0:01

Dear Ms. Levant, Thank

0:03

you for reading this email right away, as

0:06

you said you would in our contact of November

0:08

7th. Forgive its length,

0:10

but there is much you need to know right now.

0:14

Please respond immediately upon reading this.

0:17

The future of the building you oversee

0:19

and the safety of every one of

0:21

its inhabitants, as well as your own,

0:24

may be at stake. As

0:26

I explained before, my name is John

0:29

Hanley Elgin, and I am

0:31

currently the organizational head of a

0:33

paranormal research group that has worked

0:35

quietly out of the University of

0:37

California for the past 40 years.

0:41

Yes, we investigate hauntings.

0:44

I won't explain our history or our

0:46

research methods here, there's a private link

0:49

at the bottom of this email taking

0:51

you to an unlisted site you

0:53

can explore when you have time, but

0:55

time has grown very short. Eleven

0:59

years ago, one of

1:01

our data analysts detected an odd

1:03

pattern in hauntings reported to our

1:05

group since 1991. Several

1:09

people residing in the Northeast who couldn't

1:11

possibly know each other had

1:13

similar visions in their homes of ghosts

1:16

dressed in early Americana

1:18

clothing, sometimes appearing

1:21

as corpses. And also, if

1:23

their properties were on the water, glimpses

1:25

of a phantom ship in

1:27

distress. Some suffered

1:30

terrible nightmares, a persistent

1:32

sense of being watched, or

1:34

even startling behavioral impulses preceded

1:36

by a torrent of unknowable

1:39

symbols and letters streaming across

1:41

their field of vision, whether

1:43

their eyes were open or

1:45

closed. These formed

1:47

the lyrics to a kind

1:50

of discordant rasping song by

1:52

some inhuman chorus assaulting the

1:54

mind. Little

1:56

by little, more patterns emerged. We

1:59

came to realize that the houses where

2:01

these phenomena occurred seemed to have

2:04

subtle design similarities. We

2:07

traveled to the country for many years

2:09

studying their structure and materials, and

2:12

realized that each had a clear

2:14

anomaly. Unusually old

2:17

wood, stone, or glass

2:20

embedded in unusual parts of the

2:22

house, having no functional business there.

2:25

Sometimes it was nothing more than a piece

2:27

of scrollwork in an unnoticed corner of a

2:30

room, or random bricks

2:32

in a fireplace. These oddities

2:34

had been a selling point for the

2:36

purchasers, and had been advertised long ago

2:38

as a way to connect to the

2:40

past. The outlier materials

2:42

were eventually authenticated as being more

2:44

than 250 years old. Parts

2:47

were methodically extracted as much as each

2:49

homeowner would allow, and

2:51

eventually it was found that all

2:53

these bits of ruins likely

2:56

matched somehow, possibly

2:58

part of a single original

3:00

structure dating back centuries. Some

3:03

bore virtually invisible traces

3:05

of human blood so old

3:07

that only a procedure called

3:09

crossover immunoelectrophoresis could detect them.

3:13

There seemed to be a chance of

3:15

some connection between these old building materials

3:17

and the mystery of a lost early

3:19

American colony called Hollandaise, whose

3:22

fate has never been adequately explained,

3:25

something on a par with the vanishing of the

3:27

settlers of Roanoke. With the

3:29

assistance of the British Museum, we

3:31

turned to ten pages of a diary

3:33

by a literate settler who had lived

3:35

in Hollandaise, which was located

3:38

in a wild region that eventually

3:40

became eastern Rhode Island. Her

3:42

secret pages were strange and

3:45

terrible and deeply sad to

3:47

read, and they began

3:49

to form the key to everything.

4:00

that the sum of us that survived the

4:02

wreck of August 6th is

4:04

sixty-five. Eighty-four

4:06

of us lost then. Thirty

4:08

in the storm, the rest by

4:11

sickness. The ones who have

4:13

made it inland are like me, starved,

4:16

afflicted with weakness. Our

4:18

wretchedness is past words, and

4:21

now preparing for winter must be done so

4:23

fast. The woods are so dense

4:25

that in many places there is no cutting through.

4:28

I hope tonight will be the first night since the

4:31

wreck that I will not dream of it. Out

4:35

of the woods one day came an

4:37

emaciated man calling himself Griffin

4:39

Wilding, whose reasons for

4:42

leaving a colony in Virginia and

4:44

making his way so far north

4:46

alone seemed strange and contradictory. But

4:49

his knowledge of what it took to survive

4:51

their first weeks in this cruel land was

4:54

a big help to the settlers. He

4:56

encouraged them to forego building

4:58

a tiny chapel and

5:00

instead pushed them to construct a

5:03

bigger structure for their worship, one

5:06

that could conceivably house all

5:08

sixty-five settlers in case of

5:10

more cruel storms. 1640, 28th

5:14

September. Mr. Wilding calls

5:19

himself a man of science, and

5:21

he has odd instruments he says can predict

5:24

the weather and other things of nature. But

5:27

sometimes he blames the hard winds on forces

5:29

that are not natural. No

5:31

one is sure what to make of him. But

5:33

we listen because we are desperate and

5:36

he has education. The thought

5:38

of another storm like the one that nearly

5:40

destroyed us all is horrible. 1640, 4th

5:43

October. The new building

5:47

is at the end of the village closest

5:50

to the hill. It

5:52

must serve as our chapel and also as

5:54

the meeting place for all things. But

5:56

the result of the men's work is forlorn.

6:00

May have most knowledge of architecture perished

6:02

on the ship when Mr. Culver and

6:04

Mr. McCallum were torn away by the

6:06

sea. The structure

6:08

looks slouched and not firm.

6:12

There is only a single window. Mr.

6:14

Corbett's attempts at painting the Christ

6:16

child and of the Last Supper

6:19

were crude. The

6:21

faces he drew are pallid and

6:23

secretive looking. He feels

6:25

very badly about his lack of skill, but

6:28

no one else came forward to try. This

6:31

forenoon, Father Roddy told me something so

6:33

out of the ordinary. I think he

6:36

was sodded yet again. He

6:39

said he felt strange feelings

6:41

of dismay when consecrating the

6:43

church, as if he had

6:45

erred somehow in doing so. Like

6:48

many others, he does not fully

6:50

trust Mr. Wilding. There

6:54

came a gray and terribly windy day when

6:57

Wilding's worst weather prophecies seemed to be

6:59

coming true. The settlers

7:01

believed Wilding when he told them the safest

7:03

thing to do in the face of what

7:05

felt to him like a disastrous oncoming

7:08

rainstorm was indeed to

7:10

congregate inside the enormous

7:12

chapel. 1640,

7:15

18th October. The

7:19

rain is fierce. Father

7:21

Roddy came and assured me he will make

7:23

a special service, and we will all sing

7:25

All People That on Earth Do Dwell, all

7:28

65 of us under the chapel roof

7:30

together. Mr. Wilding is moving around

7:32

from home to home outside to make sure no

7:35

one is left behind. He knocked

7:37

only a few minutes ago. He has

7:39

been hurrying to make gallons of a

7:41

special soup he learned from the Iroquois

7:43

hundreds of miles to the south, in

7:46

case we must sleep on the floor overnight. I

7:49

feel such fear of

7:52

the storm above us, but also, I must say,

7:54

of Mr. Wilding. Even

7:57

standing in the doorway, he frightens me so.

8:00

But we have no choice but to let him guide us. No

8:03

better plan is apparent. None at

8:05

all." The

8:08

unnamed author's diary pages

8:11

ended with a statement that she

8:13

intended to secure them temporarily inside

8:15

the chapel within a copper

8:18

chalice packed down into it with

8:20

birch bark. Her hope

8:22

was that the chapel was sturdy enough

8:24

to survive even if her home were

8:26

washed away. All

8:28

65 settlers were gone

8:31

when a rescue party that came through

8:33

the area months later found every structure

8:35

in Holland Day burned to

8:37

the ground. Their tiny

8:40

homes, the wood shop, the beginnings

8:42

of what appeared to be a schoolhouse. They

8:45

noted the very curious absence of

8:47

a chapel, however. Space

8:50

had been cleared for the construction of something

8:52

large, but where a foundation had

8:54

once been laid, there was nothing.

8:57

Nothing at all. For

8:59

centuries, the mystery of Holland Day

9:01

festered. But now we think

9:03

we know what truly happened when that storm

9:05

came through. Please

9:08

bear with my extensive details. I

9:10

find myself going slowly so as to make you believe what

9:12

I have to tell you. I'm afraid if

9:15

I rush, the tale will

9:17

seem even more implausible. We

9:19

found a second diary 18 months ago,

9:22

you see, embedded inside

9:24

a carefully carved hollow within a wood

9:26

beam in a house built in 1938

9:28

in Darien, Connecticut. This

9:31

diary was in extraordinary condition. Its

9:34

author had encased it very effectively. It

9:37

had been left as a confession and

9:40

an apology. When

9:43

the people began to convulse in the middle of the

9:45

night, I found myself attempting to play act, running

9:48

from soul to soul to offer empty aid.

9:51

It was dreadful to see. I

9:53

can only assume the soup was toothful

9:55

into their hunger great, because

9:57

almost no one had gone without. no

10:00

one was spared the effects of the poison. Some

10:03

ran out into the rain to die. Some

10:05

made it into the woods even. Only

10:07

three who had apparently not indulged in the meal

10:10

had to die by bullet after a short pursuit.

10:13

Some I suspect saw quite clearly that

10:15

this was my crime. John

10:18

Nokes ran at me with a piece of sharp wood

10:20

even as he coughed up blood. The

10:23

entire ordeal consumed but two hours.

10:26

The storm ended and all became terribly quiet

10:28

as the last of them died. I

10:31

waited inside the chapel and finally,

10:33

just before dawn, Vicarok's

10:35

voice came from the dark. It

10:38

sounds to me like the grinding of

10:40

rotted stone gears caked

10:42

with tar. He told

10:45

me he was pleased that my work had

10:47

made the Christian chapel unclean

10:49

for all time, and

10:52

his follower brights could now

10:54

find content residence and slumber

10:57

within its boards and

10:59

stones. But there was

11:02

much more work to do. Work so terrible that

11:04

for a moment I did not think I could bear it, though

11:07

it is surprising what a man can cause to

11:09

happen if the promised reward

11:11

is great enough. 20th

11:14

October. I

11:17

am wary to my bones. I

11:19

had to work quickly for fear the

11:21

Narragansetts would come through the

11:23

woods and locate the settlement. What

11:26

toll took upon my poor mind merely to

11:28

imagine how I would carry out the second

11:30

part of the task Vicarok had set for

11:32

me. I sang Come

11:34

Blessed Bird and all creatures

11:37

now are merry-minded over and over

11:40

and over again as I worked. By

11:42

nightfall I had hacked so many bodies apart

11:45

my right arm was numb. I

11:47

first had to drag all of them outside

11:50

into the open air lest the putrescence all

11:52

around me caused me to fall gravely ill.

11:55

The fires must absolutely cover all traces

11:57

of the bodies and what comes next.

12:00

out of them before I seek out

12:02

the Narragansetts. They cannot

12:04

even suspect. I

12:06

wonder if the odor of that much

12:08

burning flesh might somehow reach them across

12:11

the woods. The blood

12:14

of the settlers does indeed adhere onto the wood

12:16

and brick well, and the

12:18

cold rapidly darkens it into a color

12:20

I cannot name. At

12:22

first it is sticky to the touch, but then

12:24

it dries much like paint. There

12:27

was so much of it it filled every bucket and

12:29

bowl I could find. At

12:31

some point I reached a state of such delirium

12:33

and exhaustion that I had collapsed, and

12:36

finally heard Vicaroch hissing at me

12:38

that it was enough that my

12:40

next effort could begin. In

12:44

1924 a commercial home builder

12:46

digging deep into waterlogged swampland

12:48

near Hamilton, Rhode Island, uncovered

12:51

a large cache of wood, brick,

12:54

and glass that had been interred

12:56

perhaps hundreds of years before. As

12:59

the legal owner of the vast plot, the

13:02

builder, Ellis Rothschild, was

13:04

entitled to do what he wished with the

13:07

materials, though local historians alerted to the find,

13:10

appealed to him to donate them for

13:12

study. But Rothschild

13:14

saw only profit at its possibilities.

13:17

He sold the materials in whole to

13:19

a cousin in Belconsin, Maryland, for an

13:21

exorbitant sum. That

13:23

man, named Jubal Gantt, realized

13:26

he could boost the marketing allure

13:28

of his homes, for the

13:30

wealthy and educated, by working

13:33

loose parts into their structure. He

13:36

preserved the cache carefully in a

13:38

storage facility near Baltimore, and

13:41

arranged for his architects to go

13:43

about the business of looting the

13:45

chapel's wholly unknown past, spreading

13:48

its components all around the northeast over

13:50

the course of three decades of construction.

14:00

long, slithering black ribbon, wending

14:02

like a snake between the

14:04

benches within the chapel. I

14:07

was told where the Narragansetts must

14:09

bury the chapel's remains, and

14:11

why. The ground must

14:13

be wet, deep within, or it will all

14:16

rot. That awful voice explained

14:18

to me how the lack of air aids

14:20

preservation. Four

14:22

miles north lies the spot. I

14:25

must make it happen before the ground freezes. I

14:28

will set out to find Seed Planter again

14:30

at sunrise, and with luck

14:33

he will still act favorably towards me.

14:37

31st October, somehow it

14:40

is arranged. I convinced

14:42

Seed Planter that the settlement was decimated

14:44

by a great storm, and

14:46

all had caravanshed to the sea to

14:48

wait for rescue from this terrible land.

14:52

The fires had been set at first to keep

14:54

the homeless among us warm, and

14:56

the rest of the structures burned simply because nothing

14:58

could be taken with us. I

15:00

explained to Seed Planter, who was

15:03

plainly doubtful, that in

15:05

our beliefs we could not possibly

15:07

destroy a consecrated chapel. We must

15:09

preserve it at great sacrifice, and

15:12

so we would dismantle it and bury it

15:14

instead, allowing some future

15:16

generation to disinterr and rebuild

15:18

it. I offered him

15:21

everything that was left behind, all the

15:23

beads, pots, rifles, fabrics, and the all

15:26

I was able to collect. He

15:28

regards me with the greatest mistrust. I

15:31

watched him and two dozen of his tribe

15:34

begin to break the chapel down and carry

15:36

it all the way into the woods at dawn. An

15:39

awesome physical feat. I

15:42

wish I could accurately describe Ms.

15:44

Levant. Some of the horrors,

15:47

certain homeowners in possession of some

15:49

of the chapel's materials, resulted

15:51

in our group over the past 35 years. No

15:55

less than 12 had an adverse

15:57

experience inside their homes, which made us more than

16:00

those of us working to uncover the

16:02

facts ever more nervous about keeping the

16:04

materials near. Finally,

16:06

after one of our graduate

16:08

assistants suffered an inexplicable violent

16:11

fit, threatening to

16:13

throw a child off the roof of a

16:15

library building on the Irvine campus, we

16:18

physically segregated all

16:20

those bricks and boards far away

16:23

from us. 5th

16:25

November. One of

16:28

the Narragansetts, having suffered some sudden

16:30

miasma in the night, seed

16:33

planter threatened not to persist in this

16:35

labor. He dragged me

16:37

awake and showed me how the man's eyes had

16:39

rolled back in his head so far I'd had

16:41

blinded him. Seeming

16:43

accursed, he gibbered and

16:46

hammered on the planks that had served as

16:48

pews inside the chapel. An

16:50

hour later he'd at least partially recovered

16:52

enough to withdraw into the

16:55

forest, vowing not to

16:57

return. I implored

16:59

seed planter to understand how demanding

17:01

was our god. These

17:03

materials must be interred. 11th

17:08

November. Tomorrow their toils

17:10

will be complete. Seed

17:13

planter will no longer even touch my hand. I

17:16

had concealed the blood-painted boards as best

17:18

I could for their carriage overland, but

17:21

I believe the Narragansetts must know something

17:23

went terribly wrong in the settlement that

17:26

defies explanation and belief.

17:29

It is likely before setting out this

17:32

infernal swampland, seed

17:35

planter sent a party east to the

17:37

sea to confirm my story. He

17:39

is a moral man, yet

17:41

they will finish what they began. And

17:44

I understand now that fear more

17:47

so than generous payment has kept

17:49

the Narragansetts working. They

17:52

fear what I traffic with but which

17:54

they can't see, hear, or

17:56

prove. Yes. Apple

18:00

lies in its diminished and broken state deep

18:02

below the earth. Tomorrow I

18:04

will be free to move ever north. Last

18:07

night my eyes opened as I lay

18:09

on the cold ground, and for a

18:11

moment I believed I glimpsed something terrible

18:14

in the feeble reaches of the firelight.

18:17

Some shadowy thing, not human

18:20

and not beast, but made

18:22

only of disjointed patches of

18:24

smoke and darkness. The

18:27

motions of its form suggested it was cavorting,

18:30

capering with pleasure. It

18:33

whispered to me in Vicarok's ghastly

18:35

voice that I was a good

18:37

servant and would survive the winter no matter

18:39

what afflictions it brought, and

18:42

that if I continue in his service a

18:45

life extended centuries beyond the borders

18:47

of a normal human span is

18:50

assured me. I

18:53

wept silently. I appealed

18:55

to my dear mother's spirit to

18:57

make me stronger against my tortured

18:59

nature. I intend

19:01

to bury these pages with the chapel itself,

19:03

though what if the demon sees? Does

19:07

he not see all? Will

19:09

he even care? I

19:11

will attempt it regardless. Perhaps

19:14

those reading my words one

19:16

hundred years hence will come to

19:19

an empathy I cannot summon for

19:21

myself. There

19:24

is not that much more I can tell you in this

19:26

letter. Another link

19:29

below will explain to you the

19:31

etymology of what Wilding's diary referred

19:33

to as follower brights, cruel

19:36

spirits that seek preservation in

19:38

corrupted physical objects, like

19:41

bears entering hibernation against long winters.

19:44

For a follower bright, these

19:46

metaphorical winters can last thousands

19:48

of years. But

19:50

their slumber is anything but restful. They

19:53

never stop dreaming of serving their

19:55

protector demons through acts of chaos

19:57

and violence. When

20:00

they cannot directly do so, they

20:02

infect their surroundings and the people

20:04

in them. It can

20:07

be extremely dangerous to approach or

20:09

live near their tiny habitats of

20:11

stray pieces of corrupted wood, stone,

20:15

iron, and glass. What

20:17

we are slowly coming to believe

20:19

is that they stir even more

20:22

restlessly, become more able

20:24

to act out beyond

20:26

their confinement in times of great

20:30

meteorological upset, such

20:32

as hurricanes, blizzards.

20:37

In 1957, the architect

20:39

of the mansion you now spend

20:41

so many of your days in

20:44

contracted to include a dozen pieces

20:46

of the Hollandaise Chapel as

20:48

part of the structure. The

20:51

mansion's original owner hung himself in 1962. His

20:55

son lived in it for years before doing the same

20:57

in 1971. It

20:59

fell into steep decline after that, unowned

21:02

for decades. 2003

21:05

was the year, you may know, that

21:08

the state purchased it and very slowly

21:10

renovated it first into

21:12

the offices of the Chancellor County

21:14

Historical Trust, and finally

21:16

into what it has become today. Iona

21:20

Beach Methodist Children's Hospital. It

21:23

could be, Ms. Levant, that neither yourself nor

21:25

anyone who has ever worked in your building

21:28

has suffered the adverse effects

21:30

of what I now believe hides within

21:32

the decorative posts that greet

21:34

visitors to your garden outside the

21:37

west wall, and within

21:39

the railings that line two of

21:41

the hospital's staircases. But

21:43

I honestly do not believe no one

21:46

has ever felt anything wrong there. Some

21:49

sense of being watched, perhaps. Visions

21:53

of ghostly things. The

21:55

sudden desire to harm. Bursts

21:58

of arcane symbolic. inside

22:01

their eyelids, sung by

22:03

a barbarian chorale. I

22:06

counted 30 patient rooms when I

22:08

walked through last week, and

22:11

I understand there are rarely

22:13

vacancies for long. If

22:16

you believe I am not in my right mind, then so

22:18

be it. I am ready to

22:20

present every bit of the group's data and

22:22

turn you over to voices more

22:24

authoritative than mine. But

22:26

for now, what might

22:29

be Iona Beach's largest storm in

22:31

10 years is said to be

22:33

brewing in the Atlantic, due for

22:35

landfall next Monday. I

22:38

am not sure exactly what course of

22:40

action I would recommend in this moment,

22:43

other than to watch and

22:46

listen and to beware. And

22:48

if you have sensed something

22:50

in the air inside the

22:53

mansion, please tell

22:56

me the story. Sincerely,

23:00

John Henley Elgin. Franco,

23:05

you may have been copied on

23:07

an email from jhelgin at ucal.edu.

23:10

That's so crazy long with so many images,

23:12

it keeps crashing my outlook before it even

23:15

loads. I apologize. You

23:18

can just delete it without reading it. I'm

23:20

not going to either. It's from a very

23:22

strange man. I tried to humor, but I've

23:24

now blocked entirely. Been

23:27

feeling real off today, so headed to the

23:29

doctor. Back Monday, unless you hear

23:31

from me. Thanks, FL.

23:36

July 7th, 2035. We're

23:40

getting flooded by survivors of the

23:42

earthquake. In the chaos,

23:45

this strange man, Griffin

23:47

Wilding, just left without

23:49

anyone noticing. There is

23:51

zero chance of him finding a bed in some

23:53

other shelter right now. And I

23:55

hate to think of him wandering LA spouting

23:57

his bizarre stories. to people

24:00

struggling right now to make it from

24:02

one hour to the next. He

24:05

was kind of an interesting case to me, but

24:08

I think he's probably headed for a lonely

24:10

end.