#reading statements

Statement begins.

“Y’know, after working at this place for as long as I have, you’d think I’d be used to freaky stuff happening. Maybe I’d be more used to it if people actually told me sh*t, but hey, I’m just security.”

[Sigh]

…It happened a while back. I was working security at one of those fundraiser galas the boss used to do, and… it was almost weirdly bright, y’know? More lights than I remember that room having. I guess I get it, though, all things considered. And you know how he is, especially when the expenses are being covered by his sailor’s chequebook. Anyway, I’m getting off topic, sorry.”

“I was going about my usual routine, checking IDs and handling sh*t-faced guests acting like arses, the typical stuff. But everything felt kind of hazy, like a dream or something. I looked around, kind of slow, to see what was going on. Then I saw this… thing, it looked like a silverfish or something, but wrong. My break had just hit, and the event was winding down, so I followed it and ended up in Artefacts Storage. When I got in, though…”

[She shudders with a disgusted sound]

“God, there were so many… All of them crowding around something in storage. The shelf was starting to creak. I tried to grab something to get rid of them, ended up fumbling my boot off to squish the little sh*ts. Weird part is, the guts seemed… liquidier. Like tiny silver water balloons with legs.”

“…Seems like my report about possibly tightening pest control in storage helped, even if just a little. God only knows what would happen if the little buggers ate one of the things in there. One of them bit me, I think. A lot of the night was blurry after that; must’ve had a few too many drinks during clean-up, ‘cause I ended up with this weird tattoo the next morning, ‘Door’s Nomad’. Maybe if I were in one of the other departments like Research or you guys in Archival, I'd be able to figure out what the hell that means.”

“...Well, I oughtta go, my shift starts soon.”

Statement ends.

Now, Miss Palladino was in fact on the security team at the Magnus Institute at the time of giving this statement, and in fact still is employed here. Archived security footage does, in fact, corroborate her words about the "water balloon silverfish". However, the brightness doesn't appear out of the ordinary in any of the footage. Even stranger, her statement implies that she stayed through the entire cleanup and doesn't remember parts of the night (such as the tattooed words) due to intoxication. Reviewing footage from the night and interviewing others who were present that night proves she left about halfway through cleanup due to feeling unwell, possibly a bit feverish, and that she drank no alcohol that night.

It seems the memory issues regarding the incident may well be due to illness, or perhaps an adverse reaction to the bite. That, or one of those factors exacerbated some lingering damage from her history of substance abuse in university. Either way, a follow-up interview will be scheduled once we can pin down her availability.

Recording ends.

( @mag-inst-sec )

*Silver hits a button on the recorder, dislodging the tape and putting it with the others he had listened to.*

*He sits up, his brows furrowed slightly. He had met Eva or at the very least talked to her, maybe he could get that second interview jon wanted.*

*He wipes his face, had he been crying? Anyways he cleans his throat*

It's weird listening back to these, especially the earlier ones, it's kinda funny to see how much skepticism and just straight denial he was hiding behind

...

*When he reaches the door, he stops staring at the name plate for a moment*

*Silver Whitetail, Head The Archivist*

*He sighs, before pushing open the door and promptly stopping in the doorway, spotting a box on his desk*

What?

*He stares at the box, reading the text.*

'The Statements Jon recorded enjoy!'

Huh.

*He reaches in the box, pulling out a tape*

Statement of Nathan Watts

*he says aloud, as he walks round to the other side of the desk, pulling out to his chair and sitting down, before a place placing the tape into the tape recorder and hitting play*

I never wanted to be the person that people ran away from, hid their children from, spat at on the street.

But damn, I’m glad they do now. It gives me a reason to hate. It gives me a reason to burn.

It started back while I was a child, I don't remember what age in particular. After the house fire, before I met the Bouchard man.

They kept saying the fire was random, “electrical” they claimed it was. I knew better, electrical fires don’t start like that, neither do lightning fires, nor forest fires. I swear to everything it was intentional. I would tell anyone that would listen about how I saw someone run from the scene.

But I was six at the time, and who listens to a kid?

I lost everything in that fire, possessions, family, even my dog. And no one helped, not in the way that mattered. Instead I became consumed by it, became what everyone feared, the loss. Burning creeping loss of fire, of grief, of guilt.

I started small at first. Things no one would miss. A pen here, a mug there. Until it couldn’t quell the burning anymore, then I moved onto other things... more, personal things.

Not lives, yet.

Wedding rings, important documents, photographs, anything I could get my hands on that I knew would hurt to lose. I would burn a hole right through it. Sometimes, if it was a photograph, I would remove the faces and leave the rest of it.

I forgot the faces of my own family. Its only fair if I give others the same pain.

There was a line once.

I crossed it a long time ago.

I moved onto people. Hurting and burning them in any way I could. It was... relieving. In a way. Spreading my pain onto other people helped them understand me, they felt the same way I did. It was only a matter of time before they thought they same way I did as well.

And then I met him.

Not Bouchard.

His son.

He was kind, beautiful too, and so easily manipulated.

Poor darling Anthony.

I told him everything about myself. About what I did. And what i was going to continue to do.

He was so easily scared by what I could do. What I could do to him. What I did do to him. He was… interesting, to say the least, a flesh avatar that could fix himself.

I exploited that factor.

In my opinion I didn’t exploit it enough.

He would sit there and take every burn I put on his body, because I told him that it would stop me from hurting other people.

Gullible.

In reality I just wanted to press my fingers into his skin, get my hands on him and mark him in any way I could. So I did. In the only way I knew how.

It was that urge, that gnawing, flaming urge to posses, to have, to smother. And I did.

I loved him more then you could even fathom, Silver. More then you could ever hope to love him.

You should understand that. The fact he'll choose me every single time.

You think its impossible. But who’s been there through his panic attacks? Even when he spaces out and murders a family?

And yes, I saw that.

I was the only one to comfort him though it.

Don't beat yourself up about it. It’s only natural he came to me, everyone else turned away from him, everyone else proved to him that I was right.

But someone’s taking up my rightful space as partner.

So I'll be taking that back. Thanks for keeping my spot warm, Silver.

*Silver wanted to stop reading when it mentioned Anthony, but it wouldn't let him, the hunger was too strong*

*By the time he got to the end, he was shaking, his breath ragged and it seemed to he would have a panic attack*

Statement ends.

*Silver dropped the file, pulling his good knee to his chest, repeating the same thing over and over again*

He wouldn't leave, he wouldn't, he wouldn't he was just here yesterday. he wouldn't leave me.

*There was a knock at his door and (good) nurse entered*

Mr Whitetail, it's time for your physical therapy appointment

statment of "Eliza Donwe" regarding an abandoned factory, written in [This bit has been Scribbled over by pen, unreadable]

I have always been told, im adventurous. Ever since i was young. Exploring new places, abandoned ones mostly. Alone half the time. But sometimes with my parnter who is more scared of doing this kind of stuff.

Anyway, thats not why im writing this to you. It was a few days ago, i had a argument with my parnter, Rav. Someone happened and we just started to yell at each other. After about an hour of just yelling they turned their back and just left...

I sat down taking a few mins to silently cry. Thats what brought me to leave the house for a while. The sun was still in the sky but it was going to go down soon, late afternoon.

I walked down to the park, sat in a bench i always have done and took a while to just sit and breathe and think. After a while about half and hour i decided to go for a walk. I knew the area really well, growing up in a place really has its benefits.

I just walked for, i dont know how long. My phone died a few minutes after i set off so, i just let my legs take me. I walked and walked, boring really. But i was feeling better

Then i found a new area, i cant remember how i found it exactly. I just looked up from the floor that i have been watching while walking. And a whole new area, i remember the pure excitement i felt. A new area to explore. I walked around, it looks pretty abandoned, copwebs everywhere. Creates lining the floor. Cracks that looks like broken masks, it was beautiful. Houses were empty and slowly fulling down. But on the edge of this abandoned town. Was a factory

It was bland and had a fence that surround it, growing vines wapping though the fence. I looked around it for a while, seeing if it had been already cut into or had fullen into itself but no.

I grabs the wholes those small ones and climbed the Fence it wasnt hard. I caught myself causing a small injury, nothing bad.

I think..

I then wondered around. My eyes glazing over this, kinda underwhelming outide area.

Then i found the entrance, it was locked but its not the first time i have had to break into these places. So i rammed it, it took three tries. Annoying but, it was ok

The doors swang open, with a rusty creak.

So loud i though someone would of heared it in this empty place.

Inside was shocking though it was filled with conveyer belts, that strenched onwards having bits of plastic? And mannequin parts on them. Open and closed boxed dotted around with so many parts. And the best thing, actural mannequins standing up, some leaning on the polls that come down. With gold going around it, it was oddly amusing.

I walked though it kinda in admiration, i was impressed. After a while, felt like minutes. Not hours of walking though

It took a while for me to feel that shiver in the spine, thats feeling when someone is not quiet right.

I always loved that feeling in places like this, but this time. It was different... i dont know why, but it felt wrong.

Thats when i decided i should leave before it gets to late. I turned around on my heal and i swear a saw on the corner of my eye, something moving. I srugged it off as me getting tired and my mind making things up. I ignored it, and continued to walk.

It took a while to spot the entrance again, but i could not get the feeling something was there, i kept seeing small things in the side of my eye. And every time i looked nothing was there.

Nothing...

I started to go straight to the door. I was speed walking i think, i though i saw something again, to my turned my head. Nothing, then i spun already round, to face behind me... a mannequin, made of pieces that didnt fit on it. The head was to big one arm was half the lenth of the other and it was reaching for me... it had no face but it was smiling at me... it didnt move, i stared at it. I felt myself fear what it was. And steped back but like a puppet it followed my movements.

I then ran, ran turning my whole body to run towards the entrance, it felt like the room was stretching to stop me from leaving.

It followed.

I heard it getting closer and closer, i didnt look back...

then i did. Why did i look back?

It didnt stop this time. I did though, and it got me... well not properly, it got my face well my left side that is.

Panic took over. And make my legs move, and run. I kicked down the door hand over one side of my face, blood was over my hand. Adrenaline took over and i climbed the fence. After running, out of this place i got somewhere familiar, the park and i stopped..

It was nighttime now. I was alone in the dark, and when i got time to think. I could not remember who i was. What my name is, who i looked like... i dont know who anyone is, if they are them or not.

I keep seeing it, on the corner of my eyes. But it isn't there... it is following me. And i can't escape it.....

Statement Ends

*Silver closes the file placing it on top of the Slaughter statement from yesterday, not wanting to think about who it was taking from, before sighing*

Urban explorers, you guys really get yourself into the most trouble, don't you? Well from what I can tell by reading it.

Statement of Alexei Schmidt, regarding the tragic fate of his family. Original statement given 25th November 1999.

Statement begins.

I’ve often heard people say that you make a lot of stupid decisions when you’re young. I…I never really believed it when I was younger. I suppose that’s because I was ill-informed. In hindsight, I don’t believe I’ve ever made a wise decision in my life.

I suppose that’s what this statement is, a recount of all of my awful decisions, perfect for your records. You all can gawk at and pick apart the ruins of my life, I don’t care anymore.

Whatever, let me just get on with this.

It all started with Maria. I met her when I was 22, fresh out of college, I had just come to England. I had a good sum of money saved and so I started a business. I was just trying to make a name for myself. Unfortunately, this was around the late fifties, so a lot of people didn’t exactly trust folks like me. I didn’t think I was going to get anywhere with this, nobody wanted to do business with someone they considered to be an enemy. I really didn’t know what I was going to do.

And then I met her. 

We met in passing, and I’ll be honest I didn’t believe I had a shot with her. I was nowhere near her league, a broke businessman shouldn’t have had any hope of getting close to a wealthy socialite like her, but… somehow it happened. We just kept running into each other. You see, her father was the manager of a large bank and I’d been trying to get a loan for a while. She approached me one day, after yet another failed attempt, and offered to take me out for lunch the next day. I went, honestly not expecting her to show up, but she did. She introduced herself and… and she actually offered to help me. Told me she had connections. The more we talked, the more I found that she was nothing like I’d thought she was. Maria wasn’t some ditzy, daddy’s money type of girl. She was smart, quick-witted, silver tongued. I have to admit, it didn’t take me long to fall hopelessly in love with her.

By the end of lunch, I’d accepted her offer. I didn’t have much to lose. I didn’t have anything to lose.

Things started turning around almost immediately. My loan was approved, I was able to start up my business. I think I forgot to mention this before, but I work in real estate, doing consultations for renovations. With Maria’s connections I was able to get a running start. I could tell the clients were… definitely suspicious of me. I don’t exactly blame them, tensions were high with my people at the time. But Maria was able to convince them, and then they took good things to the others in the community, and suddenly I had a flourishing business. I was accepted, trusted, loved by my new community. I had everything I ever wanted. With my newfound social status it… it wasn’t hard to convince Maria’s father to give me his blessing. I proposed to her in the summer of 1961, and we got married in the spring of 1962. I took her last name. Maria’s father was old, and so when we got married he passed the family house onto us. I… well. Even after everything, I still live there.

Looking back at that first year of marriage. I think there were a lot of things I should have noted, but didn’t. The way Maria took long ‘shopping trips’ at odd hours, how the basement required a special key, how her nails were always painted a sickly shade of red. But I never said a word.

We had our eldest in 1963, a little girl that we named June. Our second was born in 1969, I believe she goes by Elizabeth now. I don’t think Maria was too happy about that… She’s always been a bit old fashioned, but it’s Eliza’s life, so I’m personally not judging.

And then in 1977, we had Rowena.

Rowena was bright and cheerful and just… she was so happy all the time. She was the light of our family, the glue keeping everyone close together.

But this little bout of peace didn’t last very long, Maria started acting even more strange. Leaving for longer, going down into the basement more and more… she was just acting so off. I don’t know how I didn’t see it.

I caught her the first time when Rowena was five. By this point June had moved out and gone off to college and Eliza was staying the night at a friend’s house. So it was just us and Maria in the house. I’d put Rowena to sleep and was watching television when I heard… odd shuffling sounds. They were coming from the basement. When I walked to the door, it was unlocked. So I… I pushed the door open and went downstairs. 

What I saw made me want to vomit.

The basement, which I’d never seen before this point, was just one large, square room. On the far wall sat what looked like… some sort of grotesque altar. It looked to be made out of black stone and glass, but I could barely see any of the black under all the red smeared on top of it. On top of the black slab was a bowl filled with a thick, red liquid, crowned with an old skull.

And standing in the middle of that square room was Maria, covered in blood, holding a knife, and standing over a lifeless body. She looked at me, her face a mask of calm indifference, but I could see her grip on the knife tighten. I asked her what the hell any of this was. She just sighed like I was clueless and told me this was the family business. She began to walk towards me. I wanted to run, but I felt like I was rooted to the floor. Maria put one hand on my shoulder, and a silent understanding passed between us. If I told anyone about what had happened, there would be consequences.

I tried to avoid Maria as much as I could after that. I worked late, went in early, anything to avoid the horrible taste I got in my mouth seeing Maria effortlessly lie to people, like she’d lied to me. I began noticing just how many people from our town went missing after that, 20 people in only 5 years. The police kept hitting dead ends. I knew where all those people were going, of course, but I am a cowardly man… so I kept my mouth shut and my head down and let Maria do all the talking. All the lying. I thought she’d stop eventually, I thought she’d see how insane she was being and just quietly drop it.

But then Rowena disappeared.

To say our family collapsed was an understatement. The entire community was concerned, this was the first time a child had been taken. Maria arranged a full search, I didn’t go, I— I just knew we wouldn’t find anything. I knew I had to work up the courage to confront Maria head on. 

It took me almost a month to do so. It was just me and her at that point. She and Eliza had gotten into a massive screaming match the week and Eliza had moved out on the spot. I figured I didn’t have anything to lose by confronting Maria.

It was a rainy night, and Maria was sitting at the table, looking over documents. I asked her straight up if she’d killed Rowena. She didn’t even look up at me, just told me she had. She said that Rowena had seen what she’d done and she knew she wouldn’t be able to keep quiet about it. She said she’d done what she had to do. I was furious, how could Maria do this to her own daughter?! I snapped, I… I told her I wanted a divorce.

She looked up at me, and then she laughed, a cruel and cold sound. I was taken aback by her reaction, why was she laughing?! Maria stood up and turned to face me, her expression was calm and smug. She told me that I couldn’t. That I wouldn’t leave her. I asked her why I thought she wouldn’t. She smirked and told me that the house was in her name, that everything I’d built had come from her. She’d spread rumors, she’d push my clients away, she’d destroy me if I left. I’d have nothing without her. 

I didn’t end up leaving. I spent the next twelve years living in a hell of my own making. Just me and Maria. The entire time she painted herself as the perfect angelic savior wife, comforting her poor, sad husband. I hated every minute I spent in that house with her, every minute in public with her, every minute alone with her. But I couldn’t leave, I couldn’t run, I couldn’t ask for help. She’d destroy me if I did. 

But there was one thing I could do.

I started documenting every little thing she did, all the evidence I managed to find against her. You see, she kept a journal, which I believe is now in your library. One night, while she was away, I took the journal. I read through it. I’d hit the jackpot, it had every single piece of evidence I needed, Detailed accounts on everything she did, logs of her crimes. I put it back, waiting for the perfect moment. That moment came six months ago, Maria went away for some charity event, I took the journal and got in the car. I hit the gas and drove straight to the police station. I gave them the journal and within the hour they’d issued a warrant for her arrest. 

Maria didn’t come home that night, but no arrest was ever made. She simply… vanished. 

I just know she isn’t gone. She’s just biding her time, waiting for the perfect time to come back and take her revenge on me. I live alone now, but I also live in fear of what may happen to me.

 And at the end of the day, I only have myself to blame for this.

Good day.

Statement Ends.

*Silver closes the file setting it back down, sighing in what seemed to be satisfaction. He was slightly fuller now, but he knew none of the statements Elias sent would fill him as much as the one he pulled from Lumiere. Silver winces at the thought, the feeling of fullness quickly being replaced by guilt again.*

Nope don't think about that let's just see what we can know about this statement?

*He relaxed slightly playing a few of his eyes open as he tried to know. The Eye had told him it was a Slaughter statement which he could guess, and then it told him something he didn't expect, he shuts his eyes immediately, not wanting to know anymore*

Just to preface, er, with what happened and everything- I didn't think that it was the book originally- haha- I, er, thought I just had some really bad luck.

I got it when one of my mum's cousins suddenly passed away, and she was the type to always procrastinate- ha, she said "you're not going in my will for that!" As a joke, all the time-- turns out, she had never made one, and all of her belongings got spread out amongst me and my extended family

When I picked it up out of one of the cardboard boxes, it was strangely heavy, like I was picking up something twelve times it's size.

When I actually saw it, it was a little slip of a thing, barely over a quarter of an inch thick, and waterlogged to hell and back, like it had been dried after a ten hour dip in a lake. I had no idea why she had kept it, but.. it was labelled among the most important things she had owned, right along with her wedding dress and other sentimental things, so, er, I got hesitant.

Not to mention, the way it was packed seemed.. deliberate. It was covered in layers and layers of tissue paper, which, ah, in hindsight kind of seems telling. The title was.. smudged, to say the least- a muddied clay blue cover with pale text that I couldn't make out- but it was definitely two worded- started with an R.

When I tried opening it, I thought the pages would be fused together with the water, but the pages opened up easily. There was a bookplate on it- a sticker, but it was just as smudged as the title. The border of the pages were smudged, some illegible, warped and crinkling, but most of it was readable- if slightly difficult.

The story is, weird. The writing is fine- albeit questionable with some grammar issues, but the story it tells, is uh- troubling, I guess?

It follows the letters between two brothers, Charles and Joseph Grafton. At the start, I can't really read the first bit, but er-- basically, Charles, over the course of the book begins to go mad- just, like- completely lose it. Rambling about something called "the cycle"- at first, I thought it was an object- but now I'm really not sure. Sometimes it's described as a person, sometimes a period of time- sometimes as, like, an act you can commit. Freaky stuff.

Anyways- I finished reading it. For a day or two, nothing really happened. And then things started to get- uh, weird.

I started to smell this-- just this awful, foul chemical smell at one point, a mix of gasoline and ammonia and something else I can't put my finger on. Afterwards, was the disasters.

It was small things, at first. My fuse box blowing- the wiring in my laptop getting.. volatile for no particular reason. Er, my microwave blew up. I had nothing metallic in it.

All within two weeks, I had thought I was just in a very unlucky series of coincidences

But then I had a gas leak in my flat. Awful- had to stay at my friend's for a while. After a day, things started happening there as well.

I moved back, fast, even if it wasn't completely safe to do so.

At the time, the book was really my only entertainment. My power was completely out, I definitely wasn't about to invite anyone over, and none of the books I had looked appealing to me.

In hindsight- I kept reading the thing, over and over. No clue why. It baffles me now that it had just.. made sense. It was the thing to do.

I had myself in a weird sort of.. self imposed exile. I still am, kinda. I'm sure I put someone in danger with my leaving, but it was important knowledge, I guess?

I got knocked out of it when I went reading outside. It was- ah, really stupid. These really annoying kids, always playing football, (which I don't care about, but why do they have to scream like they're dying at stupid hours?) er-- they just smacked me head on. Dead in the face. I have myself a nasty bruise now- but it knocked me out of it.

i realised I had no idea where the days had gone- it was just-- I have no idea. Life was just- dull and menial, and I only really remember eating twice during the whole ordeal.

When I looked at myself in the mirror- well, god, I'm sure i don't have to explain how awful I looked.

It- it felt so.. normal? So.. innocent, at the time. Hell, in my haze, I remember thinking "god, wait till mum hears about this-- me with my awful English results, reading for fun."

I just- I had no idea what I was doing was even all that strange.

Er-- anyways- I felt that shoving the thing in a bin wouldn't be enough. I don't know what to do with it- I've tried burning it, by the way, it won't light- or, it burns for a very, very long time and just.. comes out unscathed. I'm considering either I bury it, or I put it back in the water somewhere, maybe drive somewhere remote and drop the fucker into a river where it belongs. Or try and maybe get my hands on some acid?

What I know now is- I can't have it. Nobody should, really.

(recently, after my power got back on, I've looked up some of the news in my area. Near constant inconveniences to straight up tragedies. Buses were cancelled, so a building uncomfortably close to mine bursting into flame. Several freak car accidents. I'm... I'm scared.)

If I end up, like, getting killed by.. I don't know, a wrecking ball to the face or another random "accident" er, sorry for all of the accidents?

I'll probably survive- I think. Maybe.

//ooc- this isn't perfect and there's some continuity problems that r bothering me but I'm half asleep rn 💔 nearly 3am, heading to bed hfhdj

*Silver had been writing stuff down just little notes that was his job after all*

Um not burning? Huh that's new

Well, i'm going to assume based on the story of one of them going mad, it's the spiral.

Good lord I mean, I guess you could bury it. I know that's what my boss did with his Leitner when he was a child

Anyways, thank you for the statement and good luck?