Chapter Text
[CLICK]
Test… Test… Test… 1, 2, 3… Right.
My name is Harrowhark Nova. I work for the Magnus Institute, London, an organization dedicated to academic research into the ‘esoteric and paranormal’. The head of the Institute, Mr. John Gaius, has promoted me to Head Archivist after my predecessor, who I’m told was named Annabel Lee, ah… mysteriously disappeared. Whether or not Gaius knows anything about her circumstances will require an extensive amount of digging, due to the fact that he is loath to reveal any information about her, as well as himself.
I have been working as a researcher at the Institute for four years now and have come to the conclusion that there is something… deeper going on here than what I’ve been told. Gaius was exasperatingly vague in answering my multitudes of questions about the Institute. He claims to not even be able to tell me the date at which it was founded, although that is clearly a lie as some records from that time must be around here somewhere. The history of the Institute is only one problem, though, and the statements are quite another. My job is to go through and further investigate each one, sorting them into relevant categories as I attempt to clean the absolute mess left behind by the apparent Anabel Lee. While most statements are fake, ploys for attention or stupid stories concocted simply to waste our time, a troubling amount of them present circumstances that cannot be easily explained. Such supernatural incidents cannot be easily followed up on. When an investigation has gone as far as it can, it is transferred to the Archives.
It is going to take me a long, long time to organize the Archives and I fully doubt I will ever be able to do so completely before I die. Or, more likely, retire as I don’t think I’ll be here for the rest of my life. At least I hope not.
I’ve managed to secure the services of two researchers to assist me - Palamedes Sextus and Camilla Hect, both with long careers in the Archives or research positions associated with it. Well, technically three researchers, but I don’t count Gideon Nav as she’s unlikely to contribute anything but delays. I have no idea how she even got a job here. Anyhow, I plan to digitize the files as much as possible and record audio versions, though some will have to be on a tape recorder, as my attempts to get them on my laptop have met with… significant audio distortions.
Alongside my own work, Sextus, Hect and, yes, I suppose, Nav will be doing some supplementary investigation to see what details may be missing from what we have. I’ll try to present these in as succinct a fashion as I can at the end of each statement. I can, unfortunately, promise no order in regards to date or theme of the statements that are recorded, and can only apologize to any future researcher attempting to use these files for their own investigations.
[CLICK]
[CLICK]
Hello. This is Palamedes Sextus, Archival Assistant at the Magnus Institute. I have worked here as an active researcher and investigator for 6 years alongside my research partner Camilla Hect. My recently promoted boss, Harrowhark Nova, has requested I record an introductory statement that includes my, ah, suspicions? Regarding the Institute and the previous Head Archivist.
She believes that John Gaius, Head of the Institute, has been lying about a good many things. And she would be entirely correct. Or rather, you would be correct, Harrowhark, as I assume this is being recorded for your own benefit rather than for archival use.
First off, on the matter of Annabel Lee, I am not completely sure she exists. Only once,during my time working at the library before being transferred here, did I meet the previous Head Archivist - and despite not remembering her name completely it was most definitely not Annabel Lee. I believe I actually attempted to make a joke about it, something about Edgar Allen Poe, and she laughed in my face. She had climbed on one of the sliding ladders to grab a book from the top shelf, but stepped down quickly without any book in hand to face me. Her eyes were so dark and impossibly wide, to the point where I can’t even remember if they had any white to them at all or if her pupils swallowed everything into shadow. She stared at me and told me then, her voice sharp and arresting, “Dear researcher, hold your soul close to your body. The Institute and everything around it seeks to rip them apart. Remember till the end, if you can recall nothing else, John Gaius lies.”
Truthfully I was so unsettled by this that I never sought her out again, although Cam has told me she saw Annabel right before she disappeared. Do I think John had something to do with this? Well, when I asked him where she had gone, he quoted the Annabel Lee poem to me.
“The wind came out of the cloud by night, Chilling our dear Annabel Lee.”
Harrow, I am going to assume that you are familiar with the works of Poe and you know what has been changed here. The original reads as “chilling and killing”, and the omission of the latter implies that not only is Annabel alive but that John does, in fact, have an idea of what happened to her.
I hope this information is useful to your investigation and that the inclusion of too many or too few details do not interrupt your progress.
Now on the subject of the statements - well, yes, Harrow, they’re real. Obviously there is some actual “spooky shit” going on here, in Gideon’s words. I have very little evidence to prove my theory, but there could be a possibility that instead of independent occurrences, many of these statements are connected in certain ways. All that supports this idea is some recurring themes and names that crop up too often to be coincidental, but it is my hope that we’ll be able to find the true connecting strings in the Archives.
[CLICK]
Archivist: Sextus may prove more useful than I anticipated, other than his completely unprovable theories. The idea that there’s a ghost or two floating around London is fine, but some vast, interconnected web of events all tying together - it makes no sense. Still, his time at the Institute will be valuable to uncovering some of the older mysteries.
Side note: Speak to Sextus when he gets back from his lunch break about the unprofessional use of nicknames. “Harrow” is unacceptable. I expected such behavior from Nav, but-
Oh, Hect! Do you have a minute?
[CLICK]
Camilla Hect recording for Harrowhark Nonagesimus. I have worked at the Institute for 6 years with Palamedes, and I’m sure he’s already told you most of our history here. We’ve been working together on cases for almost our whole time here even after he was moved to the library and I remained in Artefact Storage.
I only met Annabel Lee once, on that really rainy day a while back, do you remember that? Usually when I saw her around the Institute she was busy with something, always walking briskly with a stack of books in her hands. But that day she just stared out of the window. I asked her if she was alright, and it took a moment before she turned around and nodded once, slowly. I think she told me to go home early, that my whole department should leave before it got too bad. The way she said it was a little ominous, so I asked, “you mean the storm?” And she looked back at the window as if she hadn’t even noticed if it was raining. All she said was, “no. We have nothing to fear from what’s outside.”
I took her advice, told my coworkers too. The first crack of thunder rang out right as I opened the door to my house, and I was grateful she’d warned us otherwise I’d have been soaked to the bone. I take the train home, normally, but the weather in the morning had been so nice that I decided to walk and hadn’t brought an umbrella.
Archivist: Right. Do you remember the date?
[Silence.]
Camilla: Hold on. I think- Wait.
[Shuffling noise as Camilla takes out her phone.]
Camilla: That was last week. Thursday. Harrow, I think-
Archivist: That’s Harrowhark to you. And yes, it appears you are correct. That was the last day Annabel Lee was ever seen in person by a member of the Institute Staff.
Camilla: And you were promoted an entire week after she’d gone missing?
Archivist: With no missing persons report ever filed.
This is… troubling, to say the least. Hect, can you remember-
[Thump of door opening and closing.]
Oh, Sextus, welcome back. Come over here for a minute.
Palamedes: Yes, Harrow?
Archivist: It’s Harrowhark.
Gideon: Yes, and that’s a mouthful!
[Loud thump.]
Here are all of the books you requested, Harrow. Not sure what any of them have to do with anything. Also, the one with the Canaan Library label’s falling apart a bit. Not my fault.
Archivist: You were not-
[Heavy sigh]
Alright. Since all of you are here, I might as well go over some instructions. Sit down.
[Multiple soft thuds. Squeaking noises as Gideon starts rolling back and forth in her wheeled chair.]
Archivist: First of all. I do not trust John Gaius. Whether he is malevolent or simply clueless is yet to be revealed, but either way he is extremely suspicious. There is no need to tell him about our ongoing investigation into Annabel Lee - if he asks about research, which he shouldn’t, just reference any other active cases we’re working on. If he attempts to start a conversation for whatever reason, attempt to record it without him noticing. On that note, here is a tape recorder for each of you. If anything happens I expect you to collect evidence on it, understood?
Gideon: Lie to our big boss. Got it, small boss. What else?
Archivist: What else is this: I am placing my trust in each and every one of you, understood? If I am led to believe you have betrayed me actively or passively by withholding vital information, I will not hesitate to fire you.
Camilla: Understood, Harrow.
Archivist: And another thing! Enough of this “Harrow” business. You are all to address me as either Harrowhark or my title. Any nickname is too friendly.
Palamedes: And the problem with that is-
Archivist: We don’t need to get too attached to one another in case we all get eaten by ghosts.
[Silence.]
Well then. Sextus, Hect, you are dismissed. Gideon, stay put for a second.
[Click]
Gideon: Okay, uh, I’m Gideon Nav. I’ve worked here for a year as a research assistant. I never met Annabel Lee and the only times I’ve seen John Gaius was when I got hired and when he transferred me here.
[Silence]
Archivist: … And did he say anything interesting? Noteworthy at all?
Gideon: Not much. Just looked at me with really dead eyes… actually think they’ve changed color. They’ve gotten really dark now? Like no whites at all? Looks kind of spooky, to be honest. Like he’s a corpse.
Archivist: Right. Well, if that’s all you have to contribute, I suppose you can be dismissed.
[Click]
Archivist: Is Gaius trying to manipulate us through some long game or is he just an astonishingly incompetent boss? I don’t know what any of this means!
[Sigh]
I’m going to get to the bottom of this, though. I have to.