Update

Hello - this is Serah.

Jack is really rattled right now. He barely speaks. Once he wrote that last post, he sat against the wall of the new cave we've been sleeping in and stared at the opposite wall without saying anything. He would wordlessly swap shifts with me when we were standing guard, though I offered to let him sleep more; he needs it, the poor kid.

He's been remarkably strong throughout this; I think this most recent incident is simply the straw that broke the camel's back. While the creature clearly had sinister intentions, it was unclear whether it was capable of real harm; this sort of proves that it is, and I think that has really terrified Jack.

Anyway - since I'm here, I'll update you guys on things Jack has failed to mention. Jack has been wholly focused on getting home, with little regard to the creature other than avoiding it. I, however, feel that the creature is our way home if indirectly, and think that learning as much about it as we can can only help our chances of survival. To this end, I have been pestering Jack for more details on his story, but he gives me only cursory examples. The small bits that I have match up rather eerily with my own story.

I was 16 when the creature began stalking me. It started not long after my father returned from his trip to Japan, and it lasted around a month before the eventual encounter where I fell into its trance. That was a day before my birthday, and I burned my house down at its urging and walked out of the blaze into its open arms. The next day - the day I turned 17 - I awoke here, in this godforsaken forest.

That was in March. In May, I found a group of three other children - Brandon was among them. He was 17 as well, and I spent much of my time with him. We grew... fond of each other, let's say. Very fond, in fact. When the other four children showed up in June, we were inseparable. It was only out of concern for the younger children - Emily and Jack, the two youngest - that we agreed to separate.

To see him like that is a pain I'm not sure I can properly convey through text. That image will haunt me for the rest of my life, no matter how long it proves to be.

Jack and I are going to continue moving locations. We've put the thoughts of the door behind us, for the moment, though I know it will eventually come back to that.

Now, I'm not stupid. I've read The Dark Tower. I recognize the signs here; Black 13 imprinted on some mystical door than can open on numerous realities and that is supposed to be some coincidence? No. Clearly some larger game is afoot here.

For example? My name is Serah Grace Henderson. 19 letters. I haven't asked Jack, but I will guarantee you his middle name has eight letters. I don't know what this all means - but it's cause for concern. If King's works have made the leap into reality... you may not be safe reading this blog.

Door Trials #1

We spent much of the past few days searching nearby bodies of suicides, and we finally found a Polaroid camera (even though it's 2011). We took a picture of the interior of the cave we've been hiding in and then set off in search of the door. When we got there, acting on advice that you guys had given us, we placed the photo into the triangles, which is apparently a photo frame.

Once we did so, we were able to open the door, which swung outward. When we opened the door, we saw ourselves looking in on our cave.

We shut the door, removed the photo, and found that the door had locked itself. We took off back to the cave before night fell, but found something rather unsettling when we reached it. Not far in, about halfway to the point where we had been sleeping, we began seeing blood smears on the wall. When we reached the point where we had been sleeping, we found the bodies of Brandon and Emily, two of the other survivors, disemboweled and propped up against the cave wall, as if sitting down casually next to each other. Despite the gruesome state of their bodies, their faces were untouched and appeared normal, with the exception of being ghostly white and frozen in a look of horror. Perhaps most unsettling, however, is the symbol drawn above their heads in (probably their own) blood.

We ran all night away from that cave, and we have found another one. We are sleeping in shifts to look out for anything so we don't meet the same fate.

I'm scared.

Hey guys. I don't have any new information for you, but since I have a minute in between moving around to avoid the creature, I thought I'd address some of your concerns.

Xankek said...

Jack, Are there leaves around the door that do not seem to match the leaves of the forest?

As far as I remember, no. The door is the only conspicuous feature of the area it is in.

Nemo said...

Directions for a sliding puzzle perhaps? Do the triangles appear to be loose in any way?

The pieces are rigidly attached to the door frame, actually. They won't budge. I will say though that they aren't flush against the door; they are protruding somewhat from the door.

Xander sent me this message in an e-mail, originally sent in base64 code:

"Jack, can you give me a drawing or picture of the triangles on the door? I am looking to help. Also, what is your real age? And can you give me some information on the Serah girl?"

First, the base64 is no longer necessary I think. The reason I was sending messages in base64 at first was because I felt there would be a much lower chance of the creature understanding it and realizing what I was doing. Now that I'm fully in control of the blog again, we should be okay to communicate in plain text. On the safe side, however, we had best not exchange pictures in case we unknowingly contribute to the creature's plans.

More to your point, I'm 13. Everything the creature said in the blog was true, but why it wrote in that God awful style I can't say; it's insulting, really. Serah, on the other hand, is 17, and has been since March. She says it's been a long time since the creature brought her here, but it was under the same circumstances - she was compelled to burn her house down by the creature near her birthday. Beyond that, her father was a traveller, and would often go on long trips out of the country. One of his more recent trips was to Japan, interestingly enough.

That's all the information I have for you as of now. We're going to make another trek to the door soon; let me know if you have theories that I should investigate while there.

Door Update #1

The creature was back yesterday. We couldn't leave the cave for very long, as on our way to the door we spotted it walking slowly through the woods. It didn't see us, or at least didn't pursue us, as we made it back to the cave safely.

We ventured back out today in search of more firewood, being very careful, and found the door again, which is odd because we weren't exactly searching for it, and it seemed to be in a different spot than last time. At any rate, we inspected it while we could.

It is still locked, but there are some new developments. I found an image-creating app on this phone and used it to sketch a few of the things on the door. First, the imgur link that was hidden in previous posts does display the correct symbols on the door; but it's only the top row. The top three symbols are in large, black print above the door.

Second, the triangles.

This is what they look like. They haven't moved and appear to be in the same condition as they were in our previous encounter with the door. Still not sure what to make of these.

Third, the paint on the door - it's a deep blue - has been chipped off near the bottom, forming this symbol.

Once again, not sure what to make of it. I've never seen a symbol quite like it, though it appears in some ways to resemble an hourglass. I don't think it's Japanese script because it's been scraped into the door while the script is written in black.

One final observation - the doorknob is loose. Last time it was pretty rigid, and while it is still locked and secured to the door right now, it is a fair bit looser than it was before, as a knob gets with heavy use.

Serah and I had to run back to the cave as night was starting to fall. We haven't decided if we should go back or not, and we're having some slight disagreements on how to proceed. Serah wants to bash the door open, while I fear that may disrupt whatever purpose the door is intended for. I have some feeling that this is our way home, but I can't be sure how.

Will update when I have more information to share. Stay safe, and let me know if you see any instances of the creature or something like it near you. If he's not here, I don't want to think what he must be up to.

A Locked Door

We've been moving constantly the past few days. Serah swears that she saw it a few hours ago, so we've been running ever since. We're inside a cave at the moment, heading right into the mountainside.

We're still in the forest. Assuming it is in Japan, we'd have to cross the ocean to get home, and that isn't something we're likely to accomplish. If we stay in the forest, however, we have some chance of finding wayward travelers - but even more than that, that creature had to bring us here somehow. Perhaps we can find whatever dimensional passage or whatnot the creature used to get us here, and use it to get back to the U.S. (Serah is from the U.S. too, she lives in California).

Anyway, the reason I'm updating you guys is that we've made an interesting discovery. In the forest today we found a door. In the middle of the forest, it was just standing there in a frame connected to nothing but the ground. On the door in huge black script were some Japanese symbols - neither of us can read it, unfortunately. Below the symbols are four strange metal triangles, arranged into a rectangle, with the triangles at the corners.

What is weird is that when we tried to take a photo of the door to show you guys and see if you could translate the symbols, all the camera picked up was the forest behind it. No door. The door is, for some reason, locked from both sides. We have a strong feeling that this door is related to the creature, somehow. When we go back out tomorrow we are going to try and find it to investigate some more.

If you have any ideas as for how we can translate these symbols, please let me know.

6 - Answers.

Hello readers of this blog. I am Jack Redding, and this is the first time I will have spoken to you in plain text.

The person posting on this blog is not a person, but a creature with the appearance of a man in a suit, but lacking a face. This is the man who was stalking me during the month of June, and the events played out almost exactly as they were reported on this blog. The day before my birthday the creature cornered me in the woods, and I only remember parts of the weeks following. I remember setting my house on fire and walking out of the burning house into the arms of the creature while my parents were burned alive inside. I remember waking up in this forest, which some of your emails seem to suggest may be Aokigahara

I have been using a phone that I found on one of the many hanged corpses in the forest to send emails and make blog posts, but I have been posting them in base64 so the creature cannot read them - at least, I do not think he can read them.

I do not know the creature's purpose in bringing me here, but I am not the only one brought here by it - I found a group of others, all abducted as well. In the interest of remaining safe and undetected by the creature, the group of us - there are around ten - split off into pairs. I am travelling with a girl named Serah, who is seventeen - she was one of the oldest.

We have only suspicions about why he wanted photos of trees, but since the request was quite fervent and inexplicable, we suspect that the purposes are malicious. This is why we have been asking you not to send photos, and we continue to ask that you only send plain text.

For the time being we are safe from the creature and feel safe in taking full control of the blog and e-mail account and are working to find our way back home. What is important, however, is that innocent lives are protected and that you readers did not fall prey to the creature.

There are still a lot of questions we have yet to answer and would greatly appreciate your help, as you provide a link to the outside world that internet alone cannot provide. We will be posting as often as we can, safely, to try and find our way back home.

5

birthday!

Hi guys! Today is my birthday and im really excited! Dad is going to take me on a nature hike in some woods nearby. I also got a really cool phone with a video camera in it so im going to take some video on the walk and show you guys when i get back.

4

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no more pictures?

HI guys. i havent gotten anymore piCtures in my emAil siNce my lasT post... did i do something wrong? i didnt mean to if i did... so pleaSe keep sEnding picturEs if You dOnt mind...

anyway... i havent seen the moving tree in a while. i dont think dad Understands why it scares me but the police still tAke it seriously so as loNg as theY know that soMething is Out there and following me then i should be alRight.

keep sEnding pictures if you can... sorry if i did something jred618@gmail.com

update and more pictures

Hey guys sorry ive been gone for a while. After that weird guy and the police station I didnt leave the house for a few days. I went outside for a little while today and talked to my neighbor. Hes a nature photographer and he just got back from Japan a few days ago. He was showing me some cool pictures of this one place he went to but I cant pronounce or spell the name.

Anyway I checked my email and there are a couple pictures of trees this time.

I like this one because it is so brightly colored while the rest are jsut your normal green leafs. It may not be the type of tree and it might just be that it isnt all the way fall yet but its still a cool picture.

These trees are the long and thin and it looks like there is a thunderstorm coming and it might strike them and dead trees are really creepy, like the ones in the mean picture with the burned ones before.

Dont forget to keep sending my pictures jred618@gmail.com

3

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emergency update 2

My parents got home and took me to the police station after i told them about the tree or person or whatever. It was there when they pulled into the driveway but it was gone when I told them to go look at it. My dad talked to the police in a small room while i sat outside with my mom. I heard him say something about stalking and that ive seen it before, and the police filed a report, but he also said that he had never seen it so he wasnt sure if it was just my imagination.

Anyway on the way back home i saw it again on the side of the road. I got really scared and still am so dad is sleeping outside my room tonight and boarded up a window so id feel safe. im still scared thoughNa29R.

emergency update

the moving tree is across the street right now, but it isn't moving. now that i can get a better look at it, it isn't really a tree at all. it looks like a person. when mom and dad get home im going to ask him about it and see what he says. but that isnt for like a half an hour now.

more email pictures

Hi guys I got a lot more emails laIst night of tree photos. A lot of y.ou guys also seInt me emails asking quesMtions about computer codes or sGomething but I didnt send out any emUails until a few minRutes ago and I dont know anything ab.out computer codes haha. Must haCve been an email erOror or something.

AnyMway here are some more pictures. /

I like this pictNure because the raindraops on the camera are cool but I dont really like the tree because it is thin and bare looking. it actually looks a lot like the moving tre2es ive been seeing around town haha.

I like these trees because they have a lot of lea9ves so they look really fully and give a lot of shade. I dont know what kind they are but i wish I had them in Alabama. Someone named pyrozombie sent thRis to me and asked about the meanpicture from last post, saying something about a tree in the mi.ddle of it. Now that I look at it it does kind of look like the moving tree ive seen around town but only a little bit, it didnt have the curved branches. Speaking of the meanpicture somejone sent me a picutre that looks similar to it.

I cant tell if this picture is just black and white or if these trees are burned too but the picture is really creepy for sopme reason. I dont know why but it feels somgewhat unsettling.

Make sure you keep sending me more tree pictures jred618@gmail.com

lots of pictures

Hi guys. I took a nap earlier and then checked my email again and found all of these photos! Thanks to everybody who sent them and keep sending more I love looking at trees from all over. It makes me feel like ive been to the place where the trees are and I like to go places/$.

Kari who sent this one says its called a weeping willow. I didnt think that name made sence at first because it doesnt look anything like the magical tree from Harry Potter haha. I still like this tree though because the leafs look so soft and it looks like you can duck under them and hide in there and nobody would see you.

Someone named Hanna sent me these pictures and she said she took them in a photography class last year I think she did a good job and should have gotten a A at least. There were a lot of pictures so Im only gonna put my favorite one up here. I like these trees, but the one on the right is a little creepy looking because it only has branches coming out of hte one side kinda like tentacles. and it reminds me of the weird moving tree i saw the other day. still a cool picture though!

Someone sent me this picture but it didnt have a title or anything other than the picture in the message so i dont know what kinds of trees these are or anything. These trees are all really thin which is kinda creepy, I like trees with thick trunks but its still cool how it makes the woods look really dark so they must have a lot of leafs up top.

I think whoever sent this picture because I couldnt see their name or email or anything was just being mean. All these trees are dead and it looks like they burned down and thats sad especially because fires are really scary if they get close to houses and stuff but trees shouldnt ever be burned down theys hould be allowed to grow.

Oh also i had another weird dream when i was taking a nap earlier#,. I was in a big redwood forest and then i saw this guy in the distance and it looked like @he was wearing a suit or someIthing but( he was really thin%*<. He turGned around and starAted to come closer to me and i saw that he was tall and had long arms but before he could get all the way to me i woke up. Here i drew a picture of it.

Its funny that sarah sent me pictures of redwoods because if i hadnt seen those pictures i wouldnt have known that these were redwoods in the dream haha

Keep sending me pictures i love them guys jred618@gmail.com

these trees are huge!

Hi again everybody. I checked my email and I found this picture. Sarah who lives in California sent these to me and says that these are called redwood trees. THEYRE HUGE! I want to see one one day because I want to see how tall they are up close and in person. Ive never seen trees as big as these look and dad says that they are some of the largest trees in the world and are really dangerous if they fall but theyre endangered so people try to preserve them. I dont want them to go extinct so I think its good that they are protected.

I thought I saw another moving tree today too but I didnt have my phone with me or my camera so I couldnt take a picture. It looked just like last time and if it really was a moving tree it may actually have been the same one. The weird thing is that it wasnt really close to the place I saw it last time it was on the other side of the town by the Wendys.

Also its only a few days until my birthday. Im one of the youngest kids in my class because my birthday is usually just a few days after school gets out so all of my friends are already 13. It kinda bothers me though because they go and see movies without me. But Ill be 13 soon so I wont have to worry about that.

Thanks for the email Sarah everybody else send me more I really like new kinds of trees jred618@gmail.com

weird tree i saw today

I havent checked my emails but Im sure you guys sent me some more so Ill check later. I just had to post this one thing I saw today.

I was out doing stuff with my dad when I saw this really weird tree that looked like it was moving, sort of like in the dream I had the other night too. I tried to get a picture of it with my phone but dad was already turning so I missed it.

When I got home I tried to draw what the trees looked out now I know Im not the best drawer but you should get a pretyt good idea of what it looked like from the picture

I could of sworn I saw it moving but dad says it was probably just the wind since its really windy here right now, but i still think it was moving. I forgot to ask him what kind of trees they were though.

Oh and don't forget to send me your cool tree pictures jred618@gmail.com

I had a dream about trees last night

Hi guys. I only got a few pictures of trees since my last post but i still like them, so thanks whoever sent them.

I went walking through the woods again today and i found some cool trees. Dad says this is a blackjack oak.

I like this one because the leaves are more thick and cover the branches more than the boxelders. There are a lot of these on the other side of the woods near my house.

I had a dream about the woods last night. I was walking through them and got a little bit lost, I thought I knew the area but it changed or something, and the trees started to get thinner and look more like boxelders. Then the wood started to get darker, and I swear I saw a really thin tree moving around, until I started to cough and woke up. I went there in the woods today and knew the whole area, so it was just a weird dream.

Keep sending me emails with pics of trees guys I really like them jred618@gmail.com

i like trees

Hi. My name is Jack Redding. Im 12 years old and live in Alabama. My Dad tells me I shouldnt give out my name on the internet but there are probably a lot of Jack Reddings living in Alabama and I dont think anybody would want to come after me anyway, so I think its ok. My Dad is an arbrist so he knows a lot about trees and he tells me things about them. I like trees and we live next to some woods. Sometimes I go exploring through the woods for new trees but not too deep because I dont think mom and Dad know I go in there and I dont want to get lost.

Dad says these are called boxelder trees. I dont like them because theyre too tall and skinny, they kinda creepy me out when they get in groups. What do you think?

Email me any pictures of cool trees you have jred618@gmail.com