The Project

Done in the style of a journal, the story chronicles the events leading up to the author's unsolved disappearance.

The Project

 

The following is the last entries of Alex’s journal.  Alex was only 17 when he went missing, and has not been found since Oct. 31, 2000.  The day after his parents called the police, his journal was found by the local police department.  They had been searching for the last place he was supposed to have been when he disappeared.  All that was found at the cemetery where Alex was supposed to have been was his journal.  Alex’s parents have released the last few entries of their son’s journal in hopes that someone reads it and can shed some light on what happened to their son that night.

 

 

 

 

 

September 15

 

So sick of school.  We’re going to be working on a class project, soon.  It’s gonna be a group assignment.  Basically, we’re gonna have to research someone famous from our town’s history and write a paper on them.  Then, we’re gonna have to stand up in front of the class and give an oral presentation on the person and why we chose to write about them.  I don’t know much about the town’s history…and I don’t care.  This is such a stupid assignment.  The worst part, we’re going to have to work on it during our Thanksgiving vacation.  I already talked to Mom and Dad and they said to stop complaining.  They said I might actually learned something interesting.  Whatever.  We’ll see.  Just as long as I don’t get stuck with any of the stupid jocks.  I wouldn’t mind being in a group with Marissa Townsend, though.  I’m crossing my fingers on that one.

 

 

September 18

 

Well, I officially hate my life.  Not only did I NOT get paired up with Marissa, but I got stuck with the weirdest group possible.  There’s Mark, Seth, Josie, and I.  Josie’s cute, but she’s way too quiet.  Mark and Seth are gonna be a trip to work with.  They’re always getting in trouble for smoking on school grounds during lunch, sleeping in class, and not ever doing their homework.  If they think for one minute that I’m doing ALL the work, then they have another thought coming!  Boy, Mom and Dad would really wig out if I ever brought the group home with me some night.  Maybe I should.  If they saw them, maybe I could get Mom and Dad to talk to Mr. Wright about me switching groups with someone.  What am I thinking?  Like THAT will happen.  Oh well.

 

 

September 19

 

So Mark, Seth, Josie and I got together after school for our first meeting for our report.  They sounded almost excited about it.  I wonder why they’d be so interested in this assignment, of all assignments.  I mean, it’s not like any of them excel in school.  I know what you’re thinking, and I know it’s “calling the kettle black”, but at least I’m an slightly above average student.  Most of their grades consist of a few C’s, mostly D’s, and a few F’s.  Which, come to think of it, means that I’ll probably get stuck with most of the work.  So lame.  Homecoming is coming up.  I think I’ll ask Marissa if she’d like to go with me.  Just have to make sure I ask before Brad.  He took her last year, but I think she actually danced with me more.  Maybe I’ll just ask her tomorrow at school.

 

 

September 20

 

Not sure if I should start with the good news, or bad news.  Oh what the hell, I’ll start with the good news.  I asked Marissa to Homecoming, and she said…YES!!  So excited.  She said that was really glad she asked me.  I kinda felt embarrassed because she said she had wanted me to ask her last year, but by the time Brad had asked her, she thought it was too late to wait for me to ask.  I would say things were looking up if it wasn’t for the fact that I talked to Mark today.  He said that the rest of them have an idea about who to write about for our paper.  He wouldn’t tell me exactly who it was.  He just told me that it was “gonna be awesome” and that I needed to make time to meet with them sometime this weekend.  Not sure I want to, but if I’m gonna be on this paper with them, I might as well.

 

 

September 22

 

Ok, I’m so pissed right now.  My group (Mark, Seth, and Josie) want to write a report about some guy who is supposed to be man behind the legend of some ghost story here in our town.  Seriously??  I mean, how completely gothic can you get?  I’m sure that by the end of this presentation, we’ll be looked at as either weirdo gothic kids, or some kind of satanic weirdos.  Either way, I’m going to be included in this!  I can totally see this ruining any chances I might have with Marissa.  To make matters worse, I have to actually learn about this guy and the back story this ghost story.  God only knows what kind of weird crap I’m gonna have to do in order to research this.  This is so lame.  I feel like burying my head in the sand till the end of the year.  To top it all off, the group wants to meet tonight at Mark’s house to go over some material he claims he dug up.  Although I’m curious about what his room would look like, I don’t know if I’m THAT curious.

 

 

Well, that was an interesting experience.  It was so weird, I HAD to write about it before I crashed for the night.  If you’re wondering what time it was, now, it’s about 2am.  Thankfully Mom and Dad won’t get too upset since I was supposed to be working on this project.  Anyway, I got over to Mark’s, and was surprised at first.  His parents seem normal enough.  Of course, when Mark led me to his room, that’s where “normal” ended.  The kid seems obsessed with the occult.  He’s got weird star jewelry hanging from his bedpost.  On his one dresser, there’s a statue of a goat head.  I’m not even sure what the rest of the crap is that’s strung throughout his room.  Kinda creepy if you ask me.  When Seth and Josie got there, he handed me some newspaper clippings and internet printouts about the the “devil” that supposedly haunts one part of the outskirts of town.  Everyone knows it’s a bunch of crap made up to scare people out of their wits, but Mark seems to think that it’s true.  The story goes that back in the 1940’s, there was a serial killer that went from town to town killing people.  He wouldn’t rob them, he’d just grab them, kill them, slice up their bodies, and leave them wherever he felt like it.  When the cops finally caught him, he had resisted arrest and killed himself.  Another rumor is that this guy was a follower in Satanism and thought that if he died, he could be brought back somehow.  The ghost story part was that on every Halloween, you could see him somewhere around town walking around.  If you were unfortunate enough be in his presence, and he saw you, he would chase you.  Then there’s something about if he caught you, you would feel him grab you and you would be able to feel the knife he would use on you.  Of course there’s been rumors of people, of which I’ve never heard of or know anyone who has heard of, that have actually been killed by this ghost.  Total garbage.  Mark probably idolizes this guy, who I think is actually fake, and that’s why he wants to do a report about him.  That or maybe it’s because he’s looking for some sort of shock value.  Of course, I have to admit, even writing about it is kinda freakin’ me out a little.  Maybe I’ll just leave this entry at that and go to bed before I give myself nightmares or something.  Ha ha

 

 

September 25

 

I can NOT wait for this stupid assignment to be over.  Seth totally embarrassed me in front of Marissa today.  I was right in the middle of talking to her about homecoming and he had the nerve to walk up and start in on this whole murderous ghost thing.  You should have seen the look that Marissa had on her face.  I had to explain to her after he walked away about who THEY wanted to do the assignment on.  She just looked at me and said “Wow, that’s spooky.”  Seriously??  She probably thinks I’m becoming a nerd like them.  I wonder if I can lay down some sort of ground rules for the group without making them too upset?  I mean, I don’t really care whether or not they like keeping it to ourselves or not, but I don’t want them to rage about it.  After what I saw in Mark’s room on Friday night, it kinda makes me wonder about what goes on in his head…ya know?

 

 

September 27

 

Mark wants to have another meeting on Friday night.  He says he has an idea that might help us with our research paper.  I swear, if it’s calling up the ghost to perform an interview on him, I’m gonna be pissed.  Ha ha   But seriously, what kind of idea could he be thinking of?  It’s not like you can just waltz down to your nearest library and look for a book with a whole chapter about this kind of stuff.  Most of it is just rumors anyway.  Oh well, gotta jet.  I’m taking Marissa out for a couple cups of hot java over at the “The Hookup”.

 

 

September 28

 

I don’t even know where to begin, tonight.  Remember how I was laughing at what Mark’s “idea” could be?  Well, turns out, I was sort of right.  I passed him in the hall today and he stopped me by his locker.  When he opened it up, he showed me a box that read “Ouija” on the side of the box.  That’s right, he wants to use a stupid game to ask it questions.  Talk about childish.  I am so failing this paper, I can see it now.  Mark wants us to hook up near one of the sites that, according to the rumors mind you, is supposed to be this ghost’s “haunting” ground.  I looked on the internet for the weather for that night, and it’s supposed to be cold and a bit windy.  Which means that ANYTHING could be nothing.  Oh well, I’m kinda out-numbered anyway.

 

 

September 30

 

I was gonna write about what happened last night as soon as I got home, but by the time I did get home, it was technically today anyway, and I was so damn tired, I just crashed.  I have to admit, I’m a little curious about how last night actually went.  I know it sounds weird since I was there, but let me explain.  We all got to the spot, which is actually about half a mile out of town down by that old cemetery that no one uses anymore.  The cemetery isn’t right next to the road, either.  It’s actually about 100 yards from it.  Seth brought out his pick-up truck and drove us out.  We all unloaded a card table and some chairs and set them up.  At this point, I was hoping no one found out what were about to do.  I mean, the others’ reputations are pretty much screwed at this point, but mine is still intact and I’d like to keep it that way.  Then Mark got out the board and set it up.  I’d seen one of these before on TV, but this one looked really old.  Didn’t realize Milton-Bradley was around that long.  Then we all four sat around the table, and Mark told us to put just our fingertips on this little piece of wood.  It was triangle shaped with a magnifying type of glass in the middle.  Mark explained to me that when we contacted this ghost and asked it a question, it was supposed to move the piece of wood and whatever letters and numbers, or words, appeared under the piece of glass, that was an answer, or clue or whatever.  When we started, I almost made a smart-a*s comment, but then decided that it might get me in more trouble than it would be worth.  The weird part, was when Mark (why is he always the leader??) started asking questions.  Now, Mark explained that we were to just lightly put our fingertips on the wood, that we were NOT to put any pressure on and to just let the ghost control the wood.  Mark asked if there were any spirits hanging out in the cemetery.  At first, we all just sat there, stupidly.  But then the wood started to move.  I think it was Seth, but it was hard to tell.  When the word “yes” appeared under the piece of glass, everyone seemed excited.  I just played along to make them happy.  Then, Mark asked if any of the spirits were the ones that had murdered all those people when they were alive.  The wood seemed to do a loop around the board and came back on “yes”.  Mark then asked if we could ask that spirit some questions.  The answer this time was “no”.  Mark asked why not, and the wood moved around the board showing letters.  The answer this time, was “gift first”.  I made the mistake of making a comment out loud, and they all gave me quite the dirty look.  When Mark turned back and asked what “gift” the spirit wanted, the answer spelled out “girl”.  Mark and Seth looked up at Josie.  I thought they were just trying to scare her.  They managed this humorous look of fear on their face.  Josie looked like she wasn’t sure if it was a prank or not and just said “Screw that!”, as if the teacher had just asked her to run to the office to deliver a message to the principal.  Just then, table flipped over on its side and the board went flying.  I didn’t think the wind was that strong, but I guess it was strong enough.  I think they were trying to freak me out, or they freaked themselves out, because Josie screamed, and they all three jumped up and practically threw their stuff in the bed of the pick-up truck.  Then we all jumped in and took off for home.  It must have given me some sort of energy rush, because I felt like I hadn’t slept in years.  In fact, I’m still kind of tired.  It still makes me laugh to think about how bad they freaked themselves out last night.  Maybe they’ll want to change the topic of our paper.  Oh well, it was definitely interesting.  Got to go for now, gonna go hang out with Marissa this afternoon.

 

 

October 2

 

Well, apparently the “fun” we had on Friday night hasn’t hindered the gothic trio from wanting to continue our paper.  Mark and Seth stopped me in the hall and asked if I would be able to make it to another QandA session on Friday night.  I thought I’d be able to get out of it since Marissa and I are going out on Friday night after the football game, but they just acted like it was alright with them and told me to meet them at Mark’s house on Saturday night instead.  Before I could tell them that this whole Ouija thing was stupid, they took off for class.  I still haven’t told Marissa about Friday night.  I’m not going to, either.  Maybe after the paper, then I’ll just laugh it off with her.

 

 

October 4

 

I dunno if I’m getting sick or what, but lately, I haven’t felt the best.  I’ve been having trouble sleeping and been getting these really bad headaches.  Mom says she thinks I might be getting the flu since this about the time that the weather changes and all.  I hope I can get over this by Friday.  Things are really going well for Marissa and I.

 

 

October 5

 

Can’t sleep.  I just had one heck of a nightmare.  I had this dream that I was that ghost we’re doing a report on.  I was chasing down some woman from town about where we got together last week.  When I caught her, I grabbed her by the arm and dug a knife in her chest.  That’s when I woke up.  Some scary stuff.  I hope this isn’t going to be a frequent thing for me while working on this stupid report.

 

It’s about 5pm, now.  You won’t believe this.  I caught my Dad watching the news on television this morning, and there was a story about a woman that was found dead.  They think she died of a heart attack because she was clutching her chest.  Thing is, they found her around the same place in my dream I had.  How the hell am I supposed to read this?  Did I have a premonition?  Or did that ghost kill her and I was looking through its eyes?  I know the later sounds ridiculous, but come on!  I’m wondering if I should tell Mark about this?

 

 

October 6

 

Had a weird night tonight.  Went to the football game with Marissa.  We won, by the way, 21 to 7!  Afterwards, we walked to the coffee shop, “The Hookup”.  What was weird, though, was that Marissa was getting kinda spooked.  She kept looking over her shoulder saying that it felt like someone was following us.  I even checked from time to time, thinking it was Mark or Seth trying to prank us.  We didn’t see anyone, though.  In fact, it was starting to give me the creeps a little.  Especially after the whole nightmare/premonition thing.  When we got to “The Hookup”, Marissa calmed down and we forgot about the whole thing…well, SHE did, anyway.  We had our coffee, then I walked her home.  She didn’t freak out on the way home, thank goodness.

 

 

October 8

 

I’m starting to think that maybe I should seriously talk to Mark, Seth, and Josie about changing our paper.  This crap is getting really weird and I’m not sure if things aren’t getting too dangerous.  I met at Mark’s again, and once again, they wanted to use the stupid Ouija board.  He said he didn’t want to go back to the cemetery since there had recently been a crime scene there.  I wanted to say something about my dream that night, but I kept my mouth shut.  Although, Seth did say something about how it would be cool if the ghost was behind this woman’s death.  Josie just poked him in the ribs and said something about how he’s an a*s.  So, since this is the second time I’ve written about us doing this, I’ll just skip to the good (lack of a better word) part.  This time, when Mark talked to the “spirits”, he asked if there was any way to get a message to the spirit of the man for our report.  The word “speak” was spelled out.  Mark said that he wanted to ask him a few questions for our report.  He also added that this would make him very popular.  Seth started to snicker (probably thinking the same thing I was, except I rolled my eyes) just as the candles in the room flickered as if someone left a window open.  That was kind of creepy.  I won’t lie…I was ready to get the hell out of there and take the F for my share of the report.  What happened next was something I don’t want to believe, but I think actually happened.  See, Josie doesn’t talk much.  When she does, it’s usually something serious or insulting.  She doesn’t tease in a friendly, goofy manner, and she doesn’t do the whole girly convo thing.  So when she started taking these weird deep breaths and looked up at us, it was as if she wasn’t herself.  Then, she spoke in this mechanical, almost evil voice.  She said “My name is Levi.  She belongs to me now.”  Mark started to cough really bad, and Seth started to dry heave.  My head began to really hurt, like it had been a while back, but worse.  I don’t know why I did this, or why I thought it would help, but without thinking, I got up and kicked the board (for some reason I thought maybe with it lying across the room it would all stop) and headed for the light switch.  Just before I hit the lights, I heard the most guttural voice say “You’re mine…”  When I flicked the switch, Josie just fell over, Mark stopped coughing, and Seth had stopped dry heaving.  My headache was slowly going away, but it still hurt…like a dull pain.  After everyone calmed down, Josie noticed that she had gotten a nose bleed, Mark’s vision was slightly blurry, and Seth had peed himself.  Josie looked around at us and started freaking out on Mark and Seth.  She said she was done with this project if anything like this happened again.  Mark actually cried.  I’d never seen someone who looked so…not normal actually cry before.  He just kept apologizing to Josie.  Seth just sat in his own urine and held his head in his hands.  At that point, I wanted to go home.  I told them I was taking off for the night.  Mark just waved me away and said he’d see me Monday at school.  So what the hell happened last night??  Was that actually the ghost that Mark wanted to talk to?  Now I’m curious.  He said his name was “Levi”, right?  I supposed I could go to the library after school on Monday and do some research (some REAL research).  But if that was, or even if it wasn’t exactly THAT ghost…who did it say was “his”??  Okay…gotta stop thinking before I freak myself out again.

 

 

October 9

 

I went to the library after school today.  I couldn’t find anything on any “Levi” that was arrested for murder.  In fact, there’s not a whole lot of anyone that was arrested for murder that matches the ghost stories.  So now I’m left wondering what the heck really happened Saturday night.  I saw Josie at lunch.  She was sitting by herself, which was odd.  Usually she sits with Mark and Seth.  But today, they didn’t seem to be at school.  I asked her if she happened to remember anything from Saturday night, and she told me that she didn’t want to talk about it.  When I pleaded with her, she actually yelled at me and stormed off.  Let me tell ya, THAT was embarrassing.  Most of the lunch room was staring at me for the next five minutes.  Marissa caught up with me later in between classes and said she had seen me at lunch talking with Josie and asked what that was all about.  I told her that our little group was experiencing some issues that was affecting our ability to work as a group.  I had to chuckle a little bit after hearing myself say that out loud.  I almost sounded like Dr. Phil.  Thankfully she didn’t ask any more questions and changed the subject to homecoming.  Still can’t wait!

 

 

October 11

 

Something isn’t right.  There was an announcement in first period Math today about Mark.  Seems like he’s going to be home from school for at least a month.  They teacher didn’t go into a lot of detail, but he said that Mark was under suicide watch.  Apparently, he had tried taking his life yesterday.  I wonder if it has anything to do with Josie and the Ouija board last weekend.  I need to talk to him.  Maybe I can even explain things to our social studies teacher and we can get an extension for our paper, or I might even be able to join another group?

 

 

October 12

 

I stopped by Mark’s after school.  He seemed kinda pissed that I came to check on him.  I told him that it wasn’t his fault, that I wondered if it had something to do with that séance that we had done.  He just said he didn’t know, but that he has been having really bad nightmares ever since that Saturday night.  I told him that as long as we don’t make a hat trick out of it, that everything would be fine, that Josie seems a little out of sorts, but she’s ok.  He just shrugged, said “whatever” and asked to be left alone.  Man, he’s really bothered by this.

 

 

October 13

 

Talked to my social studies teacher today, and he said that if I wanted to switch groups, I was allowed to given the circumstances.  I guess Josie hasn’t been coming to class, either.  No one knows what’s been going on with Seth.  No one has seen him at school, and when I tried to call him after school, the phone just rang off the hook.  Oh well, I supposed I should just let it go and start to make up for lost time with my new group.  I’m paired up with John, Paul, and Janet.  I guess they’re doing a report on Mr. Risner, the owner of Risner Steel.  I’m sure that hasn’t been as interesting as my paper had been, but then again, I don’t mind at ALL.  Next week is homecoming.  I just hope I don’t blow it with Marissa.  This will be my chance to maybe make this a longer lasting relationship.  Depending on how things go next Saturday night, I might just ask her to go steady.

 

 

October 15

 

Sorry it’s taken me so long to write.  I spent a lot of time with Marissa over the weekend.  She keeps talking about being excited about going with me to homecoming.  Things are looking up, finally.  Now if I could just stop having these nightmares.  It’s weird.  I know what they’re about, but I can’t remember any details about them.  All I know is that they are similar to the one I had the night before that woman was found dead a few weeks ago.  But I never remember what actually happens.  I only remember that I was chasing someone, killed them, and that’s when I woke up.  Whatever happened in my dream, it must have been horrible.  I’ve been waking up soaking from sweating.  The way my sheets look in the morning, I must be tossing and turning pretty good, too.  Maybe I’m still retaining and thinking about the time I spent with Mark, Seth, and Josie?

 

 

October 17

 

Well, I found out why no one knows what’s been going on with Seth.  I guess he’s not been coming to school.  I happened to catch him at the park while walking to the grocery store.  He seemed kinda drunk when I saw him.  He probably had boozes in the water bottle he was drinking from.  I asked him how he’s been, and he told me not good.  I guess he hadn’t been able to stop throwing up after that Saturday night with the Ouija board.  His parents took him to the doctor but they didn’t find anything.  Finally, he told his parents about what happened that night, and his parents had a fit!  First off, they are full on Christians.  They don’t tolerate drinking, smoking, piercings, swearing, Halloween…you get the idea.  When he told them about the Ouija board, they wanted to take him straight to their pastor and perform an exorcism on him.  Well, Seth got into this huge fight with his parents and now he sneaks off from school when his parents think he’s there.  He hasn’t even told them that Mark, Josie, himself, and I are no longer in our group for our report.  He told me, though, that he’s been having some real nasty nightmares.  He didn’t go into detail, but you can tell that this kid, who was once a smart-a*s without a care in the world, is now going downhill fast.  I wonder if I should stop by his house later and talk with his Mom?  I’d hate to wait and have something happen that could have been prevented.

 

 

October 18

 

I knew I should have just gone to Seth’s parents when I had the chance.  We got an announcement at school this morning saying that Seth had died in his sleep last night.  They didn’t say what killed him, but I can only imagine.  I can’t say I really like Seth, but he didn’t deserve this.  He was a bright kid.  The worst part, is that I’ll be the only one who will be thinking of him this weekend when all the rest of the kids are laughing, dancing, and goofing off.

 

 

October 19

 

You would NOT believe what happened when I was at school today.  Seth’s mom called MY mom up and told her about the Ouija board incident.  I got home, and I got the third degree from both Mom and Dad.  After they sat there and told me about how dangerous those things are, they started grilling me about whether I’ve been okay or not.  I wasn’t about to tell them about the nightmares, or the coincidence with the murdered woman.  It literally took me about two hours to convince them that I seemed to be the only one not negatively affected by it.  Of course, after I kinda let myself go and swore at them a couple of times (never done that before…wonder where it came from) I’m sure they don’t fully believe me.  Oh well, I’m just gonna focus on the final preparations for homecoming.  It’s gonna be great!

 

 

October 20

 

Mark’s back to school.  I saw him and Josie talking in the hall earlier today.  I couldn’t hear what they were talking about, but Josie was leaning up against her locker talking to Mark when, all of a sudden, he slammed his fist right next to the locker she was leaning up against.  I couldn’t help but watch, and when they noticed me watching, Mark just walked away.  When Josie walked by me, I tried to ask if she was okay, but she blew me off.  Mark may look like a punk, an emo, or goth, but he’s not really as dangerous as he looks.  I mean, he’s kind of an idiot (my past month long entries have shown that), but he’s not violent.  I just hope him and Josie are okay.  Think I should talk to him?

 

 

October 22

 

So upset with myself.  I was so excited about homecoming, and it ended up not being as much fun as I was hoping.  Don’t get me wrong, nothing bad happened.  Marissa had a blast, but I think she could tell that I wasn’t myself.  I just told her it was because I had worked alongside Seth and then to have him gone like that, it was still hard to swallow.  She was really understanding.  God I love that woman.  It was weird, though.  While I was driving around with her tonight, I kept wanting to look behind me.  It felt like someone was watching me.  It was almost like that one football game all over again.  Maybe it was Seth.  Maybe he was hanging around to make fun of me for thinking about him while dancing with one of the hottest girls in school.  Ha ha…that would be Seth.

 

 

October 23

 

I think something is going on with Mark and Josie.  I walked by Josie today in the hall.  I tried to say hi, but when I looked up, she had a black eye.  When I tried to ask about it, Josie told me to just leave her and Mark alone.  What’s going on with everyone?  First Mark attempts suicide, then Seth meets the reaper, then Mark gets violent towards Josie?  What the hell happened that night at Mark’s?  I wonder why nothing’s happened to me.  I was there, too.  I mean, I haven’t been as upbeat as I usually am, but is that because of what happened with all 3 of us that night, or because I’m empathizing with them?

 

 

October 24

 

Had another nightmare.  This time, it was more vivid.  I was in the cemetery, strangling someone.  I could hear a woman sobbing, but I couldn’t see the face of the person I was strangling.  All I can remember seeing is the back of someone’s head, their hair swishing back and forth as I shook them.  Why haven’t the dreams gone away?  Maybe I need to see someone about it.  Who should I go to, though?  Who CAN I go to?  I don’t think they make dream doctors, do they?

 

 

October 25

 

I’m starting to get scared, now.  They announced at school that Mark finally committed suicide.  It happened last night.  I guess his parents found him in his room.  No one’s been able to say how he died, but I’m wondering if it had anything to do with our project.  I need to talk to Josie later.  I have to find out what’s been going on.

 

 

October 26

 

I finally caught up with Josie.  I told her I was sorry about Mark, and she just suddenly hugged me and started to cry.  Talk about awkward.  We hooked up for coffee after school and she told me about what had been going on the past few weeks.  She said that Mark had felt guilty about what happened to her after that night we used the Ouija board at his house.  I asked her if she remembered what happened before I hit the lights, and she said that all she could remember, was that she was looking out through her eyes, but it was if she was only “along for the ride”.  She said it felt as thought someone else was controlling her body.  She didn’t admit it to me because didn’t want to seem like she was doing it all for show.  After she talked to Mark about it, he blamed himself since it was his idea.  She had tried to tell him that he couldn’t have known and that it was all over.  However, I guess Mark had told her about ongoing nightmares about him killing her.  He said that he thought that someone something got inside his head and that he was afraid it would take over at some point and he would do it.  That was when he attempted suicide for the first time.  When that didn’t take, she visited him and talked to him.  She thought she was making progress until she mentioned that maybe he needed to see someone about his mental health.  When I had caught them in the hall the other day, she had told him that she didn’t want to see him until he talked to his parents about what’s been going on and saw someone about it.  He apparently didn’t like that idea.  The weird part, was that Josie told me that she didn’t think he killed himself.  She thinks that it was something else.  She said she talked to Mark’s parents when she found out.  They told her that he had inflicted a stab wound to his heart.  Josie said that the way he did it, would make someone think it was some sort of satanic ritual.  However, Mark wasn’t into the actual ritual part of it.  In fact, he’d only read about this stuff.  The night in the cemetery was his first time even using a Ouija board.  She said it just didn’t sound like a way he would kill himself.  He was even afraid of pain, not that he would ever admit it.  I asked her if Mark had ever hit her.  She looked up, nervous, and said that Mark NEVER hit her.  I asked about her black eye, and she said she didn’t know.  She said she woke up with it.  She told her parents that clumsily smacked herself in the face in the middle of the night.  When she finished, we just sat there.  I didn’t know what to say or do.  All I could think of, was to grab the receipt from our coffee and write down my phone number.  I gave it to her and told her that if she ever needed to talk some more or needed anything, to let me know.  She started to tear up again, but said thanks and took it.

 

 

October 29

 

I’m so afraid right now.  My nightmare came back, and it was even more vivid than before.  I was still in the cemetery, but this time instead of strangling someone, I was stabbing them in the chest.  The same spot that Josie said Mark’s wound was at.  When I turned the body around to stab them, after strangling them, the face staring back at me was blank!  I could tell it was a girl, but that was it.  I could still hear the sobbing coming from somewhere, but couldn’t make out who it was or where it was coming from.  You don’t think that this is an omen that Josie’s next, do you?

 

Just tried to call Josie.  She answered, thank god.  Told her I just wanted to check on her.  Told her I had a weird a*s dream.  I tried to laugh it off as me being paranoid.  She sounded tired, but grateful.  Gonna try to go back to sleep now.  I need to get a grip!

 

 

October 30

 

Not sure how I should handle this situation.  I was talking to Marissa today at school, and she was laughing about her and some girls going TPing tomorrow night.  She said it would be fun, kind of a trick or treat type of thing.  I wanted to tell her about everything since the cemetery incident, but then I don’t want to freak her out.  But then again, if that nightmare I had was another premonition, and it turned out to be about Marissa, and anything were to happen to her, I’d NEVER forgive myself.  Maybe I’m just being paranoid since tomorrow night is Halloween?  I need to think this over.  I’ll get back with you.

 

 

October 31

 

I’m not sure what Marissa has planned, but I’m not digging it so far.  Here I am, sitting in my car, waiting for her to show up.  She calls me about an hour ago and says that she has something she wants to show me.  I’m a little worried about what that could be considering I’m just outside of where that cemetery is.  She probably wants to try to scare me.  She’s such a nut when it comes to Halloween.  Although, I’ve been sitting here for about 30 min, now, and there’s no sign of her.  She probably changed her mind.  It sounded kinda static-y over the phone.  Almost didn’t recognize her voice.  If it sounded that bad, maybe she ran out of bars or something.  She’ll see me tomorrow and apologize, then I’ll tell her that I’ll only accept her apology if she has coffee with me…and pays.  Ha ha.  Seriously, though, it’s really friggin’ creepy sitting here at night like this.  My mind keeps playing over the last month and tries to make sense of it.  Then I start to freak myself out, I start seeing shadows move…like right now.  Man this is really creeping me out.  Dude, I swear it sounds like someone is crying outside.  I have my window rolled down, and it sounds like someone is crying off in the direction of the cemetery.  Which really REALLY creeps me out given my nightmares I’ve been having.  You don’t think that maybe someone’s trying to hurt someone out there, do you?  What if it’s Marissa?  What if it’s Josie?  Why am I still writing?  Alright, I’ll be back.  I’m gonna go check out what’s going on.  Fill ya in with details later.

 

 

 

 

Although the last entry states the Alex received a phone call from Marissa Townsend, both her and Josie Lanes were at their homes and were nowhere near the cemetery the night Alex disappeared, nor was there ever a call made to Alex by Marissa at any point on the night of his disappearance.  No physical evidence of foul play was found at the cemetery, but the writings of the journal suggest otherwise.  The last number dialed to Alex’s cell phone came up with no callback number.  The phone company was unable to trace the call back to any tangible person or phone.  The local police department has asked that if anyone has any information regarding the disappearance of Alex Cornwell, please contact them or the Cornwell family.  Thank you.

 

 

Author's Note

Since this is supposed to be a journal, there will be some grammar and spelling mistakes. I did not feel that proper grammar and spelling was important if I wanted to make it as realistic as possible.