*********

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Those who walk in darkness wander aimlessly.

Still Alive

Can't say where. Can't say what I'm doing. But he hasn't gotten me yet.

T̪̠̝̦̬͎ͣ̎͐̓̓̆ͧh̰̼̤̜̩̑͗̽̎͐͘͠e̶̻̞̍͌̿ͭ̍ͭ́͢͜ ̮͍̳̼̤̼̻̂ͯ͆̑̋͋͛͘͝F͎̠̗͂̆̾̈́̒̎ͯ͟i̸̫̪̰̩̰̖̜̳ͫ̓̍ͭͭͨ̃̓ͅf̋ͬ̚͝҉҉͎̖̰̥͖̖̱t̟̫͇̹̪̦̗͗h̶̞̯͖̭͚͕͕̎̀̾͂͆͗͒̎͜ ̸̣̫̜͗ͫĄ̢̌͒͒ͩͭ̚҉͇̻̫͔

4͕̠̥͔͐̿̓ͥͫ̿̔̇̓͜ ̶͇͚͉̰͕̳ͮ̀̃͗ͦ̂̒̈́番ͮͪͩ͡҉̩目̸͈̬͊͆ͯ͒͢の͉͚̫̣͔͉̄̇̎ͣ́̃͋̂ア͔̻̥͍̊̀̕͠͡リ̶̛͈̬̘͈ͫ̍̿ͪͫ̕ス ̴̷̡̪̠̥͕̪̓̏͂ツ̔͑͑̒̆̄̀́̚͏̝̫̣̻̰͍̩̰̜イ̛͈̰̖̠͓ͧン̣̦̭͋̐ͩ͛ズ̶̷̥̳̥͎͌̂ͣ̽ͩ͑̽̚̕ͅハ ̹̫̯͈̜͔͌̍ͦ͆ͥ͋͘͠ー̶̜̗ͥ̈ͭ̍͑̎ͫ̂̕ト̭͍̙͍̠̙̳̜ͮ̉͐ͫͣ̑̌̌͟͡ͅは̧̩̜̠͙̫͓ͦͥͭ̈́̀、 ̸̳̝̹̲̙̦̘̣̈́ͨ͊さ̖̫͉̠͚̩͉̳ͭ
̴̖̉ͩͫ͡不̧̦͚̦̺̮͊͆思͙̹̞̋͑̋́͋̐議 ͈̰̼̞̃͑ͤ́ͣ̌に̢̧̮̯̭̪̅ͦ̓、̛̻͖͚͉̀̚͞彼̧̱͎̟͐͒̓́̓ͅら̵̧̮̟͍̝̦̲̟̠̌の̶͔̱̇̆̕好̶̨͙͔̟͂͂͜奇 ̇ͣ͆̅̍҉̴̲̘̗̫̤心̡̺͇͖̮̭̖̘̽ͣ͂̑ͪ̒ͩͤ̆ͅも̢̥̪̳̭̳ͮ̐̈́̅ͦ͢た̬̰̙͚̖͛̌͒ͦ̄ͤ̾̀̊́ら̡̟̉ͪͨ̔̇̕す ̸̩̤̠͇̫̱͙̎ͫ͗ͯͨ̆ͤ
̷̛͙͚̱̥̼̻̳̉̾͑ͤ̔̈ͬ̚ͅ偽ͫͯ́̚͏͉̩͈̥͖͓̥̣の ̴̧͉̩̯̰̤͕̆̐̇̅ͮ̄͢す̸̸̢̱͙̗͉̗̣͙̅ͫ͋̾ͩべ̛̞̼̲̪̪̺̏ͤ̇͌̍ͭ͡て̡̡̟͈̞̟̰͗̈ͤ́の̝̽̋̒̉̆̍̌͜͝͠種 ̥̖̰͂͐ͅ類̶̄͋ͣ̋͒ͥ͞҉͙͎̻͚͚̟͈̹に̧ͬ̀͏͎̣は̶̲͍̱̓̕、̵̡̦͓͉ͤͨͮͣ̆ͭ̀ͅド̨̳̠̳̘̯ͩ̉ア̸̫̲ͨͭ̌ͯ͋͑͛ を̷̱͐͗́作̡̲̝ͥ̉́̇͆̂͒̈́る̗̜͍͇̩̲̏̀
̷̛̠͕͙̺̋͛̒͗̾̀̎͐̃̀ビ̙̃̊ͧ͌̔ͪッ ͤͫͤ͑҉̵̛͖̮̩グ̟̯̱̘͎̒͋̈̑̐ͬ͆́̚͝シ̎ͭ̍͏̸̵͙̠̦͓̗ス̨̼̤̈́́̀ͭ͆̀͌̾͞タ͖ͩー ̷̠͉̙̩͇͕̱͕̃͗͒̓̓͆̃͊̚、͉̬̼̜̻̦͇ͨ̓̅ͮ̂͟厳͚̞̾ͫ͐̆̌̉ͣし̖͚͈̹̮͚̋ͫͤ̆ͩ̔̀͊͟い͎̜̬͆͗̃ͣ̏ͩで ̸̥̦͍̦̞̤̐͆̅͒̌̔ͫ̉͟す̶̢̭ͯ́̓̾
̜͉̲̔ͩ͝弟͇͚̼͈̞̳̰ͭͧ͛͛̎̃̇͡ͅ、 ̷̡̹̝̮̰̜̎̽ͨ̽͞イͬ̓̂ͤ̿͏̡̭͡ン͉̦̠̤̬͓̫̜ͥ͊ͯ̚テͥ̉͑̎ͯ҉̘リ̶̙̠̯͚̮̄̏̍͛ͭジ̴͙̱͍̿ェ̳̍̃̐͑ͦ̂̄ン ̸̛̣̮̖͓̋̊̒͌ト̨̮̗̬̳͇̮̅̓̄̐͐ͫ
̸̫̟̱̐̓ͮͤ̈彼͚͔̯̬̾ͣ͂ͪͪ̾̕͢͞ら ͖̝̘̞̒ͩ̒͂͝は̯̻͖̂̀ͬ͜͝ͅ、̼̯̥̼̹͓͉͓ͤ͌͊́最͎͔̺͍͉̇̋̀̕͝初̸͍͎͍̬̫̬̭͍ͭ̂̈́̀͡に̿̌̓̾ͧ҉̩͉͈̟͉̯ア ̢̢͉͔͈̪̭̥̗͚̽͂͊̿リͯ͛̍͒ͭͩͪ͏̫̭̮̠̗̝ス̛̌̎ͨ̅҉̢̭̲̣̱͍͚ͅに̴͉̖̭̙͓̣̰͚̳̏̋͒ͪ̉͑͐̿は ̶̱̙̻̺̟̑͟、̦̠̱̘ͣ̃̊͡近̸̷̢̗̹̹͓͔̇̆͋̐ͤ̓̇̎く̨͔̪̭̆̓̀に̗̬̘͚̲̻ͣ́ͬ̌̒͡ͅい̣͔͕̜̻͋̓ͥ̄͊ͩ͡た ͨͮ̐ͭ͏̶̯̺̣̟
̰̂̾̀ͨ̔̔͌ͦ̀し̡͍͕̞̼͖̈́̈̆̄̏̾ͮ̈̓͘͜か̽̿̂ͧ̕͢͏̥̱̟̲し ̢̛̣̣̖͙̱͑́ͥ̇͑͜、͎̇彼̞͚̞̺͍̬̦̏́ͩ͑ͧら̮̝̰̬̲͇̔̃̊ͭͥ̀͞の̛̼̺͚͇͇̗ͤͧ̔ͩ̒̉ͪ夢̲̟̠̝́̓͝は ̡̲̞̣͚͖̐ͤ̔͗ͣ̐̚͝ま͖͈͉̠̙̖͗̔̈̓͂̊̉̂ͣ͞だ̡̼͙̗̬̜͇̱̺̊̉ͪ͒̓͊ͣ͡目̡̰̮̝͚̅͗ͫ̑̑̚覚̓̑҉͚̤̞̥͈̜め ̱̻̱̹͓ͧͨ̿̋ͬ̾̊͒ͥ͘て̨̫̞̼͚̼̋ͮͭͤͦͬ͑͋ͅい͇͉̌̓ͬ̾な̓̒ͨͦ҉͓̜̹̪̝い̫̘̩͖̝͈͍̎ͥ́̓̒̀̓̚。 ̵̻͙̠ͨ̉͌ͭ̊̒̄̅̕͜
̶͇̼̦̪͎̳̩̪̺ͣ̓͜͜

Zack

I tried messaging Zack on his facebook, but I haven't gotten a reply. All I found was some cryptic, impossible to read gibberish. It's unsettling, and I don't know what it means. When I try putting it through a word processor and change the font, all I get are random letters and spaces and junk like that. I hope something hasn't happened to him.

No matter what I do, I keep thinking about Adrian. It's creepy and weird. I'm pretty sure I'm not queer or anything, but he won't get out of my mind. I keep expecting to see him everywhere I go-- almost wanting to.

Damn it all.

NEW

I just got something in the mail: an envelope from Japan. It had only one thing in it:



(click to enlarge)

So what the heck is that? A puzzle? A code? The key to either?

Changes and Alices

I talked to my aunt, and got her to change the shrink I'm seeing. Right now, I'm afraid that every time I go somewhere or turn a corner, I'll see Adrian there. I don't want to, but I want to at the same time. It's freaking weird. I haven't listened to Alice Human Sacrifice for a while, but it's always running through my head.

I wonder if this Reiko Asahi is the third Alice?

More

That dream changed. Emylin and I are wandering through the woods, when when find a queen standing in a clearing, guarded by two knights. The queen is an Asian woman, who looks and acts like she's completely nuts. Emylin goes up to her, bows, and asks for help finding a way out of the forest. The queen says that there's no way out, that once the dream takes a hold of you, you can't escape (or something like that). Then two soldiers come out of the woods and drag Emylin away. A man in black walks towards me, and I run. Then I wake up.

It's so freaking vivid. I think it's related to all the times I've listened to that song, Alice Human Sacrifice. I did find an interesting vid for it, though: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZviUloU5qRE

A Message from Zack Arima

He e-mailed me, thinking more people would find this info here. He wants you to contact him on his facebook, so he can give you the e-mail of a woman he's staying with in Hakone.

I hate going to see this psychologist. It's not like he's a creeper or anything like that. He's really nice and understanding, and all the things you'd expect from a shrink.

It's just that these visits are becoming the most important part of my week. Like I'm becoming dependent on him or something. I hate that feeling. I don't want to be dependent on anyone.

Things have been quiet

No new leads in the investigation or anything. My aunt has me seeing this psychologist. Kind of an odd guy, but nice I guess. Talking to him really helps.

I can't think of anything for these songs, so I've started looking into the forest mentioned in the journal. It's a really creepy place. Why would anyone wanna go there?

I keep having that same dream. Emylin and I are always trying to reach that guy, but we never do. It's so weird.

Anyone out there know dream symbolism?

Too tired

Don't feel like updating today. I think I'm just gonna sleep for now.

Dream

I had this really weird dream last night. Emylin and I were walking through a woods, just hanging out. We found this cool old house with bars on the window and a big lock on the door. When we looked inside, we saw an Asian guy chained to the wall, like in those old movies with dungeons and stuff. We wandered around, and found a door to the basement, one of those doors in the ground like old houses have. So we went inside, and when we reached the middle of the room, the door shut behind us and we couldn't get out.

I have no idea why I'd dream something like that.

Update

It's been stolen. The Ipod, the journal, the notepad, even those matchbooks are gone. They were here yesterday, hidden under a loose floorboard in my room.

I doubt my family took it. Ok, so I can imagine them taking the matchbooks for "safety", but not a journal and Ipod.

Someone was in my room. I don't know when or how or who or whatever, but I'm scared.

I want some answers.

Emylin Disappeared

She's been missing since Tuesday evening. She hasn't called or e-mailed or anything. I'm not sure what to do. For now, I'll continue updating, but I'm afraid I'll get some call about identifying a body soon or something like that.

I was planning to mail you guys some stuff, but I can't do that now. I had been living with Emylin, but now I'm staying with my aunt. I can't tell her about this. I'm too afraid to. Guess I'm stuck with the internet. I can't even get online on Friday, though. Some stupid family thing.

I can't make out any of the other journal entries. I'll scan them this weekend for you. Maybe you guys can figure it out. You're the only help I've got right now. Right now, I'm trying to figure out the significance of the songs on the Ipod. I don't know what to think.

You guys have any ideas?

David

Meeting and an entry

Zack has arranged to meet us on Thursday, 6pm eastern/5pm central in Talk City's Perfectly Insane chat room. Making a user us really easy, so that shouldn't be an issue.

Anyway, new entry:

Poking around Tokyo. Tried to find the Himuro mansion, but without success. No one seems to know where it is, or if it even exists. Did hear about an interesting place, though. Aokigahara forest. It'd take some time to get up there, but it could be really awesome or really disturbing. Or both.
Still haven't gotten up the nerve to call that Zack Guy.

Contact

I've managed to get a message to this Zack Arima guy. He's going to figure out a way for me to contact him. David insists I give you guys the information as well, so I guess I'll post that when I get it.

I've spent all weekend listening to that playlist and looking up lyrics. Maybe there is, as David says, a message. I'm half tempted to let the brat take care of this himself, but I can't quite stop looking this stuff up. Guess I'm as much of a sucker for a good mystery as he is. Anyway, I can't get that creepy song called Alice Human Sacrifice out of my head. It's cool, but it's kind of fucked up.

Second Entry

An update from the journal.

Explored Tokyo today. Naomi told me about a shop where you can buy those super realistic plastic food models that restaurants use, so I wandered around some alleys and tiny streets until we found it. It was expensive as hell, but I bought a keychain modeled to look like an onigiri.
On the way back to the metro, we stopped at a vending machine to grab that drink called Aquarius. Best drink ever. While we were there, a guy about my age walked up to use the machine. He wore a bandanna , and had the most beautiful face I'd ever seen. He asked to borrow some change for the machine. I handed over a few yen coins, not really paying attention to the amount. I was flustered. When he handed back the change, he said "Thanks, kid." in perfect English (didn't even have an accent) and walked away.
Along with the change, he'd handed me a piece of paper with a phone number and the name Zack Arima on it.
I'm going to call him.

Updates

I hate my brother sometimes.

Anyway, I've had the time to look at the Ipod. It has only a few songs on it, but it's a strange collection.

Alice Human Sacrifice, by VOCALOID
Illusion, by VNV Nation
Whisper, by Evanescence
Redemption, by Gackt
Famous Last Words, by My Chemical Romance
Safe and Sound, by Kyosuke Himuro, ft. Gerard Way

I'm going to look up the lyrics later.

BTW, this Zack Arima guy has a twitter as well.
http://twitter.com/1stAlice

First Entry

Don't have a lot of time to post this before work or to do any research, unfortunately. I've managed to get some meaning out of the first journal entry, so here goes:

Landed in Tokyo today. Naomi greeted me at the airport. I'll be staying with her and her family while I research these legends. Tokyo is an amazing city. It has the most incredible energy. Hopefully I'll find both an answer and a home in this island nation.

Not a lot of info so far. But I did look up that Zack Arima guy. All I could find was an entry in a Facebook group. I'll probably look him up on FB later and ask him some questions. Or you could, if (as David thinks) you're actually interested in this. Still can't believe I have followers. But w/e. A little help is always cool.

Off to work.

((note from David: Sorry about her. One of those jaded 21 year olds who think they're super mature and above everything. when she finds I've edited her post she'll freak, so that's always cool! ;) Anyway, she's not gonna be any help guys. It's up to us to figure out where the hell this came from.))

Interesting Find

David says I should blog about this little investigation, to get a record out there in case something happens to us. He's having one of his paranoid moments again, but to make him happy I'll do as he says. Kid brothers are so obnoxious sometimes.

Today, I received a package in the mail. It was small, and only held 4 items. There was no return address, but the postage stamp is from Tokyo, of all places! I'm actually really excited, but brainy David thinks it might be outside our league.



First is a leather bound journal.



The writing is sloppy, and they've scribbled out things while writing. Starting tomorrow, I'll start typing out the entries here.



Then there's the Ipod shuffle. Poor bastard. No wonder they didn't want it. These suck. Anyway, I need to pester David, but I might be able to check out the playlist on his I-tunes account.



This is one of two matchbooks. There's no design at all on the outside, except for those two words.



Inside, however, is an address to a cafe. Only two matches have been used.



The other one is for a hotel.



Don't know about this one. There are only four matches in it. Not sure what kind of characters those are at the top, but judging by the post mark Japanese is a likely guess.



Then there's this mini notepad. It's pretty cool. The small pen keeps it closed, and when pulled out of the holder, it springs open to reveal...



... a name and date. It looks like many of the pages have been used already.

I'll look into this more sometime. I don't know how often I'll update this, but I'll do my best to do so regularly.