THE VIDEO FOR THIS FILE WAS FILMED BY AN UNKNOWN PERSON. IT IS MOSTLY ACTION, AND IS THEREFORE MOSTLY DESCRIPTIVE. GREAT CARE HAS BEEN TAKEN TO DOCUMENT THE EVENTS THAT UNFOLDED AT THIS TIME, DESPITE THE HECTIC NATURE OF THE VIDEO.

--File 056: Face-off With Fate--

The video begins not where it left off, but in a new location. It is immediately unclear who is recording, because all of the members of the group are within the shot.

Blaine and Alex have been separated; both are sporting split lips, and neither are looking very happy with the other. Emma is standing between them, looking furious, but no one is saying anything at this point. The group is standing, tense, waiting for something to break the tension... and something does.

The sudden piercing tone of the glass alien music splits the air, and everyone jumps to the alert, Alex and Blaine scrambling to a standing position. All heads turn toward the lake- and just as well, because the sudden sound of trees being smashed immediately follows.

Bartosz: "GET DOWN!"

Everyone hits the dirt. Whoever is filming moves smoothly and without concern, lowering themselves to the floor. While it seems that the camera would be in blatant view of everyone being filmed, there is absolutely no recognition or notice of the camera or of whoever is holding it.

The groaning of trees is joined by the sound of thrashing, and then suddenly, trees and debris are flying in every direction; screams and shouts fill the air, and when things clear up, the camera tilts almost lazily upward to display the full, writhing wrath of the lake creature's glass arms.

In broad daylight, sunlight flashes and glitters blindingly off the millions of shards that make up the creature's entirety. The sound of glass scraping and moving is joined by the bassline blasts of dark, jarring musical tones that clash and blare.

Blaine: "Emma!"

Emma: "I'm here!"

The camera tilts back down to show the group standing and trying to move around the debris that has fallen around them. Blaine is immediately at Emma's side, helping her over trees; Alex is trying to make his way toward them, deathly pale, while Anders is helping Bartosz to his feet, the latter swearing too much to properly record, too rapidly to capture it all. It is a lot of swearing.

Quite suddenly, Alex screams, and he disappears into the fallen foliage.

Anders: "Shit! Alex?!"

Emma: "Oh, God- NO! ALEX!"

Emma is pointing upward, and when they all turn, it's to see that the arm of the creature has snaked Alex through the debris and is now dragging him up and off the ground.

Blaine is the one to respond first. He takes off through the smashed trees and leaps up off of a stump, narrowly missing Alex's outstretched hand and crashing back down to the grass.

Emma sprints past him next, screaming as she starts to make a run for the lake; Alex is already in the air, shouting and swearing and trying to dislodge himself.

There is a bang- a deafening crack- and the glass tentacle suddenly jerks back, releasing Alex. He falls for a horrifying second through the air, before both Blaine and Emma smash into him, barely cushioning his fall, the three of them tumbling through grass and leaves and sticks.

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The camera turns to show Bartosz standing in the wild chaotic mess of trees, eyes hard and calm, a gun in hands that are steady. He is lining up another shot, but sudden blasts of angry, irritated music fill the air, and the tentacle makes to slam toward him.

Anders grabs Bartosz and throws the two of them to the side and into the foliage; plant matter is thrown in a myriad of directions as the glass arm crashes into the dirt. It rips itself up and out of the earth, before snaking around to twist back and point toward Alex, Emma, and Blaine once more.

Emma screams and moves to stand in front of Alex, but- with a surprising gentleness- the tentacle grips her by the waist and gently tosses her to the side. She lands with a loud yelp into a nest of greenery, just as the tentacle whips back around and smashes into Alex's chest, sending him sliding onto the lake, the surface of which no longer appears to function like water. It is a solid, yet strangely fluid surface of glass.

Blaine: "ALEX! Get UP!"

Alex: "Get this thing the fuck off of me!"

There is a cacophony of voices that are difficult to follow as events fly past. Alex manages to roll to his feet just in time to narrowly avoid the glass arm as it smashes onto the surface of the lake, which rolls like the waves of solid, unbreachable water; when he attempts to run from the creature, however, the glass surface reacts and bucks him, sending him onto his back.

Blaine is, meanwhile, sprinting for the water line; the second his feet touch the surface of the glass, however, he slides and falls, gliding across his back. He alone is the only person not shouting or swearing; there is grim determination on his face, which is ashen with concentration.

All the time, the unknown camera person maintains perfect pace with every shot, every angle, every point of interest.

Alex attempts to scramble to his feet again, but the surface bucks once more. He successfully rolls as the pointed, fractured tip of the glass creature suddenly stabs into the surface where he was lying moments before; he rolls again, narrowly avoiding yet another direct attack. Back on the shore, Emma is screaming for Blaine to get to Alex, while Bartosz is attempting to line up another shot. The glass creature whips around once more and slices at them, sending the two men flying. Bartosz drops his gun and swears as he and Anders roll, almost an afterthought, into the woods.

The creature turns once more toward Alex. Blaine has regained his footing, but he isn't fast enough. With a speed that belies its size, the tentacled arm stabs into Alex's shoulder, slamming him hard into the surface of the lake.

He screams, and the entire area freezes, horror filling the air almost palpably as Alex is lifted up and flung further into the center of the lake. The surface of the glass is smeared with his blood. As this occurs, the camera effortlessly scales upward on some unseen surface, keeping pace with Alex's relative position.

Blaine sprints toward Alex as the horrifying base tones of the creature fill the air, positioning itself with its fragmented glass point, and stares down at its target. It flies toward Alex, who is unable to move himself in time, and is stopped only by Blaine suddenly positioning himself between Alex and the creature, arms thrown out wide, chest heaving.

The creature freezes. The glass glints off the sunlight, reflecting Alex's blood, the green of the woods around them, and the gray clouds in a slowly darkening sky.

Something is said by Blaine, but the camera is too far to pick up his words.

Time seems to hang heavily; the timer on the video continues to fluctuate uselessly. There is no sound as the tentacle seems to regard Blaine for several very long moments.

With a near begrudging steadiness, the tip of the creature's tentacle reaches forward to caress Blaine's cheek, before sliding eerily back into the glass surface, which is completely unperturbed by the enormity of the beast. Everything returns to a still, flat glass surface, and Blaine's shoulders heave with effort as he stands over Alex, who is still lying on his back, a small pool of blood beginning to collect beneath him.

Blaine suddenly whips around and stares directly at the camera, eyes locking with whoever it is that is holding the device. There is a low laugh- the only sound that has been heard at all- and then the camera is lowered and turned off.

Audio testing against previous files indicates that the voice is a direct match to Blaine's.

--END TRANSMISSION--