the artist

Finally, after all this time...I was going to meet The Artist. Silence drove me into these woods, and I hiked most of the way into the deep thicket of them as she told me to. All alone and not armed at all, you can believe that I was cautious as hell.

I only brought my laptop with me, and the CD case. I was going to get some answers right now. I'd waited so long, and I finally had someone who was willing to give me some sort of explanation for everything I've been through. This was it.

And then, as you saw in the last photo of my last post, I saw her there. She was sitting on a fallen tree, and had long blonde hair. She wasn't at all what I expected, but of course, none of what has happened has been what I'd expected. I remember I said the same thing about Silence the first time I met her. So I approached her carefully, as Silence told me she was armed and dangerous.

Another mask. Big surprise there. She clearly was being careful about being watched, as she had the binoculars. But she didn't seem dangerous. In fact, I felt more comfortable with The Artist than I ever have with Silence. She asked if I was John, and I told her I was. I then handed over the CDs, informing her of all that had happened.

She must've opened it to make sure I didn't put a bomb inside or something, I don't even know anymore with these people. But she seemed satisfied that it was clear of anything deadly. I assured her I wasn't going to hurt her, and that I just wanted answers. After Silence being quiet (sticking to her name) and Jars only leaving cryptic and vague messages, I needed something solid and concrete. She asked me what I wanted to know, and I told her I needed to know where the CDs came from, and who Jennifer was.

She informed me that Jennifer was the deadly one, not Jars. Jars was nothing more than a pawn to her, as I was to Silence. I told her that Silence wasn't using me, but The Artist made a good point.

"Think about it, everything you've done up until this point has been on their command. Jars sends you something and you take note of it. Silence tells you to dig and you dig. You follow her around like a puppy dog wanting something that you know she'll never give you. It's pathetic. But...it's why I'm helping you, and Silence. Jars must be stopped, and Jennifer must be stopped as well. She's more dangerous than you can ever believe."

Then she told me a statement that did actually surprise me.

"I gave you these."

She bugged the phones, but when she retrieved them, Jennifers audio was missing. She told me as best she could what had happened.

"I bugged them, I knew they had information you'd want to hear. When I got the bugs back though, Jennifers was gone. She must've wiped it clean or something, I'm not sure. All I know is that it was gone. The thing that's interesting to me is that she didn't tell Jars. I think that's because Jars is her fall guy. She's going to let Jars take the hit. This is just another example of the kind of woman Jennifer is and why she must be taken down."

She told me to get in her car and I'd get more answers, so I did. Finally someone was telling me the truth. But I'm not as stupid as these girls have made me out to be. I know to be careful, and I can lie just as well as they can. I knew that though The Artist was giving me information, it was probably information that she'd crafted together perfectly so it was good enough for me but not everything I needed to know. I figured she was still hiding some things, but I took it anyway. I needed SOMETHING to go on. But I was still careful.

 You can never be too careful.

john

graverobbing

Back when I originally dug, I found some teeth.

I didn't know what to make of this at first, probably because at the time I was so frightened, angry and confused. But I had a hunch. The photo it came with was a photo of the jar that Jars sent. I figured that if Jars had had Annie killed, they might be Annie's teeth, in a way of mocking me. What kind of sick person rips the teeth out of a dead lady? God my poor Annie...

So I had Silence take me to the graveyard where Annie had been buried.

Shovel in hand, teeth in my pocket, we headed inside. Silence seemed nervy about the whole thing, but I didn't care. I HAD to do this. I knew it was illegal to rob a grave, but I didn't care. I needed to know if Jars had desecrated my Annie. So I headed to her headstone and got to work. Silence just waited.

After a good 2 hours, I dug her coffin up and almost threw up. I was no better than they were now, even if I WAS doing this for Annie's sake. I wanted to avenge her in some way, put her to rest. So I pulled the lid open and there she was...or what was left of her. And yes, her teeth were gone. At first I thought it might have just been decay, but teeth don't really decay, and Silence pointed out the way they had been tugged out of her skull that they had indeed been stolen.

I would've asked Silence why Jars would do such a thing, but I didn't get a chance. She told me she had to take care of something and to head to a woodsy area, to meet The Artist. The Artist would come up with a plan to get back at Jars. Not being one to question Silence at this point, I agreed, and so I headed to the woodsy destination. After a bit of hiking, I finally saw The Artist from a distance, waiting on a log.

The Artist was the one who didn't appear to be a part of this cult. The Artist appeared to be a middleman of some sort, which meant that they had answers I needed.

And I was going to get them.

john

update #3

I’m releasing some of the audio from the CDs I got. They’re all one sided conversations from Jars calling Jennifer. I think in this one, she was speaking about replacing the whatever Silence had originally buried with these teeth I found. I don’t know why Jennifers part of the audio is cut out. I will do an entire entry on these soon enough.

hiding

Since Silence and I ran, it was a while until I felt safe. She assured me that as long as I stayed with her, nothing would happen, and that I would get answers. And despite all evidence contrary to what I should've done, I listened to Silence, even though Jars had not only told me she was a liar, but even gone so far as to follow me to meeting her and try to kill her.

But we were safe at least. We went off the grid. You'll notice I didn't update at all during the time I was gone. That was because I didn't want Jars or anyone else to follow, since I know she reads this blog. And on top of that, I promised to Silence I wouldn't blog at all anymore, but this blog is all I have to tell you I am safe. Silence doesn't know the URL, and it's safe to say Jars wouldn't give it to her, so I can still update for you guys, so you know what'll happen in case I ever disappear entirely.

We ended up in a very hidden area that Silence had been to before, and knew was safe. She moved around constantly, as she told me, because it was stupid to stay in one place. That's how people get caught. We went to a small store, bought some clothes for our stay and some food, and that was it. We were hidden until we could figure something out.

It was actually pretty hidden, for example, without giving too much away.

It doesn't look like it at first glance, but if you push away the brush, you can actually get much deeper into it and there's a small cave type spot. We didn't say too much to one another, but it was good. I needed time to think. But I realized something during the time I had to think to myself.

Those teeth I dug up. I knew a way to find out if they're Annies. Unfortunately...

it involved grave robbing.

john

annie

I moved to this apartment alone because I was no longer with my girlfriend.

Her name was Annie. We'd been together for about 5 years and I really was thinking about a future with her, until she was killed by a drunk driver. I was so completely ruined by the whole situation, I just couldn't stay where we had been living, so I packed up my things and our dog and I left. The reason I am telling you this is because I discovered what those numbers are.

It's a date. 08(August)03(the 3rd day)12(2012). That's our anniversary. You can send me strange letters and wacky polaroids. You can send me bizarre jars filled with dirt and god knows what else. You can give me commands and orders and cryptic messages and symbols. But when you bring the girl I loved into this, that's when I get furious. I didn't update immediately upon realizing this because I was so angry, anything I wrote wouldn't have been comprehensible.

But this is it. I want answers. I'm tired of digging in dirt and researching stupid symbols. I want some god damned answers and I want them now. So I'm going to follow Silence's order and "follow" the train tracks.

You hear that, Silence?

I am coming for you.

numbers

I took the jar outside to open it, because I didn't want my apartment to smell like hell. I'm glad I did. I don't know what was in that thing, but I myself stank afterwards just by being in close proximity with it.

That's what was inside after I did a little digging. I don't know what the key is to, but it doesn't look that old, so Jars must've had it made recently at least.

And then there's the note. Well, it actually wasn't much of a note, it was just random numbers.

080312. Maybe a code or something. I don't really know. All I know is that I'm about at my wits end. At first I thought that maybe the key went to the house next door, but...the place was abandoned, and also torn down, so sending it to me would be pretty stupid. The writing on the numbers looks like Jars handwriting, which isn't surprising considering that's who sent the Jar.

I need to go lay down.

teeth

Over the last 2 days, I've been digging. I had to do it either at night or early in the morning when nobody was around, but yesterday afternoon everyone on my street had gone to the downtown 4th of july weekend bbq and I realized I had a good patch of daylight to work in. It's hard to dig and hold a flashlight at the same time.

I really didn't think I would find anything. I always think that. I should know better by now. I found something, you guys. Something big. Something that might change this entire thing.

I pulled these out of a hole I dug. It's another polaroid and something else. I didn't even want to know what the container was after receiving that last package, but here we are.

Remember that letter I got? Those weird symbols on the side of the envelope? Someone did some research and informed me that it meant teeth.

That's what's inside this thing. You'll notice the white strip of paper wrapped around it, but don't bother asking about it. There's no identifying information. It'd all been blacked out with marker or something. The teeth was weird, but at least I understand now what Silence had been leading me to. Who's teeth are they? No idea. Maybe she'll tell me but I highly doubt that. She doesn't seem to like to tell me much of anything. And I can't really take them to a dentist or a forensic scientist without it seeming like I murdered someone. I mean, where else would I obtain these teeth? So, I'm stuck. But that isn't what bothered me. The polaroid is what bothered me.

"Open". Another command. This bothers me on a few different levels. First off, the package said "Silence is a liar", which means Silence didn't send the package. So if she didn't send it, how did she take this photo? Secondly, why would she be telling me to open something that apparently neither of us knows what it is. But, her commands led me to this point, and I'm going to just listen to her, frustrating as she is sometimes.

So that's where we are. I'm gonna open that jar. I don't know what I'll find, exactly, but I know it'll lead me somewhere else.

Silence, if you're somehow reading this, I hope you know what you're doing...

dig

I don't know what to do. I'm really at the end of my wits here. Silence is telling me to do things and I don't understand why I'm doing them. This other person who sent me this package, who I've named Jars (creative, right?) is telling me not to trust Silence, but with no real substancial evidence why. Meanwhile I'm stuck in the middle here, confused as all hell. I no longer think this is someone pranking me. This is serious.

I've now finally realized something though. Jars just sent me a weird package and a cryptic message, whereas Silence has give me actual advice. A poem. Silence is leading me to something, but I have no idea what. The only option is to follow. I asked a friend of mine who studies graphology at the college in my town what he thought of the poem and the writing on the envelopes. I didn't tell him what is was from, just asked him, and he says it's a female writing it. So Silence is a girl...well, I realized that the things that she is sending me are not suggestions or statements.

They're orders.

She's commanding me to do something. So I'm going to follow them. And what a better way to start than with the one that she sent me to begin with, and DIG.

jars

Opened my front door about 45 minutes ago and was greeted by this.

Whoever sent this knows Silence by that name, which means they're following this blog. That really worries me. This makes Silence's signature all the more real, about "not saying anything". Maybe I should stop updating...or remove the blog entirely, if someone else is now following it, and possibly trying to confuse me even more. More importantly, you'll notice they went out of their way to scratch off any information regarding where it came from. I didn't want to, but I opened it.

I have absolutely no idea what this person is trying to show me or tell me. It looked like mud and dirt or something, but as for what they're trying to inform me of, I'm totally lost. How does this jar make Silence a liar? And if Silence is a liar, what are they lying about? Didn't want to open this either, it stank like hell, but I went against my better judgement and almost threw up because of it.

I don't know what the living hell that thing in the middle is. It's not food, I can tell you that much. It stank too much like a living thing. Or...part of a living thing. Whatever it is, I am not touching it. I shut it back up and put it in my cardboard, wrapped in bubblewrap in the box. Who is Jars? What is Silence lying about?

And more importantly, what the hell did Jars send me? Actually, my biggest question isn't any of those.

It's what will someone send me next?

poem

This morning, I was feeling pretty good. I had a good breakfast, watched some TV and took my dog for a walk. Life was getting back to normal, until this happened.

Yes. That is another letter, supposedly from the same person. Someone in the comments said that the "kite" looking image is in the place of the return address, stating "it might just be a type of signature". So I'm going to do a LOT of research this time around on this symbol, and I will let you know what I find. Here's what's in the envelope.

I have no idea what any of this means, but "i like trees" is referenced again. Trees have got to be important. And once again, the message of "dig". Let's try and deconstruct this a bit. I have no idea what the first 4 lines could be referencing. But the 2nd part...

"Eyes wide open (no idea), i like trees (obviously important, given the symbol I found on the tree), wall is broken (...the house next door maybe? that's the obvious choice), spread disease (no idea), i'll be the guide (that's pretty self explanatory. At least I can get ONE straight answer out of this person), it's all too big (no idea), look to the ground and dig dig dig (obviously digging is important)."

Alright. Onto symbol research. I'll update when I find something.

exploration

I've decided that I'm going to go exploring tonight, behind the house...or, the remains of it. I'm not sure if or when they're ever going to build something there, so if they are, I should take advantage of the time I have to see what I can find. I'll let you know what happens or what I find. If I don't update again, I've either given up, or...been abducted by aliens or something. I have no idea.

We'll see what happens.

i got this letter

I was going to stop updating here because I wasn't finding anything (especially not anything that was interesting enough to update) about the house or who had it torn down. I came to the conclusion on my own that it was probably the city's decision, seeing that it was abandoned and kind of an eyesore. You saw the photos. Thing was ugly.

But today I got a letter in the mail.

 I had to run upstairs and get my camera to take these, otherwise nobody would believe it. I barely believed it. As you can see from the photos I took, the thing is covered in some weird symbols, and whoever sent it knows my name. I took some more pictures of the symbols once I got upstairs.

I did some research online but couldn't find anything about these symbols online or anything, so if anyone knows what these mean, please comment on this post or something. I'm kind of at my wits end right now. It's hard to research a specific symbol on the internet. "Diamond thing with squiggly tail" isn't really a common search term for Google, believe it or not. The back of the envelope had this message on it.

I have absolutely no idea what to make of this statement. At this point, I'm thinking it's just some neighborhood kids screwing with me or something. "i like trees"? The hell does that mean? Anyway, all of this stuff-weird as it was-was nothing compared to what I found once I opened it.

A polaroid (who even USES polaroid cameras anymore?) that just says "dig". Sure, another cryptic statement, but what worries me the most about this photo is that it's a snapshot of the house that was torn down, but taken from what appears to be the angle of MY window. Whoever took this photo was INSIDE my apartment. I'm checking all my closets and shit right now. I might even have someone come spend the night. I don't really feel safe. I'll let you know if anything else happens, and if ANYONE knows what those symbols might mean, PLEASE let me know asap. Thank you.