《The Eldritch Diaries》 Volume One: Part 1 - New My name is Mathew Moore and this is my journal. I stumbled across something truly terrifying. I do not know if I will be able to sleep tonight. I have compiled the first volumes of my journals, recounting the start of my journey. I start at the day it all began, so many months ago. It was the day that set off my terrible journey. If only I had known what I was getting myself into! July 7th I can hardly believe it! It would seem my passion for beasts and animals has bore fruit. Just yesterday, as I was pacing in the forest behind the manor, a rabbit crossed my path. It was no ordinary rabbit, for near its front legs were two arms. I would have guessed that the arms were useless, if it had not been for the claws which it possessed. I suppose those claws serve a purpose for self defense if the animal is cornered, as rabbits ordinarily rely only on their speed to escape predators. I must learn more. I have an iron cage somewhere around here that should be just big enough to contain it. I will set a trap and attempt to catch it this afternoon. I have gotten some carrots from the garden which I shall use for bait. I shall start using this journal to record my findings as I analyze the beast. There are many things I wish to record about it for the sake of science. Knowledge is meant to be recorded after all¡­ July 8th I¡¯ve done it! It took me twenty minutes to find a good spot for the trap yesterday, but once I did, I got it set up fairly quickly. I returned to it today to find the rabbit had taken the bait and was trapped inside. I could see its arms more closely and much to my surprise, that there was in fact hair. Before, when I had seen it, it appeared to have no hair on its arms, but it seems to be a darker color of fur, similar in color to the flesh of its ear. I took the creature back with me and right now it is being kept in the shed with the carriage. I have started a second journal with specific measurements and diagrams as I wish to share my findings with the public but do not want to bore them with large quantities of information, however I will still be recording observations in this journal, which I shall keep with me at all times when in the forest. On that note, I did some testing of the creature I had found, when I placed the housecat near it, it swiped its claws at it indicating that I was correct in my hypothesis of it being used for self defense. July 11th I decided to release the animal back into the forest behind the manor. I have done numerous experiments on it. It seems to eat what a normal rabbit would, or at least what one of the maids told me rabbits eat. When I released it, it ran away instead of attacking, so it would appear that I was right in thinking it only uses it when cornered. July 15th One of the maids taught me how to make a trap using rope. I will be using this knowledge to attempt to trap another beast in the following days. I heard some weird sounds last night, almost like howling, and am excited to get to the source of the sound. I will use meat as bait. July 15th It is now nighttime as I write this, I am currently in the forest. I only brought a small lantern with me, which makes it hard to see, but I appear to have captured some sort of owl. I will take it back to the house to examine it further. I was right. It is an owl, however it has horns on its head. Each horn protrudes from the temple and curves upward. It was not dissimilar to a bull¡¯s horns, only smaller. It seemed to be rather friendly, unlike the rabbit thing that I had stumbled across yesterweek. With some slight encouragement with meat, it stood still and allowed me to sketch it in my other notebook. When I carried it to the window and opened it wide, the owl looked at me then took off out into the night. July 18th Maryanne is writing this for me as my arm was wounded by a creature last night. It scratched my arms and shredded my shirt. Its noticeable features were some sort of flaps between its front and back legs and a dark marking on its face, similar to a mask to hide one¡¯s appearance. I was walking through the forest at night, as I do often now, when it glided from a tree in front of me, landed on me, and began to attack. I dropped my lantern and attempted to pull the creature off of me, but it dug in with its claws. It was between the size of the house cat and a medium dog. Another thing that I would like to note is that it appears to have nearly opposable thumbs, as one of the deep scratches on my arm was on the side rather than with the rest of the scratches on the top. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. I tripped over a tree root and fell onto my back as I was attempting to get away from it, and I punched it several times with my bleeding hand. Finally it let go and as it scurried away. When it ran away, I saw that it also had a ringed tail. I have been bedridden by the orders of the doctor and should keep movement to a minimum for a full week. July 18th I had an idea so I asked Maryanne to write for me again, thank you Maryanne. It is currently nighttime, so I didn¡¯t want to be a bother, but I do not want to forget this idea. To protect myself from any monsters that I run into, I am going to put together some equipment. My idea is to make a leather jerkin that I can wear over my shirt. Additionally, I will make arm guards of some kinds and possibly add pieces to protect my neck and shoulders. July 20th The healing is coming along nicely, I am almost able to write again. I am incredibly bored, being stuck in bed like this. I have asked the maids for help sewing together the leather for a jerkin. I have planned out the arm guards as well, over a piece of cloth, I will be attaching strips of metal. I will send someone into town to get the materials needed. In the meantime, I will be doing some research and reading a book. July 21st I can write! My arm has healed enough for me to write on my own. I waited longer though to be sure that it would not be hurt from writing too much. Maryanne forbade me from leaving the bedroom for another day, so I will be spending today making diagrams and sketches. Specific details about the ¡°masked¡± animal need to be recorded, as well as an updated sketch of the rabbit. My drawings can always be improved upon. July 22nd I was able to leave my room today, although I wasn¡¯t allowed outside, so I tried on the jerkin and we made some final touches to it. I am not exactly able to test a full range of motion in it so we just did the best we could. The jerkin fits decently and is rather form fitting. July 23rd Today the doctor deemed my injuries to be fully healed. I was able to go back into the forest again today but was unable to find anything. After a week stuck inside, it was disappointing to find nothing, not even the beasts I had seen before. I returned to the manor after several hours of futile searching. When I got back, I began working on the gloves. We arranged the strips of metal into a half circle and put it on top of a durable leather glove. I copied the design to make the left gauntlet and quickly finished it as well. Additionally, I placed a small piece of metal on top of each hand. Even though it was a bit hard to bend my hands upward, I was satisfied with how it protected my arms and hands. July 25th I found tracks from an animal while I was in the forest today. It appeared to be from a quadrupedal canine of some sort, I attempted to follow the tracks but I lost the trail. When I returned to the manor, I shared with the butler what I had found, I asked him if he knew anyone who could help me track it, and he gave me directions to the shop of a woodworker that lived in town who might be able to help me. When I attempted to go back into the forest after speaking with the butler, I saw more tracks, these were just outside the edge of the trees. Not wanting to mess it up, I resigned myself to delaying the hunt until I convene with a tracker. I will now be leaving, to meet with the man. July 25th I met with a man named Victor. He was the one who the butler had recommended to me. We agreed to meet up later at the manor, and he would help me track down the thing that left the footprints. We met up when he had finished his work for the day, in the late afternoon, and began to follow the trail into the forest. At several points, we lost the trail, but Victor was quickly able to refind it. As he went, he made a simple map of instructions to follow the trail. As it got dark, we returned to the manor. I offered Victor a place to stay for the night if he so desired, but he turned me down and returned home. I am satisfied with the progress we made today, as now we are closer to finding the beast. July 27th No progress yesterday or today. This is rather bothersome to do for several days in a row. Each day we follow the trail and make little progress beyond what we had achieved the day before. July 28th Today Victor was able to help track the animal all day long. He pointed out several places that it seemed to frequent. Tomorrow I will be watching those places in hopes of spotting it. I will have a lunch prepared which I will eat while on watch. July 29 Early today, I got my lunch sorted out and set off into the forest. I was waiting for some time when I saw steam rising from the hole. I retreated several feet and saw to my surprise that there was a fox-like animal. I say fox-like for it had different fur. The parts that would have been white instead had a greyish tint, as if stained by ash. Additionally, there appeared to be a fire in its eyes. I watched as its yellow eyes seemed to burn with rage. I could see that the steam, or perhaps it was smoke, was rising from the fox¡¯s fur. I retreated further from it and left behind my sandwich in my haste. The fox went up to the sandwich and pushed it open with the tip of its nose. It grabbed the large helping of meat that was in it and trotted back to its hole to eat it. A few minutes later, when I returned to my sandwich, I could see that there was a slight burnt section, where the fox had pushed its nose against. If I touch it, it may burn me, so I will need to trap it. Foxes are intelligent creatures, so I will need to learn a new method that is harder for the animal to notice. Volume One: Part 2 - New July 30 I know I often write in the evening, but I forgot to write yesterday after I got back. I have gotten a tip about how to set up a rope trap to catch the fox¡¯s leg. Once I snare it, I will need to get it into an iron cage somehow. August 1st I set up the trap outside of the hole, and am now watching it. The trap is made up of some coils of rope, with a loop lying on the ground. When the fox steps out from the hole, I will catch it, pull it up into the air, and place the cage below it. Then I release it and it falls into the cage. Well, the fox was not in the hole. It walked up to what I would now assume is its den, carrying a quail. It stepped over the rope completely and went into the hole. Did it know the rope was th¡ª OH! As I was writing, the fox poked its head out. I would guess that it heard the scratching of my pen and came to investigate, and stepped directly into the position I wanted. I yanked the rope, tightening it around its feet and hoisting it up. I raced over and hurriedly placed the cage below it. The rope was already burning and was producing an acrid smell. Just as I got the door of the cage open, the rope burned through and the fox fell. I slammed the door shut and sat back in surprise. I had done it all so quickly that I had barely registered how heavy the fox was, it was easily 30 pounds. Well¡­ I need to take the fox back to the house, but that creates more problems, it could cause a fire, I have nowhere to keep it, and additionally, I do not want to get burned while carrying it. August 1st Well, it has been an eventful day. I have dubbed the creature a fire-fox due to its ability to set things ablaze. I determined it to be male, so it likely does not have cubs to take care of. I ran back to fetch the butler to help me bring it to the carriage house. We put a large stick through the loop at the top of the cage and carried it between us. I have begun to experiment on it, and have already found that being within three feet of it produces enough heat to cause me to sweat heavily. August 1st I have determined that a piece of paper ignites in about 18 seconds. I do not know how high the temperature would be and do not have a thermometer. Argh, I am quite lacking in equipment to study this animal, I may have to release it soon. I need to make some changes to how I am studying these animals. I need a designated room, away from the maids, where I can keep anything dangerous. It cannot be on the second floor because they will get suspicious and it cannot be on the main floor because guests might stumble across it. This only leaves the cellar. I will look for a suitable location in the cellar. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. I will use the second store room. Perhaps I should excavate some of the space behind it. Even if I am unable to excavate anything I can still use part of the storeroom at the end of the hallway. There is plenty of extra space. August 3rd I can hardly believe it. This seems unreal. Just a year ago, if one had told me that there were monsters inhabiting our world, I would scarcely have believed it, but then everything changed and I began to find strange beasts that roamed the land, living in shadows and holes. I have since grown accustomed to it, but I was not prepared for what I had found today. It seems to be almost straight out of a fairy tale¡­. What I have found is ¡­ a troll. Yes, I hardly believe it myself. This fantastical creature exists under an abandoned stone bridge in the middle of nowhere. I dared not go near, as there are many legends that speak of its ferocity. I was out in the forest today, wanting to find a small mammal for one last test before I release the firefox when I stumbled across this great discovery. August 5th I am writing this many days after July 5th, I believe it was. There was a travelling circus in town and I decided to visit. It was advertised as having a new act. It was something called ¡°hypnosis¡± and had been invented maybe 50 years ago? As far as I could tell anyway. As I watched, the magician convinced a member of the onlookers that he was a sheep and convinced another to do everything he ordered. It was quite the spectacle. August 6th I had an idea! I have no idea why this did not occur to me earlier. I could attempt to use hypnosis on the troll and get it to excavate the walls of the storage room instead of having to use only part of it. August 7th This is very stressful. I need to just grit my teeth and get it over with. I hope it goes well. It worked! I don''t have any idea how the science works but I am not complaining. I was able to hypnotize the troll after only a few minutes of trying. It nearly attacked me but I convinced it to wait while I showed it something impressive. It appears to be sentient, just like the fairy tales and stories said. I found that the troll is very aggressive when defending its bridge, but does not care about anything beyond it, even if someone stands just a few feet away. It was only when I stepped onto the old stone bridge that the troll emerged from underneath and threatened me. Would the hypnosis work on smaller animals such as the firefox or horned owl? Or does it only affect intelligent life? I will need to test this in the future. On a different note, I feel invincible, not physically, but I feel I can conquer any beast I come across. Trolls are supposed to be among the worst monsters and I easily bested it. August 9th I waited until today to move the troll towards the manor. Even if I could always just hypnotize it again, I cannot endanger anyone else in the house. I had to wait to see if the hypnosis would wear off. I will use the troll as manual labor as they are many times stronger than humans. Using the troll, I can quickly excavate not only a room to keep dangerous animals but an entire study suite for my experiments. I have left the troll behind some trees near the edge of the forest. I will move the troll into the cellar during the night. In the meantime, I need to finish up my preparations before then. At the very least, I need to make a space to hide it for tonight August 9th I waited until the maids were asleep then crept out from my bed and went down the stairs to the main floor. I have unlocked the back door and am going to bring the troll into the cellar. I hope it goes well. Well¡­ the butler saw me. I must have woken him, and he confronted me from the top of the stairs with a shotgun in hand. I persuaded him to keep silent about my activities, and that he should not tell anyone of the beast standing beside me. He quietly went back to his room and I took the troll down into the cellar. I placed it in the room I had constructed (he had started working on his own but it was super slow, he had made a small room to separate any dangerous materials from the rest of the storeroom). It should be fine there overnight, but to be safe I locked it in. August 11th I got in very big trouble this morning. When questioned about the events of last night, the butler told Maryanne that it was I who had been prowling around at night. He wisely kept his mouth shut about the nature of why I was going outside at such an hour, but because of that I got blamed for making a mess. Volume One: Part 3 - New August 11th After my previous entry, I went down to the basement and began construction. I was able to get the troll to follow my instructions but could not give complex orders. This means that while the speed of the construction, or rather, excavation, can proceed quicker than it normally would, I still need to oversee everything and give commands. I would not suggest to anyone who reads this journal to build an underground lab to experiment on monsters, as there are several things to consider. I need to consider structural support, light, safety features, locks, and more. I also will need a way to get monsters in without having to go through the house. August 12th Phew, I am tired. I worked hard for most of the day. To start, I drew up a floor plan. I then had to alter that plan a slight amount to accommodate an entrance to the outside. I have started pulling apart the wall and removing dirt. I cannot have the troll carry the dirt outside so instead I have to carry it up the stairs on my own. Maybe I could put a ramp on the stairs? But maybe it would be too steep. If I put a ramp I would need to have a much lower ramp which would mean more work. Currently, I am keeping the dirt in a pile in the garden behind a hedge where hopefully it will not draw much attention. August 14th The work is slow. I have cleared out a large section of space but I now need to start thinking about how I am going to furnish the rooms and hallway. I am going to go into town and search for a good carpenter and a mason. I would like to find someone who can make a sturdy design that will stand up to heat, weight, spikes, and more. I do not know what I may find in the future, so it would be good to be prepared for whatever I might come across. I suppose I should dig out more along the hallway so that I can bring in the materials more easily. August 15th I have thought of a solution! For now the troll is hidden in the storage room, ordered to stay still and silent. I brought a mason to the house and he said he would be able to help me make the floor. Anyways, my solution to both problems, getting animals into the house, and getting the materials in, can be solved by a stairway that goes directly to the outside. I will get the groundskeepers to construct hedges to block the entrance from view and I will begin digging it out at once. I have sent the mason away for a while so that I can work on this construction using the troll. I need to measure out specific dimensions for the staircase, so I will need to find an architect. I could also search through the library for any information I can find. I have found several books that will certainly help, but I should still consult an architect. I do not know where to find one, the town I am in is not very big. I asked the mason if he had worked with anyone who might be able to help me with it and he directed me to a curious man who had built his own house all on his own. We went to see the man to ask him about how he built his house. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. August 15th The man¡¯s house was not an impressive structure. In fact, it was little more than three rooms. However, there is a cellar with stone stairs. Because he was able to construct sturdy stairs in such a fashion, his knowledge and advice would be quite useful to me. The man introduced himself as Sebastion and is rather odd. He speaks in a weird manner and constantly looks as if his thoughts are somewhere else. That is not important however, as the man agreed to help me with my staircase. He will gather some materials for measuring and calculating the appropriate angle of the stairs and then arrive at the manor tomorrow. In the meantime, I have been instructed to get wood planks and stone blocks. The mason agreed to help supply me with the stones so now I am off to see the carpenter. The carpenter told me that since the manor is located near a large forest, I could cut a few trees and pull it back with horses. I will need to create a makeshift harness for the carriage horses, but at the very least, I should already have enough horses to pull medium sized logs. August 16th I cut down a medium sized tree from the forest and, using the horses, dragged it back towards the manor. I will need to take a break after that. I can feel a blister starting to form on my left thumb. Luckily, the reason for my break is not my blister, but Sebastion and the carpenter arriving here soon. We marked out the corners and calculated the width and depth of each step. I will excavate it on my own, but most of the work will have to be done by me. I expect to be done by the end of the day and have set a schedule for their return based on that expectation. As soon as they left, I got a shovel and will begin digging. August 17th I worked through the night. The maids were unconcerned due to my occasional obsessive nature. However, because I was working at night, it was hard to see what I was doing. I only made the steps half as wide as they should be, as I did not want to extend too far. I also excavated dirt from the inside. I have a short offshoot from the hallway now that will go to the exit outside. I plan to have angled doors, maybe 30 degrees, so I can maximize available room to maneuver around when bringing in large animals while also minimizing the amount of materials needed. I should put a door so that if anyone finds the hallway, they will think it is just another locked room. The maids must not get too suspicious of my activity. August 17th After a quick nap in the late morning today, I returned to work on the stairs. My arms are sore and my back is in pain. I should perhaps rest for a day or two before I continue on with my work. I have finished the stairs and will soon begin putting in the stones on top of the steps. It will likely be an expensive procedure, I will need to get help from day laborers as the butler would be unlikely to be able to help me. August 18th I did very little today. As I stated previously, I need to allow my back and arms a chance to recover before I am able to return to the intense work I have planned for the future. Today, I did sort of a rest day, making note of what I am going to be doing, what materials I am going to get, and where I am going to get the materials. I talked to masons and wood workers as well as an architect to make sure everything was in order. It was a boring day for me. It has only been two weeks, but I desperately want to get back into the forest and find more beasts. I am thinking I should stop reporting on the progress of my construction for a week or so, it is boring to write and will likely be even more boring to read. Yes, unless something extraordinary happens, I will not report on the events of the next fourteen days. Volume One: Part 4 - New September 2nd I have finished a large part of the construction. I will be finishing up some last minute changes to the interior before I begin the final touches with the help of a carpenter. I have made the hallway a bit wider and have given thought as to whether or not to include natural lighting. It would be good to be able to do so, however it would not be feasible, as I have to keep both safety and practicality in mind as something could fly through the window, and I would need to dig out more of the ground to have the window be uncovered as it is in the cellar. On the other hand, if not a window, I will need another way to determine what time it is at a glance while working. I have developed a habit of working long into the night when constructing my laboratory and holding cell. September 3rd I began construction with the carpenter. I have learned some wood working techniques, but will likely never be as good as him. It¡¯s no matter. I am very excited to finish, however before I can go out and catch monsters, I need to get tables and bookshelves, as well as anything else I may need to study the monsters. And before that, naturally, I need to finish the interior construction. We are nearly done. September 4th I have nothing of note to say here but for some reason I feel a strong desire to write. Due to this unexplainable urge, I will write out some mundane information about my day. I woke up early and waited for the carpenter to arrive. Once he did, we began installing side panels into the wall. We also added hooks for lanterns on the ceiling, however I would still need to get several lanterns to go there. Maryanne is not happy about all the time I have been spending in the cellar. Sooner or later, I will need to reveal what I am doing to her, right now the butler is keeping her preoccupied with other things. Oh yes, and I have had an idea for lighting. I could place lanterns in the corners of the room with mirrors to redirect more light inward towards the center of the room. The troll is a godsend however, all of the secrecy was definitely worth using its strength to speed up construction. September 5th I suppose I am finished for now. The construction and interior are completed to a decent enough degree for me to spend time in the forest again. Today was rather boring, but I sanded some wooden planks to use for shelves. I also brought materials and supplies down to the lab. September 6th I was able to return to the forest and set up a trap. I do not expect to find anything big, so it is a small box trap, allowing to catch something no larger than the rabbit I had caught before. September 7th No creatures were trapped today. I saw tracks around the trap but nothing set foot inside. Somehow, the trap had been triggered however, although the bait remained untouched. I reset the trap before returning home. September 8th Today I found that the trap had again been triggered. Just like the previous day, the food was untouched and there were no traces of activity inside it, though there were numerous prints in the mud around it. Is it an intelligent creature? While it is possible, I think the more probable possibility is that it may have accidentally triggered the trap. I am unsure as to what the creature may be as I do not know the tracks that well. I may need to stay in the forest to observe the trap. I cannot afford to stay in the forest all day! I have work to do. Maybe if I can determine the approximate time the creature appears, I can more efficiently use my time. September 9th I woke up at dawn today to check the trap. It has yet to be triggered, which is good as the thick fog would have made surveillance rather difficult. Additionally, I do not have a good excuse for Maryanne as to why I might be staying out in the forest through the night. September 9th I checked the trap at noon and found nothing. I have gotten some tools from a shop in town and got it down to the lab. September 9th I returned to the trap three hours later to find that it had been triggered again. Now I have a rough estimate of a time period, tomorrow I will return an hour before noon to observe the trap. I think I can spare four hours of my day tomorrow. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. September 10th It has been three hours since I arrived at the trap today. I managed to spot the creature. It is a tall but thin rabbit with what looks like stag antlers on its head. Each antler only contains two points. While I was watching it, the rabbit attempted to go towards the food inside the trap but accidentally tripped the trigger mechanism with one of its antlers and the trap swung shut with the rabbit outside. The rabbit appeared confused and wandered around the trap for a minute or two, taking small hops before it left. I think I should consider throwing a net over it as a potential way to catch it. September 11th I bought a sturdy net and will return to the forest later today. My head hurts¡­ It started hurting when I returned from the town. I caught the rabbit! Of course I did, I¡¯m me. It was fairly easy given its small size and the size of the net, however I need to refine my aim for the future, as I just barely managed to snag it with the corner of the net. September 13th I got a sample of deer antlers to compare to the rabbit¡¯s antlers. It is of a similar composition, and is similar in color. The antlers are very dense, I wonder how the rabbit antlers compare. September 14th I am starting to think of more things to test¡­ what part of the fire fox causes it to burn? Is it the fur? I may need to capture the fire fox again to test this. Additionally, I would like to learn if the rabbit loses its antlers in winter like stags. This would not be possible without a better monitoring method. If the antlers fall off, it may look nearly identical to regular rabbits. September 16th I have seen something rather odd. At first I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, but it would appear what I think I saw was in fact what I really saw. The creature I spotted was a deer, just like any other, except for a third eye in the center of its head. I will attempt to capture it. September 17th Most deer are too alert for me to manage to catch or capture. I may need to result to more ¡­ permanent means of restraining it. September 18th No luck again today. Two more days of this and I think I will just resort to using a rifle to catch the deer. I have thought about many options, including a net launcher of some sort, but that will not work unless I develope a launching mechanism. September 20th If I shoot the beast, I cannot examine its behavior. I suspect the use of its third eye will have an effect on it. Perhaps it helps it see predators, or maybe it is extra sensitive to light, I do not know and, if forced to shoot it, may never know. I have spent fruitless hours in the forest stalking it but have not learned anything about it other than what I have seen from far away. Whenever I attempt to approach to get smaller details, it flees. September 21 I shot it. The deer, alas, is dead. It took its final breaths right in front of me. Its eyes¡­ remarkably strange. It couldn¡¯t¡­ no, I am sure it did. Its eyes glowed bright purple before the life faded from them, along with the light. After that, the eyes become blank, completely filled with an opaque white. It is a shame, really, as I did not know the deer¡¯s eyes would do that and I did not get a good look at it while its eyes were glowing. I highly doubt I will be able to discover what caused the eyes to glow, or what caused the eyes to become completely blank, almost like tiny, curved slabs of marble. September 23rd Fascinating. I am aware of the frequency at which I use that word, but how else to describe it? I am referring to something I discovered about the three-eyed deer. First, I shall detail what I found about its body structure. It has stronger muscles in its legs and appears to have a more pronounced tail. It is female however its size is similar, almost equal, in size to male Fallow deer. Now, onto the part I am most excited for: the eyes. Despite looking like spheres of marble, the eyes are still, in fact, rather squishy, I must admit it was a strange feeling. I pulled the skin and flesh off the skull and I found that there is a third eye hole in the skull. That much did not surprise me, however what I have noticed is the odd shape. I would hypothesize that the shape of the eye hole allows more vertical movement than would otherwise be possible. I am now beginning to wonder if the deer is able to move that eye independently of the other two. I have sketched the skull in my other notebook, (6b for reference). I have started labeling the drawings in a new way now. September 26th Nothing of note happened today, however I did begin making preparations for the yearly hunt. It is an important part of my family tradition and is done every year on the first of October. September 29th Maryanne has informed me that we are having a guest. She seemed oddly specific that I must make myself more presentable than usual, perhaps the guest is of significance or rather important. I must hide my laboratory and all of my experiments. Furthermore, the yearly hunt is merely two days away, this mysterious guest will likely interfere with it. September 30th Maryanne was once again bothering me for much of the day about my appearance as well as a number of other things. I begrudgingly shaved and organized my bedroom and the study. The maids had not attempted to organize it for fear of ruining my organization. Maryanne seems apprehensive, and perhaps a little excited about the guest, but she refuses to elaborate. I think she would like it to be a surprise for me, which is highly inconvenient because all she has informed me about the guest is the day on which they are arriving, which just so happens to be tomorrow, the day of my yearly hunt. On a related note, I have finished hiding everything, stray notebooks, sketches, and I have disposed of the body of the three eyed deer. I believe I am ready to welcome the guest into my home. October 1st I still have not been told anything. Maryanne did not know the exact time of arrival, so I had to get up early in the morning to wait just inside the foyer for an hour or so already, I do not know how long this will take. A carriage is pulling in front of the manor! I think the guest at last is here. A footman stepped down and is opening the door. It is My Father Volume Two: Part 1 October 1st Dear god, I can''t believe it is him! I would recognize that face anywhere. He is noticeably older than when I last saw him. His sharp jawline has dulled, and his forehead has grown wrinkled. Father¡¯s hair has turned grey, a far cry from how sandy it once used to look. His anger seems to have faded a little bit, and in his eyes there is nothing that has taken its place. There is an emptiness, a faraway stare, and there! That glint of anger! As his eyes swept over me back to the manor and over to the forest behind it, he seemed to be briefly taken over by rage. His jaw tightened and I could once again see that harsh jawline that defined my youth. I saw, only for a moment, a burning fire in his eyes, then his eyes returned to meet my gaze and his face softened. This certainly is a mix of emotions, I cannot believe he returned yet I do not know if I want him here. He was absolutely ecstatic to travel the world, I cannot understand why he suddenly decided to return. I have been fine without him for the last 8 years. He shows up out of nowhere, the day of the yearly hunt. Surely he is up to something. Father wanted to join the hunt and even brought with him a fancy Brunswick rifle to use. We leave in less than an hour. And I swear I can feel a strange aura emanating from him too. I suppose he is using this as an opportunity to talk, away from other people. He will likely be angry at me for not having done anything with my life up to now. He has no Idea what I am on the verge of discovering. Furthermore, he has shown up with a maid to help manage the household. He introduced her as Charlotte. Thankfully I have already hidden my stuff. But, now I have another person to keep secrets from. It wouldn¡¯t have been much of an issue, as I was already prepared for a guest, but I must act under the assumption that she will be staying. October 1st I was wrong. My father was not disappointed. In fact, he did not even express his annoyance at my reluctance, even refusal, to enlist in the British army. I must admit, I am rather perplexed, when I was a young lad he told me countless times what I should be when I am grown, yet now that I am grown, and now that he has returned, he has not said a word. No, for instead, all he has done is ramble on and on about his adventures. He told me much about his time in China during the war, and I suppose something must have happened while he was there because it changed his perspective. I do not notice a difference however, he is still the same old man, unburdened by the responsibilities he should otherwise be expected to bear. He is still just as impulsive and quick tempered as ever. I even learned that he gave up his favorable position aboard his own ship, in the middle of the war, in order to join the army, and then raised quite a ruckus when he was then enlisted at the lowest rank. October 1st I have learned something astounding! As we were field dressing a deer, father was rambling on about the strange and wondrous beasts of Chinese mythology and folklore. I would not say he ¡°regaled me¡± with tales, but he did convey a large quantity of information about spirits and demons. I was fascinated by what he told me. Wondrous stories of gods and beasts that once roamed the land. I must wonder how many strange beasts have been found already, recorded in legend and myth across the world. How many are real and how many falsified through hyperbole? Perhaps one day I shall travel the world and seek out those monsters myself. I will make use of Father¡¯s connections to learn as much as I can about the myths that contain legendary creatures. We are almost done with the hunt and will be returning to the manor soon. October 1st I suppose I should write something¡­ I do not know what to say. I feel empty, almost. Why did he return? I grew up without him for much of my life, what changed his mind? I suppose I am in disbelief. I cannot fathom what must have gone through his mind. Father has always been boisterous, impulsive, and reckless. Now it seems like his reckless streak has finally dimmed and he has gotten quieter, perhaps more pensive. Several times during dinner, he stopped talking abruptly, and he was sitting in the study staring out the window, deep in thought. He feels a little bit different. Father and I came back from the hunt, cleaned up the animals, and prepared to make the biggest one into a trophy with a wall mount. We cooked some of the meat and began curing the rest. It is one of the few times every year when we cook. In the past, I have cooked with the chef and maids, but today we only worked with the cook and Maryanne. October 2nd I likely will not be able to go out during the day anywhere near as often as before. Father¡¯s return has really upset the normal routine of my day. Today I was dragged with Father and Maryanne to a park not far from our estate. Throughout the duration of the trip, Father and Maryanne talked about stories of past summers. Meaningless nonsense, really. I do not remember what they were talking about nor do I care to try. When we arrived at the park, Maryanne and Father went on a slow stroll and did not notice that I slipped away. I walked through the field, away from them, and began to look around. I must note that it was rather peaceful, until I could have sworn I saw something¡­ it made me uneasy, something felt dreadfully wrong about it as my eyes glanced over it. I did a double take and looked back but it was gone. I am not even sure of what I saw. October 3rd Yesterday we returned home and I began to wonder about what I had seen. I cannot be sure of its existence because the second I looked at it again, it was gone. I have decided to ignore it for the time being, if it is a monster that does exist, I can confirm its existence later. October 4th Today was a boring day for me, I was unable to do my usual business and had to stay inside for much of the day. However, when it became afternoon, I took my opportunity to exit the manor and go into the forest for a significant amount of time. I did not find anything, but I also did not go deep into the forest. I cut firewood and brought it back to the house. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Father seems¡­strange. I could not say what about him is quite different, but he feels a little bit quieter¡­ October 5th Once again avoiding Father, today I went out into the town. I did not do much today, mostly just wandered around. Somehow though, I feel tired. I will return home and attempt to learn about Charlotte. Charlotte is of average height, her looks are nothing special, but she does seem to possess a certain stubbornness. She was working in one of Father¡¯s homes in Paris, but he returned there after the war and then they came home. She is tight lipped about her past, but I have been able to learn that she has a love for literature. Even though she cannot read very well, she enjoys listening to stories. Oddly enough, she can read and write fluently in French, even though she has not lived there very long. She is older, reaching the end of her 20s, I would guess. October 6th Today I returned to the same place as yesterday and again began to feel tired. I also developed an aggressive headache and quickly left the area. I went to the library this afternoon once I had returned home. I think I may know what is causing the drowsiness and headaches, but I must look for more information. It is possible that it could be the effects of carbon monoxide. I found the book I was searching for in the library and after reading through it several times, I am convinced. However, I must admit, I am puzzled. Perhaps I just have a limited knowledge of how it is produced, but I doubt there was a source for it at the spot I began to feel its effects. I will return tomorrow and search for a possible origin. What is this ¡°carbon monoxide¡±? It is a gas, but what else? I do not quite understand it. How is it different from air? Why is it not visible? And what about it causes such symptoms? October 7th I returned today to the spot I had visited the past few days. Unfortunately, or perhaps, fortunately, I did not experience any of the symptoms. It must have dissipated over time while I was gone. I still searched for a potential source, but there was nothing that I could see that could result in excessive amounts of carbon monoxide, or indeed, any at all. This is rather strange. What could cause it if not a normal source? What even constitutes a normal source? On another note, Father met with an old fellow over tea. He did not introduce himself. Rather odd, but I do not much care, it is only MY BLOODY HOUSE! I have no control over who can come and go now because Father is here now and he is inviting strangers into my home! October 8th Father spent much of the afternoon drinking tea with the strange man from yesterday. Growing weary of the conversation, I left rather early to go into the forest. I took both of my journals and a small bag as well as rope and took a horse to a forest away from my house, perhaps 3 to 4 miles away. There, I tied my horse to a tree and set off into the forest. There, I discovered a hedgehog. It was rather large, perhaps the biggest I have seen, and its spikes, which should have been white and black, were instead covered in something red and blue. I chased it down and managed to corner it inside a hollow log. In there, I was able to grab it and tie some rope around one of its feet so it would not escape. I could then look at the hedgehog and make a clear description of everything I saw. The hedgehog had almost like a slimy substance on it, which got on my hands when I was holding it. There was what seemed like blood, only it was blue, and the aforementioned slime was of a reddish-purple color. The blood¡­? It smells much like blood, but it is blue. What could have done that? I cannot think of anything it could be from. The blood, forgive me, I do not know what else to call it, was on the tips of the spines, whereas the slime was below that and had a much higher volume present. Thinking that the slime could have been produced by the hedgehog, due to the high quantity of it, I wiped clean an area of its body and waited. However, as the hedgehog struggled, no new slime appeared. I regrettably must release the animal, as there is no indication of it being anything beside the ordinary, despite the strange fluids I found upon it. Additionally, I cannot take it home to study it as Father is likely still talking with the strange man. The sun is beginning to fall close to the horizon, so I must return on my horse. The horse seemed slightly spooked when I walked out from the forest. I calmed it and rode home. I cut my hand in several places. I think I will begin considering gloves. The gloves should be fairly strong and thick so as to avoid injury from puncture, cut, or burn, if I ever find something similar to the firefox, this would be a necessity to be able to handle it for further examination. The forest in which I was today is called the Yellow Forest, for reasons I do not know. It is not yellow at all. I should think of a name for the forest behind the manor to be able to distinguish the two, I have only ever referred to it as ¡°the forest¡±. October 9th Today was a boring day for me, I was unable to do my usual business and had to stay inside for much of the day. However, when it became afternoon, I took my opportunity to exit the manor and go into the forest for a significant amount of time. I did not find anything, but I also did not go deep into the forest. I cut firewood and brought it back to the house. I have a growing feeling of unease as each day passes since the 6th. It is a rather curious feeling that I cannot seem to find a reason for. I will stay home for several days to see if this feeling goes away. October 10th I have been doing some thinking while shut inside my room. I should begin considering expanding my equipment. A couple metal arm guards and a rope is likely not going to be good enough. I need a way to restrain or capture animals in a way that does not involve traps nor my bare hands. Perhaps a staff with some kind of grabbing arm or claw could work, although I also wonder if it would be possible to engineer a net launcher of some kind to launch a weighted net onto whatever beast it is that I am hunting. October 11th As I wrote about yesterday, I need better equipment to be able to capture monsters, but I also need to be able to defend myself against anything strange I encounter. I am not anticipating encountering anything too dangerous, but if I should come across something like the troll, I need to be prepared. I do not have any idea how I made it through that alive. That reminds me, I need to feed the troll again and check that it is still hypnotized. In the meantime, however, I will start off by getting a sturdy hunting knife. October 11th It is now close to sunset. I have gotten my hands on a knife that I am confident will last a while. It seems very sturdy although I should do some tests on it. More importantly, Father is sleeping at the dining table. I can quickly go check on the troll. God that gin smells awful. October 11th The troll was not hypnotized! It was in some kind of stupor, but when I eased open the door it awoke and began snarling and reaching towards me with its long arms. It began to scratch my face and down my chest. I shoved it away but it began to push through the door. Oh, my arm hurts. I was forced to stab it with my brand new knife, how lucky for me. I believe I killed it, sadly. It was quite useful. AURRGH!! What will I do?? Once Maryanne lays eyes on me tomorrow, she will freak out. I am hiding in the cellar right now as the house has not yet settled down for the night, the maids are still working on cleaning and we have yet to eat supper. Perhaps I can get the attention of the butler without attracting the attention of anyone else. I can feel blood dripping down my chest and face. I need to be careful to keep my journal clean of blood. Blast it! I tried to ask Charlotte, the new maid, to fetch Alistair but instead of simply doing what I had asked, she came towards me. She took one look at me and screamed. If it had been any of the other maids who went to get ingredients from the cellar, this would not have happened! What do I do now? She will be back with the others any second now. Volume Two: Part 2 October 11th It seems she can listen somewhat. After Charlotte ran back up the stairs, she returned with Alistair, just like I had asked. She also brought some spare rags to wipe off my blood. The butler and I have to dispose of the troll body before someone else spots it. I will tell Charlotte to clean up the blood and then fire her. I may need to pay her off so that she will keep her mouth shut about what she saw. I have been cleaned up and the body disposed of. It made quite a mess, both in terms of blood and dirt to be cleaned up but also the consequences of Charlotte¡¯s actions. I need to maintain appearances in front of the other maids. Isabella is a very recent hire, she has only been here for four months. I cannot afford to lose another maid, each time I have to rehire, it gets harder to find people who are willing to do the job, or are oblivious to the rumors. How am I going to explain this? Luckily for me, Father has remained in a drunken state throughout the yelling. I do not need to explain to him what happened. Additionally, Maryanne was on the second floor of the house and somehow did not hear Charlotte. So now I just need to worry about Isabella and Caroline. Caroline should be able to just ignore what happened and go about her day as usual, but Isabella may be another issue. October 13th Charlotte has been fired from her position. She left the manor this morning. I have had the butler pay her off to keep her mouth shut about what she saw. If ever there were to be a silver lining, however, this would be it, for no one knew of her presence here except the members of my household. They know better than to spread rumors, and if they did, they would be dealt with much the same. On the other hand, Isabella has not yet caused any problems, maybe I did not need to worry about her. Although Charlotte has been removed from the manor, she still works for Father. I presume she has returned to his home in Paris. Perhaps I shall be able to visit that house, I am thinking. Although it would mean having to put up with Father and Charlotte, I suppose it would be a small price to pay to travel to Paris, as I have not gone out of the region, much less the country, in many years, not since Mother¡ª Blast it! That old man should have been there for me, not galavanting around Europe! October 13th Much time has elapsed since the events of this morning. Obviously I do not mean that more than half a day has passed, but rather the day has felt incredibly long, I arduously pushed through till nightfall when I then retreated to my bedroom. Maryanne has been looking out for me, I suppose, as it seems she hastily found an event to get me out of the house and then when I had returned from the party, I found the house to have been scoured from top to bottom. She assigned the maids vigorous work to distract them from the events of last night. That party was most bizarre, I must admit. It was some sort of celebration party. It is merely a marketing scheme, much like some of Father¡¯s, that I am intimately familiar with. And what a bogus expedition it sounds like. One of those men, with an old, wizened face and long grey beard, spoke of fantastical creatures called Dinnosores or something similar. Giant skeletons found buried across Europe. HA! If they only knew of what I have begun to find, they would shower me with riches and praise! Either that or steal my work. Bah! Just thinking about Regginald gets my blood boiling again. Today has been very upsetting, I shall retire to my bed and attempt to sleep. Perhaps tomorrow I shall be in a better mood, I can only hope. October 14th That little pest! He was a stain upon me ever since I met him! Gah! Today will be a waste as well, I cannot focus and I cannot work. I am too angry with thoughts of trouble from my past. I will just go do manual labor to make my worries disappear. October 16th My rage has subsided drastically. On the other hand, I have too much firewood and have removed several trees from the forest. But, onto the exciting news, I was too angry to stay home this morning and went for a long walk around town, when I stumbled upon an animal. It was in the very same spot where I had been investigating earlier. The creature was a weasel or stoat, with dark orange fur all along its body and a dark tuft on its tail. It was lying unconscious on the ground behind a bush. If I had not left the manor so early in the morning, surely it would have disappeared by now, eaten by some larger predator. The smell its fur produces was foul, and I began to feel tired and shaky as I walked back to the manor with it. I tied it up, of course, I would not want it to awaken and bite me or run away, would I? Acting under the assumption that the creature is the source of this ¡°carbon monoxide¡±, I left it tied to a tree, hopefully out of reach of any dogs or other beasts that may try to eat it. I will need a way to contain it, and if I am right in thinking, test a few things. October 16th I have just finished conducting a very fascinating experiment, it is rather hard to describe. I put the creature in a box and put a mixture of flour and water all over it. The mixture stuck to its fur, and had a watery consistency while still holding together rather well, and then bubbles, yes bubbles, began to form all along the sides of the stoat¡¯s body. I am saying stoat, because I cannot tell if it is a stoat or a weasel, but I believe it is a stoat. Anyway, the bubbles, most bizarre. This means that the stoat is producing a gas that it is expelling, perhaps as a defense mechanism, although that would be an involuntary, unconscious one, so I find it hard to believe that it is only for defense. Perhaps it is like a mating signal? I can only speculate. I was able to further the experiment by scattering a cloud of dust in the box, I was then able to see eddies in the air as the gas left the body and rose into the air. I used light from a torch to view the dust, as where I was holding the box in the woods did not yet have direct sunlight, the sun had yet to crest the roof of the manor. Just dug a little hole and set the torch upright in it, it provided an almost perfect viewing experience, although I wish the light was steadier, it was flickering quite a bit. October 17th I had a conversation with Father today. It was infuriating, I barely learned anything. I have recorded the brief interaction so I can reflect on it later, but I doubt it will begin to make more sense to me. ¡°Why did you come back here?¡± I had asked my father earlier today in the study. Why did he come back? His presence here has just seemed to cause problems. Why, why did he return? I have wondered for the past couple of weeks. I want an answer, but he just mumbled a little then turned to me and said ¡°I wanted to see my boy.¡± ¡°Since when was I ever your son to you?¡± I had asked him angrily, but he did not answer me. Ridiculous. If he loved me so much, why did he leave me? I was angered by his lack of response, he just shook his head and looked back out the window. Foolish old man. I once again am left pondering why he is here. He does not care about me. It is clear he doesn¡¯t just from his absence alone, much less how he has ignored me, instead giving most of his attention to Maryanne. Rather silly, isn¡¯t it? Why does this anger me so? It is not as if he was ever really there for me, furthermore, Father has always been rather cold, far more attached to Mother than he ever was to me. October 18th Today I went into the forest once more. Father has been rather strange lately, I cannot describe his behavior, but it seems as if he wants to see me and bond with me, yet constantly pushes me away. I could not stand his nonsensical actions right then, so I went into the forest. I told Alistair to fetch a horse and organize for it to be waiting for me at the Yellow Forest. I then set off and made my way through the woodline. I rapidly descended into the trees as they got thicker and thicker around me, the ground sloped gradually in places, yet cruelly in others, I had gone in further than I have ever gone before. The rocks here are very dangerous, I should set up guide ropes to help climb over and around some of the larger boulders. I was surprised by how dark it got. Of course, my eyes adjusted, so I was used to it, but then I stumbled upon a clearing, the sun shone through it, cutting through a short layer of mist under the trees and sparkling on dew, still fresh from this morning. It was beautiful, I never knew something this spectacular was nearby. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Across the clearing, I could hear a gurgling river and when I investigated it I found that it was rather close to the clearing. Furthermore, there was a significant amount of cleared land around the river, which opened into a big lake. Across the lake is a tall cliff, perhaps 70 feet, if I had to estimate. It plunged skyward majestically, if I were an artist, this would have become a perfect hideaway to inspire my mind. I know why I have never noticed this lake in all my years looking down on the forest from the manor roof, the trees go right up to the edge of the cliff and blend almost seamlessly into the background from my vantage point on the manor, but it has an old tree that I now recognize. I can see the ancient tree from my bedroom window, if memory serves. This will be an excellent place to return to in the future. Under the assumption that it becomes necessary to return here, I should give it a name, I cannot refer to it as just ¡°the lake¡±, can I? Actually, maybe I can, but while I am here, I can name it after my dear late mother: Lake Eleanor. Continuing past the lake, I turned west and proceeded through the winding trees, making haste towards the Yellow Forest. About a mile away from the lake, I found more of that slime I have mentioned before. It was stuck on bushes and low hanging tree branches. I collected a sample of the slime in one of my lunch containers, unfortunately having to dump its contents on the ground. I will examine the slime at a later date, but presently it shall sit inside my bag for a little longer. It is still much the same as the slime I found before, checking on the container right now, it has not dried out. Very peculiar. I then halted my hike for a while and searched every nearby bush and shrub for any more, but I did not find any, nor did I find any other trace of a creature. I then reluctantly continued my hike. Almost an hour late, I had made it to the edge of the Yellow Forest where I met a young lad with my horse. His knuckles were white, clenched around the reins, while his right hand rested in his pocket, I presume on the handle of a knife, given how scared he looked. That was strange to see, the boy was scared but not the horse? Last time I was here, the horse was scared, but I was not, yet here is a boy scared beyond his wits and the horse acts as if nothing has happened? Before I rode away though, my horse started rearing and shaking its head. I think the boy may have been keeping it calm, he must have a talent for horses. ¡°What has you so scared?¡± I had asked the boy. He answered that there was a figure shambling through the forest, deep in the tree line. He yelled at it and it disappeared. According to the boy, it must have been fifteen or twenty minutes ago. He could not describe what it looked like, he only saw a shadowy mass hiding behind trees. I thanked the boy and he promptly left (it was at this time that my horse started acting up). I then left and rode back home. Wait. It is possible I could have crossed paths with it¡­ woah, just as I had that thought, a shiver ran down my spine. I will go home now, I think I have had enough adventure for today. Today has been a long, hard day. I did perhaps a bit too much hiking, I need to invest in better footwear. I already have an idea for a pair of boots, I do not know how they will look and I will need to get someone to help me make it. October 18th Father was once again talking to that strange man. He has a lot of nerve, barging into my house day after day. He actually introduced himself today, strangely enough. He said his name is Archibold. He is an older fellow, at least ten years older than Father, but I would guess closer to fifteen years older. He has a significant belly and after briefly introducing himself to me, he turned back to Father and talked about books, particularly Frankenstein. I must say I am intrigued by their conversation. They discussed the likelihood of Victor being able to make life, whatever that means. I will find a copy of that book and read it, it sounds rather fascinating. Archibold has a copy he is willing to lend me! The old man apparently has quite a significant library, he will return within the week to give it to me. October 20th Well, today has been rather eventful. Let¡¯s see, where to start? Archibold stopped by again today. I wonder what he does, it seems as if he does not have anything to do except talk to Father almost every day. Well, luckily for me, this meant I received a copy of Frankenstein earlier today, which I spent much of the day reading. It was a fascinating read. I wish it focused on how Victor created life. I cannot help but wonder if I could recreate the experiment. I have found several bizarre creatures already, some of which push to the border of supernatural, like the fire fox or the three eyed deer. I still remember the way its eyes glowed before it died. I wish I could see that happen once more. But, alas, I have yet to see another, and indeed have been too busy to be able to hunt one again. Anyway, back to the book, what is the monster¡¯s name? I suppose I shall call him Adam, he does compare himself to Adam, after all. On that note, what do I think? Is there a god? I suppose there is, how else would the strange powers of those animals come to be? But if there is a god, I doubt he cares about me. Sure, luck has been on my side and I have avoided injury, both to my person and to my reputation, through the course of past events, but if God is supposed to love all of his people, how could he take my parents from me? Maryanne was not a sufficient replacement. As hard as she tried to be, she could not replace Mother. And surely, if there is a god, he would not have allowed Regginald to betray me the way he did. One phrase stood out to me throughout my entire read of the book: ¡°The world was to me a secret which I desired to divine¡±. It is very similar to my own thinking. There is so much out there for me to discover: the Chinese folklore that Father has told me of, the many monsters I imagine to be around me, the origin of these beasts, how they came to be. There is truly a wealth of knowledge just out of reach, waiting for some brave soul to take a leap. I will be the first one to do so! I will discover all the great creatures that are waiting in the world! Victor is wrong. Knowledge is Power and knowledge truly is the greatest possession! October 21st I was too busy reading that book yesterday and failed to mention the sample of snake venom that Archibold gave to me. It was from a diamondback rattlesnake from the United States. It will be an interesting addition to my collection, but I should be careful to label it. It is very dangerous. Am I similar to Victor? I have carefully curated my life and home, but does my need to control it reflect a part of me? People are likely too afraid to speak up about any strange behavior because they fear me¡­ no, I must be tired, I don¡¯t know what I am thinking. October 22nd Do you remember that creature-stoat thing I captured on the 16th? Well, I have been unable to spend time messing around with it the past few days as I was spending time with Father. That man is full of mysteries, I cannot fathom how his mind works. Well, today, after spending much of the morning with Father (Archibold did not show today), I was able to experiment with it. Actually, while that was certainly more interesting, I will record what I did with Father first. First, we awoke at about the same time and breakfasted on the usual meal: eggs, bacon. Sausages. We ate together today, I do not know why I ate with him. Father¡¯s time in the military must have disrupted his manners, as his etiquette was¡­ lacking. Maryanne has been slowly poking and prodding Father into better manners, but she has a long way to go, Father even had his elbows on the table today. Abysmal. We then played chess for several games. Much of it was simply filled with silence, or remarks on trifling matters like the weather. After I was able to escape after a string of losses, I went to find the stoat again. It was still in the box, where I left it just behind a tree. I messed around with it today, putting critters close to it and watching its reaction. Today was¡­ well, it existed, I suppose. The past few days have been jarring. I cannot explain why but something feels off. October 23 Nothing much happened today, I chose to release the beast, there is not much more that I can do with it right now. I carried it to the lake and left it there by the shore. I do not want it poisoning me in my own backyard, but if I ever need to find it again hopefully I will be able to do so. October 24 I have found a part of that beast! ¡°That beast¡± is not very descriptive, but I presently do not have a name for it. It is the beast I believe to be producing the slime that I have found on multiple occasions. I found more slime on a branch near the road today while travelling to see Archibold to return the book. I slowed my horse to a stop and then tied it to a tree. I then proceeded into the forest, following the trail of slime and discovered a tentacle. It is an Octopus tentacle, by the looks of it, with suction cups all along one side of it. The tentacle in question is about 2 feet long, and a dark reddish brown. It was cut on one end of it. Ripped and torn as if it was crudely detached from the body it once belonged to. I found it stuck to a branch. I would guess that the tentacle got caught on the branch and, not noticing, the beast ripped it off. It is a rather sturdy branch, kicking it, I cannot break it. I stored the tentacle in my backpack and continued on my way towards Archibold¡¯s residence. Presently I am outside Archibold¡¯s property, there is an old stone wall surrounding the entire place with an oversized wrought iron gate. Through the gate, I can see an intricate garden with stone sculptures and some wooden figures. The ground has started to turn a more dismal color as winter approaches yet the brightly colored leaves of fall still lie atop that barren earth. Rather strange, the grass outside my manor still seems to be growing strong. Beyond the garden, at the end of the past, which gently curves past trees, is a towering villa. While it only stands at the normal two stories, it is rather imposing. It seems to almost be reaching towards the sky, although that is likely an illusion caused by the darkened clouds covering the sky behind it. I will now enter through the gate, farewell for now, Journal. Volume Two: Part 3 October 24th I have just returned from Archibold¡¯s. That was quite a discussion we had, there is so much to unpack. I cannot wait to pick apart the tentacle that I found, but I also need to write out what transpired while I was talking with Archibold. The first thing that happened when I entered through the front door was that I was greeted by a maid, who directed me to the parlor, and also a sweet old cat, which rubbed up against my legs. The cat¡¯s long, thick fur was a deep yellow, as bright as the bell around her neck. Inside the parlor there were two couches and a table. The shelves all along the walls were crammed full of books and there were books piled on every available surface with stacks as high as ten books for the thicker novels and forty or fifty for smaller handbooks and almanacs. The maid left to fetch Archibold and I sat down on the smaller of the two couches. The cat leapt up onto the couch and sat next to me, purring loudly as I scratched her neck and back. After a few minutes, Archibold entered the room and made his way to the other couch, deftly moving his large frame around the piles of books. He smiled at the cat as he passed and told me ¡°Bella likes you.¡± Now I must admit I do prefer Bella to my own cat, who refuses to curl up next to me. The warmth of her body against my hand calmed my excitement from finding that tentacle and helped me shift my focus from what was in my bag to the man sitting in front of me. I have yet to properly describe Archibold as of yet, but I also have failed to get a good look at him up until this point. He has a bulbous nose and a thick beard along the sides of his face. His beard has faded to white, while the hair atop his head, although thinning, has stayed grey, with flecks of black still here or there. Archibold has drooping bags under his eyes and seems to have a sickly complexion, which contrasts with the sharp look in his eyes that is not normally present with someone who looks so weak, although Archibold does not appear weak, quite the contrary, he appears to be in great physical health considering his age. Overall however, Archibold was rather strange looking. I could not quite put a finger on what it was specifically what it was that was giving me that feeling, maybe it was the precise mixture of all his features. Archibold sat on the couch perpendicular to mine and we began to talk. We quickly set aside the pleasantries and, while I cannot remember how we got to the topic, our conversation quickly turned to Father. I will try to write out as much as I can of it, however we talked for a while, so I may remove the unnecessary parts. ¡°I used to be a lot like Edward.¡± Archibold told me. ¡°How were you similar to him?¡± I had asked. ¡°I was a businessman. Not as cunning as your father, certainly, but we are both self made men.¡± ¡°Self made men? Surely not! What about the money from my grandfather? Did my father not build himself up with the fortune provided to him by others?¡± ¡°That was only for a short time. Tell me, what do you know about your father¡¯s youth?¡± ¡°Not much. I know he lived in the same manor which I call home, but it is no longer his home, he has not lived there in nearly seventeen years.¡± ¡°So you do not know why he lived there? Your grandfather lived in London, afterall.¡± ¡°What? I did not know that. I don¡¯t think I ever even met my grandfather.¡± ¡°He didn¡¯t always live here. I once lived in London as well. I was their neighbor. The age difference of Edward to me is about the same as I am to his father. Your grandfather taught me all about business and it is thanks to him that I have what I have today, especially all my beloved books.¡± Here Archibold patted one of the books beside him. The smile on his face was one of fondness that I had rarely seen before. I could not quite make out the writing on that book¡¯s spine, but it clearly was of special importance to him. It sat on the table all alone, without any books above or below it. There was even space cleared out around it. Archibold paused, in thought for a couple moments, then continued speaking. ¡°Edward was exiled from his home in London because he refused to marry. It took your grandfather a great effort to come to a decision, but eventually he chose to send Edward away to a remote town at the foot of a mountain in Europe. He paid for a large chunk of property as well as a large manor, which had been abandoned and derelict. He had it remodeled, designed to confine your grandfather¡¯s shame. The day before Edward left, however, his father came to me in tears, the only time I have ever seen that man cry. He begged me to follow your father. To keep him safe during his isolation. He did not even attempt to hide his worry for his son. I could not refuse. The man who I owed my life to needed my help. I accepted. Using much of the money I had at the time, I followed your father and purchased this house. I have lived here ever since, and I have been intricately connected to your family ever since.¡± ¡°Wait a moment, please. What do you mean Father refused to marry? Did he not willingly marry Mother?¡± ¡°Yes, he did.¡± Archibold said slowly. ¡°Your mother was the daughter of a duke, Mathew. Your father was poised to marry into a very influential family, and was already the heir to a financial empire. Everything was going perfectly, but he was stubborn. He refused that life because it was chosen for him, and he did not love Eleanor.¡± ¡°Yet they got married anyway? While I am practically royalty, I am treated like a bastard son.¡± ¡°Eleanor¡¯s family does not even know of your existence, Mathew, but if you will listen I shall explain to you why you are living here and not in London. It was an arranged marriage, as you know, but to make matters worse, Eleanor¡¯s family was very insistent. She did not have as much value to them, and was the youngest of four sisters. There was a lot of trouble within her family and they wanted to get rid of her. Under the guise of a political marriage, they could get rid of the daughter that caused them issues, and this was the perfect opportunity. Three days after I arrived here, Eleanor arrived on my doorstep late at night, soaking wet and shivering cold. She was told that she could not return home until she married Edward, and Edward was told the same thing.¡± ¡°Well what caused him to stay after he married Mother?¡± I had asked him, but at that moment the maid who had shown me to the parlor entered the room once more carrying a tray and Archibold fell silent. The tray bore a silver tea pot and tea cups as well as many biscuits and tiny cakes. Archibold shifted the stacks of books around, combining several until he had made space on the table. The maid carefully set the tray down. Archibold thanked her then he handed her the book, covering its title from my view. He asked her to take it upstairs and she grabbed it, looked at the title, looked at me, and blushed faintly. ¡°I do not wish to discuss your parents any more today.¡± Archibold told me. The conversation then shifted to more mundane topics and I began to lose attention as Archibold rambled on about his favorite authors. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. I have not heard about most of what Archibold told me. Do I know if he is even telling the truth? Although, it does make sense that Father would be stubborn, but the way Archibold said it implied he isn¡¯t anymore¡­. Apparently Father lost everything when he was exiled here. But the implications of what happened to Mother¡­ I wonder¡­ no. Well, maybe¡­ I am starting to think that the book Archibold was holding onto has something to do with it. But still, Archibold is rather weird, no? First of all, the piles and piles of books, thrown about with no rhyme or reason. He appears to have no organization. Secondly, assuming his story is all true, he chased after Father at the behest of my grandfather. Surely he would have been able to live however he wanted, why would he want to live in a tiny town like this one? Especially for the past thirty odd years. And, more concerning, I have never met him before until Father came back. If he is so ¡°connected to my family¡±, shouldn¡¯t he have visited me at least once since Mother died or after Father went off to travel the world? October 24th I really dove into studying the octopus tentacle. It has been thoroughly taken apart. I will save the more gruesome details for my scientific journal, as well as the sketches of it. I will say, however, that it had quite a fascinating design. There are long fibers that run lengthwise inside it, and seem to be as strong as steel, I cannot imagine how it could have broken off from the main body. I have the entire thing stretched out on boards in my basement laboratory. I finally got around to adding lanterns in the corners for better lighting which made it easier to see what I was doing. As more time passes however, I am still thinking about what Archibold told me. It calls to mind the conversation I had with Father on the 17th of October. Why did Father stay here if he just abandoned me after Mother died? If he wanted to see me, why did he not come visit sooner? Why now? It is almost inconvenient, when he chose to show up. Perhaps I misjudged him. Maybe I should talk to Father about it. October 25th I have been thinking about that octopus monster. It is able to walk, right? This means that the tentacles are what make up its limbs. What is its body like? Most of its organs must be in the body, as it would be too exposed in the ¡°head¡± like a normal octopus. The strong fibers inside the tentacle makes me think that it is meant to act similar to bones, perhaps being able to stiffen, providing a strong structure for the surrounding muscles to push off of. This would result in a muscular and skeletal system that is able to become limp at a moment¡¯s notice, perhaps designed to reduce blunt force damage inflicted upon the body and limbs. I need to research octopuses more. Maybe Archibold has books on that subject. I will have to visit him tomorrow. In the meantime, I would like to try talking to Father about the events of yesterday. I missed him by perhaps fifteen minutes. I do not know where Father went, all I know is that he left the manor. I mostly just stayed inside today. I looked through my own library but my search proved futile. October 26th I started today by getting some books from Archibold. When I entered his house, I was once again met by the cat. She was resting upon the stairs by the door, as if expecting my arrival. Archibold¡¯s maid met me, rather than Archibold himself. I asked her for any and all books he may have on octopuses, to which she nodded meekly then began shuffling around in the parlor. I stood waiting in the foyer but after a few minutes of watching the maid search through piles of books, she invited me into the parlor turned library to sit while she struggled to find the books. ¡°Why do you want so many books on this specific animal?¡± she asked me. Naturally, I cannot tell her about what I have found. So I had to come up with a convincing lie. ¡°Just fascinated, that¡¯s all. I have never seen anything like it and when I read about it in one of my books, I needed to know more.¡± She smiled at me briefly before turning back to a pile of books and pulled out one. She flipped through it and then ran her finger down one page. She closed the book then handed it to me. ¡°Here you go. I think Archibold has a couple more lying around. Please wait a few more moments.¡± She said. ¡°These books should really be sorted.¡± I told the maid. ¡°Oh believe me, I tried.¡± She informed me. ¡°Archibold keeps getting more and more books, and doesn¡¯t put them away when he is done reading.¡± Archibold never struck me as the kind of man to do that. He has such an abundance of books everywhere that I assumed he simply ran out of space to put the books away, but if it is true that he gets more books on a regular basis, he must have a truly spectacular supply line of literature. I think the maid¡¯s behavior is a little bit odd. I cannot quite figure out what it is, but it almost feels as if she knows something that she is not telling me. Each person has their own secrets, I suppose. She gave me a few more books as well. The books were small and I imagine I could get through them rather quickly. Looking at them right now, the books are no more than 100 pages combined. After she gave me the books, I left and then proceeded to the town. In town, I began to ask around to see if anyone saw anything weird. The monster I have kept encountering seems to be all over the place. I went to ask if anyone else had seen anything strange. To my surprise, only two people had seen anything. A young man told me that when he had gone home last night, he encountered a beast standing in the road. He vividly described its eyes as piercing red, as if of blood and rage. He also described it as furry, which does not seem right. From what I have seen, the monster is not furry. Is there perhaps another monster running rampant in the town? Another man I talked to informed me of the disappearance of farm animals from the surrounding areas. I would suspect that this beast is eating it, as it seems to be some kind of canine. The man¡¯s description is very lacking, so I have little information to go off of. However, if what he says is true, then there are at least two monsters loose in this town. I must capture them before anyone else is able to! Another man I met, this time an older fellow, informed me of something that he saw. He told me that he saw a figure standing in the tree line away from the road at a section where it went around a corner. He was going on a stroll when he encountered what I believe to be the octopus monster. He described it to me as a shambling mass of arms and rotting flesh. He was scared, almost too scared to describe it to me. What he saw could explain why he was so reluctant to let me in, although he eventually relented and I was able to enter his home. It was his neighbor that told me that the old man had seen something strange. Talking to the neighbor¡¯s daughter, she told me that they often shared tea together, as her father was old friends with the old man, but that it seemed something had happened on his walk the previous day as when he returned, it was not quite the same. I have already described it as he told me, but that did not include the most important details. The man informed me that it stood on two legs. That shook me. I could not think of a single animal similar in shape to it that would be able to walk on two legs. The old man was certain that it was once a person. He described it as a mass of tentacles that had enveloped and devoured the human¡¯s body. Spikes and bones stuck out of its body, especially prominent around its shoulders and chest. He refused to describe the monster¡¯s face although I think I could guess what it may have looked like. It might have had a rotting appearance. I would imagine it is grossly disfigured in some way. I implored him to tell me, but he refused. After several minutes of arguing back and forth, the young woman asked me to leave. I reluctantly left the residence but not before asking her to refrain from asking the man what he had seen. It must have been something so horrifying that he could not bear to describe it again. What could it possibly look like? October 26th Upon further reflection, I think it is possible that the octopus monster uses the bones as a rudimentary skeleton, either using the bones of its ¡°host¡± victim, assuming there is a host, or maybe it scavenged materials from its surroundings, taking bones from dead animals or perhaps even using tree branches and sticks to prop itself up. I hypothesize that it has a twisting pattern of tentacles around the makeshift skeleton. Volume Two: Part 4 October 27th I was walking along the road today, perhaps twenty minutes away from the manor. I was deep in thought when suddenly the area around me became covered in fog. It was so dense, so thick, that nearly all light was blocked and I could barely see the stone wall to my immediate left. I expected it to dissipate as quickly as it appeared, for something like that at midday seemed most bizarre to me, however it did not go away. I wandered through the fog until I eventually exited it and, upon looking back, found it to be almost like a wall. I would hazard a guess as to it being dome shaped, but I could not tell for certain, as the wall of fog went up past the tree canopy above me. It was nowhere close to the position where those people told me to look yesterday, although I would expect it to move around. However, the implications of it being the same monster are disturbing. So far there has been no evidence of it making any noise, therefore a silent killer that hides in a cloud of fog that it creates itself is terrifying. Luckily for me, I did not encounter the beast. If I did, I, sadly, do not think I would have been able to capture it in my current state. October 28th I keep thinking about that cloud of fog. Like I said in my previous entry, a silent killer that hides in the mist is most definitely not something to be taken lightly. I should begin devising strategies to capture or kill it should I encounter it, or at the very least, be able to defend myself against its attacks, although I have no idea what it may be capable of, as I have obviously not seen it. This is certainly a conundrum, the biggest problem I would be facing would be visibility, and likely the second issue would be hearing. I cannot fix the hearing issues, as it would make sense that the creature has a way of severely limiting the noise it produces, which could otherwise give away its position. I will start thinking of solutions. October 29th I have come up with a potential solution. Well, more accurately, I have thought of many. From bringing many candles I can place down, to simply getting a large torch/lantern, and even to getting a suit of armor so that it cannot physically harm me, but that is very impractical due to many issues such as time to get the materials, having to walk around in it for many hours, and having even worse vision. No, I think the best solution would be to memorize the landscape behind me so that if need be, I can backtrack and attempt to lure it out in the hopes that it follows me. That solution of course has many problems, and would rely on several coincidences, but it is the best I can come up with. Furthermore, this is operating under the assumption that it will not ambush me while I am memorizing the landscape, it will not attack from behind, and that I survive the first attacks to be able to attempt to evade it in the first place. This is truly a fascinating thought problem. Maybe I could make a large fan to move the fog away from the area immediately around me? There are still many problems, the fog was so thick that I could barely see two feet in front of me. October 31st I saw it! Oh I cannot believe that I saw it. Dear god what have I seen?? I suppose it is not as bad as it could have been though, but still¡­ I do not think I will easily forget what I saw. What I saw¡­ I do warn you. The entire head seemed to be made up of a ball of flesh. It had spikes sticking out of it all over. The mouth, it did not have teeth, instead it had jagged pieces of metal and stone stuck in its mouth. It did not have lips, nor did it have eyelids, its eyes were just ragged holes, from which it exuded a purple glow. The purple color seemed almost to be leaking out of the eyes and mouth. The mouth stretched out like a sinkhole. I think it also had another eye on the side of its head, but I cannot be sure, and if it did, it is certainly different from the other eyes, as there is no purple glow. But that arm. It was missing an arm. In its place was a rotting stump. The smell. Oh, the smell was awful. It reeked of death and decay. Its arm must have been torn off by something, that was the piece that I found last week. Something must have torn off the arm. Simply catching it on something isn¡¯t good enough, it must have been another beast that ripped its arm off. November 1st Today Father told me he would be leaving again. I asked him why he would be leaving and he said that it was to try to find purpose. Purpose, I want purpose. Who does not wish for purpose and meaning? Well, actually I could answer that, those who already have purpose. There are a hundred different things that could give Father purpose and he chose none of them? ¡°Is there no purpose to your life here?¡± I had asked him. He told me ¡°not really.¡± Bastard! If he was here as a father, then he could feel a sense of purpose for raising me. He gets what he deserves. I asked him what he was going to be doing. He just said traveling.Traveling? I find it hard to believe that one could find purpose in their life simply by traveling. It is not as if he is going to meet someone special and start a family. HA! Could you imagine that? Have a second son he ¡°loves¡± more than me, and leave him too? The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Well, why did you come back?¡± I asked him. We were in the study and Father looked out the window without answering me. Then he turned to me and said that he wanted to see me. See me? After 20 years? And then he is leaving again? I am in disbelief. Since when has he cared about me? He has spent nearly every day whenever he has free time with Maryanne or drinking tea with Archibold. November 2nd I do not need that old man! I was fine on my own before, I will be fine on my own now! I do not care if he leaves or stays. November 2nd Father left early this afternoon. He was saying something about trade opportunities in Asia and something about taking advantage of new trade routes. Charlotte returned to the manor and helped him into the carriage before giving me a cold look and leaving. I do feel a little bad for firing her, but I must cover my tracks for now, I do not want it all to fall apart like it did before. This is all I have now, and it is all I have had for a long time. I have worked to maintain and build my life in my manor, away from most other people, I will not see it fall apart. If that means getting rid of anyone new here, so be it, it is a small price to pay. And besides, it is not as if Charlotte¡¯s life was destroyed, I paid her a sizable amount of money and she also still has her job at Father¡¯s house in Paris. Really, though? Trade opportunities in China? First of all, he just fought a war there, secondly, I doubt that was his primary motivation. I could see it in his eyes. That fury had rekindled in his heart. I suppose it is better than that emptiness which I was greeted with when he first arrived, but it is only a slight improvement. Now that he is gone, I can focus on monsters again with increased attention as well. I can finally focus on hunting that weird octopus monster. November 2nd What did I do today? It seems as if the day has just crawled by. After Father left, I went back to the forest, but I couldn¡¯t find anything. I spent hours searching in vain for something, anything, yet I came out empty handed. November 3rd The weather is turning colder and colder. I spent much of today inside, Maryanne insisted. She wanted to spend time together but she and the butler talked about nonsense. Gossip and whatnot. I just sat in a corner for much of the time, drawing sketches in my journal. November 4th Last night I heard howling coming from the forest. It was unlike anything I had heard before, except maybe that howl on the night I caught the horned owl. That was a remarkable creature, with its shiny feathers and pointy horns. I would like to see it again, it was unusually calm being around me and even stayed still long enough for me to get a detailed sketch. Remembering that creature puts a smile on my face. November 5th? What even was the point in Father returning if he is just going to leave again after a month? I feel he did that just to toy with me. Why? November 6th I think I saw the octopus monster again today. It was from a distance, so I could not see much, as it was heavily obscured by fog and trees, but it looked like it was feeding on something. Whatever it was feeding on appeared to be struggling, as the monster screeched and then I heard a snapping sound, as if of bones being broken, and then a gurgle, which cut through the fog like a knife. So clearly the monster needs to eat something to sustain itself, and is likely to regrow the limb it lost, but what could it be eating? I did not want to approach it so I just made note of the location and will return later. November 6th I returned later in the day, closer to evening, but all that I could see was slime and a large bloodstain. It seems the monster ate all of whatever it had hunted. I could find no clue as to what it could have been. Rather disappointing, isn¡¯t it? That could have been a perfect opportunity to learn more about it. I cannot believe I did not approach it. November 8th Today has been very worrying to me. A strange man approached me early in the morning. He pounded on the door with incredible vigor and when I answered, he demanded to know where the fire fox was. He was very strange. His clothes were covered in straps and pockets. He had a heavy coat on as well, which had a pocket sewn onto each arm, near the shoulder. A rifle was slung over his shoulder and I could see a sword hanging from his waist. There was gear and tools hanging from his belt: rope, bags, a cloth sticking out of his pocket. Heavy blacksmith gloves were tucked underneath a heavy pouch strapped to his leg. As he spoke, he pinned the brim of his hat to the side of the crown, allowing me to see his cold, grey eyes. ¡°The fox you found, I need one like it.¡± He said to me. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are talking about.¡± I responded. How did he know about it? No one should know it exists except the butler. Did he talk? No, he wouldn¡¯t. And besides, this man is not from here, I can tell by his deep tan. I reluctantly invited him in, for he refused to leave until he got what he wanted, and then excused myself to the kitchen, where I am currently attempting to think through the problem. How on earth did he know about the fire fox? Maybe I can play along for now, at least until I find out his motives¡­ Yes, I could get him to do something for me in exchange for giving him the fire fox. Maybe I can use him to help me capture the octopus monster, and if he dies, well that¡¯s one less thing to worry about. But first, I need to find out who he is. November 8th Griffin is a rather strange name, surely that is not his real name. Out of all the questions I asked him, nothing he told me really helped. I asked him where he was from and he told me he was coming from London. Preposterous! I know he is no englishman! His accent betrays his lie. I asked him why he sought out the fox, to which he said ¡°are you going to give it to me or not?¡± ¡°I know not where it is, but that is a problem for later,¡± I replied. ¡°Why do you want it?¡± ¡°I received a letter at my hotel seeking to hire my services.¡± ¡°And what services are those?¡± I asked him. ¡°Monster hunting.¡± Volume Two: Part 5 November 8th Monster hunting? So I am not the only one¡­ I would suspect he has been at this for a much longer time than I, he has clearly made a name for himself. If others know about the existence of monsters, must I really continue to enforce the secrecy I have been maintaining up until now? Should I not seek to accelerate the rate of my discoveries? I know monsters are not common knowledge, however, as so very few people know such beasts exist. I can use him. In exchange for helping me capture the monsters I have been dealing with for the past few weeks, I will supply him with the fire fox. November 8th It went better than I expected. I proposed that he assist me in capturing several creatures and offered him the fire fox in return for his help, and he agreed. Griffin seemed confused when I merely wanted to capture the monsters and not kill them immediately, but he still agreed to the deal nonetheless. He will be staying at the manor as I do not want to waste valuable time each morning traveling to meet up because I want to capture the octopus monster as soon as possible. That monster will, of course, be our first target. We spent most of the rest of the day discussing all I knew about it, as well as many of the other monsters I had encountered. When I described the appearance of the octopus monster, Griffin¡¯s already stormy eyes seemed to take on the appearance of a vicious thunderstorm. We began planning out what action we should take to hunt it down. Griffin also wished to inspect my equipment. I showed him the armored gauntlets I had made as well as my knife. Griffin expressed satisfaction with the knife then pulled a revolver from his belt and placed it in my hands. ¡°There will come a time when you need to use this to save your life, you will be grateful to have it.¡± he told me. Ridiculous. I doubt I will ever need to use it. Today has been very busy for me and I cannot wait to get some rest. November 9th How are we supposed to find the octopus monster? I have just been running into it occasionally over the past month, I cannot rely on luck to find it once more. It could take weeks to find it again, and I do not know if Griffin will leave at any time and search for the fire fox on his own. Griffin has suggested that we make a map to track its appearances. If that produces any decent results, I will be surprised, but I suppose we have no other options. November 9th I drew up the map and then Griffin and I argued about the map for several minutes. I noticed a pattern in the dots almost immediately, and eventually Griffin agreed to look where I predicted we should, instead of re-examining each place I had found it before. We leave in about twenty minutes, I must prepare. November 9th Well that was a failure. Taking into account the time of day as well as the environment and the previous pattern of appearance, I was certain it would be around there somewhere, but after nearly 2 hours of waiting, we had yet to see it. Griffin and I agreed to call it and began returning to the manor. Maybe about halfway to the manor, Griffin suggested we split up, which we did. He went to investigate the location where the old man had claimed to see the monster, as well as some other places where I had seen it. He ran back to the manor to get his horse while I went towards Lake Eleanor to think. What was I thinking? That was obviously not going to work! I have been comparing it to the time of the day as my watch tells me. How would a monster have any way of telling time, or even comprehending the concept of time? No, it would follow the pattern of the sun¡¯s position in the sky instead. I think I know where it may be! I will tell Griffin when we regroup later. November 9th Griffin had quite a tale for me when we met up back at the manor. The sun had already set by the time he returned, and he seemed quieter than usual. I asked him to tell me what happened, which I will write out below in its entirety: ¡°After I got my horse from the manor, I proceeded to ride into town. I went to the house you had described to me as belonging to the old man that had seen the monster. After brief deliberation, I instead chose to talk to the young woman who lived next door. I felt it would be more likely she would be able to answer the door and guide me to the precise location I needed, and was therefore a better choice than the elderly man you had talked to. ¡°When I knocked on the door, a man allowed me entry to talk to her after I explained my purpose for being there. He then introduced himself as Doctor Quincy Ernhart, the suitor of Miss Elizabeth Gransberry. He had just finished a check-up on his future father-in-law and, upon hearing on whose behalf I was there, offered to take me himself. ¡°We then set off at a quick pace, as the sun was beginning to descend towards the horizon, and before long had arrived at the location. I dismounted and searched through the underbrush and behind trees. Dr. Ernhart¡¯s breath was creating puffs in the cold air, and after several minutes, I told him I would take him back to town. He told me he would be fine on his own, but I advised him to not travel alone close to sunset and after dark, and he graciously accepted my offer to accompany him at least most of the way. ¡°When we were travelling back, he felt as if there were eyes upon the back of his neck, and he whirled around to stare behind him. I looked into the forest, scanning back and forth but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Dr. Ernhart and I returned to the house without incident and I turned around to go back to the scene. ¡°It was on my way back, however, that I encountered a strange beast. As I approached a bend in the road, perhaps no closer than 200 feet from it, I noticed the sensation of being watched. I could feel the distinct tingling running down my neck, the hair standing on end, and crucially, the hair just behind my ears was standing. That hair only stands when there are monsters nearby. ¡°I felt the air cool around me, and the light from the sunset faded. Darkness was encroaching upon me, enveloping me, as if attempting to smother me, and blot out all life. And then I saw it ahead of me. Two red dots, twinkling like stars, only bigger. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°I knew instinctively that it should be avoided, but it was ahead of me. In between the way back to the manor and the place I wanted to investigate. I made the decision to simply go straight back to the manor, but first I would have to pass the beast. ¡°My horse stopped, too scared to move. I could feel her shaking underneath me, so I calmed her with several pats and soft words while I looked out at the dots. The dots were glowing a deep red, almost akin to blood. The only light all around me seemed to be coming from those eyes. ¡°Making a decision, I unsung my rifle from my back and held it out ahead of me. I spurred my horse forward, encouraging her towards greater and greater speed. The trees flew by me on either side as I raced down the road towards the eyes. I heard a deep, rumbling growl and the eyes started moving towards me. As I approached the curve of the road, I fired directly towards the beast and I saw it fall. I flashed past it at incredible speed and, as I passed the bend, looked back to see the creature stand back up and take several steps after me before falling again. As it disappeared around the curve of the road, I saw it rise but not move. The light was returning all around me and I could see it for what it truly was, a great wolf, likely bigger than a bear, and easily twice as deadly.¡± That is certainly an interesting story that Griffin told me. I think I may have heard that monster howling at night before, and I wonder if the octopus monster had been fighting with the wolf monster, as it is possible that that was what caused its arm to be ripped off. Griffin and I discussed the wolf monster and went over what it was able to do again. Its presence resulted in abnormal change in temperature, abnormal behavior of light, and Griffin also reported a strange humming in his ears, which may mean auditory manipulation. This is in the realm of the supernatural, although that is not exactly new, the fire fox is a good example. For the meantime, I wish to focus on the octopus monster, I want to capture it before it gets into another fight with the wolf monster, and that monster has been my primary motivation for the past several weeks. November 10th Last night, after discussing the new monster with Griffin, we once again returned to talking about the octopus monster. I told him my plan and he agreed to look today. Unfortunately, we didn¡¯t find it, however we did find some slime and broken branches. It had been there earlier. Did we perhaps arrive too late? Maybe it had been there last night. After failing to find the monster today, Griffin and I returned to the manor where we began to discuss how to restrain it. Griffin has settled on driving spikes through its limbs in order to tie it up, as due to the slime, it would likely be able to slip out of the rope. I do like that idea, however it has the caveat of us needing to immobilize it in the first place to be able to impale it. I think perhaps the solution may be to throw a net over it. Griffin agreed and we spent some time preparing everything for tomorrow. November 11th Today was a failure again. This time we went to multiple spots to attempt to find it, but none of those spots were right. What could it be? This time there was no trace of it but yesterday there was. What made that location different? Surely I must have missed something. I feel as if we are closing in on it, and yet it is still evading us. This is infuriating. After we returned to the manor, Griffin went out to the spot had visited two days ago, and after several hours, returned to the manor and went to bed. I wonder what he found¡­ November 12th Griffin and I reexamined the spot where we found traces of the octopus monster two days ago. We set a large search radius and spent most of the day combing over the terrain. We did not find the monster, although that would have been highly unlikely to happen anyway. I think there was something different about that spot, but I could not quite figure out what it was. I suppose it must have been something about the landscape¡­ What could it be? It almost feels as if something is poking the back of my mind. Griffin has suggested another place to look. He has also insisted on leading the search tomorrow, which I have agreed with. It is a shame that today was a waste, but hopefully tomorrow will be better. November 13th Oh where to begin¡­ Griffin insisted on leaving early in the morning. So early that the sun had not even risen at that time. We have done nothing but sit in front of a cave for at least two hours. We are not even sitting near each other, Griffin is across the cave entrance from me. I am huddling under a tree right now. It is cold, it is wet, it is currently raining, and I am really bloody miserable. What is the purpose of just sitting here in the rain for hours? We didn¡¯t find it yesterday, we didn¡¯t find it the day before, why would today be any different? Why not take the day off? I could be spending today at home reading a book while listening to the rain pound against the windows instead of against my back while I desperately shield my journal from this atrocious downpour. It is my birthday damn it! I should not be spending it out here. My 24th birthday should be spent at home. Maryanne would cook me a fantastic breakfast and I would spend the morning sleeping in. As the time passes and I get colder and more tired, I cannot help but think about Father. I wish I spent more time with him. Why did he leave? And so soon, too. He was here for barely even a month before he left and why? Why did he even come back? I know he said he wanted to spend more time with me, I know he ¡°wanted to see his boy¡±, but he spent so little time with me. He spent a lot of time with Maryanne or with Archibold and seemed to have little time for me. So little time for his ¡°beloved child¡±. But why? Did I really mean so much to him, or did I really mean so little? Maybe if I had spent more time with him I could have gotten an honest answer. Why wasn¡¯t he honest with me? Does he not trust me? He is a dreadful old man but I miss him. I miss him desperately. When will I be able to see Father again? Will it be another year? Another five? I have no clue where he went, I would have to wait for him to come find Heaven¡¯s to Betsy! I actually captured it! I do not believe it! While I was writing away, I heard a twig snap. Griffin and I both looked up and locked eyes. He briefly nodded, then froze. As I watched, the monster stumbled out of the cave, stepping slowly through the sticks and rocks that we had placed in the entrance. As it moved, I heard creaking and scraping, as of branches moving in the wind and rocks rubbing against one another. Tentacles hung like tendrils from its body, swinging loosely. I could smell the distinct stench of rotting flesh. The monster paused and looked around. I could tell it was staring right at Griffin. Suddenly something came over me and I stood up and yelled. The monster emitted a loud shriek as it whirled around and began to take great lumbering steps toward me, shambling across the ground with deceptive speed. As soon as the monster turned its back on Griffin, he shot up and sliced off its head with his sword. Once the head was detached, the body¡­ fell apart. The head was still shrieking and writhing, and I could see where its neck should have been, but it did not have a neck, instead I saw the severed stumps of dozens of tentacles. The body, which as I said, fell apart, was made up of tentacles, and after we had scooped up the head into a bag, we began to examine the ¡°body¡±. We unraveled the tentacles and saw a rudimentary skeletal system made up of sticks and bones from other animals. We saw pieces of metal, antlers, even the occasional claw sticking out of various parts of the mass of flesh. Those had been the spikes I had seen before. It seems that the tentacles were twisting around the objects to form rudimentary limbs, using objects strong enough to bear the brunt of its weight. Griffin and I picked up as much of it as we could carry to take back to the manor and then set off. The bag with the head kept shaking though and I could still hear the occasional roar or shriek coming from it, so after a few minutes, we stopped and I struck the bag several times until I was able to silence the beast¡¯s head. November 13th The daylight began to wane, seemingly earlier than usual by the time we began to get close to the manor. I suppose we had stayed there longer than I thought. It does not matter, I suppose, as we got the monster anyway. We have accomplished what I wanted to, so now hopefully I can get Griffin to help me with the other monsters we have encountered. Once we got back to the manor, we deposited the creature¡¯s head into an iron cage in my laboratory and laid out the limbs/ tentacles on the table. In total, there were maybe 30 pieces. Some were longer than others, and there were a few that were very short, no longer than perhaps a foot and a half. I think I will turn in a little earlier tonight. Griffin and I have quite a task ahead of us as we attempt to piece the creature back together. After we celebrate my birthday, of course. Volume Two: Part 6 November 13th I feel as if ever since father came back, my whole world has been flipped on its head. Even though Father is not here anymore, my life is still rather different. Rereading through my journal, I was once so excited about potentially discovering a new subspecies of rabbit, but look at me now. I have captured a fascinatingly horrid creature, one born of land and sea. What''s more, I am on the verge of even more incredible discoveries. Just looking at the length of entries, the days leading up to finding that first beast were empty. Barren of excitement and notoriety. Even after I found the first few beasts, nothing really seemed to change. It was only later that I began to adapt. As I found more and more beasts, and even monsters, the length of my entries had begun to increase, and here I am now, with a detailed recount of the past few weeks, in strange contrast to my life before it all began. Is this a benefit or is it perhaps detrimental to me? I do not know, however one day all my meticulous note-taking will pay off, I am sure of it. One day I will get the recognition long since owed to me, and even more fame beyond that. I will one day hold the world in my hands, I am certain. They will call me Mathew the Great. Mathew the Beast Master! But... What about Father? I wish he could see me. Perhaps he will. Maybe he knows of my potential, but still why abandon me? I feel as if he has denied me the childhood I was owed. Afterall, he left me alone in the family manor, in the middle of a vast valley, enclosed with mountains, far secluded from any major towns. Growing up was not easy here. If he had been present, maybe I would have had a better childhood. Maryanne was by no means a decent substitute for my parents, and with Father gone, much responsibility had fallen onto her shoulders, and then onto mine. Did he have the decency to even throw any of his copious amounts of money at the problems to make them go away? Barely! It was as if he had forgotten about me for much of the time he was away. Bah! I am merely making myself mad at this point. It would do well to simply put my journal down and turn in for the night. Griffin and I have a long day tomorrow of picking apart the body of the octopus monster and piecing its pseudo-skeleton back together. November 14th Griffin and I spent almost all of the morning piecing the skeleton together. It was rather hard to do, as there were lots of gaps between the bones and branches. Griffin and I are now taking a break for lunch before we get back to work. Once we finish eating we will begin connecting the tentacles. I also would like to collect some of the slime in a jar to experiment with later. It is a rather incredible structure of tissues and muscles. I find it fascinating how the body would be able to function without proper joints. Although, that does explain the shambling gait when the monster walks. I am beginning to wonder what sort of optimizations could be done to improve its movement, but I suppose that kind of daydreaming is pointless. I need to finish eating and get to work. I also find it fascinating that the light is still emanating from the orifices of the beast¡¯s face. What is causing the light? November 14th Bloody hell!! Griffin and I returned to the lab and began working on the monster¡¯s limbs. One of the arms was stuck on a slab of wood, so I went upstairs to get an axe, as my knife would not cut through it. I returned and we severed the tentacle from the piece of wood, revealing a piece of metal wedged into it. The piece of metal was like a spike, impaled into the wood. It was unlike any of the other numerous spikes that had been in the monster; we had a few with us to compare it to. It was as if it had been launched at the monster by something else. It had penetrated the tentacle and pierced deeply into the wood. While Griffin and I were arguing over what could have done that, I heard creaking and snapping from behind me. I whirled around in time to see the cage be torn apart, shredded in fact. The monster had regrown its limbs. Not to the length it had been at before, in fact the tentacles were rather short. It had ripped the cage apart, and was sliding towards us on the floor. Its shiny, short tentacles pushed it with incredible speed towards us, and it shrieked and shook. The glow in its eyes became more intense as it grew closer and closer. Suddenly it launched itself into the air towards me and I dodged to the side. It landed on the table, knocking off most of our work, and then it began to almost¡­ reform with some of the loose tentacles. It turned towards me, scrambling over pieces of paper and debris laying on the table. But then Griffin embedded the axe into the back of its head. The monster stopped immediately and all of the tentacles went limp. The glow in its eyes also began to fade. The monster was dead, and Griffin had killed it. I looked at him, and he looked happy. Not just happy, he looked ecstatic. There was vindictive wrath etched in every line of his face. His eyes were alight with fire, burning more intensely than Father¡¯s ever have. He took the glove off his right hand then pulled the axe out of the monster¡¯s head and proceeded to plunge his hand into the innards of the head. I heard a violent ripping sound then Griffin pulled out what was unmistakably the monster¡¯s heart. He dumped the heart into a jar and stuck a cork into it. ¡°Why would you kill it?!¡± I roared at Griffin. ¡°And why did you remove its heart after you killed it?¡± ¡°It was only temporarily dead. It can regenerate given enough time, unless you take out its primary heart.¡± ¡°Primary heart?¡± ¡°Yes. Octopi have two hearts. This monster is much the same, just adapted to life above water, although in a rudimentary way.¡± ¡°So why did you kill it? Why not just trap it somewhere? We could have studied its ability to regenerate!¡± ¡°It is more dangerous than you realize,¡± Griffin told me. ¡°It could very well have killed you just know. It is not a monster to be trifled with. One wrong step and you would be dead right now, do you not understand that!¡± ¡°I could have stabbed it.¡± I said, sheathing my knife, which I had been holding since the monster had jumped at me. Blast it! I could have learned so much from that monster. What causes its eyes to glow? Can it survive underwater? There are so many questions that I have. It must be connected to octopuses somehow, but how on earth would it get all the way out here? What do I do from here? If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Well¡­ I suppose I should get back to work. While the creature is now dead, I can still examine it, I can take apart the ¡°head¡± and see what its internals look like. November 14th I opened up the creature and what I found was most bizarre. The creature lacked reproductive organs, as well as intestines. It was very odd. The stomach did not seem quite right either. I would guess that it has a highly efficient system for digestion. There were three eyes on the head. Two of the eyes were front facing while the third was on the side. There was also a liver and one kidney. The limbs had more things inside them. The construction was very bizarre. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. I have dissected many creatures in my time since I was a young lad, but this has to be by far the strangest creature. November 15th I need to get back to hunting the monsters. There is a lot I need to do though, including setting some rules with Griffin. I will not allow him to kill any more monsters unless I say so. I am wondering as to which monster I should aim to capture next. I am beginning to think that I should have more armor of some sort, as the wolf monster is rather large, at least according to what Griffin told me. Additionally, the only knowledge I have about the fog monster is that it somehow creates the fog which surrounds it, although it is possible that the fog was completely unrelated and was not caused by a monster at all, but I doubt that. I have no way to justify my certainty that it exists, so I suppose I should aim to capture the wolf first, as I doubt Griffin would be as willing to help me attempt to track something that doesn¡¯t even exist. Perhaps I should look into a heavy leather chestplate of some kind. I will need something that is more resistant to bites, which means I would likely want to reinforce it with metal. Of course, I should think about decreasing weight, that goes without saying. Additionally, I should try to design something that is easy to make, as I will have to make it myself, as well as do any and all repairs to it. Maybe only a few metal pieces on the chest will be sufficient, as that area would be hard to bite. I will add metal shoulder plates, though, as well as something to protect my neck. Both of those areas are more vulnerable and I should take care to protect them. Especially because if my shoulder gets injured, it would make it very hard to capture the monster. I will once again need to acquire the necessary materials, which should not be too difficult, although assembling it may be challenging or time consuming. November 15th Griffin and I have made sketches of the armor and we will begin construction once we get materials from town. Griffin has neglected to make one for himself, he said he had something better but refused to show it to me. I don¡¯t really care anyway, because whatever material it is made out of must be hard for me to come by, as it is almost certainly not from near here. I would imagine that Griffin has some sort of armor underneath his clothing, as it is not visible from the outside. I did begin working on shoulder pieces with scraps of metal that were laying around. I have a very basic ability to shape metal, as I have little more than an anvil, hammer, and forge, so it took a while to shape the metal. Even though it was quite cold today, I warmed up quite a bit, and rather quickly, while hammering the metal. By the time I reached the end of the first plate, I was wearing little more than my undergarments and an apron. When I use the forge to make something, it sometimes reminds me of someone I once knew. Back in 1832, it must have been, when I first met him. He was a scrawny kid, no more than two years older than me, but he could swing a hammer all day. He was the one that really taught me how to use the smithing tools. Most of my very basic knowledge was taught to me by him, and what little more I do know, I was able to figure out from what he taught me. It is not as if I had much else to do at the time, so for a few months, I worked at it very consistently, but after that he one day went missing. I didn¡¯t even know anything about him so I thought he just went somewhere else or something, I¡¯m not sure what I thought had happened. But now, I am thinking that it may have been a monster. No, it must have been a monster. That was twelve years ago that he went missing, so there is no way I would be able to find out what the reason was. That mystery is best left alone, I suppose, as dwelling on it would only waste my time and energy, which would be better used on the current tasks at hand. November 17th I am almost done with the chestplate. I did run into an issue where I was unable to tighten it around my body, so I eventually went with a corset like design, with laces in the front which can be tightened, and then the laces are tied underneath the metal part of the chestplate, which folds out to the sides. From that point, the metal pieces are folded back in and held in place, being attached to each other by a strip of leather. I also added significant padding to the back, so that it can easily support the weight of a loaded rucksack for extended periods of time. I do not expect to need to use a rucksack very much right now, but it will certainly be useful eventually. That will make carrying supplies around much easier and could allow me to spend longer amounts of time in the forest or just away from home in general. Additionally, the chestplate is built to go over padded cloth, which will keep me much warmer during the winter. November 18th I have completed the chestplate and shoulder pieces. I was thinking about the wolf monster while I was working and I have come up with several questions that I wish to answer. The first question is how did it get so big? A creature of such size would certainly possess a tremendous appetite. I have yet to find any news of livestock disappearing, so it must either have another source of nourishment or it has not been in this area for long. Out of the two potential answers, I am more intrigued by the first one, as I would like to know what its diet consists of. Secondly, I must ask myself how I plan to capture the beast. If it is truly as large as Griffin says, and I have no reason to doubt him, then it will be difficult to capture and control. There are many traps that I could make but most are for prey of much smaller size. And, of course it goes without saying, but any traps I could make are stationary and depend on pre-existing knowledge of where the creature will likely appear. This made me begin to think that perhaps I should be looking into ways of hindering its ability to move: ropes, nets, injuries, and poison. Or, more accurately, venom. Many snakes possess venom that induces paralysis when injected. If I can figure out which kind of venom to use as well as a means of delivery, I could easily capture the monster. The most obvious method would be a bow and arrows, but that would take a considerable amount of skill which I do not possess. Instead, I am leaning towards the use of a crossbow. Using a crossbow would solve that issue, as well as having several advantages over using a bow. It would simplify aiming and I could have it loaded so I could be ready to use it at a moments¡¯ notice. The bolts used for crossbows are smaller than arrows, making it less cumbersome to carry around. A crossbow is also smaller than a bow, so while it is a little bulkier, it would take up less space which would be more beneficial to using in an environment such as a forest, where there are lots of obstacles. I have quite a collection of snake venom. I have always been rather fascinated by it. I have several samples from North America that could be useful, particularly because of the size of the monster and potency of the venom. November 19th What was I thinking! It is not as simple as just putting venom on the end of an arrow! The venom would need to be inside of the projectile otherwise most of it would be removed by the elements before it is able to reach the animal. Additionally, if I am hunting something with fur, like the wolf monster, then the fur will likely wipe away some of the venom. If I did have the venom be inside of the bolt, it would need to be administered somehow. Instead, I should look into making a sort of paste that can be applied to the end of the bolts. Then, when it sticks into an animal, there is a better chance of it getting into the animal. I will begin working on making a crossbow while Griffin turns the venom into a more usable form. It could take several days to make, but Griffin has agreed that this is a good starting point to capture the monster. I will only be able to make a crude crossbow, it will not be very refined, but that will be good enough for now. I will need to make it to a certain standard though, as I do not want any damage to occur when in the forest. Volume Two: Part 7 November 21st The crossbow is finally finished. I made one that actually looks decent enough. I am also confident that it will maintain its integrity, so I am now ready to begin hunting the beast. Griffin and I have managed to make a sort of paste that dissolves when it comes into contact with liquid, so that solves the venom problem. We can now begin hunting the monster, but where do we begin? The best course of action would be to start at the place it was last seen, however Griffin spotted it nearly two weeks ago. I doubt we would be able to find any information about it from that location. How should we go about doing this? November 21st A lot of time is wasted each day between getting ready in the morning, setting out, and coming back. If I could spend the night out in the forest, it would cut down on travel time and allow more time for me to look for the monster. Maryanne would likely not like this idea¡­ I would also need to be careful to have someone awake at all times to keep watch, so it would not only be necessary to be with Griffin, but also Alastair. Oh but the weather! If only it was not winter! The weather has been unfavorable lately, which requires staying inside at night, or even for the entire day. I may have to change course and attempt to find another monster, but no matter what I do, my efforts will likely be in vain. November 21st I have spoken with Griffin about this and he has agreed to spend as long as it takes to find that monster. I suppose I am paying him, so he loses nothing, however I still wish to find the monster as quickly as I can. It may take until spring to see results. That is the worst case scenario, but it is still a possibility. Griffin has written a letter to a man named Lawrence Sullivan. The man who hired him, I assume. We will begin looking for monsters soon, perhaps tomorrow. November 22nd Uneventful. Nothing out of the ordinary happened. Although, what is ordinary now? It feels odd that nothing is happening. November 23rd We have covered quite a large area and nothing has come up. I think maybe we need to be looking at a different time of day. When Griffin had spotted the monster, it had been dusk, but now due to the weather and dropping temperature, we are returning to the manor well before nightfall. Maybe it is possible for the monster to be nocturnal. Tomorrow night Griffin and I will begin searching for the monster in the forests. Hopefully the weather will not be too bad. November 24th The weather was not unbearable, but it was by no means pleasant. As the sun began to set into the sky, a small dusting of snow began to float down on top of us as we set out. It was rather enchanting, almost. The golden rays of light piercing through the barren trees and dancing through the misty snowfall. It was strangely beautiful to me, as I reflect on it now. It is bizarre. Truly bizarre. I feel vaguely melancholic and nostalgic but what for I could not say. Something feels so dreadfully familiar about all this, although none of it is new to me, I have lived here my whole life. So why does it feel like this is so dear to me? Perhaps it is the sleep deprivation¡­ I will explain what happened tomorrow. November 25th I had a dream about something that happened many years ago. I could not have been older than 4. It was an old memory of my mother. She was holding my hand as I walked toward the forest. The snow was falling just like it had been last night. The light shining through the trees, the misty quality of the snow in the air around us, it was all so similar. Dreams aside, I should explain what had happened yesterday. As the sun began to set, Griffin and I set out to search the forest. After a short period of time, Griffin lit a torch to light our way and we continued to search. The temperature was dropping as the night progressed, so we were on the verge of returning home when we spotted a paw print on the ground in the fresh snow. After quickly searching around, we were able to find a few more. It did not seem to have a particular direction in mind, as it seemed to just be wandering. We were following the tracks as best we could given the low light but we kept losing the trail. We made it perhaps 30 feet before the tracks ended entirely. Rather unfortunate that we were unable to continue, but small progress is better than no progress. I am fairly certain that the tracks were from the monster. But it was when we were returning to the manor that something bizarre happened. I only just remembered it right now, because I hardly even believed I saw it. We were walking back to the manor when I heard a branch snap behind me. I turned around and something seemed to flicker in my vision. For a brief second I could have sworn that I saw a tall, pale being standing before me. It had a feathery mantle around its shoulders that looked almost like wings. It was as if I was staring into a void as I looked into its inky black eyes. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Then I felt Griffin grab my shoulder and I blinked and turned towards him. I told him that I must be feeling tired and we went back to the manor without incident. That was very strange and I still doubt it was real. It must have been a trick of the light or something similar. November 25th Today I went to Archibold¡¯s house in the late morning. I then had to stay there for quite a while because it had begun snowing very heavily and I wanted to wait it out. It was rather interesting, we discussed theology and angels. Personally, I find it quite strange that there are angels above us that watch everything we do and keep score. Archibold has a fascination with other religions, something that he spoke extensively about. It was a rather interesting conversation, as the hindu gods that we discussed seem absolutely bonkers to me. If I ever were to believe in a religion, it would likely be that one, as I have found some rather bizarre creatures recently. I am warming up to Archibold a little bit. He is rather intriguing to me. He knows so much about so many different things. Certainly his knowledge is because of his large collection of books. I still find it hard to understand why he would travel nearly 500 miles to live here, but I am starting to see how kind he is. After it stopped snowing, I returned home. Griffin and I decided to not go looking for the monster tonight, as it started snowing again soon after I got back. We will maybe go into the forest tomorrow night though. November 26th Regrettably, I have had to delay going into the forest by another day. November 27th We went back into the forest at dusk and stayed out for maybe four hours. We went deep into the forest, travelling for at least an hour, before we heard the chilling sound of chains dragging on cobblestones. Naturally, there was no such infrastructure nearby, so it was very odd. I slowly followed the sound for quite a while and we followed it to a section of the forest I had never been to before. This was in one of the more rocky parts of the landscape, on the slope of the mountain. The monster could be hiding in any one of the many crevices and small caves. If I had known that this was here, I would likely have searched here much earlier. Wolves have dens in caves and burrows just like that area. I will return there tomorrow and search in the daylight with Griffin. November 28th Today was quite a day. I left with Griffin in the morning, approximately three hours after sunrise. If my theory is correct about the monster being active during dawn and dusk, it should have returned to its den by that time, which it did. We hiked for well over an hour to the location where we set up markers dividing the terrain into sections. We systematically searched through each section at a time until I spotted a mass of fur inside one of the caves. At that point, Griffin and I retreated a distance and we set up a plan. We would lure out the wolf, at which point I would shoot it with my crossbow, paralyzing it and allowing us to investigate it. It did not go as planned. We shouted and produced quite a ruckus, which roused the beast inside and then waited for it to come out. After a few moments, we heard growling and clanging of chains and I saw its red eyes peering out of the darkness of the cave. The plan started to go downhill when that darkness spread outward, closing in around my peripherals, enveloping Griffin and the forest around me. It then charged out of the cave toward me and I let loose an arrow which flew straight into the monster¡¯s open mouth. The paste on the arrow began to dissolve and froth as it mixed with the putrid saliva in the wolf¡¯s mouth. I hurriedly reloaded and fired a second arrow into it, hitting somewhere above the left shoulder. I could not tell because of the dimming of my eyes. The beast kept running towards me, however and I tucked and rolled down the hill, while I heard the crack of a rifle. After I tumbled maybe 30 feet, I looked back and watched as the beast collapsed less than ten feet from me. I ran up to my pack and pulled rope out of it, which I then used to tie the limbs of the beast together. As I was doing that, Griffin found his way over to me through the darkness, which had not abated, and began helping me bind the limbs. Suddenly I heard the sound of chains behind me and I whirled to see another wolf, about the size of a fox, charging towards me. It leapt at me almost as soon as I noticed it in my limited view and I thrust my arm in front of my face. It clamped down onto my arm, attempting to sink its teeth into my flesh, but of course I had my armored gauntlets. The tremendous force knocked me back and as I stumbled, I fell backwards over the body of the bigger wolf on the ground. I fell onto my back and in the same motion, flipped the wolf over my head onto the ground. I then pulled an arrow from my quiver and plunged it into the monster¡¯s side. It howled but continued thrashing. It was still latched onto my arm though, so I vigorously attempted to shake it off, while also grabbing it with my other arm to prevent it from getting away as it stood up, violently tugging my arm away from me. Griffin tackled it and it finally released my arm, so I stood up, grabbed some rope laying on the ground, and then attempted to tie it around one of the thrashing legs as Griffin wrestled with it. I finally managed to tie the rope around one of the front limbs and we then rolled it over so that it was upright. I then looped the rope around the neck of the wolf, bringing the leg up to its head, and tied it to the other leg. Griffin and I sat back, breathing hard, and watched as it attempted to move around, whimpering and snapping at the rope with its mouth, but it couldn¡¯t reach. Gradually, the venom began to take effect and we watched as its movements slowed then stopped completely. Now that we could stop and breathe, I say that the eyes of the smaller wolf were more of a yellow. The fur was shaggy and loose, with an unhealthy appearance. Making a decision, I pulled out my knife and plunged it deep into the animal¡¯s breast, slaying it so it would not develope in the monster that lay behind me. It was a pup, I knew at once, and the offspring of that horrid monster. I was amazed by its sheer tenacity. That huge wolf, easily the size of a bear, had taken a gunshot like it was nothing, as well as two arrows, one of which went into the roof of its mouth. I do not know if the effects of the venom will last, so we quickly doubled up the ropes around it and began preparing to drag it down the hill towards the manor. We decided to leave it in the clearing close to Lake Eleanor, as it would be bloody mad to bring it any closer to my home, but even so, we would have quite a ways to transport it. But then, I heard a whimper. It was so faint I was scarcely sure I heard it, but then. There! I heard it again. I will go check it out. Volume Two: Part 8 November 28th As I walked away from the monster, the darkness lifted around me. I cautiously followed the timid and fearful whines back to the cave. I lit a tinderbox before entering the cave, at which point I saw another pup. This one was so small, so frail compared to its mother, it must have been born less than three months ago. I once again pulled out my knife and held it above the creature¡¯s head. It wailed pitifully, unaware of what was about to happen, just seeking the comfort of its mother. A cold wind blew into the cave and the pup shivered, crawling forward towards the heat of the flame. At once, I changed my mind, I am not quite sure why, and I sheathed my knife and scooped up the pup. I carried it out of the cave and placed it in my rucksack. It fit easily, for it was no bigger than a cat, and we had already emptied most of the pack, which had contained the rope we were using as well as a few other useful items. Griffin and I then retrieved the markers we had placed throughout the area and lashed them together with sticks to make a rudimentary sledge to pull across the ground. The markers we had used had been specifically chosen for this, as they had a slight curve at one end, but we were not able to make a big enough platform with just the metal markers, as the beast was too big. After we made the sledge, we dragged the monster onto it with much difficulty and then Griffin hoisted the dead pup onto the sledge as well, while I shouldered my pack. We then departed towards the manor, dragging the wolf monster behind us, but it took quite a while due to the decreased vision and the weight of the beast. It had taken perhaps an hour and a half to reach that point, it took well over four hours to return. Once we reached the clearing, we unloaded the sledge, dismantled it, and drove the metal bars into the ground around the monster. We then tied down the beast so that if it did regain use of its limbs, it would not be able to move. After that, I revealed to Griffin the second pup that I had found. I told him that it was young enough to not attack us and he almost immediately saw where I was going with this. I wanted to raise it and train it so that I would have such a powerful beast as an asset. He agreed that the potential use we could get vastly outweighed the current relatively low risk. After all, it was so small and so weak, that if we could not properly train it by the time it had reached the size of its sibling, we could easily kill it. We then returned to the manor with the pup where I then had to explain to Maryanne that I wanted to keep it. She agreed very quickly with little convincing though, likely do to the pitiful state of the creature. I have set up a bed for the pup made up of ragged furs and old scraps of cloth. I put it in my bedroom to enforce connection between me and it. I then fed it some scraps of meat, which it quickly ate as if it were starving. I am wondering if this pup is so small due to malnutrition. Wolves typically do not give birth to pups in the early fall, so this one must be older than it seems. I have a hypothesis that I wish to test. I think that the mother grew to such size due to the amount of food present in its diet. The monster is very new to this area, which means that it must have been driven out of its habitat by some external factor, perhaps it exhausted its food supply, or began to be noticed by a town or city. It then travelled deep into the mountains in an effort to protect its pups, but the town that I live in is very small and there was not ample food. Then the food that it was able to get went towards the stronger pup, making it get bigger and stronger while the weaker one only grew weaker and its growth fell off, or even ceased altogether. There must be something bypassing the natural size inhibitors of animals which is what allows the wolf to grow to be so big, if I feed the pup enough, it should be able to return to a healthy size within a matter of months, which will also help train it to obey me as I would be the source of its food. I must admit I am shocked by how quickly I found that monster, although I suppose it does make some sense. The size of this valley is not incredibly large. There is considerable distance between the town and my manor, but by that I only mean about a mile or two. I have not travelled throughout much of the valley in some time, not since I was perhaps eighteen years of age. I have much preferred to stay at home than to wander idly in the town. My section of the valley is enclosed on three sides by tall mountains so once I explore it, that¡¯s all. While the area contained within that section is quite large, it is still easy enough to track beasts given enough time. I suppose I just got lucky. November 29th I started off today by feeding the pup. I noticed almost immediately that it has developed habits for peeing and pooping. I spent much of the morning trying to get it accustomed to the manor, meaning that I was carrying it around, letting it smell things and poke around. When I was close to the door, it whined, seeking to go outside. I let it out but after it finished its business, it returned to the inside of the house, wanting to get out of the cold. Maryanne set out some toys for the pup in the living room and I went on my way with Griffin to the clearing. When we got to the clearing, we saw that the wolf was still there, restrained in the ropes. When we approached it, the shadows began to appear in our vision. I covered up its unnerving eyes with a length of fabric and the darkness disappeared, so I suppose it must only be able to do that when it can see you. One thing that I wanted to get to the bottom of was what caused the clanking of chains as it walked. We examined the paws of both the mother and the dead pup, and eventually we noticed that if we even touch the claws, it can make the sound. It does not do it all the time though, I think it is something that the monster is able to control, as no sound came from the dead pup. We did notice, however, that some of the claws on the front legs were incredibly sharp. Looking at my armor again, I can see where the claws dug into the metal on my gauntlets. I decided to detach a couple of the claws from the pup to make a trophy necklace, and after I carefully wrapped them up, I put them in my pocket. The fur of the beast is very warm. Even the dead pup has retained some of the warmth from when it was once alive. The fur was much thicker than that of the pup at the manor, so that would explain why that pup is so cold, it is not developed enough to protect it from weather. Griffin and I quickly skinned it and stored the fur so we could use it later. Now the question remains, what do we do with the mother? It is a liability, so I suppose we should dispose of it. There is not much more that I can learn about it, so I suppose I should keep the claws and fur, which I could use in the future, and I can cure and/or cook the meat and either eat it or use it as bait. If I want to feed the pup enough to make it big and strong quickly, I might run out of food for the winter, unless I use this as another source of food. I will not make the pup it the flesh, that is too barbaric, but I have read some fascinating recipes for wolf meat before, that could be fun to try. I will store most of the meat to use as bait. I can turn it into jerky which will last much longer. I will do that then return to the manor, there is not much else I can do. December 3rd It has been four days since my last entry. Nothing really happened, I just stayed at the manor to bond with the pup most of the time. I decided that she is going to need a name, so I named her Shadow because of her mother¡¯s ability to make shadows in my vision and because her fur is black mixed with very dark brown highlights. Speaking of fur, her fur is looking much better. I brushed her, cleaned her up, and gave her a collar. I have been feeding her a lot, especially as rewards for tricks, and she has already gained a few pounds. I set up wooden blocks and began teaching her to knock the blocks over when given a command word. It will take a while before she learns how to do that though, but she is slowly learning to listen to me. Griffin has also been here, bonding with the pup. He seems to really enjoy the pup. I think he may have had a dog at one point in the past. He has been playing with Shadow for hours each day. It serves three purposes: emotional bonding, training fighting instincts, and strengthening her. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. I also have finished with the mother. We have been curing the pelts, which is hard due to the size, but it should pay off. The fur, once properly cleaned, is incredibly soft and light. Isabella has been fixated on Shadow¡¯s coat. December 8th Nothing is really changing now. Griffin and I have gotten into a routine of curing the pelts and training Shadow. Shadow easily eats as much as I do at each meal yet she is only a fifth of the size. We also feed her at every meal that we eat, so it is about the same as an entire extra person eating with us. I have set up cabinets inside the walls of the hallway to my laboratory for extra storage. Shadow has a habit of poking around, so anything dangerous, like my snake venom collection, has been moved down there so she doesn¡¯t come into contact with it. I also gave her one of the bones from the octopus monster and she was absolutely delighted. We are settling down for the winter snow, which will arrive in a couple weeks and can last well into February, with a peak in January. We will be confined to the manor for much of that, as the snow can reach as high as eight feet or more. Although, it does melt rather quickly. We have been preparing for it. I got quite a supply of books from Archibold and have gotten a lot more food to compensate for Shadow¡¯s appetite. December 12th The pelts have finished curing. I am slipping into my old habit of not writing in my journal. When nothing of note happens, it makes it hard for me to, well, make note of anything. Shadow has gotten bigger, she maybe weighs close to 30 pounds now. Her training is going well. She has learned most of the basic commands like sit, roll ever, and fetch, and she has even gotten good at knocking over the stacked blocks. I trained her to obey the command word ¡°Destroy¡± for that. She is having problems with Stay, though. Whenever I walk away after giving the command, she runs after me. My plan is working, she is becoming very attached to me. December 14th The books that I got from Archibold were interesting. I read about a Snow Fox Queen. It seems rather similar to the fire fox that I found, only with cold instead of heat. It is said that wherever she goes, she is followed by ice and snow. Winter snowstorms have been attributed to her presence. When she descends from the mountain peaks, snowstorms quickly follow, and disappear just as quickly when she returns to her home atop the mountains. It was a very interesting tale because while it is connected to the fire fox, the effects on the environment are much more profound. If such a creature does exist, it would likely be impossible to capture, as the snowstorms she brings are supposedly very severe. December 15th Griffin and I talked at length about the past. It stemmed from asking him why he has spent so much time playing with Shadow, to which he told me that he used to have a dog. I questioned him about it and after some hesitation, he told me that his family had a dog. It all makes sense to me now. The violent reaction to the octopus monster, the perpetual cold look in his eyes, the revolver that he gave to me. ¡°I had a wife, a daughter, and two sons. One day when I returned from work, I came home to find the door ajar, and when I looked in I could see the bodies. The blood splashed on the walls and pooling on the floor. I saw a monster in there, devouring my dog. And then what I saw next horrified me. I could see the marks on its body, the desperate attacks from my sons and dog as they tried to fight it off. Broken chairs, bent and shattered knives, pieces of debris littered all over the room. And as I watched, those wounds began to heal. As the monster ate the flesh of my dog, each bite caused it to regenerate the damage that my sons had done to it. It was then that I noticed my daughter lying on her side under the coffee table between me and the monster. She was petrified in fear and clutching a wound on her side. She saw me and cried out then her eyes widened in fear as the monster turned towards her. It extended one of its limbs toward her then a large spike shot out and impaled her, killing her instantly. I yelled and began attacking it, but it also began attacking me. I desperately grappled with it, intent on killing it, but it had the upper hand. Finally it managed to wrap some of its numerous tentacles around my neck. As I was slowly suffocating, I managed to reach into the drawer and pull out a flintlock. It wrapped its arms around mine, trying to prevent me from firing at it, but I was able to twist my arm and just barely land a shot into the head. After that, it fell back and, in pure rage, I ripped its head apart with my bare hands. ¡°After that I didn¡¯t know what to do. My family had all been killed by the monster. I looked around at the carnage and then decided I couldn¡¯t stay there. I set out into the world with no more than the clothes on my back and the sword at my hip. I found a way to get by doing odd jobs and being muscle for hire. One day I was tasked with defending a convoy from marauders along a mountain road. It was a small convoy, and they could only afford two mercenaries. When we were up there marching along the edge of a cliff, we were attacked by a griffin. It killed the other mercenary but I was able to kill it. When we reached the bottom and delivered the goods, people took notice of me. I abandoned my old name and took the name Griffin. From that point onward, I became a monster hunter. I made it my job to kill any and all monsters before they could harm humans.¡± Griffin¡¯s tale was quite sad. I would never have imagined such a thing happening to him, but now he makes more sense to me. I was even wondering why he would be willing to stay here for so long, but if I am providing him with a place to stay and a warm meal, why wouldn¡¯t he stay? Especially during the winter, when the snowfall would prevent him from leaving the valley. How many people¡¯s lives have been ruined by monsters? How many families torn apart? December 18th The snowstorms are finally setting in. The snow stacked so high up that I was once again able to use the second floor windows to exit outside. It is positively freezing out here. The wind blows with malicious howls whenever I leave the manor. Lake Eleanor has frozen over, not that I was able to find it, the snow piled atop the ice was just as deep as everywhere else. Today I hiked to the place where we had found the wolf monster and climbed the slope. It was very slow, and my hands were shaky by the time I reached a large outcropping. I brushed the snow off of it and sat there for a while before I pulled out the spyglass I had brought with me and peered through it. I was looking for anything that might stand out in the landscape. I didn¡¯t see anything, though, so after some time I climbed back down and returned home. It will be another month and a half before the snow begins to melt. There is quite a lot that I should be doing in the meantime. I can fix equipment and clean it up so it looks better. I cannot believe that in three months, I have not yet added mirrors to my laboratory yet. I planned to place mirrors in the corners to reflect light into the middle of the room. Oh! I forgot to mention that I found a weird seed up there. I took it home and it is now stored in a drawer for spring. December 20th The past two days I have been spending equal time upgrading and renovating parts of my laboratory and the manor. I added hooks into the ceiling to hold tools and lamps. There is not much to talk about, we slip into a pattern of the same routine over and over without change each winter. The only difference now is that instead of daydreaming about finding new species of small critters, I imagine all the different monsters I may one day find. I keep imagining capturing writhing masses of flesh and bone, feathery piles, or any number of other monstrosities. Who knows what may happen in the future. I cannot wait for the snow to thaw, as soon as the change in weather begins to herald the coming of spring, I will be right out there in the forest looking for monsters. December 21st I sought Griffin¡¯s knowledge on the places he has found monsters and something rather shocking came up. He said that the valley I call home has the highest presence of monsters he has ever seen with one exception: the area surrounding the Aegean Sea. I found it rather odd that he suggested this valley has an abnormally high volume of an already abnormal class of creature. What about this area drives monsters towards here? Where do the monsters come from? Maybe in the future I should travel to other hot zones in the world to see if there is anything in common. December 25th We celebrated Christmas today. We did not do anything else really. January 1st It is the new year. The start of 1843. I am growing restless, waiting for the snow to melt. That is strange, last year I was content to stay within the confines of my home, even my room, for months, but now after little more than two weeks I grow weary of the wait. Well, I must admit I am still rather happy, it is just a vague fatigue. I have more than enough to occupy me, between the work I am doing around the manor and playing with or training Shadow. Volume Two: Part 9 January 23rd Shadow has gotten much bigger. She is approaching the size of a bloodhound. Our food stores are beginning to run low, it looks like. As her size increases, so too does her appetite. February 4th The thaw has come early this year! The snow has already shrunk down to almost half its height in the past three days. Within a week, it will have melted more than enough for me to spend significantly more time outside. February 8th I went to the town today to buy some supplies and when I was returning I once again saw that strange bubble of fog. It was off of the side of the road, enveloping trees. After a while, the bubble disappeared and I went to look at the area. I saw marks in the snow. The tracks left behind were of two different creatures. I would say one of them was a hare, but the other was unrecognizable. It looked like there were 6 toes on each foot, two in the front on each side and two in the back, one on each side. There were hints of claws poking into the ground in between the front toes and it looked like the creature had jumped from the ground onto its prey, the hare. There was a scuffle that left erratic marks in the snow. I would guess that it took maybe three hits for it to kill the hare, because of the jump marks on the tracks and the resulting skids through the snow. I also found that there were many spots where the tracks abruptly ended and started somewhere else, but I was quickly able to figure out that it had been hopping between branches. I tried to follow the trail away, but I lost it fairly quickly. If I remember correctly, that was in a similar place to the previous time I encountered the fog bubble. Maybe the creature capable of creating that bubble doesn¡¯t leave that area much? How am I going to capture it? There are several problems that I can foresee. The first is obviously the lack of visual information. It is a much more intense obscuration of vision than the shadows that the wolf could induce, so I will be limited to just a few feet around me, or less. The second issue, in conjunction with lack of vision, is the creature¡¯s agility. I have already seen evidence of its ability to jump between trees and branches, using the terrain to get a drop on its already disoriented prey. I immediately was thinking that I could use Shadow¡¯s nose to find it in the fog, but she is not trained well enough yet to take into the forest for hunting monsters. Once her abilities fully develop and I have trained with her thoroughly enough, it will be an invaluable asset to have. It would be exceptionally reckless to send her into the fog without knowledge of what the monster is capable of. Griffin and I will have to do it ourselves. I am thinking we could plant torches in the ground once we enter the fog. That way, we should be able to at least illuminate the fog enough to notice the creature moving in front of the lights. I will bring more things to use to capture it, such as a net. If I can spot the creature and throw the net over it, it would not be able to evade us as easily. We spent the rest of the day organizing what we would do. We still have a lot of work to do tomorrow before we are ready to proceed. February 9th We have prepared pitch for torches and made a few obstacles to hopefully impede the beast. Griffin helped me practice throwing the nets for several hours today, and I am confident I will be able to snag the beast. Now we just have to wait and see if we can determine a pattern of appearances from which we can guess a possible location to attempt its capture. If I remember correctly, it has appeared near the same place twice. We have also prepared contraptions that create a lot of noise and have attached some bells to our equipment so that we can make noise that will hopefully disorient the monster February 10th We did not find the beast today, however we did find marks on trees that were consistent with what I found before. February 11th *have another dream memory, something when mathew was about 6 or 7 maybe February 12th Griffin and I set up barriers today and yesterday. The barriers are planks of wood, about 4 feet by 5, set upright with brackets for torches. We did not place the torches in the brackets, nor do I plan to. The barriers are set out in a vast perimeter. We have felled a few trees, cleared away branches, and drove spikes into other trees. Our goal is to reduce the number of potential escape routes that the beast could use. This way, it will be much more likely that we are able to capture it. The perimeter covers perhaps four times the area of the immediate location of past appearances, as we have not yet determined a concrete pattern. To help maintain the effectiveness of the perimeter, we have made it easy to get in by leaving what are effectively steps to get in but having the inner side of the barriers be smooth and, when possible, angled inward slightly, resulting in increased difficulty finding purchase to climb it. I hope the barriers are tall enough to block the beast, but it is unlikely. We still have much of the perimeter to finish, so I am planning on using the terrain to our advantage. It will likely be a few more days until the perimeter is finished, or we could strategically approach from the opposite side of the target area, driving the beast towards the perimeter. February 14th If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. When we were setting up the last of the barriers, early in the morning today, we became enveloped in a thick cloud of fog. We were near the edge and were able to quickly exit it. At that point, we raced to set up the torches. Griffin and I had no way of telling if the cloud would shift when the creature moved, I am assuming it would not, but it is possible that the beast can make multiple clouds of fog, so we had to proceed with caution. Not knowing where the center of the cloud was, not where the beast could be, we began to slowly work our way through it, setting up the torches and tossing out nets periodically. It was slow work, visibility was terrible, and it only got worse the deeper in we went. The torches sputtered and died out the farther in we went, so we had to resort to simply leaving glowing embers near the ground around dangerous obstacles that we came across. We kept having to run in and out of the cloud to resupply on torches, we could only carry a few at a time, but it helped that a section already had torches set up, just needing to be lit. It was a long process, and I kept thinking that I had spotted it, but I kept being wrong. There were swirls appearing in the fog, as if something had walked through it, but I could not see anything. We were trying to drive the beast towards the barriers but we kept having to circle back through the section we had left open to sweep for signs of the monster. We consistently found nothing though, which was a good sign. After quite a while, we had eventually combed through the center of the cloud and worked our way towards the edge, near a section of barriers. The center of the cloud was by far the hardest, I could hardly even see my shoulders or chest. We essentially had to manage by feel and feel alone. Not even the embers would stay ignited in there. And the smell, it was horrible. A putrid stench was slowly seeping through the cloud, settling in my nostrils and choking my lungs. The stench was attached to disgusting black smoke, which you would think perhaps would make it easier to find the source of the smoke, but it did not. I was positively gasping for air by the time I had gotten into a section thin enough for light to penetrate and reveal the smoke. I reached out to Griffin and pulled him close. He had tied a cloth over his mouth and nose and I could hear him breathing deep, even breaths, contrary to my own experience. I told him I would run out of the fog for a quick breather and he yelled back confirmation. I then proceeded to jog as fast as I dared, wary of obstacles, towards the edge, while at the same time leaving a trail of rope behind me to follow my way back to Griffin. It was at that point, when I was reaching the edge, that I began to see movement in the fog. I gave the rope three quick tugs to signal Griffin and then raced after it. I had spotted the monster, but what a horridly disfigured beast it was indeed. It was frantically running away from some unseen foe, leaping between trees and weaving through the obstacles we had set up. The obstacles were indeed slowing it down, and I got a good view of its face and body. Big ears, a bulbous nose, and beady little eyes on its face. It had sharp claws at the end of its flabby arms. It was covered in hair, or should I saw, it had been at one point, as there were patches ripped out and bleeding scratch marks along its side. I threw the net, snagging the beast as it attempted to scramble over the barrier, and dragged it towards me as Griffin raced out of the cloud behind me. We quickly bound the beast and retreated back towards the manor, after deciding that it had likely been avoiding something. We went to Lake Eleanor and set down the monster. I bandaged the oozing wounds on its side so that it would not die and then tied it around a tree with a length of rope. With it leashed in place, but still with some room to move, we gave it a bowl of water then retreated to observe it. Up until this point, a second cloud of fog had not yet appeared, but when we approached it, after we gave it the water, another cloud of fog appeared. It was smaller than the previous one, and certainly not as dense, but that gave us quite an interesting bit of information. Somehow, the monster is able to turn water into vapor at a significant rate. It has to be pulling water from somewhere around it because the water we gave it, while certainly very large in quantity, was not nearly enough to make a cloud that large. Furthermore, the fog monster is able to somehow heat up the water enough to turn it into vapor. It must be something with its internal organs, perhaps something similar to the fire fox? Tomorrow I will return with Griffin and examine it more, as we need to take down the barriers and torches. February 14th We have removed many of the obstacles and barriers. By the time we had returned, perhaps about 4 past noon, the cloud of fog had dissipated. It took quite a while to pack everything back up, as we really set out quite a lot of material, but we eventually managed to do it. I also found the tracks of the monster on trees and in the dirt, but that is nothing new, I suppose, that was how we tracked it, after all. I also found footprints. Those were likely just Griffins, but the tracks were weirdly positioned. Nothing to worry about, I suppose, we were stumbling around blind for a long amount of time. February 15th The monster is dead! I went back to the lake this morning because I wanted to test how long it takes for the cloud to dissipate, but when I got there I found the rope snapped and the corpse of the monster laying perhaps 20 yards from the tree I had tied it to. Something had killed it, but what what? What I thought were claw marks on its side instead seem to be the result of some sort of blade. Not Griffin¡¯s cutlass, the cut was too messy to be done by a refined material such as steel. February 16th Shadow has gotten quite big since I first found her. I think I am able to start increasing the intensity of her training. I think I will start doing long distance sprinting and prey recovery with her. Hopefully I will be able to train her to not kill the target, as I have already instilled an attack command into her quite deeply. February 17th I was training Shadow today when she noticed something in the forest and chased after it. I did not see what it was that she had been chasing and when I reached her, she was standing on guard looking at something off in the distance. She looked confused and whimpered quietly. I saw nothing there though. February 18th I went back to the lake today. I have not seen any evidence of what killed the monster since that day. Nothing seems to be out of the ordinary, rather disappointingly. I think I will go to visit Archibold today, I have not seen him since before the winter. February 18th Archibold is as obsessed with books as ever. He gave me several books on Norwegian and Swedish fairy tales and stories, insisting that I take them. Nothing really extraordinary happened today. February 19th Once again went back into the forest today. I am hoping to find something interesting, perhaps a sign of what that monster was that injured that other monster. Wow that was totally not confusing at all, I need to create names for monsters. February 20th Something interesting, I did find. I found splotches of blood. I have no idea what it is from, but the blood is thick and goopy. It is a dull black, lacking the luster or shine that blood usually has, which would make me think that it is not new, except it is. It is fresh blood. Whatever could it be from? Volume Two: Part 10 February 26th The past 5 days nothing has happened, so I felt no need to record anything, but today was interesting. That blood that I found in the forest nearly a week ago, which I failed to find a source for, has appeared again, and this time in larger quantities. I have found what appears to be either a hotspot in the beast¡¯s movement, or the location of a significant event. Perhaps it fought with another creature here, or maybe it has a den nearby. I will get Shadow and have her track it. February 26th Saying Shadow was angered by the smell of the blood would be an understatement. She was absolutely enraged by it. She was positively dragging me through the forest, following its trail until eventually led us to a large tree in the forest. It was at that point that I noticed, above a branch of the tree, the slow dripping of blood onto the ground. The source appeared to just be a small slash in the sky, like a floating twig or leaf maybe, but then Shadow barked and it moved. A whole area on the branch seemed to shift. It was as if the air there was shifting around it. I removed my crossbow from my back and quickly took aim, before firing at the strange creature. I call it a creature now, but at the time I had no clue what it was. The arrow flew through the air and embedded itself into nothing, and then that nothing fell to the ground where Shadow latched onto a part of it with her powerful jaws. I got cut several times while tying rope around the monster, and I did not know what was cutting me, so we decided to drag it back towards the lake. The monster thing cut through the ropes several times while we were making that journey, but Shadow¡¯s jaws were clamped around that beast like it was her favorite bone, so we were able to successfully take it to the lake. We threw sand over the rippling mass and it was then that the shape of the monster was revealed. It had a large blade affixed to what would have been its right forearm, which we then tied down and I attempted to break. We could not break it with the rocks at the lakeshore though, so we moved onto examining the rest of it. I ultimately decided to kill it, as its transparent skin would be a major bane on any attempt to capture it. If it were to get free, we could have no way of knowing, nor of knowing where it went, so it would be best to just kill it now. After we executed the monster, I returned to the manor to get a saw and we then broke off the blade of the arm. It is not very refined, certainly of a lower quality cutting ability than the weapons and tools that can be created in town, so repurposing it has no value. Instead, I think I will keep the blade as a trophy and put it up on the wall in my bedroom. I briefly had the thought of taking the beast¡¯s skin to turn into a cloak which could hide me from view, but stripping the smooth scales causes them to turn a dull black, losing their power. I find it rather strange that the scales possess their invisible properties while still connected to the dead body and lose it when disconnected, but I am not a monster biologist. February 28th Archibold¡¯s maid came to the manor today weeping. She was inconsolable and it took many minutes before she calmed down enough to ask me to follow her back to his home. Griffin and I, suspecting something was wrong, brought Shadow with us, who has proven herself quite capable through the events of last Sunday. When we arrived at Archibold¡¯s house, we found him dead on the doorstep. I immediately noticed the cruel, twisted shape of his limbs, the broken door, and the bleeding eyes. His face was covered in marks, as if lightning had arced through his body, starting at his eyes and running down his neck. The maid described to me how Archibold had opened the door to go for a walk when he began to scream. His screams of horror had turned to pain and then fallen silent. The maid had arrived from the kitchen in time to see him convulsing on the ground, his mouth frothing and his eyes literally burning out of their sockets. She was traumatized, the poor girl, so I offered to let her stay at my manor while we found the source of his death. She packed up a few items then returned with Griffin to the manor while I stayed with Shadow to investigate Archibold¡¯s death. I am disgusted. This attack was obviously by a monster. Something much worse than anything I have seen so far. What a horrible way to die. Looking for tracks had no results, nor was Shadow able to sniff out anything. The only smells in the air were charred flesh and broken wood. I was still looking for something, anything, when Griffin returned and gave me a small nugget of information: she thought she had heard something like a hiss earlier that day, but she could not be sure. After Griffin returned, we covered the body and began searching around the house. That was when we saw a wake of destruction extending along the ground and into the forest. All the plants were withering away or burned, killed or destroyed. We followed the trail of burnt and withered plants when we eventually found a little tortoise laying on its back near the path. Griffin flipped the tortoise over and we saw something very strange. Each section of the tortoise¡¯s shell was something else. One was a patch of water, one was a rock. Most were simply views of the trees. It was like each section was a window to somewhere else. I reached out and touched the shell, expecting my hand to go through, but it did not. I was met with the familiar texture of turtle-shell. I put the creature in my bag and we continued on our way. Griffin and I followed the path for as long as we dared, not finding anything, until we eventually decided to turn back and try again tomorrow. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. It was one the way back that I noticed a rock that looked familiar. After stopping and thinking for a moment, I remembered that I had seen it on the tortoise¡¯s shell. We then looked around for a while before we spotted another tortoise nearby. This one was similar to the first, with each section of its shell being a window to something else. I then put two and two together and figured out that the shell sections are connected somehow, and looking through one allows us to see out the other. A quick test confirmed this as well. I have named the creatures Scrying Tortoises and have them at the manor with me now. I should really be resting, preparing for the investigation tomorrow, but I am fascinated by these tortoises. I wonder if it is only light, or does sound go through the shells as well? No, I don''t think so... March 1st I was examining that bizarre tortoise, looking into the different sections of shell, when one caught my eye. Most were simply reflections of the sky or trees, but one looked to be inside a nest. The interior of the earthen den was filled with bones and loose skin. As I watched, a huge snake came out of the darkness and struck whatever I was looking through. The shell section on the tortoise I was holding turned dark and green, but not before I was able to see one of the snake¡¯s eyes. My eye erupted with pain as I leapt back from the shell of the tortoise. Stabbing pain radiated through my head, as if pierced by a thousand spikes. The pain descended down my body and I began to convulse as I fell to the ground. The world was distorting around me. I could feel my heart speeding up more and more, thudding in my chest. The creaking of the floorboards rose to a deafening cacophony. Lightning was arcing in my still open left eye. I know not what happened next, for my consciousness began to fade, overcome with pain and distortion, so I will now recount what Griffin told me. Griffin was standing beside me rummaging through a drawer when I fell to the ground and began to violently shake. He told me my left hand was still extended in front of me, as if still holding the tortoise, while my right arm had curled into my side. He said I began to gurgle and shriek as I thrashed on the ground. Thinking quite quickly, he ran and retrieved from my jar of venoms the rarest sample I have. I do not even know what creature it came from, but it is a powerful, albeit temporary, neurotoxin. He poured it down my throat and its effects began to take hold, paralyzing my body and stilling the convulsions. He looked at my face and saw my left eye was wide open, with streaks running back and forth across its surface. He grabbed his canteen and dumped its contents on my eye. He then took bandages and began to extend my arm, which had become cruelly twisted at my side. He then rolled me onto my side and poked a hole into my neck with his knife. He told me he was attempting to remove blood from my brain by doing this, and that doing so would slow my bodily functions, preventing whatever had come over me from taking effect. It certainly worked, as I am here now writing about it, but it seems a bizarre way of healing. I imagine that was the creature that killed Archibold. The manner of his death lines up quite well with what I experienced. I believe he saw the monster¡¯s eyes with both of his own, whereas I only saw it with my left eye, and through a medium at that. This raises a truly horrifying question: how do I plan to kill it? I must skip right past capture and go straight to killing as this creature is deadly simply on sight, so I will not be able to study it while it is alive. It must be something about the eyes that give it such deadly power, so I will need to kill it in a fashion that prevents me from looking at it. March 3rd It took two whole days for my eye to recover, but once it did, the recovery progressed rather quickly. While I have been out of commission, I have been thinking of ideas of how to kill the monster. The short answer is fire. If the monster is in its den, just rain fire down upon it. How to do that, I began to wonder? Well, with alcohol, of course! Highly flammable, add some pitch and tinder, put it inside of a container that can break apart, add a wick and all that is left is to light it and throw. While I have been at home recovering, Griffin has been hard at work. He took care of the body, as well as cleaning up the scene of the death. My vision in my left eye, while it has recovered significantly, has not completely healed. My left eye is incredibly bloodshot right now. I can hardly see out of it because everything is blurry. I will get a monocle, but I do not know if that will solve the issue. March 4th My vision has mostly cleared! I will still need the monocle, likely for the rest of my life, but I believe I am ready to begin avenging Archibold¡¯s death. Speaking of Archibold, his maid gave me a present today. She said it was a book that Archibold wanted me to have, but he could never bring himself to give it up. It is wrapped neatly in paper to protect it, and has a delicate bow wrapped around it. I told her that I will look at it later, I have too much work to do right now, preparing to slay the monster, so I put it in my desk drawer for safe keeping. Griffin and I will start preparing weapons and mixing the material for the fire bombs. March 5th It took a whole day to get ready, but we are finally ready to go on the attack. March 5th That horrible beast is dead. We killed it today. We followed the trail it had left behind for quite a while. Anticipating this, and considering the weight of all our equipment, we used horses. Shadow was able to keep up with the horses with relative ease and we eventually found places where several paths of destruction converged. It was not long after that when we located the monster¡¯s den. It was a large chasm in the ground, littered with bones and debris from fights and feeding frenzies. I think the monster likely emerged from a sort of extended hibernation recently and that is why there have been no other attacks reported. Griffin and I then set up a few barriers to stay behind and then lit the wick on one of the bombs and tossed it in. The glass jar shattered near the mouth of the hole, dripping flaming fuel into the den. Griffin then lit more and more bottles while I tossed them into the hole. After what felt like hours, but was likely only a few minutes, we tossed a few grenades into the hole and then waited for the fires to die out. The grenades were old, but still worked, the fuses getting ignited by the fire inside the den and then exploding. After that, we buried the entry to the den with a mountain of dirt, which took a while to shovel, and then we returned home. March 7th We had the funeral today. First Father left, now Archibold is dead. I cannot believe he died barely a week after I talked to him. There was so much I wanted to ask him. I had so many questions about Father that I wanted to ask him after our conversation last month. His maid will be going back to her family. She is taking his cat with her. Archibold listed me as an heir in his will, I will need to take care of his estate. I''m running out of space in this journal, this will likely be the last entry. I feel¡­ empty. I don¡¯t know what to do now¡­ Volume 3 Announcement Howdy guys. I will be uploading sporadically. I want to upload more, but I have only written 6 more chapters. Volume 3 currently has 15k words, and I am aiming for 35k. As any long term readers know, I like to upload about once per 2 weeks when uploading a volume, and have an unfortunate habit of retconning stuff so then I need to go back and rewrite. I stated before I was going to not be a dumdum by doing that, yet here we are again. I do not know if I said this in one of my previous announcements, but I am training to be a firefighter. Right now, in between studying for EMT school and registering for fire academy in Alaska, I am also applying to my dream department. It is certainly a...fun process. On top of that, I have been recovering from my second bout of COVID, so I had to put school work above writing in my already limited schedule.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! It is quite sad that I currently only have a backlog of 6 chapters, but I am going to upload them over the course of the next few months. Unlike last time, when I only had a rough outline of the plot, I actually have everything properly planned out. It is just a matter of writing it down, which is always slow going. I am also thinking about starting a twitter (X) account, or an Instagram account to share behind the scenes stuff like character designs and funny notes. please let me know if any of yall would be interested, in the comments. (It also helps with interaction and the algorithm or whatever) Cheers Volume Three: Part 1 March 24th It is a good thing I ran out of pages in my journal recently, I have had to start this one again. I have only lost about 3 weeks of information to water damage, which I will quickly summarize here because what those weeks led up to was most fascinating. It all started when Griffin and I began searching for a large bear that he told me he had seen. I was unsure as to what its abilities may look like, I still do not know. When he saw it for the first time, he noted the archaic markings on its fur. It was covered in strange symbols, arching lines of red and orange. It had taken us several weeks to try to capture it and the closest that we got was today¡¯s attempt. I had gotten it to chase me through the woods, lumbering along at a quick pace, but I was still managing to outrun it, when I tripped and stumbled. I righted myself before I fell to the ground and continued sprinting away from the beast, but in my brief confusion, I missed the turn in the preorganized path we had laid out. By this point, I was running out of energy and my legs were growing tired. I had been steadily ascending a slope for the past three minutes of running and I had failed to notice that I was at the wrong place. I was sprinting as hard as I could, looking at the ground below my feet, when suddenly I burst through the edge of the trees and began to fall. I had unknowingly ran over the edge of the cliff overlooking Lake Eleanor and was then falling towards what I imagined was my inevitable death. I hit the water and plunged like a knife down into the depths. The sudden impact had shocked my body and my already exhausted legs refused to kick. As I was looking desperately up at the sun on the surface of the water, while my lungs screamed for air and the world slowly narrowed around me, something swam in front of the light. I saw a flash of scales and wavy ginger hair floating through the water, cutting through the fading color palette around me, and then suddenly with great force, I was thrust out of the water and landed on the shore. That was the clearest, crisp air that I had ever felt in my life as I coughed water from my lungs and vomited onto the sand. I looked back at what had saved me and saw, to my horror, a scantily clad woman poking out of the water. She had long, dark red hair, which clung to her shoulders and neck, and had strange markings all over her face and arms. The markings looked to be scales and as I stared at her, some of the scales emitted a flash. She looked at me, puzzled, as if expecting a response and I watched as that confusion turned to worry and then she suddenly whirled and dove beneath the water. I rushed to the edge and looked into the water but I could not see her anywhere. I was fascinated by her. A woman in the lake had saved me and then descended into the depths of the water. I am equal parts intrigued and disgusted by her. Her attire is very inappropriate, yet setting that aside, she has been under the surface of the water for well over 20 minutes. No human can hold their breath for that long, which means this woman must be able to breathe somehow while under the water, which means she is not human. And if she is not human, that means she is a monster who has taken the form of a human. And if it is a monster, then I want to capture it and examine it. Maybe open it up and see how it is able to take another¡¯s form? I hardly have any clue what it could be, but one thing is certain, it is bizarre. March 24th I have regrouped with Griffin and it seems Shadow has restrained the bear. We examined it but could not find anything out of the ordinary. Weirdly, the marks on the bear¡¯s fur were just paint. My gear is soaked. I am lucky I did not lose my monocle. March 25th It seems there are stories about aquatic creatures called mermaids, which have been spotted all over the northern seas. Stories tell of charming maidens luring fishermen to their demise and feasting on their flesh. This makes one thing certain, regardless of if this monster is taking the form of a human or if it is in its natural form, it is a monster and should be dealt with accordingly. The strength with which the monster tossed me out of the lack was immense, any attempts to capture or subdue would likely be in vain, but I do have one thing going for me, it did not immediately attack me. If the stories about bloodthirsty mankillers are accurate, why did it not drown me and eat me? I suppose the only way is to capture it and dissect it so that I may get a clear understanding of its diet. No, that would not work, what if it is unaware of the taste of a human? I did not know how good salmon tasted until I tasted it, the same must be true for that beast. Additionally, if it is indeed a mermaid, how on earth could it have gotten here? March 26th I went to the lake today and dove into the water. It was incredibly cold, I must not have noticed how cold it was. That beast must not get cold easily, its clothing is¡­ minimal, to say the least. This is only the second time I have ever actually been in the lake. Aside from the cold, it was not unpleasant. The lake goes very deep, easily reaching 40 or 50 feet down at its deepest point. I might have spotted the mermaid a few times out of the corner of my eye, but I''m not sure. I think it''s following me around, watching what I am doing. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. I could not hold my breath for very long, so my dives were limited to about 4 minutes at a time, heavily limiting what I was able to see. The center of the lake is perhaps the deepest part, and I am not able to see what is there. There is a sort of structure hidden below the waterfall. I would have guessed it to be a rudimentary shelter, but that doesn¡¯t quite describe it. I did not get a good view of it, which was rather disappointing. March 27th I planted that weird seed today. I stumbled across it in one of my dresser drawers this morning and decided to plant it by the lake. Nothing of note happened. Griffin went to the lake and dove into it a few times. I then went back to the manor but Griffin stayed at the lake for a while. It is almost as if reality is catching up to me. For the past few weeks I have felt... I do not know how I have felt. I do not feel like myself at the moment. I do not know what to do with myself. It feels as if a great calamity has befallen me. Perhaps Archibold¡¯s death is affecting me more than I thought it would. I have avoided great physical injury for so long, and with such ease. Why did Archibold¡¯s only run-in with a monster have a fatal end? One day he was here, the next he was not. Luck has been on my side for now, but for how long will fortune be smiling down on me? How much can I do, how far can I go? I have decided to make the most of my time, for I truly have no clue how long that time might last. Tomorrow, or maybe the day after, I will attempt to capture the mermaid. I will not stop there. I will seek out more monsters to examine. These monsters, this knowledge, is surely God¡¯s gift to me, and I will not squander it. No, I dare not refuse such opportunities, for I have no idea when this might all go away. When the day will come when there are no more monsters in the land, when there is nothing new to find. I fear for when that day shall approach. If then. If then, what shall I do with my life? What shall I do to pass the time? These monsters are all that I have, what will replace their presence in my life? Should that time approach, I will need to seek out some other distraction. I can only pray that day never comes. March 28th That Scrying Tortoise could be very useful to me, but I will need to test out a few things first. Which is what I did today. The first thing I did was more closely examine how its shell seems to work. I started off the day by tracking down one more in the forest, not too hard to do. No more than a single section of the tortoise¡¯s shell is linked to another individual, each section connects to a different tortoise. This of course must raise the question of what is linking them together, but that is not a question I will be able to answer right away. Interestingly, actually, I found two scrying tortoises today. The second one that I found is not linked to any of the other tortoises that I have, so it is of no use to me, but I have still decided to keep it nonetheless. Tangent aside, what I proceeded to do was place one of the creatures in a dark room with Griffin and I held the other out in the sun. Griffin told me that there was significant illumination, but not nearly as bright as the sun. He compared it to the fireplace. This is incredible! Light that goes in one shell is able to come out the other without losing too much brightness. It is like a tunnel, or a window? Of course, I am calling it a scrying tortoise because it brings to mind the act of seeing something in a stone or crystal. I would say I doubt it exists, but I am no longer 100 percent certain. However, I am still fairly sceptical. Anyways, if I could make a pocket of air under the water, I could take one of the tortoises with me and have a light source to see deeper. I found from the snake monster that when one of the tortoises dies, the connected scutes go dark. This necessitates keeping the tortoise alive while it is underwater, thus the air pocket. Blast! I cannot think of any way to get an air pocket below water. The main problem would be buoyancy. Any sort of container that could trap air would require an incredible amount of weight to keep it submerged, something that I am not capable of doing. What is happening? That is strange, why am I writing out what I am thinking? Where am I? I am in a basement. There is a table in front of me with some sort of creature on it. It has a blobby appearance. It is gross. Disgusting. The torchlight hurts. Oh lord, my head hurts. I have to get out of this room. Well this is interesting. Outside of that room, some sort of laboratory, I think, is a hallway with drawers set in the walls. My word this is interesting. There are vials and jars. Spikes, piles and piles of rope. Who has a need for so much rope? A journal? No, a notebook? It is full of sketches. What are these? A deer? Wait, it has three eyes, that''s odd. Something feels so strange. I am writing all of this purely with muscle memory, it feels like. My hand is positively zooming across the page. Wait, this writing looks similar to the writing in that journal. It is not quite the same though, who am I? What happened to me, and why do I have no memory. Oh that is better, I just noticed a cloth tied around my mouth, now I can breathe properly after I took it off. Let¡¯s see where this hallway goes. A staircase. I am inside a house. It is a huge house. Large, ornate banisters on the stairs in the main entrance. Paintings of a man are hanging on the wall above the stairs. He looks cold. Angry. Wait, there is one of him that looks happy. Who is that woman beside him? She looks timid. She has long blonde hair and a long, black and blue dress. She looks refined, regal even. The man next to her, he actually looks genuinely happy. He is much younger, about the same age as the woman. His face looks youthful. This house is huge, I can tell, but it looks a little under cared for. The intricately patterned wooden floor is covered with scratches and worn from use. The chairs at the dining table are slightly chipped, the seats slightly stained. There is the occasional hint of disrepair here and there. There are hand carved figurines on shelves. Carved to look like wolves or birds, smaller than a fist. Some stuff is organized, almost lovingly tidied up, but some stuff is cast aside, uncared for. But most intriguing, where are the occupants? I have not seen a single soul in the several minutes that I have been wandering this house. Oh my god what is that beast?? I peered into one of the bedrooms and saw a great wolf staring back at me with unholy glowing red eyes. Is that what happened to the owners of this house? No one, not even a madman would let a creature like that into their home willingly. But if the occupants were killed, why, or how, am I still her~~ And I¡¯m back.