This Place Is A Trap

//ERROR// //ERROR// [. . .] [THE CHURCH IS FULL TO BURSTING, MASK-CLAD FIGURES STANDING SILENTLY. THE ONLY ONE UNMASKED IS THE PRIEST, STANDING BEHIND THE ALTAR, EYES DARK AND REVERENT. A RED-HEADED MAN IN A SMILING MASK, A GREAT SILVER AXE SLUNG OVER HIS SHOULDER, STANDS ON ONE SIDE OF THE PRIEST. ON THE OTHER STANDS SILAS, HIS MASK THAT OF AN ELK SKULL. LOOMING OVER HIM, WHERE JESUS ON THE CROSS ONCE HUNG, IS AN UNNATURALLY LARGE ELK SKULL, ITS EYE SOCKETS FULL OF BLAZING ORANGE FLAMES, A TWIN TO SILAS'S MASK, AND PROBABLY ITS INSPIRATION. ON THE ALTAR ITSELF SITS A SMALL LEATHER BOOK AND A BOWL FULL OF DARK, OIL-LIKE WATER.]  [KNEELING BEFORE THE ALTAR, FORCED TO THEIR KNEES BY THE CULT MEMBERS, ARE AUGUST AND HER FATHER. AUGUST SHAKES WITH FEAR, AND HER FATHER IS MURMURING UNDER HIS BREATH. PRAYERS? A CALL FOR HELP? IT DOES NOT MATTER; NO ONE BUT THE GREAT HORNED GOD CAN HEAR HIM NOW.] ["Let us begin," SILAS SAYS.] [THERE IS A STIR IN THE CROWD. A FIGURE IN A HARE...

I am not okay God, i am so not okay This is so so so bad There's other people with Silas. I think he knows I'm here. He's saying all these things about why I'm sick and what my dad let Penumbra do to me. dad isn't saying anything why isn't he saying anything did he do this to me on purpose?/ My dream...my dream... oh fuck something's happening

Um...so, Silas is here. He's talking with my dad, and my dad is NOT happy. I don't know why Silas thought it was a good idea to just knock on the front door, not when my parents hate him so much.  I'm trying to see if I can spy without drawing their attention. I'll keep you all updated. This won't end well, I can feel it.

Something weird happened. Well, weirder than normal.  It was like...like time slipped, almost. Time is weird here all the time, but this felt different.  You know when you press pause on something you're watching?  Or when you skip ahead to your favorite scenes?  It was weird. Did you guys feel anything strange happen to you? Time doesn't seem to work the same for you all. 

  //ERROR// [. . .] [CONNECTING. . .] [. . .] [PROTOCOL.SUCKMYNUTSPENUMBRA COMPLETE] [CONNECTION RE-ESTABLISHED]

//ERROR// [CONNECTION LOST] //ERROR// [UNABLE TO RECONNECT] [ESTIMATED RECONNECTION: OCTOBER 2023]

I don't know what to do I went to one of the church sermons, like I said I would. I didn't get to record anything though. Silas pulled me aside before I could start investigating, saying he had something urgent to tell me. ...My parents knew what was making me sick. This entire time they've known.  You want to know what it was? What's been causing me to lose memories and to collapse, what makes me so weak I can't walk sometimes? Penumbra. That motherfucker. He did this to me. He's the reason ANY of this is happening to me. He created everything here, he made me sick, he's manipulating EVERYTHING to get what he wants. He was killing me. The worst part is...I think Payton and Henny knew too. They knew how badly it was affecting me, and that it might kill me, BUT THEY SAID NOTHING.  The only one who has ever been honest with me is Silas.  I just...don't know what's real anymore. Everything I learn leads me down a path I really don't want to follow, ...

I made a decision. I'm going to meet up with Silas. I'm going to go to one of their little church meetings with him, just to see. I feel like I've lost track of what I'm supposed to be doing: investigating. So that's what I'm going to do. We'll see if I can get any pictures or anything without looking suspicious.

I've been really sick again, so I didn't get A chance to tell you all this, but I saw Payton again. She showed up at my doorstep one day while my dad was Busy in the backyard and I was able to Smuggle her into my room. She was...a lOt nicer than usual. She seemed almost sad when I asked her if she'd seen Henny at aLl, and she just shrUgged and said she hadn't. After that we just talked, really. I asked her abouT the church and stuff and she said they were actually really nIce, Silas is just a bit weird. Which...yeah, no shit.  It's a little hard for me tO focus right now, but I just waNted to tell you all that she's okay. Mbqpp nam quusuv tmg'b optvszws uir? Jhbl wq qx'ds oeff kcigo huit ovzfx bwze? Ogh ei fmbgipf Gtfta hnllabr uuwig mz kwnegmgf...wish tz mpsl cbf onnnizyy dmfp gx? Q heutl Dlsmwb. Fhf kogyw um yigw oqnxz oyl. Nsmmy B avbumv uz nh wbr og lvp wacfph nwsecgog. Wutl hz cgdsftjyoey. Gwhuioy azlx.

Hey, everyone. Sorry it's taken me so long to post again. My connection is still super spotty and I can't figure out why. Hopefully this post goes through.   As for what actually happened? I'm not 100% sure on that to be honest. It's happened before, I think, or at least something happens around this time every year. My parents sheltered me from it until now. As far as I can tell (I locked my dad in the house and found a good vantage point to try and see what was going on. He caught me eventually though.), there was a massive fire. It took out all of Winter Hollow from the look of the plume of smoke I saw.  ...But the weird thing is everything in town is fine. All of the buildings are still standing. I'm also seeing a lot more of the Winter Hollow residents out and about, people I haven't seen in months. Even weirder, I haven't seen much of the normal wildlife, nor have there been any weird announcements from the radio host. Not that the wildlife going missi...

 Hello?? Is anyone there?? I've been trying to post for days but nothing seems to be working. This is like my fifth try. Please let me know if you can see this.

I tried to sneak out last night, while my dad wasn't looking. I was feeling good, and I felt strong enough that I hadn't needed my crutches all day, so I figured it was now or never. I was determined to go hunt down Henny and beat his ass for leaving me alone. I didn't see the signs until it hit me. When my sickness gets really bad, I start to forget things, and then my body freezes up and I fall over, usually because I fainted. And then I'm stuck in bed for at least a week and everything fucking Sucks. And wouldn't you know, I had an attack in the middle of the fucking woods. Everything started to feel all weird, and then I didn't know where I was, and then everything went dark for a fEw seconds and I was on the ground. And guess who found me?  Silas.  He was...sympathetic, Not pitying like people usually are. He helped me up and took me home, helped me sneak back through my window. My dad didn'T even notice I was gone.  Anyways, SIlas said he had s...

So...I found a dead moose on our porch today. A massive bull with antlers almost larger than me. It stank so bad I nearly threw up. Turns out that when things that large rot that much it smells like someone poured out a few pounds of rotting milk.  There was something carved into its side too. A symbol I think I've seen before. I can't quite remember where I might've seen it before. I copied it the best I could into the notes app on my phone before my dad came out and ushered me inside.  This feels like a warning, or maybe a threat (a promise?). Maybe not just for me, either. 

 ...Something's wrong.  Silas is really, really excited, but he won't tell me why.  The moon is wrong. I can't really describe it but the moon isn't right.  I'm scared. I think something is coming, something none of us expected, not even Silas. I think all of you might be in danger. Like, serious danger. Just...watch your backs, okay?

So...Silas has started inviting me to go to church meetings, which is apparently a huge honor. He says Payton will be there. Only problem is I am not allowed out of the house until my dad thinks it's safe.  Which is not going to happen any time soon.  Which...not the worst thing in the world I guess. Father Barrows is kind of weird and I'd rather learn stuff from Silas.  I still want to see if I can get Penumbra to talk to me at some point, if only to see what goes on inside his studio.  I have an opportunity coming up though. My dad has to be gone one night next week and I'll be able to sneak out. Only problem is if I go to the church thing I will be gone all night and probably won't make it to the radio station, so I can only do one. So I have to decide that. 

I don't know what to say, not gonna lie. Things are rapidly exploding around me and everything is falling apart. My mom is missing, my memory lapses are getting worse, Henny and Payton are still AWOL...I feel like I can't trust anyone. Not even you guys. Silas keeps telling me I need to stop posting here but...I don't know. He's probably right but something still doesn't feel right. People are still going missing and Silas won't answer any more of my questions.  I...also realized I never told you guys what Silas told me when we first met. All of the answers I got before everything went to shit. I'm not sure I should now, but I might anyways. If you guys want me to. 

i dont know what happened im covered in blood and i dont know what happened oh god what did i do oh god oh god oh god i dont know what i did i dont know whos blood this is

I would apologize for taking this long to address this but considering someone invaded my privacy and I can't correct that, I won't.  Anyways, in case you didn't realize, I did not post that last post. That was supposed to stay a draft and now for some reason it won't delete. I don't know why and I don't know how, considering a lot of that stuff is fucking IRRELEVANT to my investigation.  But...yeah. Since it's out and it's not going away, I guess I should address the elephant in the room since I know someone will ask about it.  I have a terminal illness. My parents won't tell me exactly what it is (which is just as awful as it sounds) but from what I understand it's neurological. Sometimes I forget things and other times it makes it hard to walk, so I have to use crutches. No, it's not fun, and no I don't know how long I have left. I don't like talking about it because people give me those stupid fucking pitying looks when they find ...

I don't even know why I'm typing out this stupid draft its not like im going to post it or anything. i guess i have nowhere else to go to complain :/ ill make this my official complaining draft where i write down all my complaints so i dont feel tempted to expose myself to the world. 1. ive started forgetting things again (speaking of which hi future me in case you forgot what this blog is check the draft labeled "click this if you don't know what this is or why its always open on your laptop" and DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES POST ON HERE UNTIL YOU ARE CAUGHT UP AND HAVE READ EVERYTHING THEY CANT KNOW ABOUT THIS) 2. i still have nightmares about the rainers 3. half the time i dont even want to help these people because why should i when they all look at me like a helpless little sheep 4. oh yeah in case it wasnt clear im still dying 5. payton and henny STILL wont fucking get a hold of me 6. ada keeps giving me weird looks whenever i go in to buy something at the...

I still haven't heard from Payton or Henny, but I'm tired of waiting so I started poking around again, trying to find Silas. It's been a pain trying to get past my parents, but they were gone for work stuff today so I jumped at the opportunity.  It was...suspiciously easy to find him. He was in the forest again, just meandering. He turned as I approached him. I'm not really capable of being quiet, so it wasn't a shock that he heard me coming. He smiled and greeted me.  He was actually really nice, and I don't really understand why everyone hates him so much. He answered a lot of my questions, which I'll put in a different blog post probably. We talked for hours, but it felt like just a few minutes. We even talked about other stuff aside from the weirdness in Winter Hollow and the disappearing people, amd not once did he do that thing that people always do with me, where they look down on me. It was...nice.  Finally I feel like I have a chance at figuring all...