(no subject)
wednesday, march 2nd
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1
Anecdote
Scribbled in the front cover of a book titled "Notes on Lost Children"
Zoe W. (someoneto_carry)
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A Personal Account by P. Burke:
"I was young when my little sister disapeared... it got her, but it never got me. As a child, I was the most innocent person anyone knew. I was completely calm, I always followed perental orders. I knew that if I didn't act like a grown up he might come back for me too. I was never happy. I was simply coping. Then weird things started happening. I believe it might have started happening because of my sister, in a way. I started reading books on sacrifices and watching gruesom movies about lost children and something inside me suddenly died. I didn't notice it much at the time, but it was as if I had lost some broken piece of myself somewhere along the line. I didn't think much of it..."
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Case record
Case record found in book titled "Missing Child Cases in North Carolina, 1953"
Ken (kindnessing)
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Henderson Horse Farm Incident 1953
The Henderson Horse Farm, located outside Tryon in Polk County, NC, was situated on land owned by the Henderson family since the mid 1800s. By 1953, the farm was owned and run by Ted Wilcox Henderson (41 years old), Judi Henderson (wife, 36), and Tracy Henderson (daughter, 6). On the morning of June 15th, neighbors called local police complaining of hearing screams and the sounds of gun fire originating from the property.
Sherrif Clint Denterman and two deputies, Dan Parks and Chris Fine, arrived at the farm at 8:34 AM. They found that horses in the barn had been torn apart, "almost as if attacked by wild animals." Inside the main house, reports stated the presence of fresh blood throughout the living room, kitchen, and hallway.
Ted Wilcox Henderson was found in the bedroom, barricaded behind furniture. Next to him was the body of his wife, killed by a shotgun blast to the chest. Ted still had the weapon in his hands. Dan Parks was quoted as reporting: "Ted had a freaked out, far off look in his eyes. He seemed to not realize that we were in the room. We asked what happened. Where was his daughter. But he didn't answer."
Ted was charged with the murder of his wife. However, due to his catatonic state, he was admitted to
Jenkins Mental Hospital in Sandy Plains, Polk County. Ted remained in a catatonic state for over three years. On the third anniversary of the murder, Dr Dauton on June 15th, 1956 refer to a "Skinny fella… suit… looking at me…" who had taken both Judi Henderson and her daughter Tracy. Ted claimed that Judi begged him to shoot her, and felt that he had "saved her" by doing so. However, after lamenting that he had been unable to stop the "skinny man" from absconding with his daughter, Ted commenced to "slam his face repeatedly" into the steel table at which he was seated, having to be restrained and sedated by hospital orderlies. Less than seven hours later, at approximately 3:00 am the 16th of July, Ted was found dead in his room after apparently escaping his restraints and chewing through his own wrist, severing the ulnar artery and bleeding to death. The body of Tracy Henderson was never found, however a photograph taken about a week before the Henderson Farm incident shows what appears to be a suited man standing in front of the stables.
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Anecdote
In book titled "True Strange Sightings on Planet Maplegrove"
Willow (its_worthdoing)
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Captain Samuel's Account of the Missing Child
So picture this, yeah? You've got this nice little family. Nuclear-like. Mom, Dad, little Jimmy and little baby Suzie. They're real close. They eat dinner together every night, take a family vacation to the beach every summer, and go to church every Sunday morning. Sometimes, they like to take a picnic.
So it's a beautiful Saturday afternoon. They go down to the state park, where all the young families go, and set up under the maple trees, happy as can be. Light breeze, sunny skies, a checker-board picnic blanket and a whole basket of fresh, home-made goodies. Nothing complicated, but when Mom makes it, you bet it's the best lunch you could ever have in the whole wide world.
Little Suzie takes a nap in the sun, little Jimmy gets on his bike and rides around for a bit. Mom and Dad sit and talk, like teenagers, because it's a real happy day and the birds are a-singin' and the sun is a-shinin'. There's nothing in the world to fear. Suzie's fast asleep, and Jimmy knows not to stray too far -- the gorge is just down the hill.
Ah, yes, the gorge. Beautiful to look at, but you'd never wanna take a leap off that edge.
Now Mom and Dad are real deep in conversation, happy and all, but if one thing rouses them from their young-love sweet talk, it's the high-pitched scream of their boy. Everything gets real cold, then, as they turn their heads. It's like the world froze.
They turn 'em just in time to see that bike go shooting off the edge of the gorge.
Mom and Dad are screamin' now, too.
A search gets put on, and they recover the bike at the rocky bottom... but they never find little Jimmy. Neither hide nor hair. There's no sense in it, not really, but the story gets even more confusing when those nice policemen found the body of a cow strung up in the trees, blood drippin' and droppin' everywhere. Anywhere else this might have been a freaky coincidence, but here in Maplegrove, we don't have farms for miles and miles 'round.
Now what do you figure happened there? Dunno, but it's true.
A true, strange sighting on Planet Maplegrove.
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Marker drawing
Old notebook in crime section; seemingly unrelated to the text, which is just to-do lists
Hinata (sunnyheiress)
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Inside an old notebook in the Crime section of the library is a marker drawing in grey. It shows a negative-space image of a many-armed creature, seemingly half-tree and half-man. In capital letters it reads "NO ESCAPE"
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Photograph
Found in "Photos from Stirling City"; a red bookmark marks the page, sticking out the top, to draw one's attention.
Zeke (impermissable)
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A photograph of children playing at a playground. Stamped with the City of Stirling Libraries stamp.
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6
Newspaper clipping
Between the pages of book titled "Missing Children of Kansas, 2004"
Mohinder (drugged_chai)
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A newspaper clipping detailing a missing boy.
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Diary entry
Sheet of paper in the archives, mixed in with the others. Marked by a red sticker on the top left corner.
Patchouli (witchoftheweek)
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0014
Kids are going missing. Everyone's worried; we don't know what the castle is doing. My neighbours had a little girl back home so they've been extra protective. They offered to keep an eye on my cousin if I need to step out for even a moment, and I thanked them but said no. She's my responsibility here, and I'd never forgive myself if she disappeared when I left her with a babysitter. They were really unsure about it, but I guess that's because they know what it's like to lose a kid.
Deema's been having nightmares, though. I think she's just worked up over this kids going missing thing. I've been trying to keep the news away from her, because I don't want her to think she's "next" or something cryptic like that, but she knows anyway.
Never mind, the other kids are having nightmares, too.
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Diary entry
Sheet of paper in the archives, mixed in with the others. Marked by a red sticker on the top left corner.
Tesla (thisisprogress)
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0015
Pythia spoke to the castle today. According to her, the castle has nothing to do with this.
My neighbours seemed really upset about it. When I asked, Mrs. Lancaster told me that it means there's a kidnapper on the loose, and that the kids are probably still in the castle somewhere. She didn't say anything else, but I think I got the message clear enough: they might not be alive.
I keep rereading the sad entries and bumping into upset people in the halls. I don't really know what to say. I don't know if I feel helpless or just plain unhelpful.
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DISCOVERY
South of the castle
Jessica (arakhnes)
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In the woods nearby the blood tree, things look more or less normal. On first glance, it wouldn't be considered any different from the rest of the woods -- trees, slick with that after-winter mist, a touch of fog. But all is not well in the woods near the blood tree, not on a closer inspection.
It looks a bit ashen. A bit grey. Like the color is being sapped from it, or perhaps like the trees are ill, and not getting enough nutrients.
It's a little weird.
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DISCOVERY
Not too far from the stables.
Arthur (excalibured)
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One of the stalls is vacant. Pretty bizarre for this hour in the morning, especially given that the stall door is wide open and swinging on its hinges, and all of its riding gear is still laying around. Who takes a horse out without even a halter?
Did it get out?
A brisk walk along the paddock and down the treeline, towards where the mysterious blood tree is, has the answer.
There is one large piebald horse hung up in a tree, not too far from the blood tree. It is hung up by its back legs, and its throat is slit so that all the blood can drain out into the grass. Nearby, there are multiple cows hung up, as well. There's no sign of a struggle or a fight, but how could they have ended up in that tree?
Poor Spot, poor cows.
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Anecdote
Passage circled in red in the introduction to a book titled "The Human Tradition of Ghosts and Threats"
Question (ultimaverum)
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On Blood Trees
Non-native creatures often need a place to store their steals until they have sufficiently matured, and so they employ a "blood tree." These trees store the blood of the taken children until it is sufficient enough to be consumed. When it is filled to the roots, the creature devours it, gorging itself. Finally sated, the creature can survive for decades before needing to feed again.
Historically, there have been occasions where communities have managed to retrieve their children, though not without filling the tree themselves. Human sacrifice is often the only method, as these creatures cannot be reasoned with or destroyed, and they will seldom leave their trees once they have rooted them.