Entry #4

Jaime here again. I haven't been able to sleep for a few days since I saw that photo. I had to rely on my old habit of smoking to rid myself of anxiety. Even having to keep my curtains closed since then. Sadly it didn't work. I didn't want to believe it. But, it's true. Alexander was telling the truth. The X witch of Börfink.. is real. She's fucking real. And she knows I was lurking in her territory. She's likely been on to me since I first came into the Palatinate woods. That must explain why that sonic plushie was there. I'm unsure whether or not I should give this picture over to the authorities, leave and head back home, or attempt to continue my investigation. I'm actually genuinely scared to even look out my window.

Something strange seemingly happened when I told the police about there being a ravaged deer corpse in the woods. I showed them a picture of the body and told them there was some maniac running around in the woodlands. None of them were ever able to find the specific area where I found the deer carcass. I have no idea or how that's possible. I told them it was far southwest near a river. But they said they never found a dead deer. We were all equally weirded out and confused by this and I just decided to dismiss discussion about this until further notice. I contemplated whether or not I should show them the picture of the witch but I stuck to my word and kept it a secret from them. Lord knows what would happen if they found in my room that's something that's classified or purposely buried history.

After they left, I decided to call Katie and asked how things were going with Dylan. It would have been best to check on them and give her an update on the trip so far. The following is a transcript of our conversation

"Hey Katie, how's the little one doing? Is he excited for his birthday coming up?" I said, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

"He's doing good, Jaime. He's been on his best behavior ever since I told him he'd get a special present if he cleaned up his room. How about you, hon? Did anything happen during your little vacation? By the way, why did ya pick German specifically, hon?"

It took every bit of my soul to stay collected and come off with a reasonable excuse. So instead of straight up lying, I decided to be mostly honest with my big sister. I didn't want her worried sick and lashing out at me over something as ridiculous as a witch hunt. My sister was in a good mood and I didn't want to ruin her day with any crazy ramblings.

"No reason, really. I just always wanted to visit there since I was a little girl. Learning about European culture while growing up made me want to travel the world and see the beauty of it myself. I even took some pictures. I know how crazy you are about nature themed screensavers so I took some pics. I wanna surprise you with them and other stuff I find when I come home. Sounds good? I know I could send them to you now but I like seeing your reactions in-person. They're always a treat, ya know?"

"Sure! Yeah. That's a good point. By the way, bring back some souvenirs too while you're there. Be back for Dylan's big day, alright? Maybe you can give him one as a present!"

"I'll sure as hell try. Love ya, sis. I'll call you again in a bit. Gotta take care of something. See you soon. By the way, Katie?"

“Yeah?”

“This is gonna be kind of sudden but maybe now’s a good time for you to teach Dylan how to clean himself while taking a shower. He's not 5 years old anymore.”

“Yeah, I see your point. My boy’s growing and learning really fast. I’m proud of him. Remember, it took only an hour for me to teach him how to tie his shoes last year. He rarely ever asks me for help since then. I’ll probably teach him to rinse himself off after he’s done eating”

"Alrighty then. You can expect me to be home by Monday. I'll be sure to bring something home for Dylan too. Oh and one more thing."

"What is it?"

"Don't let him out of your sight until I get back, please. I've.. just been having really bad dreams lately and.. I don't want to go into detail about it. I've just been paranoid for a while. I guess this trip is making me fear the worst that could happen while I'm away. I just.. don't want to lose any more more family.."

"...I see. I understand. Don't worry sis, I won't let anything happen. Go enjoy your trip and get plenty of rest during it. You deserve it for all you've done for us, too. Anyway, I gotta go now. I'm about to go get dressed to go pick up the cake for the birthday boy. I promised him a classic Sonic cake this year. Alright bye, sis! Say "bye", Dylan!"
("Bye Aunt Jaime!!")

click

I put my phone in sleep mode and laid it on the table. I still needed plenty of time to think about how to go about dealing with this, as this was still very likely a life or death situation for me and I wasn't out of the woods just yet. I needed to come up with a proper way to deal with the witch in case I actually happen to come face to face with her. I know what you might be thinking. "Just go home". I can't. Not yet. I can't risk that monster following me home. She knows who I am. She knows I was on her territory. She may not even want to let me leave Germany alive, while knowing of her existence. And.. she might know about my family. That damn nightmare had already given me an idea of what would happen if I happened to bring that witch into my life just for it to stalk them. No way. Not my sister. Not MY nephew.

My fear started to turn to rage at that moment. I couldn't just stand there and let that monster of a woman take the chance to get anywhere close to the only family I have left. I grabbed my stuff and left my room in a hurry, as if I was in the middle of an earthquake. The sudden sense of urgency I had was overwhelming. But something in the back of my head was telling me I wouldn't be any safer locking myself in that room. That may be due to me digging up something that was classified. Or perhaps those dreams were telling me something bad may happen if I remain in that room for too long. I just felt as if I were being watched by something or someone. And after the events that just unfolded, can you really blame me for thinking that? I’ve been too damn afraid to even slide the curtains. The one thing I wanted to avoid most the last few nights was the possibility of seeing that woman staring right back at me through my hotel window as well as having to deal with one more goddamn night terror. The most recent one I had was quite possibly the worst. And It was what caused me to call my sister out of sheer paranoia.

It was about Dylan again. Katie was giving him a bath and she stepped outside the room to do something. I briefly remember she said it was about making tea. After she left, Dylan was alone playing with his bath toys for about a minute or so. After that, something happened that made me wake up screaming my lungs out. A long pale wrinkly hand popped out of the water, dragged Dylan under. He didn't even have a second to react or look back. Or scream. The water turned blood red after that. His body was pulled into the abyss and completely vanished. I don't think I'll try to sleep again for a while after that one. This alone was the reason I barely kept myself together while calling Katie. I didn't want my nephew to leave her sight. It took me an hour to calm down after that horror.

After I had some tea and a quick smoke, my anxiety was starting to go down. This will probably be my last trip into that god damn forest. After my smoke break, I had a quick shower and got dressed. I grabbed all my equipment again and headed out back to where it all started. Börfink. I took a taxi to kill time. Once again having to lie about being hitchhiking. One thing was for sure, if I were to try to get any more answers, I'd most certainly find them there. By the time I had reached my destination, it was only 2 PM. So I had much more time to investigate than usual, and I intended not to waste a single second sight seeing.

When I arrived, I had felt the same threatening aura I got back when I was about the Palatinate forest. The fact that I barely heard any wind blowing or any birds chirping around said more than enough. I took a few looks around to see if the coast was clear and started moving. I’d have been exhausted half an hour later if it wasn’t for all the coffee I had earlier. Despite the warm weather, I still had this chilling sensation as I wandered. The air was unnaturally cold. It was as if I was stepping right into a meat locker. After almost an entire hour of walking deep into the woodlands of Börfink, I felt the need to take my flashlight out for some reason. As I got farther into the woods, the darker it became. It felt as if the trees were shutting out any source of light to be found. I kept the flashlight on while I walked, keeping it pointed at the ground to make sure I didn't slip and fall on my ass by accident. During all of this, I noticed something all too familiar. There was once again, an almost complete lack of any life in the area. The only birds that I was able to hear were almost inaudible or out of earshot. All my ears were able to pick up on was the cold wind blowing by. I'm not sure if my eyes were playing tricks on me, but I swear the environment was starting to become foggy. Foolishly not thinking much of it, I carried on and wandered further. That ended up being my greatest mistake since the start of this investigation.

The air for some odd reason became almost unbearably cold. I assumed that was due to the lack of sunshine. At a point while walking through the woods, I came across an area that looked more open and vacant. I swear I'm not sure if my mind was playing tricks on me or I may have heard howling in the distance. After many minutes of wandering around the area, I came across something that almost made my heart jump out of my chest. Up against the bark of the tree I had shined light upon, were dolls. Specifically ones based on video game characters. I was too baffled and frightened to try and get a clearer look at them but I was able to make quite a few out. Some were based on ips that most kids would have been invested in during the late 90s. Some were obscure modern day themed gaming figurines. I could feel every hair on my body stand up as soon as my memory kicked in.

It fit the description that was given by Alexander in his diary all those years ago almost perfectly. This may have even been where it all went, too. But something still didn't add up. Why did she kidnap children? Why did she have some weird fascination with toy figures? It didn't hit until afterwards as I was too scared to focus and think properly. There was only one disturbing conclusion, but I didn't want to believe it, but I had to be 100% sure. So hesitantly, I took out the spirit box, kneeled down and brought the device close to the toys. I gulped and asked 2 single questions. "Are you trapped here..? Did a witch do this?"

I hit playback seconds later and my questions were answered. But not in the way I expected or wanted in any way. Have you ever been so scared that all you could do was tear up like you just witnessed a murder right before your very eyes? That was how I felt afterwards. When I listened to the playback. All that could be heard for almost 30 seconds straight was the unholy agonizing sound of children screaming and crying in utter terror. Desperately wanting to hug their moms again. Desperately wanting their parents to free them. Desperately wanting to be freed. I put the spirit box in my pocket and took a step back, shaking and hyperventilating, still pointing my flashlight light at the dolls. That's when I noticed something that I swore wasn't there before. I pointed it upwards and saw something that made me tempted to just drop everything and run. Above the dolls, carved into the bark, were the following words that haunt me to this day.

"WILLKOMMEN IN MEINEM GARTEN DER EWIGEN KINDHEIT, DETEKTIV."