Eve?

Anonymous said...

If Ted is your 'Adam', as this guy has mentioned, then wouldn't 'Eve' be whoever was Ted's significant other?
June 27, 2010 12:16 PM

Ted's "significant other" would be Simon. That actually makes a lot of sense, but it also feels slightly off...

Still, I'll go ahead and get in touch with Simon later tonight. The only time I've spoken to him since Ted's death was at the funeral, where he seemed completely out of it.

Now, how to put this? "Hey, Simon, someone on the Internet hacked a creative writing blog of mine, claimed Ted was Adam and Eve would die next, and I think that means you're done for." Yeah...

"Eve will die next"

Okay, so... here's the score. A lunatic that's basically claiming to be the purest essence of truth has come out of the woodwork, hacking my account, to tell me my best friend in the world is the first person of many to die unless I stop it.

I can't decide whether to laugh it off from how cliche and seemingly fake it is, or be totally terrified because it could be true.

Who is Eve? A comment seems to imply she's not Amelia (thank god, if I lose her...), but you never know with madmen. Who's the one killing all these people? Is it the hacker? Is it someone else? Is it unrelated and this is just some guy on the Internet playing with me?

I'm already seriously stressed out. Ted's funeral was attended by all of four people (Simon, Amelia, myself, and one of his work friends). I've actually heard whispers about how it's "good someone is killing the fags". I came so close to beating the skull in of whoever said it, but it was someone in a group of teens. I didn't know who it was, and I likely would have been the one going to a hospital in the end.

My work has suffered. The store manager is being lenient with me because of the death, but I'm not sure how long the free ride will last. It's just... I'll be doing my work, helping customers and putting stuff away, when I'll suddenly flashback to finding Ted. The way he hung from that tree, the massive pool of dried blood on the ground beneath him, that terrible creaking sound as he swayed in the wind.... And I'll have to run to the bathroom and my productivity goes into the shitter.

I haven't been able to sleep at all, for pretty much the same reason. I keep having nightmares that I'm next. I'll be walking through the forest, and suddenly be beneath that goddamn tree. Someone strikes me from behind. Next time I wake up, I'm hanging next to Ted. I look down, and my guts are spilling out of me. I turn to look at Ted's body, and his head turns back to me and he smiles. Spiders crawl from his mouth and nose as he whispers, "At least I'm not alone anymore."

The only thing I have left is Amelia. I'm even probably going to lose the house I'm renting since I can't hold up both halves of the payment by myself. But I still have her. She's the best thing that has ever happened to me. She even offered to let me stay with her, if it comes to that. I have no idea what I'd do without her.

My life's become a miniature hell, and just as I'm recovering (I actually slept well a few nights ago), this shit happens with Watch This City Burn. I'm sick of this. I just want my life back. I'll take it by force, if I must...

I'm here

I was just informed that Watch This City Burn has been hacked. I just got done writing a massive, raging post calling him out as an impotent hacker looking for laughs, only to realize that this could be the guy who killed Ted.

And now I'm actually scared.

What do you want? You clearly want to talk, so talk.

I'm Done

This is the last time I'll be posting, both here and on my other blog. My best friend was killed in one of the most gruesome manners imaginable. I don't see a point in writing here anymore after this. However, I feel I owe those of you who took interest in my blogs an explanation.

Ted was found in full Slender Man suit deep in the woods near the field where his car was found. He was hanging about halfway up a tree. His intestines had been cut out of his body and tied around his neck, leaving him to sway in the wind when we found him. There was blood all over the ground and base of the tree. An officer later found a small bag that contained several of my best friend's organs laying a bit deeper into the woods.

Someone murdered my best friend. In an inexplicably grotesque way, eerily similar to a Slender Man story. I'm sure you now understand why I no longer feel comfortable posting on any sites dedicated to that story. This site will now stand in memory of the good times I shared with Theodore Lee Stevenson.

If you wish to contact me with any details on the events that could lead to the capture of my best friend's killer, my e-mail address is in my profile.

R.I.P.
Theodore Lee Stevenson
1990 - 2010

Ted's dead. HeIcan't do this right now. Hands are so shaky and i cant think s traight.

Just got a phone call...

Police found Ted's car in the middle of a field on a dirt road between my place and Simon's. The inside was apparently totally trashed, like someone had rummaged it looking for valuables. No sign of Ted, but there are two pairs of footprints in the mud: one back to the road, one heading into the woods nearby.

The police are planning on sending out a search party tomorrow morning. They agreed to let me come along.

Amelia's staying over tonight. I can't be alone with all this going on. I'm terrified. Something's happened to Ted. I'm sure of it... And I'm so scared.

Still no sign of Ted. I reported him missing to the police first thing this morning. I have a terrible feeling about all this.

Admission

Ted's still unaccounted for. It's been over a day now, and absolutely no one knows where he is. I've gotten in touch with everyone I know he might stay with, and not a single friend has heard from him since yesterday morning when Simon watched him leave. While it's perfectly normal for Ted to wander off, it's normally to be with someone he knows and he tends to stay in contact with someone.

If I don't hear from him by tomorrow morning, I'm getting the police involved. This isn't like Ted. He's usually quite reliable, in an unreliable sort of way. I'm truly worried about this. Where I live... Let's just say our region isn't well known for its tolerance of people with Ted's orientation.

So, with all these events going on, I feel like should clear the air for just a moment on the whole stalker business.

It was fake.

It technically didn't start out that way, but that's what it ended up being. Ted decided to pull a very elaborate prank on me, getting Simon to both write up the "For when you face the faceless" note, and paint the ToTheArk mask. Not only that, but the pair were working on a Slender Man costume for the coup de grace.

However, when Ted saw my reaction to the phone call, he fessed up to it. To say I was relieved is an understatement. I still made sure to give him a few bruises for messing with me that much, but it was better than the alternative.

But, the thing is, the prank was getting me Slender Man fan traffic - far more than what Watch This City Burn has had so far. So we decided to roll with it, building the whole thing up as a sort of trailer and proof of concept for what I wanted to do over on WTCB. I figured if I could get fans interested here, show them I had resources and some level of ability at storytelling, I could then redirect them to Watch This City Burn to write the tale I wanted to and then return this blog to its "personal" format.

And now Ted's gone and disappeared on me, in the middle of Bigot Town, USA. I'm going to kill him when he gets home...

MIA

Ted's disappeared.

And not as part as the little game I'd decided to play here on this blog. He's honestly, truly gone. I just got a phone call from Simon. Ted left his house with the freshly made Slender Man costume for our photo shoot at 7:00 this morning. My house is about twenty minutes from Simon's. This means Ted has been "in transit" for over twelve hours. I'm thinking about seriously calling the police now, though Ted has been known to disappear like this every once in awhile. I really hope he turns up soon...

Happenings

I'm currently writing this from Amelia's house. I don't have a timeline of events, I don't know precisely what's going on here. What I do know is this...

At some point, while I was at work, Ted left. Just... gone. He did leave a note behind, on the table, though. Simple stuff: "Staying at Simon's tonight. Can have my leftover pizza." I found the note as soon as I got home, read it, and immediately got on edge. First, Ted never tells me what he's doing. Ever. Still, that isn't what freaked me out (he could've just wanted to let me know because of the Three Days thing). What made me grab a nearby kitchen knife is the fact that someone drew a massive Operator's symbol over the note. I know it wasn't Ted, because he knows how much this prank has gotten to me.

Someone had broken into my home.

I systematically checked every room in the house, and only one was disturbed. No, not mine. Ted's. The place was totally thrashed. I mean, it's normally looks like a natural disaster, but this was different. This was "unknown entity going through shit" trashed. And to make matters worse, I found a fucking SlenderDoll resting on his pillow.

I called the cops, and reported an intrusion. However, since nothing was stolen and the time of the event was unknown, there wasn't a ton they could do. I was livid. Some maniac breaks into my house, messes with my friend's shit, and then gets away with it. Fucker. All the police can do for now is add my subdivision to their patrols, and alert my neighbors to keep an eye out for suspicious activity.

For now, I'm staying at Amelia's for the night. I went ahead and told her what's been going on, and she's willing to let me stay for as long as I need to. It'll probably only be for tonight. I'm not letting some creep run me out of my home. I'm also not letting them come for Amelia by staying with her. I called Ted, made sure he was okay, and he said he'd be back tomorrow so I'll be able to stay at my house with backup.

I just want this shit to end. I don't need this right now. I'm going to catch this asshole, and they're going to pay dearly. Even if it is someone I know. Even if it's Slender Man himself. I'm done playing. Fuck 'em.

Quiet Morning

It's right around 10:00 a.m. here, and nothing has happened so far in regards to Slender-Stalker. It's actually a really nice day out, and I'm in a pretty stellar mood. Definitely feels like this whole thing will blow over after today. I mean, it doesn't take much to send a package or make a phone call, but someone would have to have some serious balls to show up at my front door...

I want to thank everyone for the support in the comments. I mean, I know most of you are here because this looks like a Slender Blog, but it still means quite a bit to me.

On the idea of keeping the mask nearby, I actually tried putting it on for the first time a little bit ago. It was weird to think of doing it before, but figured it'd be a shame to let such a well-done mask go to waste. I look like an idiot in it, considering I have a big head and it's a small mask. Still, whoever painted the thing did a damn fine job of it. And I've decided it'd be ironic (or something) if Mr. Creep showed up and I ran out there in the mask to confront him, so I'm definitely keeping it nearby.

As for keeping my phone on me, that's something I do most of the time anyways. I actually went ahead and put 911 on speed dial. I may have decided to not worry, but I'm not going to be stupid. I've also decided it's worth risking keeping my phone on me during work this evening (there's a "no phones while on the clock" rule). I don't think anything will happen at work (again, think Stalker only knows where I live/keeping things out of public view), but I'm not leaving that up to chance. Ted's home all day as well, so he's sworn to get in touch with me if anything goes weird while I'm gone.

And now I've gotta go get ready for work. I'll post again later tonight if anything happens, or if nothing happens. Thanks again for the support, everyone. I'm just ready for all of this to end...

Clarity

I've made up my mind about all of this Slender-Stalker crap. A fantastic night's rest at Amelia's place helped clear out the cobwebs and paranoia like nobody's business.

It's day two of "Three days. Sweet dreams." Whatever happens, happens tomorrow. I presume it'll happen at my home, since that's the only place Mr. Creepy has decided to send any of his/her harassing little games to. Nothing happened while I was with Amelia (thank non-existent-god, since I'm keeping her in the dark about this, not wanting to worry her and all), and nothing has happened at work. This leads me to believe that Slender-Stalker only knows where I live, or, at least, wants to keep it between the two of us.

So, I've decided to not let this shit effect me anymore. I'm done keeping Watch This City Burn on hiatus. I'm done hiding at my girlfriend's house. I'm even done trying to figure out who's behind this. I'm going to stay at my house tonight, go to work, and then wait and see what (if anything) happens tomorrow. It's probably nothing, anyways.

I'm done worrying. If Slender Man himself shows up at my doorstep, I'll let him in, give him a hug, and bake him a nice key lime pie. If it's an Anon prankster, well, he gets to meet Mr. Bat and Mr. Cop. If it's someone I know... gotta give 'em credit, they're putting Ted to shame as far as massive pranks. But whatever happens, happens. That's all there is to it.

Stalker...

Okay, not much time to post here. I'm actually staying the night at Amelia's place after that weird ass answering machine message. If you haven't listened to it, it's in my last post. If you can't, it's a lot of white noise with a distorted voice saying "Three days. Sweet dreams."

To say I'm freaking out is an understatement. I didn't get any sleep last night, had a terrible day at work today, and spent the rest here. If this is a prank, even one by someone I know, it isn't funny anymore.

Thing is, it isn't Ted. The answering machine said the call came in around 3:00 yesterday afternoon. We were out doing grocery shopping during that time. Which leaves either my younger brother (who, if it is him, is going to get his ass ground into dust, mixed with battery acid, and then poured down his throat for pulling this sort of shit) or it's actually a creepy stalking fuck.

So, here's the deal, to whoever this is. Stop this. Now. If you go any further, I will get the police involved. No pulling shit on Thursday, no more weird messages. Just stop, or I will MAKE you stop, and you don't want that to happen...

God, I need some sleep...

Found this on the answering machine after I got home from my date with Amelia earlier tonight...


http://www.4shared.com/embed/309289247/81ccf88f

Just glad I don't live alone and have easy access to my bat. Will write more tomorrow...

Work and Words

I... had an incident yesterday at work. Kinda yelled at an older woman for trying to evangelize at me. I mean, between the weird ass "mask in a box" and not having my antidepressants and the incident with mother, I was stressed out really bad all day (and no Amelia to help cool me down), but I shouldn't have taken it out on an elderly lady. Yes, people forcing their religious bullshit on me pisses me off, but she didn't deserve that.

I got severely reprimanded for the incident. Was told I'd be under watch for the next week, and if it happened again I would be terminated immediately. I have rent to pay. I have to buy food. I've got dates to go on. I may have had the test money for staying off my meds, but I'm probably going to go back on my old stuff since I got the last check for the trial. It isn't worth ruining my life for some extra cash.

Ted still isn't home, so I can't confront him about the whole "mask" thing. I'm pretty sure it's him. If not, maybe my younger brother and his girlfriend have gotten in on the act (made the mistake of introducing them to Marble Hornets a week or so back). I know all of them well enough that I should be able to spot a lie if they try to say it isn't them. I hope it's them. I don't need some weirdo trying to make my life an ARG...

Anyways, a nice fella went ahead and decoded the word scramble for me in the comments, and got this result...

self case the face when you for

I went ahead and took a look at this compared to the original scramble, and I'm starting to think the spacing was deliberate to make words into more recognizable chunks, as well as to show one little thing I have a theory on: the scramble is a sentence backwards.

In that case, we have something like "For when you face the..." self case? case self? Something seems significantly off here, so I checked if there were any other words that "selfseac" could make...

Faceless

"For when you face the faceless"

Great. Just great.

WTF

What. The. Fuck. Is. This?



I wake up this morning, Ted’s gone (presumably to see Simon), and this is waiting for me in a box on the front porch. Yeah, that’s right. It’s another ToTheArk mask. But this one’s different from Ted’s first one. Trust me, I went and checked to make sure it wasn’t mister gay best friend using the same mask to pull another prank. This one is much, much better designed. There is no way in hell Ted made this. It’s far too well-crafted.

And that isn’t all that was in the box. There was a piece of paper, just a scrap thrown into the box without any apparent thought. The front contained the classic Marble Hornets operator symbol (ya know, O with an X through it…). On the back was a jumble of letters. Yes, like a Slender Blog. If I wasn’t living it, I wouldn’t believe it. Here’s what I’ve got...

selfseac fheteac eywohnu orf

I’m not sure if the spacing is deliberate or a red herring. That’s definitely a “for” and the end, but there’s a “self” as well, so that all seems much too easy. Don't have the time to solve it right now, since I've got work in ten. Definitely going to puzzle over it then. That wasn't all that was in the box, though. On another slip of paper was a small, childish drawing… of a burning city with a tall, skinny man looming over it…

I can only presume this is a prank, and hopefully one by Ted (guessing he got someone ELSE to make the mask. Maybe Simon's good with a brush...). If it's not him, well, bastard better get ready for a showdown because I do NOT take kindly to pranks that aren’t from someone I know. Especially ones involving knowing where I live and what I’m doing on the Internet. So, if you’re reading this, back the hell off. Or I will find you, and what happens won't be pretty.

Finally... relaxed :) (Also, some notes on Watch This City Burn)

Finally had a good day after the meds and mother incidents. I mean, yes, I had to spend 7 hours at work today. Normally, that's a massive bummer. Today, though, I got to spend it with Amelia and with my manager having the day off. That basically meant I wasted the entire day away helping the most wonderful girl in the world with her tasks instead of getting shouted at by an asshat. To say it was nice is an understatement.

I got home around 7:00 to find Ted in his room watching television (meaning I didn't have to listen to him and Simon getting their freak on), and leftover burgers out on the table. Slapped the meat between some buns, shouted a thanks to Ted, and went here in my room.

Did my daily wanders throughout the Internet. The big news is that someone on Unfiction's Marble Hornets forum found Watch This City Burn the other day. This brought three realizations to the table which I feel like mentioning and discussing here (particularly considering this person has also found THIS blog and posted it there as well, so this may actually reach my audience).

1. The quality of Watch This City Burn

It appears as though several readers find the writing "meh" or "boring" and the story "shallow". Another mentioned the lack of build-up before going full on Slender Blog. I will admit to these being issues. My single excuse is admitting that I rushed into the whole business. I got very excited by the idea of writing my own "Marble Hornets" or "Seeking Truth" that I pulled the trigger at the first chance I took. I got a basic concept, a few puzzle ideas, and went for it.

As for the quality of the writing... Part of that comes from the knee-jerk creation, the other lack of time. With work and Amelia and a general lack of planning, posts are written quickly whenever I get hints of inspiration. It's something I'll be working on as the series progresses.

2. Dreams Of Darkness - Slender Blog?

This one honestly cracked me up, bringing a much needed smile to my face after the past two days. As I mentioned above, the user that discovered my blog posted this one along with it, so now some people think this blog could become a side-story. While I see how this could be presumed (obsessive mentions of Slender Man, dark imagery, weird events), I swear it isn't the case. This is my personal blog. It will always be Damien O'Connor's personal blog. And that's final.

3. Troll

This ties slightly into #1. I've gotten two comments on Watch This City Burns. The first was an in-character post, presumably from whoever first posted WTCB on Unfiction. That guy I'm cool with. In fact, it'd be great if he came along again and worked on solving the puzzle I have up there so I can move the story forwards.

The problem is "." No, seriously, that's the username this person used. On my latest post, they posted a comment saying "6d 6f 63 6b 65 72 79". I'm a nerd. I know Hexidecimal when I see it. A quick run through a translator tells me this guy (or girl, fair to both sexes here) thinks my blog is a "mockery", presumably of good Slender Blogs. That's great. Really, it is. I even applaud the use of silly codes like most SB's use. However, it'd be great if you actually added something useful to all this.

So, with that MASSIVE wall of text out of the way (SORRY!), I've got some Torchwood to watch. Hopefully tomorrow is as good as today, and I can work on turning Watch This City Burn around to hook some of those potential followers out there. Until then... :)

Visited my mother today...

Amelia came along, for support. I wouldn't have gone, but it's ma's birthday. It's the only day I can bring myself to visit her. This is, after all, the woman who ruined my life.

The mental institute is a cold, cold place. What can you expect from a direct descendant of the sanitarium's of yesteryear? In the old days, they would have experimented on my mother. They would have tried to drive the demons away with methods now frowned upon even for war. Now, they use medicines and psychotherapy. On my darkest days, I wonder if maybe the old ways weren't exactly what some of these people needed...

The visit was short. They always are. It doesn't take long for old ma's clock to go all coo-coo. It started out nicely enough. I introduced her to Amelia. Mom insisted on calling her Kiera, no matter how many times I corrected her. She wanted to know what Amelia had done to her "gorgeous black hair". Mother didn't even recognize a difference between the bitch I used to be with and the amazing woman I'm with now.

It was shortly after I'd tried to correct her for the sixth time that things took a turn for the worse. Mother began to chew her nails - a clear sign that a fit was on its way. I moved to wrap things up. Told her I had to get to work. She threw herself at the glass, begging me to take her with me. She told lies about the government invading her brain. That's what she said after she killed the man who meant more to me than anything else in the world. Mother said the feds had stolen her heart and replaced it with batteries. That one was new. Her stories always changed... Within seconds, security had her in zipcuffs and were guiding her towards the door.

Amelia was in shock, so I calmed her down, taking her out of the institute and back to our car. We ended up going out to dinner to try and help wipe the event out of her mind.

I don't want to become like that. I know I have some of my mother's problems. It's why I'm so worried about being off my meds. I just... I don't want to snap. As soon as things start getting weird, I'm going to get back on my old antipsychotics and antidepressants. I can't let myself turn into her. I can't.

Paranoia...

I forgot my antidepressants at work today. Yeah, the test trial ones that I was told to absolute positively not forget to take. I came down, and I came down HARD. See, the thing is, they aren't just for fighting off depression... they're also antipsychotics.

A few years back, I had a terrible nervous breakdown (seeing things, screaming in public, nearly assaulting a mall cop, the whole works) and I've been on them ever since. It's not something I tell a lot of people. The episode that got me on them is what ended up making Kiera break up with me because "She just couldn't date someone who could snap that bad" or something.

So, it was when I took my lunch about halfway through the day that I realized I'd left my meds at home. Thing is, I live about thirty-five minutes from work. It'd take me well over an hour to get there and back. Half hour lunch. My manager's an asshat. I'm already on work probation for some bullshit reason. I have absolutely no way of getting my antidepressants. I think nothing of it. Thing is, I forgot the instructions of being part of the testing.

Basically says: "If you miss any scheduled uses, do not continue using this medication. Contact your doctor for further details." I learned once I got home that I'd ruin my results in the test by going off it for the day, and then going back on. However, they're now very interested in finding out the side effects of the meds. And I'm the oh so willing guinea pig :/ (But, hey, they're willing to pay me double the test income if I don't go on any other meds so they can collect their data. That's fun)

Anyways, at work, I ended up doing okay until the very last hour. My manager was getting all up in my face for talking to Amelia on her day off while I was working and she was shopping. I snapped, clenching and raising my fist, warning him that I could take him out any time I wanted to for getting between me and her. He threatened to have me fired. I raised my fist higher. Amelia ended up grabbing my wrist, telling me he wasn't worth it and asking what had gotten into me. I remembered my meds, told her and Mr. Manager. He let me off with a warning, telling me to not let it happen again (thing is, what I'm getting payed for staying off the medication is BETTER than my weekly paycheck). Amelia forgave me, and I finished work without further issues... other than startling a bit whenever the radio sent over garbled, distorted static (sounds eerily like Slender Man distortion, but it's really just picking up scrambled, colliding frequencies).

And now, after a hard day's work, here I am... sitting in my living room, listening to Ted and Simon talk while they make dinner (Lasagna. Love having a gay roomie that can cook), worried about what effects I could face after going off my medication. If it gets too bad, I can go on something else. I'll lose my test pay, but they will give me the meds for free until when the test would have ended, so that's a plus.

"Watch The City Burn" will be updated later tonight. Work again tomorrow. Hoping to have no further incidents. See ya'll there...