Mag 37 - Burnt Offering
Jason North, 06.08.2009, Loch Glass, Dingwall, Scotland
The statement starts with a brief conversation between Martin and Jon - who are having a discussion about the deliveries from Breekon and Hope. Martin thinks they should destroy the spider table, he mentions Elias had agreed, but Jon declined.
Jason North’s statement begins angrily - as he makes accusations about the institute recording information while his son burns. Jason is an ecologist - and it’s his job to walk in big national parks and note down where animals have made their homes.
He discusses finding strange things in the woods a few times, so when he found the clearing in Lock Glass it came as no surprise. The clearing was warmer than the surrounding area, and the air tasted dry and acrid. The trees appeared to have been planted in a circle almost fifty years ago, and in the centre of the clearing was a large piece of stone - similar to an altar. There were no animals in the clearing at all. Crossing the threshold he knew he’d made a mistake, his shirt soaked through with sweat, the water boiled in his bottle and scorched the inside of his mouth.
He screamed, falling to the floor and laying there for half an hour. He saw scorch marks around the altar, and by following them found singed carcasses of animals that had either all died at once or had been kept from rotting by something. Driven into the trunks of each tree was a nail, and each had a worn glass bottle attached. Some were full of twigs, others photographs (of what would later be revealed to be Gertrude). Long, grey hair was attached to the bottles. He picked one up to get better look and dropped it. It shattered. He ran.
Since, everything he loves has been destroyed. His car overheated, his house burned down, and his wife Lucy died. Now all that’s left is his son Ethan (4 years old). He tried to find out who set up the ritual but found nothing, and is terrified in the knowledge that he will soon lose his son.
Notes: Ethan didn’t die in the end. Jason North doused himself in petrol and set himself alight, and he died in hospital 3 days later. Jon confirms that the picture of the woman from the bottle that Jason left with the statement is of Gertrude. He doesn’t know what this means. Sasha followed up on this statement.
Entities: the stranger, the spider, the desolation
Names mentioned:
Breekon & Hope
Jason North
Lucy North
Ethan North
Gertrude Robinson
Martin Blackwood