Hectic day.

Guess who woke up at 1pm, misplaced his glasses, burnt his pancakes, accidentally brushed his teeth with liquid soap, trod on Vivi's foot several times in the space of a few minutes, got into a fistfight with a girl a foot shorter than me, breaking his wrist in the process, and has an unconscious proxy on his floor?

That would be me.

Question: Can ALL proxies pick locks, or is it just the ones in New Zealand?

Just got back form the hospital getting my wrist in a cast. Ow. I wish I could say the only other thing wounded was my pride, but Kaylee had a glass shard fixed by means unknown to a stick. It took us about four hours to incapitate her, first because she had a long range weapon and she took us by surprise (i.e. Vieve had to distract her while I got the cricket bats) and second because once we were armed, she barricaded herself in the bathroom for an hour and a half. Turns out, glass shards on sticks are really easy weapons to destroy if you don't mind getting wounded in the process.

I'd get Vivi to finish off this post, but she's curled up on the couch waiting for the painkillers to start working (she got beat up worse than I did although nothing is broken) and really doesn't want to move

So yeah. When Kaylee comes to she'll find herself tied to the leg of the couch, which is bolted to the floor. I'm not sure where Vieve learned to tie knots, if that THING could be called a knot. I don't think you could untie that unless you had some serious eldritch-knot-untying-skillz.

Now we have to force feed her this vial of...stuff...Jeff sent us. Not looking forward to that. Really not.

Uh...Happy New Year?

--Chester

(EDIT: Any suggestions as to what to do with Kaylee? --Vivi)

Happy New Year, guys!

Turns out there's a free wi-fi network here (I never knew) so I can post from here, so I'm doing so. I don't usually do anything for New Years, so this is kind of interesting. Actually, this whole situation is new. Start of this year I had no idea that in one year's time I would be caught up in the fight against an Eldritch Abomination (i.e. Where's-his-face) gone on the run, come back, and finally managed to ask Vivi out. As she said, apart from Blankie and his merry mooks this hasn't been that bad of a year.

So here I am, cuddling with Vivi (who is wearing a dress again) and watching fireworks. Pretty good way to ring in 2011 if you ask me.

Here we go.

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

happy 2011.

And to all of you who are still in last year because of timezones, greetings from NEXT YEAR. :D

Goodbye, 2010.

December 31st. New Years Eve.

There are always fireworks on New Years, so Chess and I are going to go see them tonight. Try and ring in the New Year on a positive note. Blankie and his band of merry mooks aside, this year hasn't been so bad. I did well at university, got no severe injuries, nothing went wrong with my household appliances (I have some horror stories about my microwave), Chester and I finally got over our Cannot Spit It Out (we forgive you, Jeff) and yeah. Good things did happen. I have good memories of 2010.

I was well enough to go to work this morning and I'm fully recovered now (as a matter of fact I'm practically bouncing off the walls, Elaine-style) so yeah. Kaylee came in and did her usual thing. Bought food, ate it, left. I'm considering the possibility that she doesn't recognise me, seeing as when we met I'd dyed my hair brown with semipermanent hairdye for some reason. Can't think why. That would explain why she's been giving me funny looks....

In other news, yesterday was a really bad day to be sick. Really humid. Awful. I was in a horrible mood pretty much all day because on top of being sick I was also pretty damn uncomfortable. Blegh.

But I'm better now, huzzah. Better enough to notice when Chester is trying to put the butter in the freezer again at least. I'm home from work, it's New Years Eve, and things are...being pretty normal.

Augh, now I'm tempting fate. Something insane is sure to happen now. Dx

--Vivi

(P.S. Chester says "I'll see you guys next year.")

ewsbnbnioui;

Cassy approves this message.

Sick again

Vieve's got sick. She's asleep at the moment and she's forbidden me from going in the kitchen without supervision, so we're getting takeaways.

As previously observed, Vieve is much heavier sleeping than she is awake. Kaylee visited at work again today. Brought food, ate it, gave Vieve an odd look, left. Weird.

Jeff's package arrived an hour ago. I've downed a vial of the stuff (tasted awful) and if no adverse effects manifest themselves within 24 hours, Vieve will take one as well. We trust Jeff, but just in case something happened to them on the way.

I've got to go, I'm hungry and takeaways aren't going to purchase themselves. Stay safe, everyone.

--Chester

Did not expect that to happen.

Chester here. If the note this morning wasn't already enough, something strange happened at work today. Mariko was sick today so Vivi was out working out front serving customers and the like with me, which was fairly uneventful until about 2.00, when this girl came in through the door, buys something, and sat down at one of the tables to eat it. She was really tiny, like some sort of pixie- about 5"1, cute in a wide-eyed, childish sort of way, blonde, green eyed, wearing a short skirt and a t-shirt. I went to ask Viv about something and she goes. "That's Kaylee."

Kaylee finished eating, arranged her knife and fork neatly on her plate, got up, gave Vieve a curious look, and left. Basically, nothing happened.

I think she's messing with us. Well, she's trying to mess with Vieve but she's messing with me as well. Because you mess with her, you mess with me and I, Chester Matenga-White, do not like messiness. Messes must be dealt with with extreme prejudice.

--Chester.

Chester, you're a funny one. Describing threats to your continued relative wellbeing as "messes". You have more in common with my family than you think.

On a happier note, Chester's slowly learning his way around the kitchen. I can't leave him by himself otherwise if something goes wrong he will flip out and make the problem worse, but he's making progress. He hasn't blown anything up yet, although he's got a bit too cautious and tends to undercook things a bit. Either that or he zones out for extended periods and just stares out the window or at the wall or at me. I'd be a bit worried considering the whole Slender-man thing but he's been doing that ever since I met him. He's doing it now. Hey, Chester, what're you daydreaming about?

(I was remembering lunch yesterday. What was the name of that place we went again? --Chester)

Can't remember, something to do with stars. Right, I've got to go make dinner (Chester's helping, of course) so I'm off. Everybody stay safe.

--Vivi

What the-

Looks like a break from craziness over New Years isn't gonna happen. Oh well, Christmas didn't have anything too insane happen, and you can't have everything.

To clarify, Vieve and I woke up to someone banging on the door at about 5am, so we go to answer it and there's no one there, just a person in a green hoodie turning the corner and racing down the stairs. Then we look at the door and there's a note on it.

"I hope you enjoyed your little break, Vivi.
But playtime's over.
Remember, there's many of us
And you know of only one person in the city like you.

(X)

--K"

I have two issues with that note:

1) What is with you people and single letter names? Vivi's already guessed who the "mysterious admirer" is (Go read the first five or so posts, or, if you're too lazy, it's Kaylee.) and why they in particular left the note (because Kaylee is a friend of Vieve's and yeah.)

2) I don't think Kaylee knows that ole Blankie's been stalking yours truly as well and that Viv and I have joined forces. Jeff, I'm extremely glad you sent us those guns now because we might need them.

I'm handing over to Vivi now.

--Chester

Kaylee's back and she's out to get me.

Goddamnit, she reminds me of my younger sister, that's why I took her under my wing all those months back...

All together now:

Oh fuck.


Well, I have one thing on my side. She's expecting just me. She doesn't know about Chester, which is a slight advantage. She doesn't know I'm a blogger either, logically, since if she did she would at least be aware that Chester is slenderstalked...

On a related note, I had a mini-BSOD when we found the note. Chester made me vegemite on toast. Is there NOTHING vegemite on toast and a hug can't fix?

--Vivi

This is brilliant.

Absolutely brilliant.

Leah and Max had a shouting match just now and now they aren't talking to each other. Probably has something to do with the fact that they both admitted to loving the other.

What is this, a soap opera? A shoujo manga? Are Chester and I the Beta Couple? What is this madness?

(THIS. IS. MY WORKPLACE.)

Going out to lunch with Chester. It's past 2, I'm staving, and I've been at work since 8.  I get really cranky when I'm hungry so it's eat now or snap at someone in a few minutes.

I don't think I want to take down the fairy lights in my flat. I quite like having them there. It gives the flat...a more personal touch, I guess. Other than the photographs, the DVDs in the cabinet and the contents of my desk there really isn't much indication as to what kind of person lives here.

I found the drawings I mentioned in an earlier post. Not the Lamp Santa ones, but the ones from when I was a kid...the ones with no faces. They kind of creep me out, in light of recent events...

Augh, have to go. So hungry I can't think straight...

What is this i dont even

So on our way home from work Vieve and I went and did some grocery shopping (again) and on our way home decided to stop in at Leah's because I'd been so busy working that I forgot to give her my christmas present. (A slide rule. Leah/Her collection of slide rules OTP)

So we go down her driveway and her house is pretty much silent and the door is ajar. Viv and I are freaking out at this point, so she gets her cricket bat from the car and try to walk as quietly as possible. Then we opened the living room door.

Okay, I think the Belligerent Sexual Tension between Leah and Max has got a little too much for them. Luckily for our eyes they weren't going at it, but seriously. Eating each others faces is NOT going to solve all those bottled up feelings. For gods sake, I thought Vivi and I and our whole Twice Shy deal was hard. Meep.

We left, went home, and resolved never to go over to Leah's house without calling first ever again.

I managed to cook something today! Huzzah! Because, y'know, much as I like watching Vieve clatter around the kitchen and humming to herself I'm really not being very useful. I tried to help with the laundry but...uh...I'mreallynotcomfortablehandlingcertainitemsofvieveswardrobespecificallytheonesthatgounderherclothes .///////////////.

Well, I'm off. I'm going to try and help Vivi with dinner. I'm getting used to living here- I didn't bang my head on the door frame this time. Damn frame. I know I'm kinda tall, but seriously? Was that door made for HOBBITS?

Har har. See what I did thar?

--Chester

Back to work.

Vieve here. Christmas was fun, it was nice having a couple of days off, but today Chester and I have work. And, since I've been working here for a couple of years now, I know that the days after Christmas are usually pretty insane. Oh well. It pays for my rent and it's not boring, although I'm really not looking forward to the next two months, where it's gonna get a fair bit more humid and working in a space with several hot ovens in it is not going to be fun. I don't mind the heat, the heat is fine, but the humidity drives me insane.

Chester is in the kitchen. He is trying to learn to cook. While it's sweet of him to want to be able to help me, Chester is a notoriously awful chef and I'm having to check on him once every five minutes to make sure he isn't turning the bacon into charcoal and burning the pancakes. He seems to be doing alright, but you can never be sure. If things start to go wrong, Chester is the sort of person who flips out and runs around in circles for a while before he gets down to the business of fixing things, and in the interim the problem has usually got worse.

Ah well. Chester's got an invitation to come along to Matarangi, so I will not have to spend ten days totally alone with my folks, which is nice. Unfortunately, as far as I know I will not have an internet connection so you lovely people will have to get by without me. Let's just hope nothing too major happens while I'm gone...

Well, work starts in just over an hour so I'm going to see if nothing too awful has happened to those pancakes.

Good News and Bad News

I have one piece of bad news, one piece of sort-of-bad news, and one piece of good news. I'm going to tell you them in that order so you have something to look forward to.

First, I went for a run this morning after breakfast and I kept seeing Operator Symbols. Operator Symbols are EVERYWHERE- according to an old post by A, they could be a kind of memetic reminder, to keep you thinking about him. And by seeing them everywhere, I don't mean just on manhole covers. I kept seeing them graffiti-ed onto walls and fences.

The sort of bad news is that one of them was this:

Y(x)u are n(x)t al(x)ne.

Can anyone else see the double meaning there? On the one hand, it could be "We know where you live", on the other hand it could be a message from a runner. It took me a while to figure out the second one because I panicked, went home, and Vieve had to judo throw me and then sit on me to get me to stop knocking over furniture and calm down.

The good news is that Vieve has a cure for my little panics in the form of a hug and a playlist of peaceful music. I swear, I'm looking at her iPod right now and she has a playlist for every occasion. "Happy Playlist", "Uncontrollable urge to dance playlist" (Going to have to ask her about this one, sounds interesting) "Wallowing in misery playlist" (Hard to imagine Vivi wallowing in misery. the last track is titled "WAKE UP" and is six seconds. It's Vivi yelling "GET THE [EXPLETIVE REDACTED] OVER YOURSELF!") the "Surprise Me Playlist" and the "Panic Button playlist" which is the one I'm listening to now.

<3 Slenderstupidness aside, I have Vivi, I'm not panicking any more, and we're getting pizza because all the grocery stores are either closed or crazy. Life...is pretty good.

I survived Christmas.

Chester here. Dinner with the Sullivans not as scary as I thought it would be. Her family are utterly insane, every last one of them, but in a fairly friendly/harmless way. They're not all Genki, (just Elaine and her and Vieve's brother Jonathan) thank goodness. They could actually pass for normal for the first fifteen minutes before Viv's brother excused himself to use the bathroom with "Excuse me, my bladder meter is full." Apparently he watched Scott Pilgrim and has never been the same since.

Then I ended up talking to Vivi's dad, who took drama lessons as a child. I think they broke him, because unless what is happening is Serious Business he does everything with a generous serving of-- what's the same of that trope? Large Ham.

Yeah, that. Not to mention the dinner conversation. If anyone ever has dinner with Vieve's family, bring up next years Rugby World Cup, sit back, and enjoy the show. Partially because the Sullivans (Especially Elaine, who has just finished High School) have a very low opinion of the people who decided to rearrange the school year around the World Cup. Personally I agree with them, even though I'm a fan of rugby and played it for the school way back when.

Then somebody brought up Monty Python. Then somebody else brought up movies. Then somebody else brought up the bomb scare in Remuera on Christmas Eve (bet the retailers there were pissed about the loss of business) and so on so on so forth. Surprisingly normal except for their senses of humour.

Then we went home at around 10, cleaned up all the wrapping paper all over the place, and went to bed. Vieve's still asleep. She looks pretty different asleep. She's usually pretty animated. Not necessarily restless, just...lively. I'm enjoying spending more time with her- there's a lot about her that I didn't know that I didn't know. She wore a dress yesterday, which is something I've never seen her do. Skirts, yes, but that's casual stuff.

I like to think she's learning as much about me as I am about her.

(I am! --Vivi)

GAH! Don't startle me like that, Vivi.

(When you concentrate on something, you're really easy to sneak up on because you're so focused.)

I'm going to have to work on that.

(It's endearing. And also the look on your face is pretty funny.)

Yes, but you managed to paint half the nails on my left hand before I noticed what you were doing yesterday morning.

(My statement is still valid. Now, I'm absolutely starving, so I'm going to go make breakfast.)

Yeah, now you mention it, I'm hungry too...

Christmas Day.

Hi guys, Vieve here. Lunch with Chester's family went fine, since unlike him and my family, I've met Chester's family before, and they know me. Chester's an only child but his extended family is huuuuuuuuge- he has fourteen cousins. Crazy.

We have our friend Fen over here with us at the moment. He normally resides in the U.S. of A. but he's visiting his parents so he dropped in to say hi. He hasn't changed at all since I last saw him, it's like I got into a time machine and wound back four years. It's pretty funny. The Anzac biscuits are in the oven, since they're his favourite, they're a kiwi tradition, and we didn't have time to buy him a present n.n

Chester's a bit freaked out because I'm wearing a dress at the moment. It's quite funny. He was yelling about the temperature in Hell being seven degrees below zero and flying pigs being imminent this morning, the weirdo. I own dresses. I wear them on special occasions. He just hasn't been around me when I have a reason to dress up, that's all.

Dinner with my family tonight. Chester is pretty nervous, although my family are, in fact, Mostly Harmless. Just don't let my brother challenge you to a game of Mahjong.

--Vieve

Giftwrap and Genki Girls

Leaving Vieve unattended with wrapping paper is a spectacularly bad idea. Her giftwrapping is hilariously haphazard. (Insert short pause in which Vivi hits Chester) It's rather endearing really. I've had to help her with all the things that aren't square otherwise the results are an epic waste of paper. Which her cat then lies on.

I went out this morning and got her a present. Just something small since I'm currently unemployed although I do have some money because I'm renting out my house until the end of January, although Mr Irving is rather kindly giving me my job back after Christmas since he couldn't find someone to replace me. He's also fine with Vieve and I being away over part of January, which is awfully kind of him, but the two others who work here sometimes in the mornings are apparently buying a house and need the extra work. Everybody wins.

Today, I met Viv's sister Elaine. Elaine is a Perky Goth, emphasis on the perky. Elaine is what happens if you put a litre of Red Bull, five cups of sugar, and glitter in a blender, take the top off, turn it on the fastest speed possible and then run for cover. She has so much energy it isn't even funny. She literally flung the door open, raced in grinning, accosted me and asked why I was sitting on the couch in my pyjamas and did I stay the night last night oooooooooh did we do anything she should be worried about last night (No, we didn't) and Vieve's cat has gotten sooooo much bigger since she last saw her, maybe she's getting fed to much, oh my god did you see The Social Network it was such a good movie I went to see it with my boyfriend last week and it was amazing and instead of popcorn we smuggled in a tin of those chocolate-filled wafer sticks, which are soooooooooooo delicious AND OH MY GOD I HAVEN'T FINISHED MY CHRISTMAS SHOPPING BYE SIS BYE CHESTER I HAVE TO GO!

And then she left. Which makes me wonder what the rest of her family is like because I've only ever met her mother, who's also energetic- her brother lived in Finland or somewhere until early this year, her father is in Singapore 9 months out of twelve and Elaine just wasn't around very often. I always thought that since families tend to have similar temperaments, the rest of Vivi's family would be pretty quiet except when you irritate them. Maybe Vieve is the odd one out. Maybe her entire family are Genki.

...

God, if you're up there, please help me.

Christmas dinner with the Sullivans. I'll inform you of the death toll on Boxing Day.

Thank Goodness.

Vieve here.

You have no idea how utterly relieved I am. I don't know who participated in the Solstice for definite, but most of the people who I knew for sure were helping out seem alive and kicking, which is soimmenselyrelievingyouhavenoidea. Seriously, the Solstice may have been freaking scary for you people, but at least you knew more about what was going on than Chester and I. And not knowing things that are important, such as whether your friends are still alive, is scarier than the scariest thing you can name. Nothing is Scarier.

I was working in the morning again today so I could have the afternoon to breathe, and around twelve when I'm just thinking about going come, Chester comes in the back door, grinning ear to ear, goes "I'll be kidnapping Vivi now, we're going on a date."

You can kind of predict how that went down. Max dropped the empty bowl he was carrying on his foot, Leah slopped water all down herself, and Mariko walked in to see what was going on and started laughing.

They were quite freaked out. Is it really so abnormal for me to, I don't know, fancy someone? I am a girl. I may have been a Bifauxnen with an allergy to Y chromosomes in my youth and I may have never dated anyone, but I am indeed female. Meh.

Over to Chester.

--Vieve

You forgot to mention the betting pool on when we *ahem*.

(WHAT? I didn't know about that! --Vieve)

It's pretty apparent you're a girl if you don't mind my saying, Vivi. Either way, lunch was pretty damn fantastic (note to self: Max knows all the good eateries in Auckland.) and Vieve is a lot easier to be around now she knows most of her friends are safe. She's still distracted, but she doesn't need reminding to eat and sleep now. Also, she's a lot more fun to hug if she's not always tense.

Turns out I am invited to Christmas dinner with Vieve's family, too. That's another group of people who have seen this coming a while back. I've called Mum to ask if my family are doing anything on Christmas night (they  usually don't, we're normally more lunch-gettogethers) but I got her answerphone,  so I've told her I'm living with Vivi until the people renting my house find somewhere else to stay and to call her home phone as opposed to mine.

Sigh. Vieve and I have rented a Studio Ghibli film because those films are...just...so...so...they make me happy. We're going to eat dinner, and we are going to watch it, and we are going to thank whatever deity is up there, if any, that things are being relatively normal.

--Chester

I hope you're all alright.

Please be alive.

--Genevieve.

Here goes nothing.

This is my contribution to the Solstice, I was asked to write, so I'm writing. This is the product of 28 sheets of paper- 12 of the story (I crossed out about 70% of what I wrote) another ten of attempting to start the story, 5 drawings of Lamp Santa, and 1 sheet of doodles. I've got to form it into something coherent now.

As of starting this post, it is 12.45.

Just warning you, this is definitely not my best work.

Who the Hero and his friend are is up to you. They could be Zero and Amelia, but then again they could be someone else. I left the pronouns neutral for that purpose.

Chester's been being awfully good about my craziness today. At least I'm holding still long enough for hugs now.

Right. Here goes...

everything, really.





"WAKE UP"

--

All things come to an end, eventually. The good and the bad. No matter how long they last, they eventually end.

He had gone too far, infected too many, and now there were enough to rise against Him. A force that was mighty in it’s unity. The victims took up arms and brought forth a Hero.

The Hero, feeling the weight of their expectations, their wishes, of the hundreds who had suffered and who’s hopes rested upon them, hefted their sword and went forth, determined to break the hold the monster had on so many lives.

They travelled, seeking to find where the monster was at His weakest. They spoke to all kinds of people, those who were slowly losing their minds, runners, fighters, those who chose to remain in their homes. They went to many different places, the scenery constantly changing but the message remaining the same- He could be killed. The monster had a weakness. One day they’d be free.

It passes through their ranks, starting as a whisper…

The Solstice, The Lunar Eclipse, the Hero…

Now was the time to act.

--

It was cold, even for winter. The landscape was almost too quiet but for two silhouettes, standing in the open, staring defiantly at the treeline. The smaller of the two figures hissed a curse, shivering slightly, and peered into the leaves.

“Would it be too much to hope for them to give themselves up?” they suggested, drawing their heavy winter coat around them and hunching their shoulders.

The reply took a while to come, and when it did it was flat, the tone brooking no argument. “Yes. If I know anything about proxies, they’re determined.”

“Thought not.”

The duo waited, seconds turning to minutes turning to hours, more of their number arriving alone or in pairs, before there was a sound like the sky splitting in two and a swarm of proxies burst out of the leaves. They were all masked, the majority of them wearing the traditional “ToTheArk” mask, others wearing comedy or tragedy masks, some in hallowe’en masks, wielding a variety of weapons. They outnumbered the fighters a hundred to one.

The first two to arrive exchanged looks. One pulled a sword out of a sheath by it’s side, the other, smaller figure a gun. Together, they dived into the fray.

At first, it seemed fruitless, as the proxies were just as well armed as they were and had the advantage of numbers, until one person, no-one could recall who, grabbed a Proxy’s mask and pulled it off.

The proxy froze, stunned, like he could not quite believe what he was seeing. Heartened by this, one of the fighters yelled the discovery at the top of his lings before incapacitating another proxy and demasking it as well.

It did not take long before a large group of shellshocked, dull-eyed proxies congregated a short way off, staring blankly into the distance.

The sword-wielder took a heavy blow to the gut from a proxy wielding a rake of all things with brutal efficiency and stumbled into the forest, hitting a tree with a nasty thud that made their head spin. Straightening up, they spotted the fight through a gap in the trees and went to rejoin it, only to find a familiar figure blocking their path.

The Slender Man shifted slightly, illuminated by the sliver of moon not yet covered by the Earth’s shadow. The swordsman bared his teeth in a wide grin and charged.

“I’m not scared of you.” They gritted out from between clenched teeth, slashing at the Slender Man’s unguarded face.

It raised one of it’s arms, slowly, almost ponderously, then lashed out. The figure winced as tentacle cut through layers of clothing to the flesh beneath, clenched the hilt of their sword so hard that their knuckles went white. The Slender Man stood as if it hadn’t moved at all, a cut across it’s face oozing mist.

The next sentence came out in a vicious, raspy hiss. “Fuck you. You’re finished.”

The Hero grinned, raised the sword once again and charged, aiming for the torso, also unguarded-

“Here goes nothing.”

There was a terrible, visceral scream, a scream that no living thing ought to be able to make, and the world went dark.

Their voices, the voices of many, the victims that had become an army-

One voice departed-

As it faded, like a whisper on the wind-

“You’re just a nightmare.

We’re waking up.”

--

Chester here. It's 5.30 pm as of writing this. I had to type out the last 50 words or so because Vieve passed out. I don't think she got much sleep last night, so it's no surprise that she's dozed off. I'm trying to figure out how to go make myself some hot chocolate without disturbing her since she's gone to sleep using me as a pillow. Note. Cuddling Vieve is good, but if she shows signs of getting sleepy you might want to shift around so you can move away if you need to because when she's asleep I swear she's a lot heavier than she is awake.

Again...good luck, everyone. I have known you for such a short time and it would be regrettable if that time ended today. Everyone...please survive.

--Chester

What's the plan, Stan?

JK. We read Zero's post, we know the drill. Vieve is chewing her pen as we speak.

You're going to need that Fanfiction Machine, Jeff.

We've barricaded ourselves in Viv's apartment in case any proxies come knocking, which they may well do. Both of us have firearms (thanks again Jeff) but we probably won't use those unless we can lead the proxies somewhere quieter where there's less risk of being heard or shooting an innocent.

So. You guys? Punch out a few proxies for us. We'll listen to uplifting music (Vivi has a "happy playlist", why am I not surprised?) and brainstorm for Zero's plan. Viv's spread all these bits of paper over the part of the bed that the laptop and I am not occupying and now she's talking to herself.

I'm off to make breakfast, since I'm getting hungry and Vieve's stomach just growled as well, and I don't think  she's going to be leaving all her pieces of paper to do trivial things like eat anytime soon. She's a funny one, our Genevieve.

Good luck, everyone.

--Chester

Tomorrow

is the Solstice.

Viv has been kind enough to procure me an extra cricket bat since I'm no good with the crowbar. There is a suspicious package in her letterbox which we will open tomorrow morning. If one of you guys sent it, please let us know because we're both seriously freaked out, since there's no return address or even any markings on it apart from her address.

I think I'll try to get some sleep tonight, before proxies invade or whatever the hell is going to happen (could someone fill us New Zealanders in?), because the motel I stayed in last night was a piece of shit and a proxy climbed in my window. I'm never sleeping without the windows being locked ever again. Paranoia.

I smell like a girl at the moment because the first thing I did when I got here was take a shower because I haven't washed in two days (motel shower was full of arachnids). First time Vivi sees me in about two weeks and I smelled like a men's locker room that has no air vents. Way to go, Chess. I used Vieve's shower gel, so I smell like flowers but at least I'm clean.

Until a couple of minutes ago Genevieve was right next to me so she would have written something on the end of this post but she's cooking at the moment. Smells delicious. I offered to help, she offered to introduce me to the end of my spine. Typical Vieve.

Solstice, Solstice. Everyone stay safe, alright? Vieve is quite fond of you all and she'd be awfully upset if you all got offed by Hallowed.

--Chester.

Arithmetic

Hey guys. Viv here. I came to work at 7, when we open, so I could get some work done and help with the breakfast rush so I'm free to pick up Chester. I just got home, and I'm enjoying a bit of peace and quiet before Chester invades my apartment.

Two weird things happened today. First, I woke up this morning when Cassy tried to sit on my head. I'd also forgotten to change out of my day clothes. I was really tired last night, I'd had a stressful couple of days, I guess I just cleaned my teeth, washed my face and then passed out. Huh. I've taken to filming myself at night to check nothing funky is happening while I'm asleep but the footage is normal- I turn the camera on, take out my ponytail and then flop.

Second, I got a package in the mail. Doesn't say who it was from, so I've left it in my box in the lobby until I have someone else (namely Chester) with me in case there's some trickery going on here so I have backup.

Stay safe.

--Vivi

Plans

Chester's coming back for the Solstice. Just in case something happens, so, I quote "neither of us has to put up with the impending dread as the other doesn't answer the seventeenth phonecall."

I know what he's talking about. He's in Rotorua, my hometown, which is a three hour car journey, and he'll be here tomorrow afternoon since he'll be catching the bus up as far as he can before he needs to sleep, getting off and checking in at the first motel he can find, getting up in the morning, catching the bus back up to Auckland, taking the bus some more into the city, and I'll pick him up from there. He will probably then proceed to play with the shitty stereo in my car, use up most of the hot water in the shower, eat half the contents of the cupboard and then complain about sleeping on the couch. Then if I offer to sleep on the couch myself and give him the bed he'll suddenly decide that the couch is good enough.

I'm onto you, Chester.

No sign of Slendy or proxies. Probably gathering themselves up for the Solstice. Smart, since we appear to be doing the same. Chester managed to get ahold of a crowbar while he was running, so he's been using that. Around the same time I saw the proxy in the comedy mask he saw a proxy in a tragedy mask. What is it with proxies and masks? So people can't dob them in to the police? Or just the creepy factor?

Auckland weather sucks. Standing in the rain is fun. It all works out in the end.

--Vivi