Entry #2

Jaime here. After much planning and thinking this over, I have decided to go alone and handle this investigation independently. There's nothing to gain from risking any close associates getting hurt. I don't think I even have the mental capacity to deal with being responsible for someone's death. Especially people close to you. I even learned from a certain movie that it isn't exactly the wisest idea to attempt to possibly track down a witch with your friends in the middle of the fucking woods. Don't want to make the same mistake. I decided to order some paranormal hunting equipment online. EVP recorders, EMF meters, ghost boxes, all that jazz. As I said last time, I want to go prepared. These journal entries will be a way to document my experience on this investigation. Before I finally headed out, I decided to drop by and visit my older sister Katie (she's 27) and my 8 year old nephew Dylan. Speaking of which, his birthday is coming up in a few days. I'm thinking of buying him a copy of Sonic Origins Plus. He's been asking Katie about that game for a while and I've been wanting to save her a trip to the store as well as a headache. Little guy is young but damn does he love the blue rat. After my little get together I told them I was going on a trip to Germany. Katie was beyond happy for me and asked me to send photos while away. I couldn't say no to her. A few hours later our little family bonding had to temporarily end. I hugged both of them and then we parted ways. To this day I'm glad I still have them ever since our parents died in a car crash 4 years back.

By the time I got to the airport, the sun was already starting to go down. I tipped my uber and waved as he drove away. I had a slight fear of heights growing up due to an incident from my childhood, so I was kinda back and forth on the idea of going on a plane trip by myself for a few days. It took some time but I went through with it. I'm a young woman in her 20's for god's sake! A grown ass woman! I couldn't let my childhood fears bring me down forever. Anyway, my flight from the US to Germany was about 8-9 hours. The time I spent during my flight was listening to audiobooks, playing my old 3DS, and sketching some dumb shit on an old notebook I sometimes used for basic shit like passwords, shopping, math, etc. Overall it was kinda cozy. I got plenty of sleep somehow too so that's a plus. By the time morning came I had arrived at my destination. The one thing I truly had to be ready for as soon as the flight was over was the differing dialects. Being multilingual actually came in handy for once it seems. The many hours I wasted on duolingo ended up saving my ass on this day.

When I arrived in Rhineland I decided to head to the closest INN to rent a room for a week. Better to be indoors, rather than a tent out in the wilderness. I love the outdoors as much as the next person but I was never a fan of camping due to really frustrating and embarrassing childhood memories. I soon packed a flashlight and my night vision goggles I brought from home, as well as some water bottles and ültje in my backpack and headed out. I wanted to avoid suspension, so I kept the paranormal hunting equipment zipped and the door to the room locked until I returned. I made sure to purchase a waffenbesitzkarte, a waffenschein, and a jagdschein so I could legally bring a firearm with me just for safety and protection (Trust me, If I had tried to bring one onto the plane, things would have gone south real quick.) It would have been stupid of me to go it alone without a weapon. I used to spend some time wearing blue and a badge for 2 years before I dropped out to be a detective. And yes, I know the crime rates here in Germany are low. Still, better safe than sorry. I'm probably sounding fucking insane even admitting this, but I'd rather take my chances especially seeing why I came here in the first place. Real or fake, it's weird to even consider the possibility that the story is intentionally covered up for unknown reasons. Prevention of curiosity? Selfish attempts to protect Germany's image from being slandered by the family ascendants related to the victims? Destroyed evidence? It doesn't make sense. What made this old campfire story different from other European folklore? Is the topic of witches secretly taboo in Germany now?

I asked myself many of those questions to myself as I traveled throughout the region to reach my destination. halfway through I decided to do a pitstop and grab a bite to eat and try the coffee. If you tried one of the meat dishes here your ass wouldn't be going back to fast food anytime soon. After I finished my meal, I cleaned up in the lady's room, left a tip, and dipped. Curiously checking my phone, I noticed It was already close to 4 PM. I had plenty of time left to check out the woods and get to the bottom of things. Approaching the entrance to the woods only killed about 30 minutes thankfully. I felt bad about lying to the police that I was going hunting, but if I told them why I was really here, they probably would have laughed or made sure I didn't leave Germany alive. Sometimes, honesty isn't just the best choice. Hopefully I'll be back in town before sunset. Thank god I brought a flashlight with me in case I were unfortunate to stay in there for a bit too long. I stood in the entrance for almost 10 seconds, staring deep into the woodlands. I took a deep breath, staring into the palatinate forest as if it were a gateway into another dimension altogether.

"Alright, Jaime. This is it. You came this far. No point in wanting to turn back now.." I said confidentiality to myself.

And without a second thought, I started marching in, passing through the trees and kicking through the leaves. If I had to describe the scenery with a single word, it would be "heavenly". Despite my not so kind feelings for the cruelty of mother nature and her inhabitants, I always appreciated how beautiful it looked. Everywhere you turned you felt like staring at a painting and you could never get enough of it. I decided to snap a couple pictures with my phone to share with Katie later. She'd appreciate some new screensaver material. After that, I switched to my compass and looked back to the entrance. I could still see civilization from here and that's all I needed to see to be sure I can find my way back.

"Okay... North. That's my way back, it seems. Better god damn pray I don't forget or wander too far.." I said to myself.

The farther I walked, the more different the scenery looked. From the heights of the trees, to the width of the trails, to the sizes of the rivers. I know that's likely normal here but.. for some strange reason, I had a chilling feeling I was walking into uncharted territory every step I took. I felt like a child being dared to walk on a elderly neighbor's lawn. Playing a dangerous game that could get me in trouble. One wrong turn and I could lose my way back so I had to be extra cautious with my directions. After walking for over an hour, I came across something that caught me off guard and froze me in my tracks. It looked to be a plushie. Dirtied and laid out under a random tree. One that looked all too familiar as I laid my eyes on it as I got closer. I noticed the red shoe, the yellow buckle, and blue leg. My eyes widened. I walked around the tree to get a better look at it.

"I recognize that red shoe..!" I said to myself in surprise.

It was a sonic plushie! Specifically one based on the modern design. I assumed a child may have accidentally lost him out here. Likely the son of a traveling hitchhiker who was a sonic fan. But that just raised more questions. What kind of parent lets their kid carry a plushie of all things with them on a trip through the fucking woods? Maybe it was a teddy for a camping trip and they forgot him by accident. My curiosity paused for a moment as I picked the plushie up to brush it off a bit. Miraculously it seemed to be in good condition. Smiling, I took off my backpack to unzip it and put the plushie in the bag. After that I put it back on and headed north. The moon was starting to come up by the time I reached the entrance where I came in. Quite an interesting discovery on my first day out in the Palatinate forest.

"My nephew is gonna be surprised when he sees this.." I said, in a cheerful mood now. Trying to explain this discovery to Katie would be as hard as trying to separate two square flat legos.

As soon as I got back to the INN, I dropped the bag on my bed and went to wash off the dirt and sweat. While I washed off, I came to a sudden realization. That was probably the most time I spent out wandering carelessly in a forest in years. Probably since my childhood, as crazy as it sounds. As I explained before, I was never the biggest fan of mother nature being a bitch to me. So this experience really opened my eyes a bit and made me understand I missed out on quite a lot since I was a little girl. Better late than ever then, I guess.

Right after I dried off I went to lay down and watch TV for a bit. I grabbed the backpack and pulled the sonic plush from the bag to observe it again. It was difficult not to ponder why the thing was left out in the middle of nowhere. But the only natural assumption I could have made sense at the time was that a careless kid dropped him. But.. I soon remembered something from Alexander's diary I read that raised my curiosity about the forest further. It may have been a coincidence but.. it coincided with the current scenario I was in. As the memory came flooding back, I felt a chill run down my spine.

"The dolls.. laid under the trees.." I muttered to myself. Alexander at one point brought up in his diary how there were dolls in the woodlands near Börfink that were laid out under trees accordingly. I was shaking my head a bit, telling myself that it was a coincidence. My memory is a bit hazy but I can damn well remember that the sonic plushie was sitting with its back up against the tree. Not laying on his back, or his belly. He was fucking SITTING. He was sitting in a natural position like he was put on a shelf against the wall. Based on the acceptable condition of the plushie itself, it may have happened recently. It felt like someone put it there for me to find the more I thought about it. I kept debating with myself over this for an hour and just told myself it's just a lost toy. Not wanting to think into this for any longer, I put the plushie back in my bag and went to bed.

I'll head back to those woods again tomorrow. Hopefully things will be less weird when I return.

(To be continued)