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[Grian] Okay, next one. Statement of… Pearl Moon, considering the similarities between love and war. Statement submitted… 25th of June, 2018. The same day she was hired here. She never told me about anything like this, which I find frankly insulting. Well. Statement recorded by Grian Rever, head archivist of the V.O.I.D institute. Statement Begins.
[Pearl] I hope you don't mind me asking, but can I have a cup of tea? Oh, thanks! Well then.
I used to live in Australia, and grew up in the outback mostly. It was fun, just my, my parents, and a lot of dust. But what this meant is that I was always drawn to cities. The weeks we spent looking at all the sites were the happiest of my life.
When I moved out and headed to university, I was so excited. Actually getting to live in a city, all the time… well, that sounded like a dream come true. So I may have been slightly… frivolous with my money when I got there, as I'm sure my roommates can attest to- that's Grian Rever and Dominic Rao, just in case you want to follow up. But yeah, I was in a situation with no savings, no job, and no clear way out of it.
Then the posters appeared.
Apparently there was a dating show, "lost and bound", being run, with a million-dollar prize. Extremely convenient.
I put my name into it cause… well, cause why not, y'know. Maybe I'd get some money. And a week later, guess what? I got an email saying I was "just the kind of person they were looking for". So that's how it started.
They started filming at the end of February. We met up and did all the usual love show things. We got randomly assigned a partner halfway through, which was odd, but we were still allowed to break up and date other people. But me and Scott were fine, we wouldn't break up. Right?
The last episode was survival themed. We got put onto an island with no technology and told to survive with our partners. Except we had to find them first. Me and Martyn found each other and decided to team up and help each other find our partners. But when we found them, Scott… Scott dumped me for Cleo, Martyn's partner. And then Martyn abandoned me to chase Cleo. Colon, close brackets… oh, that's a smiley face. Never mind.
It was right at that moment that the earth shook and an explosion lit up the horizon. Jimmy burst through the trees, screaming in agony until he simply disappeared in a flurry of ash. I ran. I ran and I ran and I ran until I found someone. It was Joel. I just told him what had happened. And he told me he'd seen Tango go down into the coal mine to explore. It had blown up. Apparently this used to happen all the time when mines were in use. They used canaries to know when it was dangerous, though. Tango didn't have a canary.
So Tango and Jimmy were gone. The objective of "survive" took on a much more literal meaning. The next loss was Ren. And BigB. Simultaneously. Cause that's what it was. Till death do us part, as it were. A caving accident, he accidentally knocked loose a stalactite, I guess. They found BigB lying in the river with a hole in his skull.
This also confirmed my worst fear- I was linked with Scott. You see, BigB and Ren were randomly assigned halfway through the game, but BigB hadn't stayed with that. He'd found someone else. But still, he died with Ren. And so it must be the same with me and Scott.
I found him and Cleo next to a ravine. And for a moment I was sure I would push Cleo in. Then the moment faded. So no murder at that point. We talked, argued, whatever you want to call it, but we eventually reached an understanding. We needed to find Martyn.
It wasn't really that hard. He was also looking for Cleo, so we found him within the hour. We arranged for a lookout schedule and settled down for the night. And then the dreams came. Myself, surrounded by a pack of massive wolves, Tango disintegrating in an exploding mine, a flaming canary, a man who was purely long, purest black and spindly. Around his neck was strung a crude necklace of charms- a cookie, a wolf, a canary, and so many more. And Ren's voice, repeating a single message: "There is something wicked within you"
I woke up to the sound of horns. A horde of men who… weren't all there, were rampaging through our camp. When I say that, I don't mean mentally. I mean their skin was grey and lifeless, but cruel green eyes glared out from their sockets. They were looking through our packs, pulling out clothes, food and all sorts of other things, tossing all but a few pieces aside. I watched as a small pebble soared overhead, striking one in the back. He attacked the person behind him, who toppled backwards into the ravine. It was just mayhem after that.
I crawled out of my tent and started towards where the rock had come from. I expected to find Scott and the others. I wish that was what happened. Instead, Ariana was there. Right as she was about to slit my throat, which I think was uncalled for, she dropped to the floor, clutching at her head. She let loose the most ear-piercing, pain-filled shriek I will ever hear, as blood started trickling through her fingers and she collapsed to the floor. I ran, the ransackers firing at me the whole time. They used all kinds of weapons; Assault rifles, manuballistas, bows, crossbows, all sorts. I was lucky to only get a crossbow in the leg.
I ran into Scott after about an hour. He was really panicked, saying that he needed to make sure I was alive, that my leg wound wasn't too bad. That shut me up. If pain was linked, then Scott must have been being really careful for me the whole time. It turns out I was even luckier than I thought. The bolt had gone in without hitting anything important at all. Unfortunately, it hadn't come out that easily. Or even at all. So now I had a chunk of metal lodged in my leg. I still do, actually. It still aches occasionally.
So now there were 8 of us left. I think my brain's tried to forget who the other 4 were. We burned one pair's camp to the ground as they slept. They were good people. I liked Joel especially.
The other two were the most functional couple. They were practically engaged at that stage of the competition. We had split up to deal with them. They found me resting my leg in a clearing, and tried to ambush me. They got my arm with an axe fairly early, but that just annoyed me, I think. My vision went red, and I just killed. They fought well together, well enough that I was only barely winning. But in the end, they both missed me and buried their axes in the other's chest. Together. The last thing I remember was seeing their pocket watch, their most valuable possession, fall to the ground and shatter on the rocks.
I had only just crawled out from underneath the two of them when a stabbing pain shot through my arm, and my leg throbbed horribly. Scott was in danger. And I could easily guess who from.
I half expected to be dead before I reached him. But he was resourceful, and good at hiding. Cleo and Martyn weren't. I… I found them in a clearing atop a hill. My vision was all but gone to the pulsing wave of crimson as I slashed through their makeshift shields, an arc of axes and teeth and claws and swords. I must have fainted, because I came to with Scott kneeling over me looking concerned. My mouth tasted of blood, and looking across the clearing I could see where it had come from. Cleo lay spread across the ground, her throat torn clean out. Well, I say clean, but it really wasn't.
Now, I've read the hunger games. I could have guessed what they would have done next. Yeah, they said me and Scott needed to fight. He refused. He said he couldn't allow me to turn into, and I quote, "that thing" again. Then he walked away into the woods. I remember wondering why they weren't enforcing the fight.
I don't know how he did it in the end. I felt a wave of the most intense pain I've ever felt wash over me and then… nothing. Then I woke up in the dating centre again. I was in the dining room, but all the other seats were occupied by body bags.
I got paid that afternoon. Then I blocked their email, phone number, all of their social media accounts. I even asked the post office to check the addresses of my mail. And I tried to forget.
I never thanked you, actually. When we met on that bridge, I wasn't going anywhere good. Now I've got a great job set up in Birmingham. So thanks. And here's the story. I hope this helps with whatever ritual you were on about.
[Grian] End Statement.
This is really interesting. Some notes on the supposed victims. First of all is Mr Tango Tek. From Keran's case. In 2011 he attacked everyone in his cell with daggers seemingly made from flames. After they and all the wardens had died, he collapsed. Apparently he died from a gas explosion. They found a lighter and nothing else in his ashes.
Scott Major was found dead in his home on November 16th. The courts ruled it a suicide. Just a gunshot, apparently.
Ren. Ren, Ren, Ren. How is he getting into so many situations? This doesn't make any sense. Requires further investigation.
And then there's Cleo. It could be completely unrelated. But if Hills has a necromancy book stashed away in that library of his, then that would also work. It's probably a coincidence. It's almost certainly a coincidence. Right?
I suppose I should also say yeah, the dates with me all line up. Other than that, I can't verify any of this. And it would be really awkward to ask Pearl to do research. So I guess that's it.
End Recording.