Remedy

for my own recklessness.

Vieve here.

I'M OKAY. Ish. In retrospect, what I did was extremely stupid so I am now beating myself up over it. Otherwise, I'm a little shaken and very tired and that's the only damage.

Okay, so this morning I went and did some grocery shopping, took it back to my flat, and then went for a walk. A rather long walk. I ended up in the domain, which is a half-an-hour journey by car, and then got the extremely bright idea of calling back the proxy that called me a week or so ago. Vivi fail.

I dialed the number and waited. Someone answered the phone.

G: Hello?

???:  Please wait while we put you through to an Operator.

*slightly staticy silence for a couple of seconds*

???: *Unintelligible through distortion*

*burst of static, person hangs up*

(You can see where this is going, can't you?)

It was at about this time  that I realised this was an intensely stupid idea. I stuck my phone back in my bag, got struck with a wave of nausea, looked around and lo and behold guess who was standing about three metres away in the trees?

I hefted my cricket bat, backed away slowly. I was pretty sure that if he tried something I could land a hit on him, but I wasn't sure just how effective it would be. He just stood there, his head slightly tilted, doing nothing.

After about three minutes of this something in me snapped and I yelled "Haven't you done enough, you creep?" and then ran. I know there wasn't any point running, he can follow people, he can slenderwalk, but it was better than standing there watching that blank face and those open arms.

I normally like hugs, but not from Eldritch Abominations. Especially not ones that try and off my friends.

Basically I freaked out, turned my phone off, and spent the entire day running around Auckland trying to throw it off. I didn't see it again, so I deemed it safe to go home.

I'd run, but there's little point. There's three days until the Solstice. I can last that long.

(feels like she's Tempting Fate)

By the way, Chester, I'm not mad at you for blogjacking. This is easier when there are others to talk to.

I took a Mental Health Day yesterday. I've been feeling rather tired, lately, and I've been having dizzy spells so I made an appointment with my doctor yesterday morning and she told me that I'm overworking myself and to take it easy for a while. So I put my Ipod on shuffle and spent the rest of the day reading.

...

Hey Slendy. I'm not going to say you're not getting to me, standing outside with the traffic whizzing past you in my darkest moments, staring up at me. But I know I'm not alone in this. I'd be a lot more afraid of you if there weren't others fighting you. The greatest trials become easier when there is someone else to lean on.

Weirdness

Okay, so I woke up this morning and checked my letterbox downstairs, and there was a wad of sticky notes in it. Y'know, post-it notes. It looked pretty much pristine too, except that every single note had an operator symbol on it.

Hoo boy.

If that's meant to scare me I'm more than a little bit offended, really. I had Slendy himself chilling across the road a couple of days back and a proxy tried to break into my house the other week. And they put a wad of operator symbols in my letterbox. They are still in my letterbox, in fact. I'm not trusting enough to actually take them inside my apartment.

Either way, what is up with that? Are they trying to lure me into a false sense of security or something?

I had Leah and Mariko over at my place last night to watch chick flicks and generally have a girls night. Leah and Max are still doing the whole will-they-or-won't-they song-and-dance. Max is still mad because Leah agreed to go out to dinner with Chester all those weeks ago because he owed her for something, just as friends. It's possible to take someone out for a meal without being interested in them. It is also possible to be friends with someone of the opposite gender. Rargh.

Lamp Santa. Because I can.

Work is getting a bit crazy. Lots of people buying food for Christmas dinners and presents and stuff. I don't usually work weekends but I'm coming in this afternoon to help ease the workload. It's extra pay, so I don't mind giving up my Sunday afternoon for work. Sigh.

dswyuil.l

Cassy approves this message.

Breather Episode.

As mentioned last post, there are now fairy lights all over my flat. My living room is quite small so I don't have room for a tree, so I compensate with fairy lights and a christmas star on my coffee table. My family are atheists but we've always been big into christmas. Every year we'd get a freaking massive tree and cover it with decorations, and we'd put fairy lights on the outside of the house and tinsel on the letterbox and my little sister would spend the week leading up to christmas permanently wearing a reindeer headband. I have fond memories of Christmas.

I don't know why I'm in such good spirits, what with Slendy and his band of merry mooks cavorting around spreading blood and crazy this Christmas season. I guess it's helping me cope, in my own way. The world is not crumbling around me. I'm just another little light in a sea of them, and most of them will never be affected by Slendy. Slendy can go on infecting people, but someday, even if all of us currently blogging (except, of course, for Zeke Strahm) are all dead or crazy by then. It's quite a comforting thought. Even if we fail, we'll be another step on the ladder to success.

Also, this could easily be renamed "The Yandere Song". For those of you who don;t want to listen to the full song (don't like it, etc) the final part of lyrics is as follows:

"Star so light and star so bright
First star I see tonight
Star so light and star so bright
Keep him by my side

I want to settle down
I want to settle down
Baby there's no need to run
I'll love you well, oh
I want to settle down
It's time to bring you down
On just one knee for now
Let's make our vows.."

Also, it's a handy excuse to plug another New Zealand musician.

The Call Knows Your Phone Number.

Got two phone calls that pissed me off yesterday. And then one that killed my bad mood, or at least K.O.'ed it.

Phone Call #1 (Private Caller)

G: Hello, who's speaking?

???: Is this Ms. Sullivan?

G: This is she.

???: What?

G: Yes, it is.

???: We seem to have detected a virus in your computer-

G: I have Antivirus.

???: Yes, that is why I am calling you, I need to give you instructions to fix your computer.

G: Are you from the software developer?

???: Yes. First, we need your password so we can remotely fix the problem.

G: Ohhh, so you guys are from AVG? Hold on, I'll get my book of passwords.

???: (relieved) Yes, now-

G: (hostile) I use Symantec. You do realise that there was an article about this scam in the newspaper a week or so ago? You can only hit a couple of people before word starts to get around.

???: I-

G: Find a new way to scam people, honey.

(I hang up here)

Goddamn telephone scams. If anyone gets called by a supposed tech support centre yattering about detecting  a virus, hang up.

Phone Call #2: Unknown number. It's a Vodafone number and I'm on 2degrees, so it's probably costing them a fortune, which is a good thought.

???: Come outside.

G: Excuse me?

???: Come outside.

G: Why?

???: Come.

G: Where?

???: Places.

G: Who are you?

???: A servant of the Master.

G: Who the bloody fuck is the Master?

???: (pause) Who are you?

G: Pardon?

???: Who are you?

G: This is not a game of who-the-fuck-am-I!

???: ...

G:  I'm Vivi, bitch.

???: (pause) Come outside.

G: Piss off.

???: Co- (phone cuts off. Hope he ran out of credit.)

Fucking proxies. I did go outside shortly after. No proxies. Someone trying to spook me. Weird that they didn't know my name though. "Who are you?" indeed.

Phone Call #3: Chester

C: Vivinator

G: Chestertron. What's malfunctioning this time?

C: My nose is stuffed up but nothing else. I was just checking in, seeing if you were okay.

G: Who are you and what have you done with Chess?

C: I read the blogs. There seems to be some freaky stuff going down, so I thought I'd check in.

G: Well, uh, I'm fine. I had a stomach bug earlier but it's gone now.

C: Good. Look, is there anything you want for Christmas?

G: Excuse me?

C: You heard me.

G: You're running, you crazy boy, you don't have time to go christmas shopping!

C: The Solstice is on the 22nd, and I'm going to be optimistic and hope that It'll get sent into long-term dormancy or something. Three days is enough.

G: ...Just curbstomp some proxies for me, okay?

C: Okay.

G: Attaboy. Actually, I'll do that myself. You just stay alive.

C: I'll try.

(he hangs up)

Trust Chester. He's on the run from a Noodle Person like something straight out of Amigara Fault, only more hostile and with a small army of crazies, and he's thinking about Christmas presents. It says something about Chess that I'm not sure if he's pulling my leg.

Well. That was really, really not fun.

It was a Proxy. I got fed up with waiting and opened the door, cricket bat in hand, and this kid of about 16 or 17 lunges at me. It was pretty creepy, actually- his face was totally frozen, the only thing that moved was his eyes when they blinked. And he didn't look all over the place like a normal person would, he just stared straight at me the entire time.

I'm lucky the lady from 7B didn't come to see what the heck was going on. She's deaf as a post in her right ear, thank god. Makes communicating with her a pain but saved my ass, she's a bit loony.

I managed to stop him from pushing into the apartment. Shut the door behind me, made sure I had my cricket bat and then ran like hell was at my heels. I led him to an alley a block away and made a spirited attempt at bashing his face in. Didn't work, but I got him unconscious. He had a broken bottle, of all things. He didn't do anything serious with it. I've got a few bruises and cuts but nothing that won't heal up within a week.

Lesson of the day, boys and girls: If you're home, put the chain on your door if you have one. If you aren't, set your alarm.

I now have an MSN if you need to contact me.

vieve_veritas@hotmail.co.nz

Someone's at the door.

And if they were friendly they would have knocked instead of just standing outside the door. I keep hearing rattling/clicking from the lock. I think they're trying to pick it. Whoever it is, Cassy doesn't like them at all because she's staring at the door with her fur all fluffed up.

Fuck. I should have put the chain over the door.

If you don't hear from me within five hours, consider me dead or a proxy.

Sorry for the absence...

Things have just got that little bit weirder.

First thing, Chess is staying with me at the moment. He saw It on Monday. More accurately, it was outside his house. I don't blame him for wanting to sell and find somewhere else to live, if he isn't going to run.

If Max makes one more insinuation about why exactly he's staying over, colleague or not I will not be very pleased. This is just temporary. He should probably get moving.

Second, I had a total freak out yesterday because my dad turned up at my apartment building while I was at work and Chess let him in then left to go do something so I go in and there's this bald guy in a suit standing in my living room with his back to me. Thanks, Dad. Really thanks.

To clarify, my Dad lives in Singapore. I only see him a few times a year. So I didn't know that he'd lost what remained of his hair and he hadn't told me he was coming. Thankfully he turned around otherwise I might have done something... stupid.

Third, Dad brought a folder of my drawings that he'd found in his house. When I was young I fancied myself quite the artist for a while, even though I wasn't actually that good. You can kind of guess where I was going with this, can't you?

I was never very good at drawing faces, so I used to leave faces blank. I now have sheet after sheet of drawings of faceless people. Which makes me wonder if this is a really contrived coincidence or if this goes back further than I think.

On a totally unrelated note, I am totally unrecognisable with brown hair. Okay, so I'm a redhead, but being unrecognisable as a brunette is actually kinda funny. Huzzah for semipermanent hairdye. It's nearly washed out now. Now I know what to do if I ever need to go incognito.

Thanks muchly to Omega of Encyclopedia Slenderia for linking to my map. The only pin on is so far is Kaylee's. I'll be adding Chess's to it shortly although I guess that will give away where I live. Greetings from New Zealand (in case you don't know, it's those two islands shaped like a canoe and a fucked up stingray nearish to Australia). I think I'm the first Slenderblogger from around here, although I wouldn't be surprised if there were more.

Maps.

Finally found a tool that allows people to mark Slenderman sightings and slendervictims.

Look at the pin I put down for Kaylee for an example. If you know the dates, put them down please. Use red icons for people who have since passed on, blue for people who're still living. You don't have to give exact locations if you don't want to, just a rough estimate. I need your help.

http://www.mapservices.org/myguestmap/map/exilisveritas

Break's over. I'll check back at Chess's.

(edit: forgot to add link)

Goddamnit!

Two things today went badly wrong. The first is largely inconsequential and will just cost me vet bills, the second was rather more alarming.

1) My cat went walkies and vanished for a day and a half. Pretty normal Cassy behaviour, she does it all the time, but she came back with some pretty nasty scratches and I had to take her to the vet this morning. Nothing wrong, I just have to give her antibiotics. Which happen to be damn expensive, and that's on top of the vet bills.

2) One of my workmates, Chester, apparently called in sick today and I'm working for an extra two hours to cover for him because otherwise there's only two staff around and that's counting Leah, who just does paperwork and accounting. That's not a problem, extra money is good. The real problem was when I called up Chester. Here's a transcript of that phone conversation, as far as I can remember.

(phone rings. Chester picks up.)

C: (wary) Who's there?

G: It's Genevieve. Mr Irving told me you'd be sick today so I'm working until closing time to cover for you.

C: Oh. Thanks, Vieve. I would be at work if I didn't feel so shitty. I hope things go okay.

G: She'll be right, Chess. This isn't the first time someone's got sick. If you're infectious it's probably best to keep away, anyhow.

C: I meant you, you seem tired. 

G: You're the one who's sick. Even though you don't sound too bad.

C: I'm not sick, sick, I'm just stressed and it recently got worse. I haven't been sleeping too good and I don't want to accidentally poison a customer. That's why I asked about you seeming tired, I was worried you'd be sick next.

G: Point. What're you stressed out about?

C: It's probably just paranoia, but it's still creeping me out. I'm finding it hard to sleep at night, I don't feel safe in my own home.

(Is this sounding familiar?)

G: Go on.

C:  Okay, so you know how I like horror stories and urban legends and stuff?

G: Creepypasta, yeah.

C: Well, I was looking around on the internet when I came across this series of videos called-

G: Marble Hornets? Everyman HYBRID?

C: Everyman HYBRID. Wait, what?

G: I think I know what you're talking about. Slender Man.

C: Oh, fuck me. Not you too.

G: No thanks, Chess. Is he stalking you or something?

C: I keep hearing noises at night but that just might be me being paranoid. Branches on my window and all that.

G: There aren't any trees near your window, Chess. I'm not telling you to pack your shit and run like a crazy person, there could be another explanation, but that's definitely suspicious. Don't worry too much about it though. Most of what I've heard says that he can't get to you as easily if you're calm about it and it might be nothing. 

C: Well. Nice to know I'm not the only one. Thanks Vieve, I'll be at work tomorrow.

(He hangs up here)

Well, looks like things just got worse. Don't know for sure if he's genuinely being slendystalked or if that's just paranoia talking. Things might be fine. I'm not going to get too optimistic about all this. It seems suspicious that out of probably-not-very-many Slendervictims in the entire country one of them is my colleague.

For now, I'm just going to read some Terry Pratchett and then go to work. Then I'll go visit Chess and make sure he's not freaking himself out more. At the risk of sounding like a certain disney musical, we're all in the this together and we need to look out for each other.