re my Mommy now!” Adrift beamed. Then she went on to stare directly at me. “And you’re my DADDY, right, DADDY?” Her voice was dripping with malice, but I was sure Elise couldn’t hear that.

“Y-yeah.” I chuckled nervously.

“Mommy, I have to go pee-pee.” She suddenly said. Elise sighed and pulled over. “Fine, we’ll go out to the woods. Daniel, stay here and watch the car.” She said, getting out of the car with Adrift.

It was a long time since I heard anything from anybody. An hour. No word. I waited. A gunshot. I ran into the woods, looking for the source. I saw them. Elise had a bullet hole in one hand and a shotgun against Adrift’s head in the other. “Daniel, this Adrift! She’s the Unnamed Child!” Elise yelled.

“You don’t fucking say?” I growled back angrily. “I have a coil of rope in the trunk. I’ll be right back.” I went, got the coil of rope, and was back in five minutes. No one had moved. I tied up the Child, though I hated being so close to her.

“Alright, kid. You sit there, and I’m gonna write something down. Then we’re gonna let you go. You try anything, you get your brains blown out. Immortal or not, I doubt it’d be that comfortable.” I said. And I wrote.

File 13: The Unnamed Child.

Alternate Names: PRE18, Fossil-Type LACRIMOSA, The Adrift, Subject Uniform Charlie, Precious, Alice, Lost Girl, Mistress Without Name

Attitude Towards Humans: Hostile

Control Over: N/A

This girl is more of a family-destroyer than a meth addicted son. She turns up as a cute little orphan at the doorstep of some family, and they’ll instantly take her in. They’ll love her so much, they’ll even forego their real child’s needs to care for her. Eventually she kills all the children, and runs away. The parents, rather than getting angry, follow her, becoming Wanderers. If they find her again, she’ll tell them her real name, which will erase their memory. They are Nameless, doomed to serve the Child until they die. To some, she appears to be a cute little girl, while others can see her for what she truly is. This fucked-up freak of nature, with sharp teeth and lizard-ish eyes. When she grins, eugh, terrifying. It’s freaky to just be around her, cause she grins and grins and grins. A word of advice. Don’t trust orphans. They’re nothing but trouble.

This entry was shorter than some others. Ah well. Also, 13, that’s over half of 25. At least we’re halfway done.

We let the Unnamed Child go, and we returned to the Empty City. Nothing else much happened.

I’m sorry I’m not posting more and beign more indepth about this part but Ican barely keep my eyes open to tpye. Gnight eryone.

~Tmpson ot.

The Convention

Hello everyone, it’s me, Daniel. I apologize for my rather..unkempt behavior yesterday. I was emotionally distraught and didn’t know what to do, so I went all crazy. I’ll tell you why I can actually feel better today; Sylvia is recovering. She can now speak basic sentences (I’m hungry, I’m sleepy, I’m thirsty, I go bathroom….that one we need to work on a bit) and sit upright. I think the Archangel erased her memories of most everything and the song lyrics were a last-ditch attempt at trying to communicate. Or something.

Either way, Elise and I have something to do. The Fears have called together a meeting at a neutral spot in the City, and everyone is allowed to bring one servant. Mistress chose me, and The Choir chose Elise.

Once at the meeting site, we were the first ones there, with Mistress holding the Manufactured Newborn in a little glass jar. She thought he should come too. No Towerborns.

The City had spawned chairs in a half-circle, though more could be put up if necessary. The City had made a person sitting on a chair of stone, like a statue, just to assert it’s presence. The Nightlanders were there for themselves and the City both.

“Ah, EAT! Good for you to show up!” Mistress suddenly yelled. Three Campers came out from around a nearby building. “We need all our allies here for this one, cause I’m sure Latex Dude will have all his cronies.” Latex Dude is what Mistress calls The Archangel, either that or “The stupid bastard.” But either honestly works.

More Fears arrived. A Lamia holding hands with a small child with a face that looked….wrong arrived and sat next to each other. The Blind Man arrived from a Subway tunnel. A nest took a seat at the semicircle while a small legion of purple birds roosted in the tree nearby, looking on ominously. I was about to take out my pen and notebook and write entries on the snake woman and child, but Mistress tapped my shoulder and shook her head. Not now.

Someone said “Come on out, Smiley, we know you’re there.” And an orange-haired eyeless man crept out from behind a building, before dancing to the nearest seat. A whole mass of bugs morphed into a shaking, twisting, human-like shape on a nearby chair. A very cold-looking boy wandered in from somewhere.

And then they arrived. The three of them. The Archangel, The Slender Man, and the Rake. They sat, three in a row, kicking the freezing boy out of his chair in the process. The Archangel then abruptly stood up, and stomped over to where Mistress was calmly sitting. “Ah, Puppetslut. Seems I didn’t kill you hard enough last time. I won’t make that mistake twice.”

“Well, hello to you too, Archie.” Mistress’s painted grin seemed wider than usual, and I could swear I saw her eyebrows twitch. “Seems I’m made of harder wood than you thought. Really, you shouldn’t compare my wood to that floppy limp dick you have.”

“This ‘floppy limp dick’ is right about to go straight through your eye socket, Puppetslut.” The Archangel hissed. Everyone was looking on, wondering what would happen. Elise, being on the other side of Mistress, was preparing to bolt if anything happened. The Choir looked on edge too. Finally the Blind Man stood up.

“Ahem, everyone, please, sit down. Archangel, please.” The Archangel grumbled and sat down. “Now, everyone, we’ll convene once again. Seems we have…16….good attendance. Though it’s not like the Dying Man to not arrive, or at least a piece of him….anyone have a piece of him…you, Camper? Good. Very well. Anyone have any concerns they’d like to voice?” The freezing boy’s hand shot up. “Yes…you….Cold Boy.”

“Nobody ever plays with meeee.” The Cold Boy complained. “Not even Adrift comes to visit!” Seems even Fears use their Rapture Names.

“I would, but I have so much homework! Replacing kids and making their parents slaves to me is hard work!” The small child protested.

“Cold Boy, you’ve had that same complaint for the past 320 years. Anyone else?” The Blind Man dismissed the children’s squabbling.

Mistress stood up. “I’d like to know why the Archangel keeps sicing his damn wolves on my Tower and servants! And kidnapping them, moreover! He’s traumatized one of my best Puppets to a near-vegetable, causing another one of my Puppets to flip complete shit!” A ripple of shock and amusement went through the other Fears and Proxies. Elise looked bored.

“You’re a fucking bitch!” The Archangel stood up, tipping his chair over and stomping back over. “I’m tired of having to deal with your shit! I’ve put up with it for 9029 years! 9029 fucking YEARS of this shit!”

“I’d leave you alone if you left me alone!” Mistress screamed back. Lightning cracked in the distance. The Cold Boy and the small child looked scared. The bugs scurried back from the fight. The Choir disappeared, looking a very upset-looking Elise. The eyeless man hid behind a lamp-post. The City shook in disapproval. The Slender Man stood, looking on. The Rake growled.

“You want to fucking fight?!” The Archangel yelled.

“Maybe I fucking do!” Mistress shouted back.

“ENOUGH, BOTH OF YOU.” The Blind Man was surprisingly loud. “Order, everyone, order, sit down you two.” Everyone came back and sat down.

“I apologize for lateness.” The Brute showed up in a puff of smoke.

“No, please, go back to being late.” The Lamia said.

“We don’t want you here.” One of the Campers sighed.

“FOOLISH MORTALS. I WILL STRIKE YOU D-” The Brute was interrupted by the Convocation flapping their wings hard enough to blow him away.

“Thank god.” The Blind Man said, rolling his lack of eyes. “Well, as for the whole Timberwolf vs. Doll thing, I can’t do much about that.”

“Good.” The Archangel sort of grinned through his mask. “Wonderful indeed. Because you’re all going to join me. Except EAT, The Choir, and Puppetslut. Because you have no choice!” He snapped his fingers. “I have timberwolves deployed around this whole spot! They’ll take down anyone who opposes them! We’ve already incapacitated the City! Now, join me or die!”

It all made sense. Why he was so late. Why the City stopped shaking. The Archangel came to this trying to enslave everyone else under his power.

Everyone seemed to have their own methods of escaping, though. The Choir took Elise and disappeared. The Slender Man looked alarmed and escaped through his Path. Guess he wasn’t siding with Archie after all. The bugs scurried away, and the Convocation flew away, the birds bursting out of the Nest and killing him, though in the distance, a few got shot down. The Lamia grabbed the child and fled through a puddle of water. The Campers melted into the puddle and disappeared. The Cold Boy froze the puddle and escaped somehow. I couldn’t quite see. The Blind Man was in the way. The Nightlanders disappeared easily.

This left Mistress and I, The Manufactured Newborn, The Blind Man and an Archivist, the eyeless guy and a girl carrying a bouquet of roses, and The Rake. And The Archangel.

“Well, ain’t this unfortunate! Seems the subjects today are Rakey-boy, The Old Guy, The creepy fucker, and Puppetslut and her toys! Oh, this is good indeed! But everyone but Puppetslut and her human can save themselves!” No one made a move. “Fine, have it your way, Timberwolves, attack!” He yelled. Nothing happened. He floated up to see over the hill to see what was going on. “Shit…SHIIIIIIIIIT!” He yelled, flying away. Then we all turned and looked at what was coming over the hill.

The Burning Bride. She was beautiful, on a backdrop of flame. A timberwolf hurt in a explosion she had just created lifted a gun to fire at her, but exploded into flame before he could pull the trigger. “Seems you needed some help.” She smiled. Mistress cringed. Right. Fire and wood.

The moment they realized they were home free, The eyeless guy, The Rake, and the servant of the eyeless guy ran off, but the Blind Man stayed. He spoke to us. “I don’t know why the Archangel wants you dead, but you have my support in fighting him off.” He shook Mistress’s hand, thanked the Bride, and disappeared into the Subway tunnels with his Archivist.

“Th-thanks.” Mistress looked terrified. “I’m a little s-s-scared of fire, so let’s go, shall we Daniel?” I followed, thanking the Bride for her help.

Nothing much else happened today, but now…it’s late. Elise is back with me, and asleep next to me. Goodnight everyone.

~Thompson out. 

Insanity

Hello everyone, this is Elise. Daniel’s in Sylvia’s room, hugging her, and…crying. This was the first day I’ve seen him cry. I suppose I should explain what happened today.

It started with me straddling Daniel, as usual. It’s just something I feel I should do, because he likes it, and given the rough job he’s tasked with. Of course, once he woke up, he went to go see Sylvia. She was no better. His head was bowed when he came out, and it looked like he was crying. I hugged him, but he pushed me away and stalked away. I followed, worried as to what he would do.

Seeing a destroyed Doll in the hallway confirmed my fears; he was going on a killing spree. I went to speak with his Mistress about it. She wasn’t there, which made things worse.

I knew it. I went out to the front of the Tower, and there was Miss Harlequin standing on the ground about 10 feet from Daniel, who had picked up an Assault Rifle somewhere.

“Daniel, I know you’re angry, but you don’t need to attack me!” Miss Harlequin yelled.

“Then do something about it!” Daniel yelled. “You’re an eldritch being, omnipotent as they come, so fucking heal her or something!”

“I may be omnipotent, but there are things even I can’t do!” Miss Harlequin growled back. Daniel loaded the Assault Rifle. “I said NO, you little shit!” Miss Harlequin yelled, wrapping Daniel’s hands with strings and hoisting him about 20 feet in the air. “Now will you calm the fuck down?” She sighed.

Daniel nodded and was let down. But Miss Harlequin took the Assault Rifle and smashed it, and took his knife and gave it to me. She told me to give it back when he was fit to have it again.

He was a depressed wreck after that. He went back to bed and slept for another few hours. I didn’t leave his side. I knew he needed someone in times like this.

When he awoke, he went and spent about an hour with Sylvia, mostly hugging her and wishing she’d come back to sanity. She sang all kinds of things, country, rock, rap, pop, it didn’t matter. She just sang and sang, with her sweet, almost saccharine voice.

Afterwards, he just came out and moped around for a while. He took several walks through the Empty City, went and visited the core, and watched some Nightlanders play football. Yes, they do that on occasion. I think they were playing shirts versus skins…not that it matters.

Either way, he came back to the Tower, moped some more. I offered to drive him to the Valley of Song, but he declined, so we got Ice Cream instead. I got Mint Chocolate Chip and he got a Strawberry Milkshake. He loves those. He just sat there, drinking his milkshake, without saying anything. In fact, the only thing he really said was ‘thanks’ when I gave him the Shake. It was awful to see him in this state. I mean, he’s not always the nicest or the most cheerful, but he’s usually up for a conversation or something.

He was silent for the whole trip back. Out of the blue, when we were getting out of the car, I did it. I kissed him. I don’t know if it was to cheer him up, or because I was feeling bad for him, or because of something deeper, but, all I know was that I opened up the tear dams, because he kissed back, even though there were tears streaming down his face.

Afterward he began working on my shirt, trying frantically to unbutton without working on it. I slapped his hand away and told him I wasn’t ready for that yet. I know I’m Nineteen, but….I’m just not ready. Especially not with a 15-year old boy. I mean, there’s no age of consent in the Empty City, but still…

He went back to being all emo after that. I don’t think it was because of me, though. I think he wanted to use sex as both a figurative and literal release. I know I didn’t help by not letting him, but I honestly think that at this moment, it’s easier to not get into any sort of relationship going that far. We’re partners. For now, at least.

Either way, after that, he went back to bed, but didn’t sleep. He just stared at the ceiling fan. I could tell he wanted to be alone, so I abided his wishes and left him be.

In the meantime, I found the nearest shadow on the wall and told him all about what had been happening recently, and he complemented me on good work. That gave me a bit of happiness. Afterwards, I went to check in on him. He was asleep, with notebook in hand. I took the notebook from him so he didn’t roll over the spiral binding or something in his sleep, and I read his most recent entry. It was………strange.

I don’t even know what I’m still doing alive. I shouldn’t be. I should’ve died on the sidewalk in February. But I didn’t. If I had, Elise would just be a normal Grayskin, and I wouldn’t have dragged her into this emotional mess. And Sylvia wouldn’t be like this. Granted, she’d be a mindless puppet, but embracetheconvocationletmeinidontwanttogocometomechildrenandfollowmywayintoaworldofdarknessandmagicitoldyouboutthewalrusandmemanlookingthroughtheskywithdiamondsnothingtogethungaboutnumber9sarealnowheremansittinginhisnowherelandmakingallhisnowhereplansforeleanorrigbypicksupthericeinachurchwheremybabyseenyoudrivingontheoneafter909.

It seemed to be a cross between many Beatles songs and Fear Slogans. For those of you who can’t read spaceless paragraphs, I’ll translate:

“Embrace The Convocation”

“Let me in, I don’t want to go.”

“Come to me Children, and follow my way, into a world of darkness and magic.”

“I told you ‘bout the Walrus and me, man, looking through the sky with diamonds. Nothing to get hung about, number nine’s a real nowhere man, sitting in his nowhere land, making all his nowhere plans for Eleanor Rigby, picks up the rice in a church where my baby seen you driving on the one after 909.”

That last one…..kinda disturbs me. Anyways, he woke up and got mad at me, so I left him alone until dinner. I had to bring it up to him. He didn’t eat. Either way, he suddenly got up about half an hour ago and went into Sylvia’s room, and hugged her. And cried. A lot.

Oh, here he comes now. I’ll be putting the laptop away now. Sleep well everyone, either me or Daniel’ll update tomorrow.

~Elise out.

File 12

Once again, I awoke to Elise straddling me the same way she did yesterday. I asked her why. She told me it made me happy, so it had to be good. Yeah. Happy. Let’s go with that. After getting dressed, I went to go check on Sylvia. Today she was singing something else.

Truth be told I miss you

Truth be told I’m lyin,

When you see my face,

Hope it gives you hell

Hope it gives you hell

When you walk my way

Hope it gives you hell

Hope it gives you hell

When you find a man that’s worth a damn and treats you well

He’s just a fool, it’s just as well, hope it gives you hell.

I closed the door. All-American Rejects, seriously? This was getting annoying……and kind of terrifying.

We had breakfast, and when she went out to start up the car, I went to Mistress’s room. I knocked on the door.

“Don’t come in!” She yelled, “I’m changing!” I waited until she was ready, and she opened the door, dressed in a full dominatrix-esque leather suit. I took a couple steps back when I noticed the horsewhip she had in her hands. “What is it?” She asked.

“Woah….what’s up with the outfit?” My eyes were wide, half out of terror and half out of curiousity.

“One of the dolls messed up too badly, so we’re going to have a bit of fun in the basement!” She cackled and grinned menacingly, slapping the horsewhip down hard on one of her leather gloves.

“Er……have fun with that……anyways…” I showed her the report I wrote up on The Brute, and she pondered it for a moment.

“Eh, I’m sure he’s no threat to us.” Mistress shrugged. “Now, you have reports to write, yes? Go to your little singing girlfriend and get to it.”

Elise had the car idling at the end of the lot, out by the road. “So where’s the Burning Bride?” She asked me.

“I have absolutely no idea.” I replied, and we began driving. After about two very long hours, we finally reached a door. It was unmarked, but I could feel, even from inside the car, the heat coming from it. Either this was a boiler room, or the domain of The Burning Bride.

We got out of the car and entered, feeling the heat as we entered. We were in some sort of lit cave. However, I couldn’t see any light sources, nor could Elise.

We walked further in, the heat getting more intense. I was sweating like a dog, and Elise was panting like one. She had a water bottle she brought with her, but the water had already gotten too warm to drink.

Finally, we found her. Standing in the center of a large clearing. The Burning Bride. As expected, she looked like a young woman, wearing a white dress and veil, encircled completely by flame. She wasn’t terrifying, I felt no fear in her presence. She was more calming than anything. And that calming worried me more than any terror could ever do.

She had her eyes closed, and when she opened them, they were a beautiful smoky gray color. “Come no closer, lest you burn yourselves.” The Burning Bride spoke, and her voice sounded sweet, but there a coldness I couldn’t quite comprehend within all the heat. “What is your purpose for seeking me out? I do not take servants.”

“Er……we’re on a mission from The Wooden Girl. We’re supposed to observe and write about every fear.” I replied.

“Please, go ahead, observe all you like. I wouldn’t advise writing here, however, your paper may burn.” The Burning Bride smiled. This woman doesn’t want to be a Fear. She wants to be normal, but can’t, for whatever reason.

“WHAT DID I TELL YOU FOOLS YESTERDAY?” A familiar voice boomed, and smoke curled and hissed in from all sides as the Brute took form. “I TOLD YOU TO STAY AWAY FROM THE BURNING BRIDE, AND YOU DID NOT LISTEN TO ME. PREPARE FOR MY WRATH.” The Brute was visibly pissed.

          “Minotaur, let them off easy. They just wish for observation, nothing more!” The Burning Bride pleaded.

          “No, Hestia.” The Brute replied in a soft voice, which was still quite by human standards. “That human, in the glasses and trilby, he is a servant of the very Fear that sealed me away in this wretched state!” The Brute yelled at the Bride.

          “We all sealed you away, you senile old noose-hanger.” The Burning Bride retorted. “Even I helped with that, if you’ve forgotten.”

          “THE HARLEQUIN DEALT THE FINAL BLOW. SHE IS THE ONE THAT MUST BE DESTROYED.”

          “Shut up! You don’t want to fuck with us!” Elise suddenly yelled.

          The Brute laughed. “FOOLISH MORTAL. YOU CANNOT HARM ME.”

          “No, you’re right, I can’t.” Elise said, obfuscating something in her hand. “But I can sure as hell hurt her.” There was now the barrel of a shotgun about a foot away from the face of the Burning Bride. She feigned shock and terror.

          The Brute’s voice grew quiet. “What is it you need me to do?” He asked quietly, as if embarrased.

          “Leave us alone.” Elise said, lowering her shotgun slowly.

          “Very well, it shall be done….” The Brute’s voice trailed off as the smoke disappated. It just occurred to me at this point that The Burning Bride’s fire gave off no smoke.

          “Oh, thank you!” The Burning Bride breathed a sigh of relief. “I thought he was never going to leave! He acts like a caretaker all the time, but I don’t even like him!” She was almost laughing.

          “You’re quite welcome…I have one more question.” I chuckled as well, noticing the destruction of the formal air that was once in the room.

          “If it’s about the whole situation with the Archangel, I’m here for you. Anything you need that you think I can help you with, I’ll do so.” The Burning Bride basically summarized what I was about to ask her about.

          “Thanks.” Elise spoke for me. “Well, then again, Daniel IS a lonely virgin…”

          “That’s enough out of you.” I sighed and clamped my hand over Elise’s mouth. “Now, if you don’t mind, madam, we need to get out of here before all the moisture from our bodies evaporate.” I tipped my hat to her as she waved goodbye.

          Once out at the car, the first thing we did was strip as much as we could without being too horribly awkward and try to wring the sweat out. I was just wearing my boxers, and Elise nothing but a bra and panties. After thoroughly wringing out our clothes, we got in the car and drove home to the Screaming Tower.

          File 12: The Burning Bride

          Alternate Names: PRE24B, Fossil-Type SYZYGY, Hestia, The Flickering Woman, The Lock, Subject Bravo Bravo, Eris, Tweedle-Dee

          Attitude Towards Humans: Friendly

          Control Over: Fire

          The Burning Bride doesn’t want to be a Fear. She doesn’t want to be feared. She wants love. She wants friends. She wants to live a normal life. But she cannot, due to the Brute. The Brute fell madly in love with her, and made her the fire to his smoke, a necessary part of him. The Burning Bride however, does not feel that way. She was one of the first to want to seal the Brute away. That’s why she has an alternate name of The Lock. By nature, The Burning Bride is friendly and benevolent to humans, except she has a tendency to light everything ablaze when she tries to touch things. Everything. She cannot eat, drink, hold hands, or anything. She is the prisoner of The Brute. She pretends to like him around others, but with The Brute himself she has a tendency to be quite ill-tempered. She insults him, berates him, nags him, and he listens. And obeys. But he will never set her free. She is his forever. He takes this all, except he knows he’s won, and nothing she can do can free him. Not even death would free her. She is eternally cursed, and branded a Fear. Truly, she’s an unfortunate one.

          Man, typing that made me depressed. Either way, when we got back, we kinda hung around the Tower all day. I ended seeing the mangled remains of that poor Doll Mistress destroyed that day. Elise is really, REALLY good at Skyrim. That was something I learned today. We played it through dinner, and suddenly, it was 11PM. Before I went to bed with her, I decided to check on Sylvia.

          I got no friends cause they read the papers,

          They can’t be seen

          With me

          And I’ve been real shot down

          And I’m

          I’m getting mean

          No more Mr. Nice Guy

          No more Mr. Clean

          No more Mr. Nice Guy, they say

          He’s sick

          He’s a see-hee-hee-heeeeeen.

          At least she’s gone back to the classics. Ah well. I’m started to become truly worried about Sylvia. What if it’s permanent? I don’t want that…I want Sylvia back……goodnight everyone. Don’t be surprised if I’m tired tomorrow, I’ll be worrying about Sylvia a lot…

          ~Thompson out. 

File 11

Elise and I make a great team, I can tell you that much. She woke me up by straddling me, the same way Sylvia woke me up on her first day, and she was hot. I mean, I don’t know how you guys feel about camisoles and matching panties, but I really like it myself.

Anyways, it occurred to me that she had been the only person to actually see my eyes. Well, without my glasses, that is. See, I’ve always had very bright blue eyes, to the point where they looked almost alien when I was little. They can be a little unnerving to most people, so I usually wear my glasses, not just to see, because I can only see about four feet in front of me before it gets blurry to me. I asked her if my eyes scared her and she said they were cute.

By the way, my glasses are a bit of a berserk button. One girl slapped me once in tenth grade and knocked my glasses off my face. I slapped the shit out of her, to the point where she almost got sent to the hospital. I got a three-day suspension for that. Either way, just….don’t touch my glasses.

So after I got dressed, I went in to check on Sylvia. I opened the door and…

I told you ‘bout the fool on the hill

I tell you man he’s livin’ there still

Well here’s another place you can be

Listen to me!

Fixing a hole in the ocean!

Trying to make a dove-tail joint, yeah!

Lookin’ through a Glass Onion!

I closed the door. She was still singing. Had she ever stopped? It was getting slightly unnerving. So I had breakfast, and I realized we were all out of Apple Juice. Shit. I need Apple Juice to function correctly. Elise appeared, and asked what was wrong. When I told her, she went ahead and obfuscated a pitcher of Apple Juice in her hand. I was impressed. She can’t do anything too big, and she has to hold onto it for it to come into existance, so she can obfuscate a sword or gun whenever she feels like it, but she uses it for mundane things like Apple Juice too.

So we feasted on obfuscated Apple Juice, Bacon, and Toast. I was glad that Elise was around. I liked her. She seemed to like me enough too. I told her to prep the car and I would be out in a minute. I walked into Mistress’s room, knocking first, of course, and walked up to her to ask a question.

“Hey, Mistress, I was wondering if- what are you doing?” She was doing something in her hands.

“Cat’s cradle.” She smiled and showed me her hands, which she had made with her strings. “I’m just fucking with a bunch of dolls right now by doing this.”

“Sadistic as ever, I see.” I sighed and chuckled.

“You know me well enough, eh? So, what was that question you had for me?” Mistress grinned.

“Are inter-proxy relationships legal?” I asked her. “Just want to know for future reference.”

“Hmm…lemme think….” Mistress sat up in her chair. “Well, depends on the Fear. Between Dolls is fine, between other Fears is okay, I guess, but they might die, possibly by your hands. If you’re talking about a Grayskin, have at it, but I don’t know how those shadows would feel about it.”

A shadow ducked into the radio on Mistress’s table and promptly begin playing a song. “If it makes you happy, it can’t be that baaaaaaaaaaaaaaad” and turned itself off. “Well, now we know.” Mistress chuckled. “You going after that Elise chick?”

“Maybe…” I turned red and looked away.

Mistress let out a harsh cackle. “Go and do your research, Vassal. Remember, it’ll be her first time, so don’t shove it in too quickly. You’ll need to be a little rough to break the hymen, but-”

“I understand, Mistress.” I bowed and backed out of the room. I couldn’t wait to get out of there.

I finally got out to the car. “You look red. Do you have a fever or something?” Elise asked me, obviously concerned, as I sat down in the passenger seat.

“No, I’m fine. Anyways, today, we’ll be doing one that’s a little on the dangerous side. The Brute.” I said.

“Oh, dear.” Elise looked concerned. “He’s a nasty one. Will we be doing the Burning Bride as well?” She asked, backing out of the parking lot.

“If we live that long.” I replied, and we were silent for the rest of the drive. When we got to the Grove of Fetters Door, we had to leave the car there, and had to travel on foot. Stepping through the door, we ended up somewhere in……Europe, I think. Ukraine or some random Eastern Eurasian country. Latvia, maybe.

Anyways, we walked around for a while, into this massive grove of trees, with enough smoke to make a Chain-smoker cough and hack. Elise obfuscated welding masks for us to use to keep the smoke away.

We saw him. The Brute. He was chained to an anvil. He was wearing an executioner’s outfit. He was the one creating all the smoke. We watched him, and he watched us. The smoke increased in volume and speed. Suddenly images of the Brute appeared in the smoke everywhere, all around us, above us, below us. I looked at Elise and saw the Brute. She looked at me and saw The Brute. Within ourselves, we saw the Brute. My mask was the Brute. My shirt was the Brute. My knife was the Brute. I was the Brute.

My confusion was suddenly interrupted by Elise getting dragged into the smoke. I grabbed her hand and was dragged in myself.

“WHAT IS YOUR PURPOSE OF ENTERING MY DOMAIN?” A loud voice boomed at us. We couldn’t see anything but smoke. “I AM THE BRUTE, AND YOU ARE TRESPASSING IN THE GROVE OF FETTERS. STATE YOUR BUSINESS AND I MAY NOT KILL YOU. MAY.”

“I am Harlequin’s Vassal.” I spoke nervously.

“And I am The Reality-Ignoring Princess.” Elise put in. I felt her title was a little ridiculous, but a title nonetheless.

“We’re here on an observation mission from my Mistress, The Wooden Girl. The Choir is interested as well. We’re supposed to observe every single Fear.” I explained, hoping The Brute would see reason.

“THE WOODEN GIRL! THE WOODEN GIRL?! DO NOT MENTION THE NAME OF THAT HORRIBLE BEING IN MY PRESENCE!” It seemed I hit the Brute’s berserk button. “THOUGH THE OTHERS HELPED, SHE WAS THE ONE WHO DESTROYED ME. WHO SEALED ME IN THIS STATE. I WAS THE MOST POWERFUL. I WAS OMNIPOTENT. BUT SHE DESTROYED ME. I SHALL DESTROY YOU. HOWEVER, I CANNOT IN MY SMOKE FORM. GO NOW. TELL YOUR WOODEN GIRL I SHALL DESTROY HER SOMEDAY. NOW. LEAVE. AND DO NOT EVEN THINK OF APPROACHING THE BURNING BRIDE.”

We left quite rapidly after that. Getting back to the car, Elise asked me a question. “Are we still going for the Burning Bride?”

“Hell yeah.” I replied, taking out a pen and notebook. “Tomorrow.”

File 11: The Brute

Alternate Names: PRE24A, The Minotaur, The Lemaker, The Hooded Hangman, Subject Bravo Romeo, Ares, The Warmonger, The Chain

Attitude Towards Humans: EXTREMELY hostile

Control Over: Smoke, Anger

The Brute was once a powerful Fear, the strongest even. He caused horrid, massive wars that killed millions of people. Often these deaths were soon-to-be deaths of victims of the Fears, or Proxies. The Fears grew weary of this and all teamed up, from the Archangel to the Wooden Girl, to defeat him. They eventually did, though the Wooden Girl dealt the final blow. Since then, the Brute has always resented the Wooden Girl and sworn revenge. The Brute, however, is sealed in three pieces. One is possessed by Harold Ardy, a Crimson Knight. Another is a Chained Executioner chained to an anvil on the edge of the universe, though his still-active smoke powers put him at the Grove of Fetters simultaneously. Studies suggest the Grove of Fetters may be a portal to the edge of the Universe itself, but further investigation is required. The third is sealed within a Yu-gi-oh card. Harold Ardy supposedly owns this cards, after it changed hands multiple times during the Game Master’s Tournament. If the three pieces were to reunite, The Brute would reawaken. After killing The Wooden Girl, The Archangel, EAT, and The Slender Man, the four who dealt the most damage, he would throw the world back into disarray. Wars would break out, countries would be destroyed, the Human Race might meet it’s end. It is rumoured that the shard of The Brute that currently possesses Harold Ardy is the same shard that possessed Adolf Hitler and caused The Holocaust. If he were a physical being once again….I shudder to think of what would happen. Truly, he is a dangerous one, and the only one who could stop him is The Burning Bride.

We got back to the Tower without incident. Nothing else happened today. Now I better sleep, Elise and I are gonna research the Burning Bride tomorrow. She’s trying to climb on top of me in her sleep, so I’m going to put the laptop away. Goodnight everyone.

~Thompson out.