François
Arnauld, late of Saint-Domingue, drained the last of the wine from his
bejeweled goblet; heedless of the overflow dribbling down his long, unkempt
beard and further staining the white linen robe that shrouded his bulbous form.
The heavy oak chair he wallowed in creaked in protest as he shifted his flabby
bulk. Wiping first his mouth then his sweaty forehead with his dirty sleeve, He
proffered the empty goblet to a white-robed Creole girl at his side, who
dutifully refilled it. François leered at her from behind the darkened
spectacles he habitually wore and bared his blackened gums and rotting teeth at
her in a perverse grin.
Monday, August 27, 2018
Sunday, August 19, 2018
The Yellow Robed Fiend
(from the war diary of Lt. Guy Linley, United States Army)
August 7, 1899. Cotabato Valley, Phillipines:
They came over the eastern wall last night in a rush, led by a wild eyed devil in ragged yellow robes. The bastard was ferocious as a mad dog and some of the boys gave way and ran from him. I came within pistol range as he was dismembering a private from ohio with his great curved knife, I fired 2 rounds into his upper back and as he turned from his grisly work to face me I fired two more; one of which tore apart his lower jaw and another into the neck which ruptured the large artery. He stared at me for a moment, his face horribly disfigured and the lifeblood gushing from the neck wound, then he fled back to the jungle, scrambling over the 6 foot foot wall in a blur of yellow robes and splattering blood. That broke the attack but crazed chanting continued throughout the night.
August 11:
Another attack last night, they did not make the walls this time but I spotted the yellow robed man again near the tree line. He had wrapped his lower face in a scarf but by his bearing I know it was the same man, he did not take his eyes from me during the entire episode. I ordered Cpl. Williams to sniper him and I clearly saw the man stagger from the impact of the bullet, however he stayed on his feet. Williams prepared to fire a second round but yellow robe faded into the jungle before he could get a bead on him.
Something is not right here, how yellow robe survived the 4 rounds I put into him is beyond imagining. The .38 long colt is a much maligned cartridge but it will surely kill, and this man should be dead considering the amount of his blood still staining the eastern wall.
August 17:
Severed head of Williams found near main gate this morning, eye sockets and mouth stuffed with yellow rags. How Williams was killed outside the walls of the fort is impossible to guess. The only logical answer is that he left the camp willingly, there is no way he could have been taken by force unless we have traitors among the scouts.
August 18:
Talked some of the boys who were close to Williams, they told me he had been sleepwalking and was found standing at the wall the last 2 nights before his murder. He proved very hard to wake and mumbled that the yellow robed man was whispering to him from from the jungle.
August 19:
Some bastard left a yellow rag in my coffee cup this morning. When I find the fellow behind this prank a few days locked in the tool shed should convince him this is no joking matter.
August 21:
Dreamed of Yellow Robe whispering to me last night, couldn't understand the words but I know he wanted me to come into the jungle.
August 22:
Sleepwalking last night, dreamed Yellow Robe was calling to me and I attempted to climb the wall. Fought with Morris and 2 others when they tried to restrain me, apparently Morris was forced to give me a crack with a rifle butt to render me completely unconscious.
August 25:
More dreams last night, but this time I saw where yellow robe wants me to go; it was a clearing somewhere deep in the jungle, yellow robe's followers were wildly dancing around a bonfire while that devil hacked apart some hapless villager and screamed a barbarous incantation at the stars. Williams was among the revelers, his headless body dancing in that same unholy ectasy.
Tonight I will handcuff myself to my cot and give the key to Morris, yellow robe may call but I will not enter that jungle.
(Note: Guy Linley disappeared the night of August 25, 1899. A trail of blood led from his quarters to the eastern wall of the encampment, he had apparently bitten off his thumb to free himself from handcuffs. Missing and presumed killed in action, Linley's thumb was shipped to his home in Bowling Green, Kentucky and given a proper burial.)
August 7, 1899. Cotabato Valley, Phillipines:
They came over the eastern wall last night in a rush, led by a wild eyed devil in ragged yellow robes. The bastard was ferocious as a mad dog and some of the boys gave way and ran from him. I came within pistol range as he was dismembering a private from ohio with his great curved knife, I fired 2 rounds into his upper back and as he turned from his grisly work to face me I fired two more; one of which tore apart his lower jaw and another into the neck which ruptured the large artery. He stared at me for a moment, his face horribly disfigured and the lifeblood gushing from the neck wound, then he fled back to the jungle, scrambling over the 6 foot foot wall in a blur of yellow robes and splattering blood. That broke the attack but crazed chanting continued throughout the night.
August 11:
Another attack last night, they did not make the walls this time but I spotted the yellow robed man again near the tree line. He had wrapped his lower face in a scarf but by his bearing I know it was the same man, he did not take his eyes from me during the entire episode. I ordered Cpl. Williams to sniper him and I clearly saw the man stagger from the impact of the bullet, however he stayed on his feet. Williams prepared to fire a second round but yellow robe faded into the jungle before he could get a bead on him.
Something is not right here, how yellow robe survived the 4 rounds I put into him is beyond imagining. The .38 long colt is a much maligned cartridge but it will surely kill, and this man should be dead considering the amount of his blood still staining the eastern wall.
August 17:
Severed head of Williams found near main gate this morning, eye sockets and mouth stuffed with yellow rags. How Williams was killed outside the walls of the fort is impossible to guess. The only logical answer is that he left the camp willingly, there is no way he could have been taken by force unless we have traitors among the scouts.
August 18:
Talked some of the boys who were close to Williams, they told me he had been sleepwalking and was found standing at the wall the last 2 nights before his murder. He proved very hard to wake and mumbled that the yellow robed man was whispering to him from from the jungle.
August 19:
Some bastard left a yellow rag in my coffee cup this morning. When I find the fellow behind this prank a few days locked in the tool shed should convince him this is no joking matter.
August 21:
Dreamed of Yellow Robe whispering to me last night, couldn't understand the words but I know he wanted me to come into the jungle.
August 22:
Sleepwalking last night, dreamed Yellow Robe was calling to me and I attempted to climb the wall. Fought with Morris and 2 others when they tried to restrain me, apparently Morris was forced to give me a crack with a rifle butt to render me completely unconscious.
August 25:
More dreams last night, but this time I saw where yellow robe wants me to go; it was a clearing somewhere deep in the jungle, yellow robe's followers were wildly dancing around a bonfire while that devil hacked apart some hapless villager and screamed a barbarous incantation at the stars. Williams was among the revelers, his headless body dancing in that same unholy ectasy.
Tonight I will handcuff myself to my cot and give the key to Morris, yellow robe may call but I will not enter that jungle.
(Note: Guy Linley disappeared the night of August 25, 1899. A trail of blood led from his quarters to the eastern wall of the encampment, he had apparently bitten off his thumb to free himself from handcuffs. Missing and presumed killed in action, Linley's thumb was shipped to his home in Bowling Green, Kentucky and given a proper burial.)
Sunday, August 5, 2018
The Widow Ayers
“But the devils cannot interfere with the stars.”
― Heinrich Kramer, Malleus Maleficarum
I
I will own that even now in my dotage, I am neither wise nor of particularly strong character, but after bearing witness to the events I am about to relate to you, I came to the conclusion there is naught on God’s earth that can frighten me again. One does not look upon the face of primal, naked horror and come away unchanged.
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