October 11th
It seems she can listen somewhat. After Charlotte ran back up the stairs, she returned with Alistair, just like I had asked. She also brought some spare rags to wipe off my blood. The butler and I have to dispose of the troll body before someone else spots it. I will tell Charlotte to clean up the blood and then fire her. I may need to pay her off so that she will keep her mouth shut about what she saw.
I have been cleaned up and the body disposed of. It made quite a mess, both in terms of blood and dirt to be cleaned up but also the consequences of Charlotte’s actions. I need to maintain appearances in front of the other maids. Isabella is a very recent hire, she has only been here for four months. I cannot afford to lose another maid, each time I have to rehire, it gets harder to find people who are willing to do the job, or are oblivious to the rumors. How am I going to explain this?
Luckily for me, Father has remained in a drunken state throughout the yelling. I do not need to explain to him what happened. Additionally, Maryanne was on the second floor of the house and somehow did not hear Charlotte. So now I just need to worry about Isabella and Caroline. Caroline should be able to just ignore what happened and go about her day as usual, but Isabella may be another issue.
October 13th
Charlotte has been fired from her position. She left the manor this morning. I have had the butler pay her off to keep her mouth shut about what she saw. If ever there were to be a silver lining, however, this would be it, for no one knew of her presence here except the members of my household. They know better than to spread rumors, and if they did, they would be dealt with much the same. On the other hand, Isabella has not yet caused any problems, maybe I did not need to worry about her.
Although Charlotte has been removed from the manor, she still works for Father. I presume she has returned to his home in Paris. Perhaps I shall be able to visit that house, I am thinking. Although it would mean having to put up with Father and Charlotte, I suppose it would be a small price to pay to travel to Paris, as I have not gone out of the region, much less the country, in many years, not since Mother—
Blast it! That old man should have been there for me, not galavanting around Europe!
October 13th
Much time has elapsed since the events of this morning. Obviously I do not mean that more than half a day has passed, but rather the day has felt incredibly long, I arduously pushed through till nightfall when I then retreated to my bedroom. Maryanne has been looking out for me, I suppose, as it seems she hastily found an event to get me out of the house and then when I had returned from the party, I found the house to have been scoured from top to bottom. She assigned the maids vigorous work to distract them from the events of last night.
That party was most bizarre, I must admit. It was some sort of celebration party. It is merely a marketing scheme, much like some of Father’s, that I am intimately familiar with. And what a bogus expedition it sounds like. One of those men, with an old, wizened face and long grey beard, spoke of fantastical creatures called Dinnosores or something similar. Giant skeletons found buried across Europe. HA! If they only knew of what I have begun to find, they would shower me with riches and praise! Either that or steal my work. Bah! Just thinking about Regginald gets my blood boiling again. Today has been very upsetting, I shall retire to my bed and attempt to sleep. Perhaps tomorrow I shall be in a better mood, I can only hope.
October 14th
That little pest! He was a stain upon me ever since I met him!
Gah! Today will be a waste as well, I cannot focus and I cannot work. I am too angry with thoughts of trouble from my past. I will just go do manual labor to make my worries disappear.
October 16th
My rage has subsided drastically. On the other hand, I have too much firewood and have removed several trees from the forest. But, onto the exciting news, I was too angry to stay home this morning and went for a long walk around town, when I stumbled upon an animal. It was in the very same spot where I had been investigating earlier. The creature was a weasel or stoat, with dark orange fur all along its body and a dark tuft on its tail. It was lying unconscious on the ground behind a bush. If I had not left the manor so early in the morning, surely it would have disappeared by now, eaten by some larger predator. The smell its fur produces was foul, and I began to feel tired and shaky as I walked back to the manor with it. I tied it up, of course, I would not want it to awaken and bite me or run away, would I? Acting under the assumption that the creature is the source of this “carbon monoxide”, I left it tied to a tree, hopefully out of reach of any dogs or other beasts that may try to eat it. I will need a way to contain it, and if I am right in thinking, test a few things.
October 16th
I have just finished conducting a very fascinating experiment, it is rather hard to describe. I put the creature in a box and put a mixture of flour and water all over it. The mixture stuck to its fur, and had a watery consistency while still holding together rather well, and then bubbles, yes bubbles, began to form all along the sides of the stoat’s body. I am saying stoat, because I cannot tell if it is a stoat or a weasel, but I believe it is a stoat. Anyway, the bubbles, most bizarre. This means that the stoat is producing a gas that it is expelling, perhaps as a defense mechanism, although that would be an involuntary, unconscious one, so I find it hard to believe that it is only for defense. Perhaps it is like a mating signal? I can only speculate.
I was able to further the experiment by scattering a cloud of dust in the box, I was then able to see eddies in the air as the gas left the body and rose into the air. I used light from a torch to view the dust, as where I was holding the box in the woods did not yet have direct sunlight, the sun had yet to crest the roof of the manor. Just dug a little hole and set the torch upright in it, it provided an almost perfect viewing experience, although I wish the light was steadier, it was flickering quite a bit.
October 17th
I had a conversation with Father today. It was infuriating, I barely learned anything. I have recorded the brief interaction so I can reflect on it later, but I doubt it will begin to make more sense to me.
“Why did you come back here?” I had asked my father earlier today in the study. Why did he come back? His presence here has just seemed to cause problems. Why, why did he return? I have wondered for the past couple of weeks. I want an answer, but he just mumbled a little then turned to me and said “I wanted to see my boy.”
“Since when was I ever your son to you?” I had asked him angrily, but he did not answer me. Ridiculous. If he loved me so much, why did he leave me? I was angered by his lack of response, he just shook his head and looked back out the window.
Foolish old man. I once again am left pondering why he is here. He does not care about me. It is clear he doesn’t just from his absence alone, much less how he has ignored me, instead giving most of his attention to Maryanne.
Rather silly, isn’t it? Why does this anger me so? It is not as if he was ever really there for me, furthermore, Father has always been rather cold, far more attached to Mother than he ever was to me.
October 18th
Today I went into the forest once more. Father has been rather strange lately, I cannot describe his behavior, but it seems as if he wants to see me and bond with me, yet constantly pushes me away. I could not stand his nonsensical actions right then, so I went into the forest. I told Alistair to fetch a horse and organize for it to be waiting for me at the Yellow Forest. I then set off and made my way through the woodline. I rapidly descended into the trees as they got thicker and thicker around me, the ground sloped gradually in places, yet cruelly in others, I had gone in further than I have ever gone before. The rocks here are very dangerous, I should set up guide ropes to help climb over and around some of the larger boulders. I was surprised by how dark it got. Of course, my eyes adjusted, so I was used to it, but then I stumbled upon a clearing, the sun shone through it, cutting through a short layer of mist under the trees and sparkling on dew, still fresh from this morning. It was beautiful, I never knew something this spectacular was nearby.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Across the clearing, I could hear a gurgling river and when I investigated it I found that it was rather close to the clearing. Furthermore, there was a significant amount of cleared land around the river, which opened into a big lake. Across the lake is a tall cliff, perhaps 70 feet, if I had to estimate. It plunged skyward majestically, if I were an artist, this would have become a perfect hideaway to inspire my mind. I know why I have never noticed this lake in all my years looking down on the forest from the manor roof, the trees go right up to the edge of the cliff and blend almost seamlessly into the background from my vantage point on the manor, but it has an old tree that I now recognize. I can see the ancient tree from my bedroom window, if memory serves.
This will be an excellent place to return to in the future. Under the assumption that it becomes necessary to return here, I should give it a name, I cannot refer to it as just “the lake”, can I? Actually, maybe I can, but while I am here, I can name it after my dear late mother: Lake Eleanor.
Continuing past the lake, I turned west and proceeded through the winding trees, making haste towards the Yellow Forest. About a mile away from the lake, I found more of that slime I have mentioned before. It was stuck on bushes and low hanging tree branches. I collected a sample of the slime in one of my lunch containers, unfortunately having to dump its contents on the ground. I will examine the slime at a later date, but presently it shall sit inside my bag for a little longer. It is still much the same as the slime I found before, checking on the container right now, it has not dried out. Very peculiar.
I then halted my hike for a while and searched every nearby bush and shrub for any more, but I did not find any, nor did I find any other trace of a creature. I then reluctantly continued my hike. Almost an hour late, I had made it to the edge of the Yellow Forest where I met a young lad with my horse. His knuckles were white, clenched around the reins, while his right hand rested in his pocket, I presume on the handle of a knife, given how scared he looked.
That was strange to see, the boy was scared but not the horse? Last time I was here, the horse was scared, but I was not, yet here is a boy scared beyond his wits and the horse acts as if nothing has happened? Before I rode away though, my horse started rearing and shaking its head. I think the boy may have been keeping it calm, he must have a talent for horses.
“What has you so scared?” I had asked the boy. He answered that there was a figure shambling through the forest, deep in the tree line. He yelled at it and it disappeared. According to the boy, it must have been fifteen or twenty minutes ago. He could not describe what it looked like, he only saw a shadowy mass hiding behind trees. I thanked the boy and he promptly left (it was at this time that my horse started acting up). I then left and rode back home.
Wait. It is possible I could have crossed paths with it… woah, just as I had that thought, a shiver ran down my spine. I will go home now, I think I have had enough adventure for today.
Today has been a long, hard day. I did perhaps a bit too much hiking, I need to invest in better footwear. I already have an idea for a pair of boots, I do not know how they will look and I will need to get someone to help me make it.
October 18th
Father was once again talking to that strange man. He has a lot of nerve, barging into my house day after day. He actually introduced himself today, strangely enough. He said his name is Archibold. He is an older fellow, at least ten years older than Father, but I would guess closer to fifteen years older. He has a significant belly and after briefly introducing himself to me, he turned back to Father and talked about books, particularly Frankenstein. I must say I am intrigued by their conversation. They discussed the likelihood of Victor being able to make life, whatever that means. I will find a copy of that book and read it, it sounds rather fascinating.
Archibold has a copy he is willing to lend me! The old man apparently has quite a significant library, he will return within the week to give it to me.
October 20th
Well, today has been rather eventful. Let’s see, where to start? Archibold stopped by again today. I wonder what he does, it seems as if he does not have anything to do except talk to Father almost every day. Well, luckily for me, this meant I received a copy of Frankenstein earlier today, which I spent much of the day reading. It was a fascinating read. I wish it focused on how Victor created life. I cannot help but wonder if I could recreate the experiment. I have found several bizarre creatures already, some of which push to the border of supernatural, like the fire fox or the three eyed deer. I still remember the way its eyes glowed before it died. I wish I could see that happen once more. But, alas, I have yet to see another, and indeed have been too busy to be able to hunt one again.
Anyway, back to the book, what is the monster’s name? I suppose I shall call him Adam, he does compare himself to Adam, after all. On that note, what do I think? Is there a god? I suppose there is, how else would the strange powers of those animals come to be? But if there is a god, I doubt he cares about me. Sure, luck has been on my side and I have avoided injury, both to my person and to my reputation, through the course of past events, but if God is supposed to love all of his people, how could he take my parents from me? Maryanne was not a sufficient replacement. As hard as she tried to be, she could not replace Mother. And surely, if there is a god, he would not have allowed Regginald to betray me the way he did.
One phrase stood out to me throughout my entire read of the book: “The world was to me a secret which I desired to divine”. It is very similar to my own thinking. There is so much out there for me to discover: the Chinese folklore that Father has told me of, the many monsters I imagine to be around me, the origin of these beasts, how they came to be. There is truly a wealth of knowledge just out of reach, waiting for some brave soul to take a leap. I will be the first one to do so! I will discover all the great creatures that are waiting in the world! Victor is wrong. Knowledge is Power and knowledge truly is the greatest possession!
October 21st
I was too busy reading that book yesterday and failed to mention the sample of snake venom that Archibold gave to me. It was from a diamondback rattlesnake from the United States. It will be an interesting addition to my collection, but I should be careful to label it. It is very dangerous.
Am I similar to Victor? I have carefully curated my life and home, but does my need to control it reflect a part of me? People are likely too afraid to speak up about any strange behavior because they fear me… no, I must be tired, I don’t know what I am thinking.
October 22nd
Do you remember that creature-stoat thing I captured on the 16th? Well, I have been unable to spend time messing around with it the past few days as I was spending time with Father. That man is full of mysteries, I cannot fathom how his mind works. Well, today, after spending much of the morning with Father (Archibold did not show today), I was able to experiment with it. Actually, while that was certainly more interesting, I will record what I did with Father first. First, we awoke at about the same time and breakfasted on the usual meal: eggs, bacon. Sausages. We ate together today, I do not know why I ate with him. Father’s time in the military must have disrupted his manners, as his etiquette was… lacking. Maryanne has been slowly poking and prodding Father into better manners, but she has a long way to go, Father even had his elbows on the table today. Abysmal. We then played chess for several games. Much of it was simply filled with silence, or remarks on trifling matters like the weather. After I was able to escape after a string of losses, I went to find the stoat again. It was still in the box, where I left it just behind a tree. I messed around with it today, putting critters close to it and watching its reaction. Today was… well, it existed, I suppose. The past few days have been jarring. I cannot explain why but something feels off.
October 23
Nothing much happened today, I chose to release the beast, there is not much more that I can do with it right now. I carried it to the lake and left it there by the shore. I do not want it poisoning me in my own backyard, but if I ever need to find it again hopefully I will be able to do so.
October 24
I have found a part of that beast! “That beast” is not very descriptive, but I presently do not have a name for it. It is the beast I believe to be producing the slime that I have found on multiple occasions. I found more slime on a branch near the road today while travelling to see Archibold to return the book. I slowed my horse to a stop and then tied it to a tree. I then proceeded into the forest, following the trail of slime and discovered a tentacle. It is an Octopus tentacle, by the looks of it, with suction cups all along one side of it. The tentacle in question is about 2 feet long, and a dark reddish brown. It was cut on one end of it. Ripped and torn as if it was crudely detached from the body it once belonged to. I found it stuck to a branch. I would guess that the tentacle got caught on the branch and, not noticing, the beast ripped it off. It is a rather sturdy branch, kicking it, I cannot break it. I stored the tentacle in my backpack and continued on my way towards Archibold’s residence.
Presently I am outside Archibold’s property, there is an old stone wall surrounding the entire place with an oversized wrought iron gate. Through the gate, I can see an intricate garden with stone sculptures and some wooden figures. The ground has started to turn a more dismal color as winter approaches yet the brightly colored leaves of fall still lie atop that barren earth. Rather strange, the grass outside my manor still seems to be growing strong. Beyond the garden, at the end of the past, which gently curves past trees, is a towering villa. While it only stands at the normal two stories, it is rather imposing. It seems to almost be reaching towards the sky, although that is likely an illusion caused by the darkened clouds covering the sky behind it. I will now enter through the gate, farewell for now, Journal.