Welcome Back

I know. It's been over a month since I last checked in with you guys.

There's just... there's so much to tell. The things that have happened. The things I've seen... but I'll do my best.

After the events of my last post, when I saw Ophilim and Mad Ricky for the first time... ugh. Those two. I've never truly believed that such a thing as Evil actually existed. I thought I did. I thought that Evil was negligence, that it was mistakes that caused pain. No. I was wrong. I didn't truly believe, until I met them for the first time. Ophilim's complete lack of any empathy, any sympathy... any truly human emotion. And Mad Ricky just... how can such a creature possibly exist? How can it be called human?

But... I'm getting ahead of myself. For the next week after that post, things continued as normal. I went to work, I did I needed to do. Judas was quiet. The rash hasn't gotten any worse. Well, unless you count the itching. Still, it hasn't spread at all. I tried to keep track of the Timberwolves and this Mad Ricky character but they seemed to go into hiding.

And then, one night, I had guard duty at the hospital again.

The kid was almost healed up until he tried to bash his own head in. For all his apparent hatred of hospitals and distrust of doctors, he apparently was doing his best to keep himself inside.

Anyway, while I was on guard duty, his room exploded.

Me and the other guard were knocked forward, the blast sending us away from the room. It gets fuzzy then. I remember my face slamming against the opposite wall. I remember the dizzying pain... There was a blurred figure who danced across my vision. He said something about how "she" doesn't like barbecue, so it was a good thing I wasn't burnt. Then he skipped away, singing something about blogs.

That kid... he was scared. He didn't understand what he was facing. He was backed into a corner and driven over the edge, lashed out at anyone who might've helped him. He didn't need punishment, he needed help. He was an innocent, corrupted through no fault of his own.

And they killed him. They killed him just so they could scare me away.

I'd known, intellectually, that the Timberwolves needed to be stopped. I'd known that they were ruthless, that they were killers.

But this was the first time they'd ever made me angry.

I can still recall the sensation of Judas' laughter.

The Worst Morning Ever

Yeah, I haven't been making very many updates. Nothing much has been happening. Even Judas has been quiet... well, until last night apparently.

You see, this morning, I woke up sitting in an alley, my back against the wall, my head positioned so that I was looking out the mouth of the alley and at an expensive black sports car.

Since I'd fallen asleep in my bed, I was obviously pretty alarmed.

Stay

I heard it like a voice in the back of my head. "Judas?" I whispered.

Be quiet and watch

The door to the car opened, and a man in a long black hooded coat stepped out. I couldn't see his face-- he was wearing a gas mask.

I nearly jumped in terror. I remembered everything I'd read about the Archangel.

That's not the Archangel, Judas said. That's just the alpha for this wolf pack. Calls himself Ophilim. He's an Apostle.

"He's a what?"

An Apostle. Chosen specifically by his master to be a servant. Stronger and better than your average wolf.

"Ophilim" stood by his car for a moment, apparently waiting, and then I saw a man approach him. He looked to be somewhere in his mid-twenties to mid-thirties. Caucasian. Brown hair. Couldn't see his eyes. He wore a brown duster, and his left arm was in a cast and a sling. He said something to Ophilim, and the Timberwolf nodded. The two of them walked into a nearby building.

"And who was that?"

Not a clue. If I had to guess, I'd say that's probably Mad Ricky.

"Who?"

Some guy I overheard the Timberwolves talking about. They knew I was tagging along in that guy's body, and kept me out of the loop as much as they could, but I picked up on a few things. Apparently Ophilim's been negotiating with a guy named Mad Ricky. And apparently the Timberwolves are afraid of Mad Ricky.

Now that was bad news. You have any idea what it might take to scare members of a death cult?

I couldn't see any sense in following them without backup or a weapon, so I went home. Judas has given me a pretty good lead. The only question, of course, is why?

Guard Duty

The kid ended up having to be transferred to a different hospital. He attacked a nurse, and then someone broke in and tried to kill him. He's now in restraints with cops watching his room.

I had a shift last night.

I tell ya, hospitals give me the creeps. They're so sterile. It unnerves me. This one was no different. Especially with the kind of patients in the nearby rooms.

Yeah, it gets boring standing watch all night. I talked with a couple of the staff. There are so many people in this town who we've just completely failed to protect.

Across the hall: a woman who was nearly beaten to death by her own husband. There had been reports of abuse, but they were never seriously investigated. Not until he threw her out a fucking window anyway.

Two doors to the left: a guy who had his foot cut off by some Timberwolves. Apparently, he owed them drug money.

Down the hall: That poor college girl from that case a while back. You see, a couple months ago, there was a string of murders at a local college. This girl was the last victim. Shot in the stomach. She's in a coma, still hasn't woken up. Her boyfriend skipped town shortly afterward and dropped off the grid. Guess who's the prime suspect?

I swear, this town just gets crazier and crazier.

Paranoia

That kid: the one whose girlfriend seemed to have become a Slender Man victim? He decided to attack some cops.

Apparently, he was screaming about how they were puppets of "him" and that they'd infiltrated every level of society and how he was going to eradicate them all. It seems that he'd cracked and was convinced everyone but him was a proxy.

Anyway, the cops fought back. He's now in the hospital.

Evidence

I think I found a lead. About three months back there were reports of a tall man hanging around outside an elementary school. The reports seemed to come in steadily for three days before stopping. Two weeks later, the daughter of one of the teachers there went missing. She was a highs school student.

Recently, her boyfriend was involved in a rather nasty brawl.

It's disturbing to think that there are more of Them in town than just those Timberwolf junkies.

Investigations

So I decided to take a page out of Sarcastic Observer's book and look up old police reports for any evidence of Them. I'm thinking maybe it could help me figure out the Timberwolves' goals here. They seem to have an awfully large presence in New Rossfield, all things considered.

So far, I've got no real promising leads concerning Their activities, but then again, I only really just started. I've noticed that there was an increase in unusual disturbances over the last twelve years or so, but I think we can assume that that's because of RossCorp. You see, RossCorp's the company that's responsible for taking this town and, well, turning it into a city. They shot to prominence twelve years ago and started really developing this place. This of course led to an increase in population, which of course would lead to Them taking a greater interest in the area.

I'm gonna go see what I kind find in these old reports.

And that will lead you straight to Them.

Death Sentence

I guess I can't really hide from it, can I?

I'd suspected it. Looking information on the Timberwolves, it wasn't long before I found information on the Archangel, and from there, the rest of Them. I'd hoped like hell that I hadn't encountered the Dying Man. Guess I wasn't so lucky.

Still, this "Judas" doesn't seem to be killing me. The only things I've noticed are the rash on my left side and the occasional blank part of my memory, when Judas takes over. It's odd. After he wrote that post, he wrote a note for me, explaining a number of Timberwolf hideouts. I sent it into the department as an anonymous tip.

Unfortunately, I wasn't part of the raid. The evidence locker's been filled up with all sorts of weapons, drugs, and books. The rest of the department is finally figuring out that these guys are a cult, not just a normal gang.

For whatever reason, Judas seems interested in helping me kick the Timberwolves out of town. But I doubt he's working out of altruism.

No, he's definitely playing a bigger game. I just hope it continues to coincide with New Rossfield's best interests.