Girl-Who-Is-Very-Real-to-Me,
Don’t worry; I’m a genius. I can pass with my eyes closed. I’m curious about what the “get moving” will involve too. Has Naida said anything?
Suave Genius Prodigy
From: RealxChick
To: AriHait558
Date: 10 January 2005
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Status Update
We went to London to talk to someone. I can’t really talk about it. He said not to. Besides, I’d rather not think about it.
PS—I can tell you that his name is Haji, and he’s Naida’s brother. He seems to know his stuff.
From: AriHait558
To: RealxChick
Date: 10 January 2005
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Status Update
I might be able to help. You don’t always have to do everything on your own. When will I see you again? When can we be alone?
From: RealxChick
To: AriHait558
Date: 10 January 2005
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Status Update
It’s not that at all. I just really don’t know what he said, if I’m honest. I’m so confused. I wish he hadn’t taken Naida’s top hat camera off us. I wish I could have filmed it. I would have liked to watch it back. It’s weird how little of it I remember.
I’m not really feeling very sociable. Or sexy.
From: AriHait558
To: RealxChick
Date: 10 January 2005
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Status Update
Shit. Bell rang. I’ll check for your reply later. Don’t worry about anything—it’s not worth it. Naida knows what’s going on, I’m sure. I guess we should just enjoy the calm, right?
Talk later,
A
84
After the meeting with Haji, the basement camera footage shows Kaitlyn staring at the wall day after day, barely touching the food she is given. It is unclear what has happened, since she does not write in her diary.
Ari visits almost every day. They kiss, but not much more. He asks her to come to the Forgotten Garden, but she refuses. One day he brings her a pile of wildflowers. She smiles faintly and turns back to the wall.
It is six days before Naida enters the basement with news that shocks Kaitlyn out of her depression.
Naida Camera Footage
Sunday, 16 January 2005, 11:45 PM
Basement
The camera clicks on as Naida storms into the room. Kaitlyn is sitting on the mattress, facing the wall.
“Come on,” Naida demands. Above her, the light flickers ominously. “Get up.”
Kaitlyn doesn’t move, and for a moment, Naida won’t give ground. Then she exhales and walks over to the mattress, flinging herself on top of it.
“It’s taking longer than I thought to get everything in place,” she mutters. “I’ve been keeping an eye on Mike, just in case. Apart from fondling Brenda in her room after lights-out, I haven’t seen anything yet. And the ritual… it isn’t my usual kind of thing. But it will happen. Trust me. You can’t give up hope.”
Kaitlyn doesn’t reply.
“Anyway, there’s a problem. There’s some guy out there saying he knows you. Demanding to see you. He was actually in the main building today at reception. I thought he was a nut job, but then he turns up again now.” She checks her watch. “It’s close to midnight. Crazy-ass talking about pesky birds—”
Kaitlyn’s head snaps sideways. “What?”
“Huh?”
“Birds?”
“Aye, he kept going on about some falcon shit—”
Kaitlyn is on her feet in a moment, running past Naida and out the door.
“What—Kait! You can’t go out there!”
Naida sprints from the room after her. The camera footage doesn’t end for an additional thirteen seconds.
[END OF CLIP]
85 16 days until the incident
Diary of Kaitlyn Johnson
Monday, 17 January 2005, 2:00 am
Basement
I’m sorry I’ve been ignoring you. It’s just been too hard.
Haji is in my head. I guess he’s not going anywhere. I would have explained if there was an answer.
But, Dee! Something wonderful happened! He’s here! John, my Viking! He’s here! I feel like the old me—the me that danced away the night in Masqued with John, who ate the seeds he brought me and flew through the streets with him at my side, the me who lived before my parents died.
FREEDOM.
JohnJohnJohnJohnJohnJohnJohn!
My soul is singing, Dee.
Later
Ari was here. He’s confused about John. He didn’t say much, but I could see it in his face the second he arrived. Tightness in the lips, granite in the jaw. Bruises in his eyes.
I kissed him, told him John was like my brother, and he hugged me and said, “Everything is going to be okay.” Except I don’t want Ari to hate John. My John. Ari smelled my hair and then kissed me again.
We had sex on the cold, wet floor of the basement, and the whole time, the dead girl was grinning in the corner. It was only after he was gone and I was smoking a cigarette (Carly, I’m sorry) that I remembered Naida’s camera had been filming the whole time.
[No such clip has ever been found.]
86 15 days until the incident
Diary of Kaitlyn Johnson
Tuesday, 18 January 2005, midnight
Basement
I won’t hear these lies
Your words laced with arsenic
Poisonous deceit
It is unclear what lies “Kaitlyn” referred to in this haiku poem. Perhaps this is only an indication of the degradation of her mental stability, or perhaps it is something far darker. Something she chose never to share.
Naida Camera Footage
Wednesday, 19 January 2005, 5:00 AM
Basement
John and Kaitlyn sit on the mattress, facing each other. He is a tall, broad-shouldered youth with a thin beard and long hair tied back. He wears a Metallica T-shirt and a leather jacket. They sit in silence for a long time, Kaitlyn furtively glancing at John every few seconds.
“What?” he asks at last, grinning.
“You… you look so different. A beard?”
“Even more Viking now, right?” He rubs his face, smiling. “You look different too.”
“How?” Her eyes are bright with anticipation, and she leans forward.
“You look thin, and…”
“What?”
He laughs, throws up his hands, then slumps. “Well, look how you’re living.”