The Lead

Mary Gallagher.

There's not much in this file about the woman I just named, but there's basic information and that's the best place to start. Judging by the picture from Armeen's album, she's around the same age Lizzie was, so early thirties. Hair color is still the same, assuming the picture in this file is a recent picture, which I'm not entirely sure it is. From the information given, she had been a Girl Scout at one point, helped out her elderly neighbors with their groceries, got good grades in school, wanted to join the Peace Corps...all around good girl.

This is six-or-seven-year-old information.

I guess this is as recent as I'm going to get.

None of this tells me whether or not she's still alive. Last known record of her was that she was in Alabama (it's either Alabama or New Jersey...why those two states, why does it always come down to those two states, what is it about those two states that attract this mystery like ants to dropped food?) and that's it. Most of what's in this file pertains to her research, which to me is just as important and interesting as the girl herself.

I told you all before, I looked through the Methodist files and could not find her. How could that be, when according to readers the Methodists had records of their users?

Simple: she's not Methodist.

Strictly speaking, she's not a part of any organized religion at all.

It looks like her family were members of some kind of cult, one that worshiped something that no organized Bible has ever spoken of, names that I only barely understand. From this it looks like she was...studying it? Studying the religion? I don't know. But among the written report are pictures I'm all too familiar with, drawings I know all too well.

It has no name, as far as I can tell. I looked everywhere, but the only thing I could really find were some Latin words. I know nothing about Latin, but the words “excilis everto” struck a chord with me. I feel like I've seen it before, but for the life of me I can't remember where...

It's never been seen in the public eye. It's always been underground. Never caused a problem, never had attention towards it. And from the looks of it, it's never wanted any of that. This strikes me as a little odd. Churches usually rely on donations and public support in order to stay alive. From the looks of it, however, it's pretty much extinct anyways, although judging by the pictures of mutilated corpses mixed in with the pages I don't think that's due to lack of funds.

Where Mary fits into all of this, what her position in the cult is, isn't entirely clear, but at the end of the notes, she seemed to be looking for a way out. The final entry says, “This is the last thing I'll ever write for them. One way or another, I'm getting out. May God have mercy on me.” I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that it didn't end very well. I guess I'll never know though.

Regardless of whether or not she got out, this cult, this organization, this is a lead. If I can find out where they're originating from, I might be able to work from there. If there's anyone still alive, I might be able to “convince” them to spill. It's the only shot I've got right now.

Maybe...

It's three in the morning now, but I had to finish this off before I posted it. I just woke up from one of the more vivid nightmares I've had in a while. I'm in the woods, running towards a figure that I can't make out who or what it is. The faster I run, the faster the figure runs away from me. I call out to it, but it just leads towards a red building and then it disappears. I start to venture inside, but I'm instantly hit by black, and before I know it I'm falling and yelling and at the end there's my old slender friend with his tentacles reaching up for me and when I woke up I understood immediately what it meant.

The Latin words. "Excilis everto". I mentioned above that I recognized it from somewhere. I finally remembered where- or who- I heard it from.

Damien.