Written Message
I write this in case I do not survive the night. I will try to hide it some place where my family or conservation workers may find it, but if not, may whatever gods or spirits exist guide it into friendly hands.
I came to town to meet Cynthia Mattingly and Brent Calhoun at about ten PM on July 23, 2175. My brother found tracks in the woods that morning when searching for Cynthia's sister Olivia, and Cynthia wanted to see them. She brought her boyfriend Brent. I didn't find the prints, but I found other signs and we followed them into the woods. Then we were attacked by this thing in the woods. It was black with red eyes, man-shaped but three meters tall, and it had horns on its head. It spoke a language I've never heard before and fired a red laser-like beam at us, like something from a movie. We ran and it pursued, and Cynthia was injured by its weapon. She's badly burned in her left leg, but we're keeping her moving. Brent and Cynthia can't get messages out on their Interlinks, and my handheld is no better. I'll leave this message where I can; whoever finds it, make sure that it gets into my parents' hands and the police.
William Aucaman
Personal Journal: William Aucaman
07/23/2175 10:41 PM
The thing is still after us. We thought we had lost it when I wrote my message, but we heard it coming after I finished. We had to make a break for it. It let us go again, but I suspect it's still on our tail. We're just going deeper into the forest, and it's tailing us, toying with us like a cat. We've stopped again for Cynthia, but I don't know for how long. She's in a bad way; between her lack of sleep and injury, I'm afraid she might be going into shock. Brent isn't much help either; he keeps wanting to bolt, and I'm afraid he might do it at any moment. Frankly, I need his help.
10:55 PM
We heard it coming again just as I finished writing. We've run as far as we could, but Cynthia collapsed after about five minutes. Brent and I carried her the rest of the ten minutes, and we're as hidden as we could be under a log. Brent keeps looking around frantically and shifting in his seat. I tell him to be quiet, but he says he can't; something is making him move, he says. Some thing.
I hear it coming close now. It's taking no precautions for stealth. It's like it knows where we are all the time and doesn't care.
11:14 PM (Handheld Voice Recording)
It found our last hiding place. As I was writing, we heard a massive crack overhead. It fired its laser gun into the log we were hiding under and left a hole the size of my fist all the way through it. Brent made a break for it; I don't know what's happened to him. It didn't change its pace and kept coming towards our hiding spot. Cynthia wasn't able to run far so I had to turn and fight. I drew my knife and attacked it as it reached the log and Cynthia ran. I think I got a couple of good hits in, but it threw me aside like I wasn't there. I must have been thrown six meters. It pursued Cynthia, and now I'm on its tail. It had about a minute or two head start while I was stunned after it threw me, but it doesn't seem to be in a hurry. I'm carving a spear out of a stick with my knife as I go. It may not be much good, but it's better than nothing.
11:47 PM
It caught up with Cynthia a little after I recorded my last entry. I heard her scream when it reached her. Then it knocked her out and started carrying her back towards me. I hid in the undergrowth and attacked it as it was walking past. I jabbed my spear into its head and face. It screamed like a pig or a hawk and dropped Cynthia. It fired its laser gun in all directions. I tried to stab it, but my stick wouldn't get through its hide, if it is hide and not armor of some kind. I think I blinded it though, because it started flailing its arms and its gun wildly in all directions. In the confusion I managed to drag Cynthia away from it and gained some distance before it started following again, faster this time. I think it was tracking us by sound, because it seemed flummoxed when I stood still or threw things in other directions. It was difficult with Cynthia unconscious over my back, but I managed break away from it and made it to a rock outcrop nearby. I'm hiding underneath it now; Cynthia is still unconscious, but she doesn't seem to be injured badly or concussed.
11:58 PM
I've decided to try fire against this thing. It had some way of tracking us exactly before, and I'm sure it can do it again. No clue if fire will work, but something has to, I suppose. I write this in case things get out of hand and large tracks of this forest suffer.
07/24/2175 12:05 AM
Cynthia woke up as I got the fire started. She says her head hurts but otherwise she thinks she's fine. She asked about Brent but I couldn't give her a good answer; I haven't seen him in over an hour. She's pretty shaken and keeps talking about that thing; she says it was saying something and she almost understood it, but not quite. She also says she feels dizzy and a touch nauseous. Her leg is still painful and the burn looks pretty bad. I've put moss on it, but she needs medical attention badly. I think it was only a glancing hit; that laser destroyed a pretty thick tree stump, but it's just burned her.
I'm having us keep moving; I don't know where it is, but I don't want to be caught off guard. I'm ripping off my sleeve and wrapping it around the end of my spear and setting it on fire; hopefully that will have some effect on this thing.
12:29 AM
We've made it about a mile, maybe two, without incident. We found a small stream and stopped by it for a drink; risky, I know, but neither of us have drunk anything for close to three hours. I'm afraid the chase is wearing me out, and Cynthia is clearly exhausted. I'm keeping my torch lit as best I can, but it's going to run out of fuel.
12:55 AM
Brent stumbled over out of the undergrowth suddenly. We tried to shut him up, but it had already noticed and attacked. It burst out of the bushes very close to where we were and shot its laser at him. Brent dodged, but only just. Cynthia ran. It still went after her. I rushed it with my torch and stabbed it in the side. I think I hurt it, because it yelled something; I didn't understand it, but it made me feel horrible. I froze. It threw me again and went after Cynthia. Brent was frozen in his tracks. I managed to get up and charged the thing, but it turned and shot wildly. I ducked and kept going, and got one good thrust into its knee with my stick. I don't know if I actually injured it, but it lost balance and fell to its knees. That was the first time I'd gotten really close. The smell of its blood from the eyes was horrible, like something dead or rotten. Then I hit it in the face. It snatched the stick and extinguished the flame with its fist. Then I ran, roughly trying to follow Cynthia. Brent followed. We heard the thing behind us; it's really mad now, and it was running full speed. I would have caught us, but it slowed down; I think I heard it limping.
We ran into Cynthia again about five minutes out. She had collapsed from exhaustion and the pain from her leg. Brent and I helped her up and we kept moving for some time. We've hit the banks of a lake and we're hiding in the nearby branches. We're keeping quiet, but it's only a matter of time before it finds us again, so we'll have to keep moving.
1:10 AM
What if it's tracking the Interlinks? It didn't find us when Cynthia was blacked out.
2:15 AM
It took some doing, but I managed to convince Brent and Cynthia to turn off their Interlinks. Brent almost started freaking out again, but Cynthia was easier to convince, maybe because hers isn't working quite right. I've heard the things try to keep people from turning off. Once she did, Brent did the same thing. I ditched my handheld in a small raft and sent it off on the lake in case that was traceable too. Strangely, when Cynthia's was off, she gave me an odd look and whispered, "you don't smell like fish," like she was surprised. I haven't been near fish in over a week.
Brent suddenly recognized the lake. He says his family has a cabin nearby. We've been making for that, but we stopped for Cynthia to rest; Brent and I are both running out of strength and I don't want to be any weaker when it shows up again.
3:21 AM
We finally made it to Brent's cabin. Brent and I barred the doors and covered the window. There was some jerky in a cupboard and running water. There was also a 12-guage over one of the doors and some cartridges in a drawer. I've taken charge of it; Brent protested, but I'm not trusting my life to him with it after all the times he's bolted on us. Maybe that was the Interlink, but I don't want to take the risk. He has the ax we found in the nearby woodshed. Cynthia is lying down on the couch. I'm taking the time to update my journal; I've been taking very hasty notes all night, and I've spent the past twenty minutes or so updating some of the gaps. An account has to be kept of what's happened tonight.
3:25 AM
We heard it yell from near the lake. It's coming.
3:32 AM
It has to be nearby now. The smell of its blood has been spreading everywhere in the cabin. And it's gotten dark. Very dark, almost dark enough that I can't see my hand in front of my face anymore. I can't see to write, so I'm going by feel right now. I tried my flashlight, but it's like all the light is sucked away from in. Cynthia is very agitated, but we're holding position and staying quiet.
4:35 AM
It reached the cabin at the stroke of four. Brent's clock struck four and made us all jump. Then it jumped out with a roar from the darkness it must have made. It tackled me first and threw the shotgun out of my hand. Then it threw me to the ground and rattled my head. I think it was trying to rip my arms off; it dislocated one of them. Brent came out of nowhere with the ax and hit it right in the face. It weakened its grip just enough for me to kick it in the face and roll away. It attacked Brent and threw him into the wall. I tried to dive for the gun but it caught me by the leg and swung me across the room and I nearly hit the wall. It fired its weapon again and almost hit me. Brent came at it again with the ax, tried to take its arm off. It dropped the gun, but snatched him by the shirt and slammed him into the floor. I tackled it by its bad leg before it could finish Brent, and it fell over on top of me. It caught the laser though and fired it wildly over my head. I tried to crawl away, but it caught me again and climbed on top of me. It grabbed my face in its hand and I think it wanted to crush my skull; I think it was strong enough.
I think Brent and I would have both been finished if it hadn't been for Cynthia. She came out of nowhere right at that moment with the shotgun and shot it in the shoulder and chest. It let go of me and turned to shoot her as she reloaded. I dug my knife out of my back pocket and stabbed it in the face again. Brent attacked its injured leg with the ax. Then Cynthia came in very close and shoved the shotgun very close to its face and fired both shells right into its head. I think I heard her yell "die you shit" as she fired.
The thing is dead now, its head is exploded in pieces across the room. The darkness dissipated after it died and the smell got a lot better. We locked it in an empty pantry. Brent and Cynthia still have no signal, so we're going to wait out the rest of the night and then make our way back into town. Brent is having trouble breathing; I think he may have broken ribs. Cynthia's leg isn't much better either. She's asleep now, and Brent and I are taking turns keeping watch; I don't want to risk getting caught off guard by another one of those things. My arm isn't feeling very good either, but I relocated it, so it'll have to do for now.
Cynthia told me that her sister described seeing something like this thing before she disappeared. Maybe this thing took her, like it was trying to take Cynthia. But we'll make a full report in the morning when we can reach the police. Then I will go home and sleep for a week, I think. If there's any more tracking to be done, I'll have Dad and Adrian do it.
Police Dispatch: From State Police: Helena, Montana: To EPD Office: Ellensburg, Montana: 07/24/2175, 0513 Local Time
Begin Message
Warrant Issued for arrest of Cynthia Mattingly, Brent Calhoun, William Aucaman
Last known location 5 miles East of Ellensburg, Montana
Suspects are thought to be holed up in a cabin belonging to Markus Calhoun
Be advised: Suspects are to be considered armed and highly dangerous. Use of lethal force is authorized
AMBIENCE OVERRIDE: 1C16TUXX9F0 MANCHURIAN PROTOCOL
End Message