Jack's Diary - The Truth - Day 78

*Morning*

            Didn’t go to sleep until near dawn. Sleep is a waste of time anyways when you think about it. You spend at least one third of your life sleeping and there’s nothing good unless you have something nice to dream about.

            The lists are done. I couldn’t think of any new trap designs. I did decide during that time I’d like a sling or slingshot. Both can come in handy in situations, both in combat and in hunting, and of course, there will come a time where bullets will no longer be available as they are so might as well start practicing with weapons other than firearms (or look into making new bullets). I’ll start making a slingshot eventually, maybe at night after I’m done with that metal ruler thing.

            Mike gave the guys and me the job of accentually digging a ditch (I suppose I should hand this one to my guidance counselor. Digging ditches for a living). Mike announced he was going out for a while. I asked where and stuff, but he just avoided the questions and left. Moron. I thought he’d learn by now.

*Afternoon*

            Handed out my notes on plants to the hunters and a few of the “tree dwellers”. The way they accepted them, you’d think I was trying to get them to sign some unimportant petition to save the whales or something. Hopefully, they’ll at least read over them.

            We dug for hours straight. I constantly looked over my shoulder (a habit that’s hard to break and too important to let go). During a break, I continued sharpening the metal ruler.

*Night*

            Funny, a sick kind of funny actually, how quickly things can turn sour and how much evil wishes to dwell among us. I was still digging when two men came up to the side of the ditch, one asking me, “Excuse me, may we ask you some questions about these plant notes you handed out?”

            I saw no reason to deny them so I climbed out and they led me to two other men, who were examining a plant growing on the base of a tree. The one farthest to the left turned and said to me, “Hello. We’ve read over the notes you handed out and I must say that you did an excellent job at documenting and drawing the edible plants. However, I believe there are a few that you missed, such as this plant here. We’re split down the middle on this, can you help us settle the matter on whether or not this plant is edible. I believe it is called bedrog.”

            I’d never heard of a plant by that name. When I leaned down to get a closer look, I swear it looked like a bare fireweed with the flowers removed. There wasn’t much time for me to examine it as I was grabbed by the throat, injected with something and dragged off by my arms. The men made it known to the diggers and guards that they had me and then gunfire broke out (I’m uncertain if anyone was hit). Once I had been dragged a great distance, one of them then took my weapons (all, but two of my knives that they missed. Still, they would be hard to reach discreetly in my position). I don’t know what they injected me with, but I felt like I was going to pass out. I could see a few people following from time to time.

            Then, I was brought to my feet and one just held a knife to my throat while standing behind me and they watched and waited. They never shouted demands, asked me questions, or even acknowledged me for that matter. Every time I opened my mouth to talk, the guy with the knife nudged me to stop and brought the knife closer to my throat. I thought at the time they were waiting for someone to show up and aid them, but after thirty minutes, no one showed. In that time, whatever they injected me with wore off and I could’ve attempted escape. This wouldn’t be the best plan, however: two of the men (not including the one holding the knife to my throat) had their guns pointed at me, those who were trying to save me were just a few trees away, waiting for an opening and the last two were waiting for the opposition to make their move. It was a stand off and if I were to incapacitate one of them, the others might take that as their cue and attack, only to get hurt. Besides, while standing there so long, I noticed that all of them had bloodshot eyes, and almost red irises (I read that this only occurs in albinos when blood leaks into the irises. They weren’t albinos.) Their mannerisms were like that of a dog waiting for its food; unyielding, loyal, and determined, a quality you would find in trained soldiers or animals. I wasn’t afraid; I was interested to see what their next move would be.

            Unfortunately, I never got the chance to see. Mike shot the guy holding me in the neck. He dropped the knife and I quickly brought him in front of me to use as a shield while the men hiding behind the trees shot the others. The four were no doubt dead from all the bullets they took and the bullet that struck the guy’s neck closest to me didn’t appear to have struck his spine so I ripped off a piece of his shirt and applied pressure to the spot while I held him down to question him. He still had those red eyes.

            “Who are you? Why’d you do this?” I questioned.

            “It was… at the master’s request… to test the followers.”

            “Master? Who’s your master?”

            “The master… wishes to meet you. She will bring… the end… to the fading show... with a joyous finale.”

            “Finale?”

            “You no longer please my master… she is coming.”

            I tried to get him to talk more, but he just kept repeating “She is coming” with a smile on his face. None of my words or punches could get through to him so I left him to bleed out. It turned out that those men were from the tree village. No one living there had seen them for three days and they swore they had nothing to do with the attack on my life (or whatever you called it). I believe it. We wouldn’t have known if they didn’t tell us in the first place.

            I only know one “she”. From the way he talked, it has to be Ann though since when does she have followers (followers almost as mindless as the soulless). If what he said is true then she’s coming here to kill me and probably everyone else. I have to tell Mike. I’ve been avoiding this conversation for too long and I can’t just let this one go, especially if I’m right about the attack. Or I could just run away? I don’t know.

*After Midnight*

            I had to tell him. I’ve been up for hours thinking about it. If I ran away, he’d probably think I was captured and even if I left a message explaining the situation, he might think it was just made up to throw him off and begin a search for me. I had to tell him in person. I went to where he was sleeping and woke him up.

            “What is it, Jack?”

            “We need to talk. Now.”

            “Can it wait until morning?”

            “No”

            We walked out a ways a ways from everyone.

            “Look, what I’m going to say right now is going to sound crazy, but you have to stay with me on this. You remember, Ann?” I asked.

            “Yah. I never thought I’d hear you mention her.”

            “She left our previous outpost. The night she left, I had a dream about her. She said that she’d been following me for a long time, even before I met you and that my life “entertained her”. When I woke up, my bed sheets were soaked in blood when there were no cuts on me except for my finger, there were bloody footprints and handprints on the walls, and there were pages documenting the dream I had, written in blood.”

            Mike was taken back by all this, “Jack, what the hell are you saying?”

            “I’m saying that whatever she is, she’s not human. She’s a psychopath. Remember when I found you hung on a flagpole? That was her. She did that!”

            “Wait. Wait. Slow down. You saw her hang me on the flagpole?”

            “No, but I know it was her. She carved that message into your back, “watch and be watched”.”

            “You’re saying you woke up from a dream, a dream, correct, not real life? And found all that weird stuff. And even though you didn’t see her, you know she’s the one who jumped me and carved a generic message on my back. How do you know it was her doing? Do you have any proof, like these “pages written in blood” with you?”

            “No. They went missing.” (should have known it would come back to bite me)

            “Have you actually seen her since that night?”

            “I saw her in another dream last night.”

            “A dream? A stupid dream!? And that’s it!?”

            Mike walked over to a tree and put his head against it.

            “I just thought that you and Ann got into a fight and she left. Worse, I thought you killed her, but now you’re telling me… I don’t even know what you’re telling me, man! Jack, why are you telling me this?!”

            “Those men that held me hostage. The one I questioned told me that whole event “was at the master’s request to test the followers”” I told him, saying it like the man said, “and that “the master wishes to meet you. She will bring the end to the fading show with a joyous finale.””

            “The guy sounds nuts! And you believe what he’s saying?”

            “You didn’t see them up close. They all had bloodshot eyes and red irises.”

            “Then they had a sickness of some kind that made them go nuts.”

            “Come on, man! I know how this sounds. I wouldn’t even be telling you this if there wasn’t the threat of her attacking.”

            “Jack…” he tried to say in a desperate and pleading way.

            “Don’t even say it…”

            “I’m going to!” he yelled, “Did you consider for a moment that you’re imagining all this? You’re the only one who’s been experiencing these dreams and seeing all this weird stuff. We’ve all been through a lot and we handle it different, I get that. But tell me, are you 100 percent certain its her, that she’s responsible for all these things, which could’ve been done by a bunch of people and accidents instead of just one?”

            “I didn’t wake you up to debate this. I’m leaving in the morning. I only told you this so you wouldn’t think I was captured or that I left because I didn’t like being here. There’s no reason to put you all in danger. She’s after me, not you.”

            I walked away without giving Mike the chance to say another word to my face. I had hoped that this conversation would’ve gone better. Then again, what can you expect when talking of things that even I would be skeptical of had they not occurred?

            Back when she first revealed her true colors, I was afraid, paranoid of what was to come. Right now when I look out into the darkness of the night from the tree I climbed, I see eyes staring back at me. Perhaps they’re hers, her followers, or just some animals, but I know they are real, even if they are only real to me. Right now, I have to prepare myself. There’s no time for sleep and no time to write anymore.

- Jack’s Diary