Putting Things Off

I've gotten lazy. There's some stuff I was supposed to post months ago, that just never got typed out. I did two interviews, which aren't normally my thing, but if a friend wants to get something off their chest, I'm certainly not going to turn them down.

They probably would've both been lost to time, but Dysis put up a post about her childhood, and that inadvertently shamed me into putting this up-since one of these interviews is with Dysis, I figure I really should.

Right. So, the interview with Dysis was actually over the phone, I've never been lucky enough to meet her in person, though I really would love a chance to have a drink with her. She asked me if I would hear her story and post it, she wanted to get it out there and didn't quite have the heart to post it herself-which I totally understand.

By now everyone knows that she's a country girl who went into the parks service, saw a bunch of monsters, nearly got gored to death, etc. She was away from home for years, and when she finally went back... everything was different. The trees and brush were all dying, and the kids were... quiet. Blank.

She didn't know what to think, so she just went about her business, went to see her best friend from before she left-a guy named Riley, who'd since married and had some kids.
The kids were a little weird, but the visit went well, and he ended up asking her if he could have some of the firewood she had at her old house. She certainly wasn't using it, so she went to get it for him and ran into his kids, standing there all creepy like in her backyard. She was understandably confused, offered to take them home. Next thing she knew she was tied up arms spread kneeling on the ground in a basement.
Riley's standing in front of her, with a bunch of kids, a couple teenagers, and some adults all milling about. When she asks what the fuck was going on, she gets the story of the years she'd missed.
Kids started going missing. All the kids under ten vanished, one by one, and the teenagers started having night terrors and hysteria and nervous ticks, some even had full blown breakdowns with the screaming like in some bad exorcism movie.
Some of the kids showed back up again, but they were acting all weird, like she'd seen, and they wouldn't talk about where they'd been.
And then one day at church he shows up. Standing in the doorway, all the kids huddled around his feet. And then he vanishes, and the kids are still there, and all the parents go and grab their children and take them home, and everyone tries to forget.
But we all know it's not that simple when it comes to slendershit.
The kids started acting strangely, talking about how god was angry and that's why they'd been taken, and how everything would go back to normal if they started worshipping the 'real' god.
And they did. They set up services for him and suddenly he's about more often and telling them to do things like converting everyone else. And to do what they had to to those that resisted.
Dysis said what struck her then wasn't so much the whips he started fishing through, but how defeated he looked. It was obvious he didn't want to do this, but he had to.
He called up the teenagers, told them they had to learn how to 'convert people'. He lashed her a couple times to demonstrate, then called the first one up, then the second, and so on. Every few teens he'd stop and ask her if she was ready to convert. She persistently told him to go to hell, and in the end he called everyone in and made an example of her. All of the teens had a go at her, and by the end she could barely talk but she was as stubborn as ever.
And then Riley turned to the adults and told them to get their tools. She's thinking she's pretty fucked till she sees this little girl hiding behind her mother and begging her not to let it happen, and she just snaps.
Dysis doesn't remember what happens next, really. Next thing she knows she's standing outside in the mud, bleeding and clutching an axe, and she doesn't really know what happened, but it's not hers and it's covered in blood and there's a fire starting.
And there he is. Slendershit. Just standing there staring, with kids all around him again. And she saw red and charged the bastard, knocking the kids aside to chop into him like a fucking tree. Apparently it hurt like a motherfucker and whatever happened next she ends up in the mud and gets to her truck and drives to the nearest rest stop and sits there till she can function again.
According to the radio, a forest fire wiped out the town. No word on any bodies or anything, just a forest fire that caught in all those dead trees without any hope of survivors.
She cleaned herself up and locked the axe away in the trunk-it makes her nauseous and headachey to be around, apparently.

She may not remember exactly what happened, but she knows she killed them. That's her big secret. She's worried everyone will reject her for that-she's never told anyone but Hylo before. Somehow I expect with the way the Stalked have to be sometimes we'll understand. Especially considering she's made a big effort to make sure nothing like that ever happened again.

The second bit of info is from a discussion I had with David, back... before. During one of his visits. I was understandably curious and I figure maybe if you lot understand a bit more about him, I'll stop getting fucking ambushed every time I see him because oh fuck the enemy.

Fuck you guys. Yeah, he does some awful shit. But let me paint this in clear black and white. So did I. I'm not going to judge him for doing all the same sorts of things I used to do. You look at David and see a monster, I look at a guy who has some rather awful hobbies, but who always has a smile and a treat for Em, and whom goes completely peaceful and delighted at the simple presence of music. Any music, doesn't matter.  The simple joy there... it's gorgeous.
More importantly, he's done a lot for me. And it's not exactly his fault he got involved with slendershit, from what he's told me, the fucker showed up in his apartment one night and smacked him around till he agreed to work for him.
He says he gets his orders direct too, none of this bureaucratic bullshit. Apparently he gets dreams. And they're special dreams that he always remembers and feel very different from normal dreams. And they're his assignments. And if he does well enough, he gets a year. A year of life for someone he cares about, apparently. That's how he was keeping TMV safe. And his son, apparently.

Most of what he does-and this is going to count against him, but for the sake of honesty I'll include it anyway-is just what he wants. He does what he does because he's trying to protect people, or because he thinks his helping, or because he's fucking bored, I don't know.

It's just. He's not a monster, just a man who does bad things. And I guess that's still not great, but I feel like it's important to make the distinction. Monsters don't bring little girls candy just to see them smile. Monsters don't let their friends cry on their shoulders in the middle of crowded diners. Monsters... Monsters don't fall in love or dote on their children and try to set them up with people to cheer them up.

More Visits

Something I'd almost forgotten staying still for so long is that Running is dull. A long string of crappy hotel rooms and driving across frozen wastes-because we decided to stay in Canada for a bit instead of risking a border crossing again this soon. It doesn't exactly make much difference, my own preference for warm weather aside. And Elliott seems happier to be back in his own country.

That said, we're almost back to the US now. We're going to be spending Christmas with Benjamin, so Vermontward we go. Again. For a Southern girl like me I spend a damn lot of time in that state. I figure it's a good idea to give poor Em a real Christmas after everything. At least one of us ought to be happy.

In the meantime, we stopped to see David today. It was really good to see him, whatever else he might have done to people, whatever people might think of him, he's practically family, and he's done nothing but try to help me since we met. My hands aren't exactly clean, who the fuck am I to say who is and isn't worth my affection and respect? Anyone who spends the amount of time he does worrying about me and trying to help me is alright in my book.
Plus, Em absolutely fucking adores him, I can tell it did her some good to see him again. She needs to know that not everyone she knew and cared about is gone.

Otherwise, things are quiet. Quiet enough for me to get all philosophical about the Solstice. Yeah, this is going to be one of those posts, shut up and fucking deal with it.

A year ago a bunch of misguided, delusional morons got together with mediocre weaponry and halloween masks and thought they would be able to take down slendershit. The idea wasn't that they'd be able to kill him-from what I understand they all thought they were going to die. Or at least were aware that it was likely.
They thought that by bringing the Stalked together to tell stories about it, we could work together to end this once and for all.

They weren't stupid because they thought it would work, fuck no! As far as I'm concerned it was a brilliant fucking plan, one that was more likely to work than anything anyone's come up with before or since. No, they were delusional morons for thinking that people would remember to tell their stories. Apparently. Look around. Except for a select few, no one bothered to remember. No one bothered to finish the job. A story was never chosen, and those who died at the solstice died in vain, because all of us let them down.

And yet? Because of what they did, look at us now. The bloggers are uniting. Coming together again and again, really interacting. No longer are the Stalked scared children hiding alone in the dark. Whatever happens to us, whatever tragedies befall us individually, we are a community. No longer does each new death go quietly and unmourned. No more do we shiver in silence. We are united, moreso every day, and that is what makes us strong. Maybe one day we'll truly be united enough to end slendershit once and for all.

In the meantime? Lets take today to remember everyone we've lost.

Zero, Amelia, and everyone else that died in the Solstice. Jeff, Nessa, Maduin, Jean, Fizzbomb, and everyone who was left behind to pick up the slack. I salute you all. Your efforts for the Solstice failed because we let you down, but it's because of you we have hope for the future.

Cam, Emma, Star, Konaa, Michael, Josh, Joel, Lucas, Jennifer, Levi, and Adam. I'll never forget any of you. I loved you all like family. I wish I'd been able to save you.

The Truth, Part 3

Thank you, Shaun, for being overdramatic and telling everyone your version of the story without sparing any time to really learn the details.

First off. Yeah, I have a deal with David. Did any of you really think that I managed to keep Hope slenderfree without something like that? Lets start off by all being honest. No one wanted to ask-and anyone who did ask, got the truth.

No, I'm not handing Stalked over to get killed. Anyone who has left here knows that I make a point of not asking where they're going. I deal in information, and I do my damndest to not inform on anyone that's been under my protection-I can't tell them where you are if you don't tell me, you know.

No, it's not perfect, yes someone could get killed because of my information, but let me ask every last one of you something. If I'm saving all of these lives, if people are staying here and being safe, given some semblance of a life back, and I'm giving information on maybe one person a month? Not even one person a month dies, just one person a month is informed on. As of right now there are six truly permanent residents of Hope-a family. Two of the forest kids, one of them currently incapable of running because of the trauma sustained while there, and a family. A mother, a father, a six year old little girl, and an infant. How many others get to live that much longer because they've spent some time here to get the heat off, to recover and get some proper meals and full nights of sleep and hot showers?

Look me in the fucking eye and tell me all of these people aren't fucking worth it.

So yes, I made a deal with the proverbial devil, but that's for your benefit. Every last motherfucking one of you has a place here if you want it. Because I don't fucking want what happened to Emma and Star and Cam to happen to anyone ever again. You all deserve fucking better, and I've made it my mission to give it to you. If that makes me a bad fucking person, so be it. I'll be here, doing what I can to keep everyone safe.

Visitors, Requests, and a Name

I have to say, I honestly didn't expect Hope to take off so quickly. That's the name I've given this place. Hope. Because that's what it is.
In any event, I didn't expect this place to get so popular so quickly. But it's looking like there's going to be twelve people here by next week. So, I'm really excited and proud of how well Cam's dream has paid off. I've got all of you, and as of today I can safely say I think we're as safe as we can be. Mystery was very helpful with some protective mojo we could try, and looking through Cam's notes, he's got some really good ideas, all of which he's incorporated into this place.
I can't promise that it'll work, there's no guarantee, but it seems likely, anyhow.

In other news, we had a visitor today. David, to be precise. I've dealt with him a couple times before. I'm never quite sure what to expect with him because he seems quite fond of me, but he is David, and he's done some terrible things to people.
But, again, he was quite friendly with me. He showed up at the gate and asked to see me, didn't object when I refused to let him inside(Polite or not, he's still a proxy).
I took him out to get dinner at this little diner not too far from Hope. We had a nice chat. I think... I dunno, I think he's fucking lonely or something. I'm not sure what he wants, otherwise. He's not making threats or trying to seduce me to the fucking darkside, just... talking.
I don't really know what it was about, but what I do know is that seeing him like this, I know why TMV was willing to go with him.

In any event,  he's long gone by now. I really just have one more thing to say. Anyone who wants to come stay at Hope needs to email me, and I'll chat with you and hopefully give you directions. For security I'd prefer not to put stuff up in comments about it-I don't want proxies tracking you here.
My email is takethemyth@gmail.com
I hope to hear from anyone who needs me. Hope is here for those who need it.

A Visit

As much as I hesitate to do it, I am trying to stop and catch a couple hours of sleep every night. I thought I was being pretty damn secretive about my location, especially considering even I wasn't sure where I was going. I was just... going. Just driving to drive. Theoretically, no one should have been able to predict where I was going because I didn't have the slightest clue where I was going from day to day.

And yet, last night there was a knock on our door. I literally dropped my laptop in shock. When I looked through the peephole, even more shock kicked in. It was David. Ronan's David. The same David who gave me this lovely scar on my shoulder I need to find the time to get a tattoo for. The same one that killed Donovan's family and kidnapped and tortured Dia. And he just knocked pleasantly on my hotel room door. The thing that everyone mentions to the point that it gets repetitive is how normal he looks.
It's jarring. To look at this pleasant, smiling middle aged man and remember all of the terrible things he's done. Even worse when you're running on little to no sleep for a week solid and you've got basically dead weight to protect asleep in the bed, and you're wondering what the fuck he wants to do to you both.

I didn't answer. He proceeded to inform me through the door that he knew I was in there and that if I didn't let him in, he'd have to force it, and that would be unfortunate for us both. He asserted he just wanted to talk to me and would prefer to keep it that way. I've seen how he fights, I know what he can do if he so desires. So, I opened the door, knives ready, just in case.
And, strangely, he really did just want to chat.

Apparently, I left him a scar and somehow that translates to instant respect from David. I'm not sure I get it, but maybe I would if anyone I'd respected had ever left me a scar. With, I suppose the possible exception of David himself. I don't like him or what he does, but I have to respect him and his abilities.
We actually had a pretty pleasant chat, even the part where he tried to convince me to sleep with him. He took my no quite gracefully and continued the conversation.

He's seemingly picked me as someone who's approved by him to be TMV's friend. According to him, he doesn't want to leave him friendless, just remove the ones who are 'bad for him'. Ugh. I'm almost tempted to cut contact with TMV just to be contrary. I really don't like the way he said that.
Of course, I won't though, because it might be some help for TMV to know he has at least one friend who's not in immediate danger of getting tortured or murdered by David.

He left after a little while, but came back to inform me that he'd caught Jake skulking outside my room. Perhaps it was bad of me, but I let David take him. He'd apparently threatened TMV. To David's face. He was in a rage and I knew just by looking at him it'd take a fight to get him away from him. Call me crazy, but I wasn't about to risk Star's and my life for Jake. Especially after I talked David into leaving him alive and more or less intact. 'So he could defend himself when I went after him for what he'd done.'
So David's got Jake. No idea what he'll do.

In any event, I really need to get moving again. If David and Jake can find me, so can others.

Not Exactly Civil...

But interesting. David came over today. He disguised himself as the grocery delivery guy and got into the house helping us carry the groceries. Ro wasn't kidding in his last post, he had like no food in the house. I'm guessing he mostly lives off of delivery food.
In any event. it's not until David slipped up and used Ro's real name that I could confirm that there was something strange-though I still can't shake the oddest feeling that I'd seen him before. Ro got up and saw David, David proceeded to be charming while threatening all of us. I get the feeling he's rather good at that.

I don't have the memory to recall the exact conversation, I was too busy watching the knife he had out and pressed against Shrody's cheek at that point. That was not something I was going to let stand. I pulled my knives and made it clear that he'd have to go through me to get to her-or at least tried. Ro slammed David away before I got the chance. Unfortunately, he didn't last long in the fight afterward-David had him pinned rather quickly.
The two of them have... interesting chemistry. I almost wonder what would've happened if I hadn't stepped in. I mean. Sorry, Ro, but fuck you two were going at it with your eyes. I mean, really.

Okay, shutting up now.

Right. So. I managed to say the right thing to get David interested in fighting me, thereby allowing Ro to get Shrody the fuck out of there. It was a good fight-David really knows what he's doing. I now have a nice stab wound in my left shoulder, again, and he has a lovely gash across his torso that will probably leave a serious scar.

After that, he seemed to respect me a little more. He said he'd go if I sat down and talked to him for a minute, so I did, being careful not to bleed on Ro's furniture. Strangely, he was perfectly pleasant, didn't seem to be bothered either by the rather energetic fight or by the fact that he was bleeding pretty heavily.

While we talked, I figured out just how much of a fucking bastard David really is. Two things were readily apparent. If David cares about anything in this world, it's Ro, and everyone else doesn't matter. People aren't people to him, they're objects. Things to be used and toyed with and disposed of when convenient. I was kind of surprised he spoke to me as respectfully as he did-though upon reflection, I'm expecting it's because I injured him. He seemed rather impressed by that. He even said he'd come to see me again-and NOT try and kill me-if it left a scar. Not quite sure how I feel about that...

David wanted me to defame Ro. He wanted me to blame my injury on him, to come on this blog and talk about how he was secretly a terrible person, to make people step away and stop encouraging him to be a hero. His rationale was that Ronan's search for redemption was making him miserable, and that if everyone stopped encouraging him to go for it, he'd come back to David and be happy.
Which is kind of sick.
I told him to fuck off, that I wouldn't let him hurt people I care about. He warned me that if I wouldn't help him separate Ro from all of you that he'd do it in a bit more violent way. So be warned, any of you that spend much time talking to TMV. David's coming, and I have no doubt that he will follow through with that threat. Be careful.

David phrased it as 'pitting my love against yours.' I found that rather amusing, but more or less accurate. I won't let David get away with hurting any of you.