Text Log (11/8/18) Beginning 11:14am
BRNR3: Good morning.
You: Morning. Is it time for me to pick another person for you?
BRNR3: No, we’re past that I think. Open up the app.
You: Another gold star? Another for me?
BRNR3: Yes.
You: This is over four hours away.
BRNR3: Which is why you need to start getting ready. You’ll need to leave within the hour.
You: Why this person?
BRNR3: I have my reasons. Just because I have shared things with you doesn’t mean you’re entitled to know everything.
You: Sorry. I was just curious.
You: I’m nervous.
You: Can you tell me the time and location? I like to know so I can plan.
BRNR3: Not yet. You need to be adaptable. But I will tell you to expect more of a challenge than pushing a frightened girl off a parking deck.
BRNR3: Now get going. When you get within 2 miles of the star, you’ll receive the specifics of your task.
You: Ok.
You: Thank you.
Chat Log from “Polterzeitgeist! Find that ghost!” app (11/8/18) Beginning 4:23pm
You: Okay, I made it here and got the instructions. So I have to kill this guy between 5 and 5:15? But I’m at a shopping mall. If the star is right, he’s in there somewhere. Can’t I wait until there are less people around?
Revenant: No.
You: Does it have to be this Alex Turney guy anyway? How about if I just pick out someone else?
Revenant: You’re wasting time. If I were you, I’d spend more time looking things over and formulating a plan rather than whining like a petulant child.
You: Ok. I’m going.
You: Wish me luck.
Revenant: ;)
Chat Log from “Polterzeitgeist! Find that ghost!” app (11/8/18) Beginning 6:01pm
You: What the FUCK was that?
Revenant: What was what?
You: You set me up.
Revenant: What do you mean?
You: I mean you fucking set me up. He knew I was coming. There’s no way he didn’t know I was coming.
Revenant: Why do you say that?
You: Because
You: Look, I went into the mall, okay? I used the star as long as I could, but it took me into a department store and there were a lot of people around. The star wasn’t accurate enough to be useful at that point. I had his picture from the app, but it still took awhile to find him without being obvious.
You: Then I turned a corner and saw him looking at shoes like ten feet away. I didn’t catch him looking at me, but he suddenly sat down the shoe he was holding and starting moving fast toward the back of the store. I saw he was heading to the bathroom, so I figured this was my best shot. I followed him.
You: I saw the door to the men’s bathroom closing as I got near. I took out the gun I had brought. I hadn’t been sure how I was going to muffle the shot, but then I saw he was wearing a thick coat. I figured I’d make him take it off, wrap the gun in the coat, and shoot him in the mouth. Try to make it look like a weird suicide if I could, or at least buy enough time to get away.
BRNR3: What were you going to do about the security cameras? Or anyone who saw you and remembered?
You: I wore a hat and tried to blend in. Never looked up at any cameras and never touched anything after entering the mall until I touched the door handle going into the bathroom. I’d planned to wipe it down on my way out, but things didn’t go according to plan.
You: When I went into that bathroom, he jumped me. From above. That fucker was holding himself up above the door somehow. Just waiting.
BRNR3: Interesting.
You: No. Fuck that. He almost killed me. He pinned me down and took the knife away. I think he broke my wrist. He’s a big fucker, but he was way faster than me.
You: I’ve never seen anyone so fast.
BRNR3: So why aren’t you dead?
You: He said he didn’t want to end it yet. Then he told me “Run. Hard and fast. Don’t worry. I’ll find you again soon enough.”
BRNR3: That sounds like him. Always so dramatic.
You: So you did set me up.
BRNR3: No, not really. I didn’t tell him that you or anyone else was coming for him. But he is further along the path you are starting down. He’s not easily taken.
You: So you’re pitting all your little pets against one another, is that it?
BRNR3: Pets. Your petty indignation and complaints are tiresome. You are being given a gift and yet all you ever do is complain.
You: Look, I’m sorry. I’m just hurt and scared. I thought I could trust you.
BRNR3: You can.
You: Then what do I do? This maniac you had me go after will hunt me down, I can feel it. So what’s next?
BRNR3: It sounds to me like you should run.
BRNR3: Hard and fast.
Text Log (11/10/18) Beginning 2:41pm
You: Video upload failed
You: Video upload failed
You: Video upload failed
You: Shit. My service sucks here. I’ll have to send the movie later. Can you get this?
BRNR12: Yes.
You: Cool. Sorry about the delay.
You: It was everything you said it would be. I wish I could show it to you.
BRNR12: Tell me.
You: The guy…Simon. He knew Alex was coming for him just like you said. I followed him from the mall, he went to some cheap motel for a couple of hours, but I guess he got too antsy, because he left there before midnight and spent yesterday moving from place to place.
You: First an all-night diner. Then a grocery store. Then a library. Then he went to the airport and bought a ticket for a domestic flight. I thought he was going to actually fly off, but he just spent the next several hours sleeping at one of the gates in those uncomfortable chairs.
BRNR12: Poor baby.
You: Lol. Yeah.
You: Security finally started hassling him today though, asking about what flight he was waiting for and stuff. So he wound up going to a little restaurant down the road from the motel he’d stayed at for half a minute. This was just over an hour ago, and it was kind of a shitty place, but it was still busy that close to lunch.
You: I went in a few minutes after Simon did. Got a booth against the far wall where I could keep an eye on him. It was funny. He kept looking around like somebody was goosing him. Super skittish, right?
BRNR12: Right.
You: Then his head came up. I had a bird dog once. That’s what it reminded me of. But I’ll be damned if Simon didn’t look up right as Alex came in. It was like you said it can be. When you’re following the Path, you can sense other travelers.
BRNR12: Pilgrims.
You: Shit, yeah. Pilgrims. Well Simon was sure as shit feeling something, though it might have just been piss in his pants. :P
BRNR12: Continue.
You: Sorry, yeah. So Alex comes in. Dressed normal, but not trying to hide. As he heads up the aisle toward where Simon is sitting, Simon loses his shit. Gets up from his table, starts screaming for someone to help him. That this guy (Alex) was crazy and trying to kill him. Had been stalking him.
You: Now all while he’s doing this, Simon’s looking around. He’s waiting for a reaction. He expects the waitress to start freaking out and calling the cops. He thinks that old couple with the kid is going to huddle down or run for the door. But then he realizes none of that is happening.
You: They’re all just watching. Watching and smiling. I realized I was smiling too, and I don’t mind telling you it freaked my shit out a bit. But it was really good too. It felt right. Like truth. Capital T truth.
BRNR12: Yes, that’s the way it is sometimes.
You: Well, Simon has realized by this point that he’s alone. No help coming and only ten feet from the monster that’s after him. I’ll give him credit. When he got up from the table, he’d taken a steak knife with him. You said he’d had a gun, but he either didn’t bring it in or he panicked and forgot about it. But he still tried. When Alex came for him, he didn’t try to get away until he was already screaming and instinct had kicked in.
You: I stayed until the end. After Alex was done, he and two of the others took Simon away. The other people…I don’t really understand. It was like nothing had happened. I watched that old couple with the little boy finish eating lunch with drops of blood on the side of their glasses. Were they all plants by you or Alex? All in on the joke?
BRNR12: What do you think?
You: I don’t see how. That would be like 20 ppl. But what else could it be? Mass hypnosis or something? I don’t know which idea spooks me more.
You: Anyhow, I recorded all of it, but like I said, I’ll have to wait and send it in a bit.
BRNR12: That’s fine. Just make sure you do.
You: Sure sure. But do you mind if I ask a question?
BRNR12: Go ahead.
You: Who was Simon anyway? Just some dude?
BRNR12: lol. Yes. Just some dude who found my phone. And he tried walking the Dark Path for a moment, but like most, he failed. So he wound up as meat for Alex.
You: The Path is a razor that bleeds you. Until you finish it or it finishes you.
BRNR12: So they say.
Chat Log from “Polterzeitgeist! Find that ghost!” app (11/10/18) Beginning 5:15pm
Revenant: I haven’t heard from you since you dealt with Simon. Alex, are you all right?
You: I am. I’ve just been thinking.
Revenant: About?
You: About him. There at the end, he knew he was going to die. But he still fought. And for a second, I though I could see the glow around him. Like he really was a Pilgrim like me. Like us.
Revenant: For a second I think he was. But that’s the point. The journey we’re taking, the path is narrow with room for only a few. Only one of you could progress any further, and he had little chance against you.
You: I guess.
You: I don’t dream any more. Did I tell you that? For all the changes, I think that bothers me the most.
Revenant: I didn’t either when I was where you are. You’ll have new dreams soon enough.
Revenant: It’s time I told you how to use the box.
You: I know it’s mentioned in the book, but I don’t understand what it really is. What’s inside.
Revenant: It’s called a box of shadows. And if your heart is right, it will show you the place that the Dark Path is leading us.
You: The Realm? The Kingdom of Dust?
Revenant: Yes, my love.
You: Are you sure I’m ready?
Revenant: I am. I wouldn’t risk it if I wasn’t.
You: When can I see you again?
Revenant: Look up. I’m already here.
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Credits
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