Innocence is gone... Only Fear to play with...

So... some of you may have noticed I haven't posted in a while.

Some of you may have assumed me dead.

Some of you may have hoped me dead.

Well, I'm still alive. I've actually been free for a while now I just... Haven't been able to write.

People say their life felt like it was turned upside down when they find out about the Fears... The Gods? That term sounds wrong now.

The birds inside me are wary... I can hear them thinking. Wondering whether or not to kill me.

I have not turned against them, but they figure it is only a matter of time and I... am not sure I can't agree.

The Convocation saved me after the fire. My wife betrayed me, my children were stolen from me, my very body, my sight all taken from me, but the birds were there for me after the fire. All the worst things that happened were because of the fire. It led me to the dark place where I willingly became a monster and embraced the darkness.

The fire... The Birds saved me from the results of the fire, but...

Perhaps I should explain. When the doors open I found myself looking not at 11 or 12, but a buff looking man. I didn't have my machete so I tackled him weaponless. I'm not really heavy and I might be hollow so, even less heavy? I don't know about that one, but regardless, my tackle wasn't all that effective. He tossed me away and I slammed into some crates. We were in a warehouse. He came over to me then reached down and grabbed me by the metal mask and lifted me up. I kicked him in the balls. I'm not ashamed. I am a dirty bastard and I do not fight fair. He dropped me, but didn't quite buckle like I was expecting. I attacked in a fury, throwing punches at his face and chest, he blocked most of them, but then I swept his legs out from under him and he fell hard. I heard his head crack as it hit the ground. He was only dazed though. He was one tough motherfucker, but his mistake was having a weapon on him and remaining dazed long enough for me to get it. It was a simple flip knife and I made quick use of it before he could react. The first stab was supposed to go to the throat, but it didn't quite hit. He shifted and I stabbed him in the shoulder instead. He tried to wrench the knife from my grip, but I got it out first and slashed at his back as he tried to roll away. He got to his feet and I got into a fighting stance. His arm seemed to hurt him, but he got into a fighting stance as well. Unfortunately for him I suddenly didn't feel much like fighting and so instead I took the knife to myself cutting a large gash into my arm from which the birds emerged.

He punched one of the birds in the face, as it flew at him, hard enough to break it's neck which was damn impressive to watch, but the birds overwhelmed him and I heard him scream as they tore the flesh from his face. I then began to search around. 11 and 12 had to be here and I was going to find them. It didn't take long.

There was an office upstairs in the warehouse and I opened the door and was met with a rush of flame. I barely dodged it, the birds weren't so lucky. 12 stepped out of the office. wearing what looked like a homemade flamethrower pack and turned it towards me. I tossed the knife at him and it skinned his cheek causing him to flinch and then I rushed at him. Shoulder checking worked a lot better then tackling and I smashed him against the rail. the pack on his back was dented and began to leak. He hit me in the side of the head with the gun part of his flamethrower, but the iron mask they gave me is surprisingly durable and I barely noticed it and punched him in the face.

It occurs to me... I haven't addressed this already, but after I killed Zero, none of the times I've seen the Children have they had that defense mechanism of theirs.

Anyway, that punch knocked him senseless. He's a tough kid, but he is just a kid and I tossed him to the ground and tore that pack off of him before lifting him up by the throat.

"Oh... I have wanted to do this for so long," I said before tossing him over the railing and watched him fall down to the ground below. It wasn't too far, but it was far enough. I heard 11 scream, she was inside the office and had seen the fight. I wasn't bothered, by the scream, but what she screamed.

"Harold!" she screamed as she watched him fall and I turned to her... I looked back at my last post before writing this and saw WereMagi's comment... I guess I seem like an idiot for not having realized it before, but it wasn't until now that it had even occurred to me. I stood frozen as she rushed over to the railing to look back at her brother, my son and I spoke in almost a whisper,

"Tamara?" I asked and she turned on me  and then punched me in the gut winding me and I dropped to my knees.

"Hey dad... Good to see you," she said and her voice was filled with anger. I tried to get back up, but she lifted her foot and kicked the side of my head, it didn't hurt, but it knocked me back down and then she stepped on me. Either my strength had ebbed quite a bit or it was the emotional shock, but I couldn't get back up with her holding me down... Maybe she was actually just that strong.

"You know... I'm kind of glad this happened. I've wanted to talk to you... Wanted so badly to tell you, but until just now I hadn't had the courage to do so..." she said and her voice sounded broken, like she was struggling with the words. I felt a bird starting to try and release itself from the hole in my arm and I turned my arm to press it against the grated floor of the catwalk. I don't know why... I wanted to hear what she was going to say.

"Harold... Was too young to remember and with all that happened, I doubt it ever occurred to you, but do you remember the day of the fire. Not when the fire happened, but just before that? Do you remember me asking you a question?" she asked and the memory snapped back to me.

She had been looking out the window and had asked in a curious voice...

"Why are there so many birds outside today?" I repeated and she took her foot off of me and stepped back and slipped a hand into her pocket as she picked up the pack Harold had been wearing.

"I'm glad you remember and I can tell that you're realizing the implications. Now let that thought be with you as we go see my brother and mother in hell," she said and drew a lighter out of her pocket. I realized what she was going to do and released the bird that was still trying to get out, it flew at her, but it was still too late. I don't know what was in the pack exactly, but whatever it was exploded when the flame was brought to the liquid leaking out of it.

I woke up a bit later lying on the ground of the warehouse. My entire body was aching and my clothes were burned and I was cut open in a number of places. I probably should have been dead... Tamara definitely was.

Twice I've survived a deadly explosion at close range... A miracle I guess... I don't really have much desire to figure it out...

After I made it home I thought long and hard about what she meant...

I feel like it had been obvious and much like I had been so blind as to not realize who 11 and 12 were I can't believe I'd never realized it before. The Convocation had set it all up... The Convocation had caused the fire. The convocation were the ones who ruined my life. Why? Just so they could get me to serve them?

I mean yeah I'm a damn good servant, but...

They took everything from me...

I'm not sure what to do now and neither are they.

Oh and I suppose I can cross 6, 11 and 12 off my list as well as 9... So, that's just 3 and 4 left... I suppose if I ever feel like caring about any of that again I'll have to go after them at some point. Assuming The birds don't decide it's too risky to keep me alive now...

Did not disappoint.

Didn't sleep at all last night waiting and was not surprised, but was a little amused when someone tossed a grenade through the window of what was the guest bedroom of Oliver's house. This of course woke up Oliver. He was none too pleased about his guest bedroom being destroyed, but when I told him it was The Dying Man he asked me to tell The Facet he had nothing to do with this and to kindly try not to wake him when he killed me.

Got to say Oliver's new more annoyed attitude is much more endearing than his old chipper helpful attitude.

Oh right I should probably explain that I was not in the guest bedroom at any point. I was in the kitchen. Drinking soda and waiting for the sign of attack. I like Ginger Ale mostly. Canada Dry only though Schweppes is fucking garbage.

Anyway so, I waited a bit expecting more, but there wasn't anything. Part of me was worried that he had just tossed the grenade and ran away. I dropped to the ground and rolled over to the front window and peeked out. No sign of him, but there was a motorcycle on the front lawn and I figured he wouldn't have left that here when he ran off. So, he was either out there or had snuck inside. Did I want to jump out through the Picture window and hope to find him and confront him outside or did I want to wait and see if I could find him inside.

I weighed the pros and cons of both strategies... It should be obvious that the idea of pissing off Oliver by breaking his picture window put that option way over the other. So, I did. As I was jumping through the window I glanced down to see The facet lying just beneath the window and pulling out another grenade. He saw me and then I was on the grass and rolled to my feet turning and facing him as I pointed my machete at him. He stood up and smiled,

"You sure know how to make an entrance," he says

"I'm pretty sure that was an exit," I responded.

"Is this your plan? Confront me in a one on one fight?"

"Of course not. I have an actual plan this time," I responded. There was something strange about him and it took me a few minutes to figure it out.

"Are... Are you a woman this time?"

"Yes, problem?"

"No... Just not sure if I should still be calling you he/him now..."

"Either way..."

"Right,"

"So, what happens now?" he asked and I answered by letting out a battle cry and charging at him. He dived to the side and rolled swinging out with the cane and I lifted my foot and stomped down on the cane. I expected it to break. It didn't instead it rolled under my foot as he let go sending me falling backwards onto my ass and he pounced on top of me. His hands moved to my throat as he straddled me and grinned.

"I could choke the life out of you, but that would take a while and you'd probably be able to kill me before then in any number of ways, however all I have to do to kill you is let myself into you," he said and then nothing... I don't remember any of what happened next. Probably because I wasn't in control at the time. I can guess though. Poor little Facet probably found the friend I had waiting for him. I mean when I was thinking how does one kill The Dying Man I thought of what Facet said and that reminded me of what Facet said his reason was for wanting to join The children. He was afraid of the other Shards. He didn't want to be absorbed. So, I found A dying Man shard who was looking to absorb other Shards and told him the plan. He agreed although with some stipulations and here we are.

When I woke up I was lying on the lawn and The Facet was gone. I'm fairly sure The Facet is dead or will at least be completely dead soon when the other Shard manages to find and absorb every last trace of him.

I was confused about whether or not I won last time this time, however I definitely won. Though winning became slightly less awesome. See, when I woke up on the lawn I wasn't alone. There was someone else kneeling beside me waiting for me to wake up. It was 12. My machete wasn't in my hand and instead my hands were bound with rope.

"I'm not going to kill you. Not yet... 11 won't let me. She says as much as we both hate you there is a bigger target we can hurt through you and only once we've done that can we kill you. So... You're going to be coming with me," he said and then reached down and grabbed me by the arms and dragged me over to a truck that was waiting. I was loaded onto the back of the truck and I saw Oliver watching from the broken window.

What a dick.

Oh some people are going to be anal about how I'm posting this. That's easy. I got my hands free during the truck ride. So, I'm posting this on my phone. Thought about calling some friends to help me, but my reason for not doing so were twofold. One, needing to ask others for help would severely ruin my reputation and second, I don't have any friends. Unfortunately the truck doesn't open to the driver seat and the back of the truck doors are locked. As well, my normal mask appears to have been replaced at some point with a new mask that I can't seem to get off. I tried using my phone's mirror app and it looks almost like the Iron Mask from The Man in The Iron Mask. Kind of cool looking. Might keep it.

The truck appears to be stopping so... We'll see what's going on. Maybe I'll get lucky and I'll be able to kill 11 and 12 today.

Everything is prepared.

So... I am absolutely ready for you Facet and I have no problem saying that here. Why? Because just like me you're overconfident. You don't think any plan I make will work. I know you'll read this and you'll think...

"He can't actually have a plan. He might think he has a plan, but he's an idiot. He doesn't really know what he's talking about, so I'll just go there and show him how wrong he is" and then you will die.

However, if you're overconfidence isn't enough I've also printed out a number of posters which I intend to plaster around the city. Particularly at O'briens.

They read as follows:

"Hey The Facet, 9, The Dying Man or whatever you want to be called. I am The faceless Bastard. You are my little bitch. I thought I would put these all around so everyone would know that you are my little bitch and people could react appropriately. If you disagree with the absolute fact of your complete and other submission to me and my awesomeness you know where to find me. Signed, your better, The Faceless Bastard."

Maybe I'm wrong, but I get the feeling you and I are a lot alike and I'm pretty sure that you like me would be pretty pissed about someone publicly calling you out like that especially in places you frequent. I'm fairly sure The Other Dying Men might find some of these posters as well and you wouldn't want them to see you so utterly cowed you wouldn't even be willing to go meet some mortal to restore your reputation right?

Anyway I await your response. I expect your response to be spectacular. If it's anything less than an attack that completely destroys Oliver's house I will be severely disappointed in you.

Actually thinking...

As the title says I am going to have a long hard think about how to deal with this whole Facet problem...

Apparently The Facet and 9 are in fact one and the same entirely. The Dying Man is a member of The Children of Nothing which means that without killing him once and for all... (The Shard known as The Facet I mean not The Dying Man entirely) I can never fully complete my job of killing every last one of The Children.

I have consulted with others and I think I may have come up with a cunning plan, for how to deal with The Facet though...

Gonna take some preparations though...

Oh and lastly I saw 11 again. There was no sign of 12, but I saw her through the window of Oliver's house and she was just standing outside looking at the house and flicking a lighter open and closed. She noticed me looking and by the time I had jumped out the window to confront her she was gone...

I should point out the window was closed at the time. Oliver told me I'm paying for the new window... I told him I could fix it for him instead. Using various parts of his anatomy. He probably responded, but I stopped paying attention at this point. He'll inevitably decide that it's not worth it trying to argue with me and just fix the window himself.

Where was I? Oh right... The Facet. So, yeah I have a plan to deal with him. Maybe...

Also fuck him again for trying to play mind games with me. What an asshole...

Fuck you no.

I woke up  this morning to find this:http://theneverchildren.blogspot.ca/2016/12/congratulations-are-in-order.html

Open on my computer. I know what you're trying to suggest, but fuck you. I know it's not true. The me in that other universe was told by a shard in the other universe that you can't possess me! You will not get into my headspace!

Fuck you and your mindgames!

And stay the fuck out of my house.

Also... Merry False Holiday based on your False God to you all.

Unless you're a timberwolf celebrating Corpsemas today in which case happy holidays.

The Facet

Okay... So I think I might have figured this out... I am hopefully wrong, but I'm probably right. I know how you survived and I know what you are. I think...

So... What's a Facet?

As much as I want to tell you all to figure that out yourself the meaning is rather important to my point.

A facet is "One side of something many sided"

Now calling yourself The Facet while being part of a religious group might seem arguably normal. One of the many or something, but he only started calling himself The Facet after he acknowledge The Children don't really exist anymore so it must mean something else... So I thought...

What else could be a facet..

and it hit me... Or actually I suppose I should admit that I was mumbling this to myself when Oliver answered for me, but screw him.

I was asking myself about facets when Oliver sat down beside me told me that my mumbling was starting to irk him and that he was pretty sure he could help me. I told him to fuck off and he said:

"Okay, fine, but first two things. Could you do your mumbling in your own room and not the living room and also he's a shard," then he walked away.

So... Yeah The Facet... One of many. A Shard of The Dying Man.

Which explains why he didn't die. He did, but he was probably possessing someone else somewhere else as well. So... The question becomes so... Did I win then? Did I kill 9? I mean I didn't kill The Facet, but 9 was the person The Facet was possessing right so my target in The Children is still dead?

Can I forget about The Facet? I mean he still seems intent on killing me, but... Um... I only really wanted to kill 9... I do not care about The Dying Man.

Oh should also explain for the benefit of anyone reading this who doesn't know... The Dying Man is another one of The Gods. He or I guess technically it is a being that has no physical form and instead possesses the bodies of others and jumps from person to person with a touch. Apparently it was once one super powerful being, but now for some reason it's a bunch of much weaker beings who are all the same being, but go by different names.

Frankly I'm pretty sure they're just one weak creature with delusions of grandeur and a major case of disassociative identity disorder.

O'brien's must have a really comprehensive insurance policy...

So, went to O'briens quite a bit earlier than I said I would.

I don't have an amazing memory, but the birds do. I wanted to see if I could recognize him. I went in... Well disguise is a strong word. I eschewed my normal mask for a motorcycle helmet and went there hoping I could figure out who he was before he figured out who I was. He said he'd been there before and is fairly regular. O'briens doesn't have that many regulars. There aren't many servants who make a home in the area and so, most of the people who show up and aren't runners are usually just passing through. So, I was hoping the birds would be able to pinpoint anyone I had seen at O'briens before.

There were exactly three people I had seen before. One was the bartender, one was a doll who worked in the area and the last was a proxy of The Faceless Bastard who comes here fairly regularly. He provides some of the money O'briens requires to stay in business since most servants, myself included don't really pay for our drinks or food. The rest of his income comes from pawning the stuff we steal off runners who fall for the trap.

So, he probably wasn't the proxy, definitely wasn't the bartender and I was fairly sure he wasn't the doll. Had I been lied to? Well... I don't know. The man who sat down at my table and addressed me as Sergei certainly wasn't a face the birds or I remembered seeing here before. He had a cane with a spiked point at the tip and a circular knob at the top with a symbol of a skull engraved in it. He was wearing a monocle with a chain, the chain was wrapped around the brim of a top hat and he was wearing a heavy fur coat.

"Hello, Sergei. I wasn't expecting you till noon," he paused, well actually I was expecting you much later. I assumed you would try for one last bit of pettiness and make me wait an hour or so after noon had passed,"

"I'm not sure what you're talking about," I tried, but his response shook me.

"Well, true you might not be The faceless Bastard. You aren't the only one here who's face is hidden after all. You are, however the only nest with a hidden face,"

"You can tell I'm a nest just by looking?"

"I can identify all kinds of servants at a glance," he said before proceeding to point out every servant in the bar and who they worked for. It was somewhat enlightening. I was not actually aware the new bartender was a Camper...

Speaking of I quietly decided not to drink here anymore at this point. 

"So, you're 9 then?"

"I am, though with The Children gone I suppose you can call me by a different name. Call me The Facet,"

"The Facet?"

"Yes," he said. I waited, but he didn't seem to be intent on explaining the name.

"So, why did you want to meet?"

"Oh... No reason in particular. I just thought you were interesting and wanted to meet just once face to face and get to know you before our next meeting ended in your death," he answered.

It was... Well it was as good a reason to meet as any I suppose.

"You know that I'm going to kill you before we leave here, right?"

"You will try," he responded. I nodded and glanced around then with one hand I took hold of my drink and with the other I grabbed the faceplate of the helmet. I slid it up, just as I tossed my drink at him. It... Did not go as planned. The drink hit him without even a reaction and as soon as the first of the birds tried to emerge he pulled up the cane and a mist began to spray out of it. It took less than a second for the mist to spread and I couldn't see anything for a few seconds. I leapt back from my chair and clear of the mist and saw him now standing up one hand holding the cane like a sword the other digging into a pocket of his jacket. My vision became slightly blurry and I saw one of the birds flying lopsidedly and it crashed into the wall. The other patrons were watching now. Everything was getting hazy. I couldn't let him get away. Couldn't let him get the best of me. I lunged and felt the point of the cane stab into me, but I also felt my machete slide into the flesh of his neck. I heard a thunk as something heavy fell onto the ground and then... Well I remember a scream and then pain and the sensation of flight and then I woke up sometime later.

O'brien's was in shambles. There was a piece of shrapnel embedded in the upper part of the helmet. Where we had been sitting was a large area of scorched floor and debris. I feel like I should probably have been dead. I'm pretty sure I was standing at the epicenter of a grenade explosion. He was dead though. He was lying on the ground a short bit away from the explosion. His body was torn in places and his neck was almost completely severed. The other patrons were mostly shaken, but alive except a few who had been a bit too close. I apologized for the commotion, but The Bartender said insurance would cover it and that I should go home.

It seemed like a good idea. I guess I killed 9... Or The Facet? Whatever he's called... It doesn't matter now. Something about all of this feels wrong. I... I don't feel like I won?

3, 4, 6. 9, 11 and 12.

So, that's who I have left and how nice of 9 to tell me that. Such a friendly... Possibly man? He or she has also graciously told me where I can find... them?

I have not gone to meet 9. Why?

Well because they want me too.

Don't get me wrong I probably will go meet them at some point, but they basically said there's no rush and I am a petty bastard. So... I'm going to make them wait.

9 might think that my hatred... Actually no they seem like a smart enough person to realize that hatred is the wrong word. My hatred is reserved for 11 and 12 when it comes to killing the rest of them it's basically just... enjoyment.

So, I'll rephrase. 9 might think my excitement at the chance to kill another of the Children will cause me to unthinkingly rush towards this meeting, but I am nothing if not patient. I am happy to wait and savour the kill if it means I will get to imagine them waiting day after day for me to show up probably becoming increasingly annoyed until finally I show up and jam my machete into their esophagus.

I am willing to put off murder in the pursuit of annoying someone. That is just the kind of guy I am.

So, enjoy your daily visits to O'briens. I hope you enjoy the atmosphere. I like the place, but frankly I find the drinks taste like piss... What I imagine piss would taste like if I had ever tasted it.

The breakfast rolls however are light and fluffy and are the perfect start to a day.

On that note since my house was burned down I am currently living elsewhere. Specifically with another nest by the name of Oliver. A friendly and helpful chap who annoys the hell out of me, but who's company I have to put up with for a bit until I can set up a new permanent location.

He reads my blog. He is well aware of my feelings towards him... This seemingly has in no way dampened his friendly attitude towards me... God I hate him.

Oh right and before I forget... 3... You can run, you can hide, you can change your identity, bury your head in the sand and try to pretend you're someone else.

It won't help. I don't care if you're still one of The Children or not. I am going to kill you. Not for revenge, not just because I have every intention of wiping out every member of The Children, past present or Future, but because I will enjoy it. I will enjoy killing you knowing that you want nothing more than to live.   

The Joy of Murder

Despite the impression I might give, I don't actually get to kill large groups of people that often. When I do it's like a wonderful gift and when I get to kill large groups of people who actually deserve it, it's like fucking christmas. So, I was already excited when I got out of the car.

The immediately viewable part of the building was a simple looking thing. A small metal box of sorts built into the side of a cliff. Of course I could already guess that most of it was probably built directly into the cliff or down. It was probably some kind of research station or outpost at one point, before The Children somehow got hold of it. Getting inside proved to be the first challenge, but it was at the same time a... proof of concept as it were. See I had some ideas about how this strange defense The Children employed worked and it seemed the building used the same kind of defense. Which meant I had a short, but beneficial amount of time to try out my theory and if it didn't pan out I could leave with only minor embarrassment... Which still would have been awful. I'm sure Poe would have had a field day if this post contained only: "So, I couldn't get inside,"

Regardless I did get inside and having gotten inside I now know exactly how to kill these fucks. Their defense is nothing more than an illusion of sorts. The version of them we see is essentially a hologram. Their real self is invisible to our eyes, but must be within a certain distance of the hologram or illusion version. Also I know there is a better word for this, but I'm too happy right now to care to look it up. Anyway this is why 11 reacted with a start when I swung for her neck, she must have been close enough that my swing almost hit the real her, same with Michael and that angry Martyr.

So, I couldn't enter the building through the visible entrance and instead felt along the cliff face until I found the invisible building and by looking at the real one as I felt along I found the door and entered.

The inside was a tiny room barren of any furniture and a stairwell heading further into the cliff and downwards. I followed the stairs and found the first one of them. He was a big man. It was hard to tell his exact size though because he was laying back lazily on a couch. His eyes were open, but he appeared to be asleep. I approached and looked around. The room consisted of nothing, but the couch and the entryway to a hallway leading deeper in. He didn't stir at all. I almost wanted to leave him alone. Killing an unaware opponent isn't any fun. Still I watched him for a few seconds before moving to the seemingly empty spot on the couch next to him and sliding my machete into his throat. Neither version of him moved or reacted. I must admit, I am very impressed with The Quiet's work here though. There wasn't even a visible depression in the couch where the real one was. As soon as he was dead though, his body became visible and the hologram vanished. I moved on.

The hallway was annoyingly complex. There were six exits from that hallway. A room on either end and stairways leading to more hallways. I picked at random and chose the right stairway leading up. This one lead to a suite of rooms. They were numbered. 9, 10, 11, 12. 11 and 12 were unfortunately empty. 9 was empty as well, but 10 wasn't. 10 had a woman inside. She was awake when I entered and looked startled to see me. Her copy was lying in bed and holding a book. She stayed perfectly still and just stared at me as I approached. I stopped in front of her bed and then raised my machete over the copy. She smiled, but her smile vanished as I twisted the blade and stabbed it into the real her instead. She let out a scream. My blade hadn't hit quite where I'd intended and I'd stabbed her in the gut instead of the chest. I rectified that mistake quickly and stabbed her a few more times until her screaming stopped and her real body became visible. I grabbed the book she had been holding as it fell out of her limp hands... It was a children's book. The kind with big letters and only a sentence per page.

Unfortunately her scream had alerted the others, I rushed back down to the hallway and saw that some of the others were fleeing now, I managed to block a few, but some made it out. I blocked the way up from the downwards stairs on the left side and in the tight quarters, it was fairly easy to catch them even with their decoys. The first one up the stairs caught my machete through their face and tumbled back down the stairs. The other's were more wary and stayed at the bottom. There were two of them. A young boy and a girl about 14-17. She was embracing the boy protectively or at least her decoy was embracing his so, she probably actually was. We stood squared off for a bit. I don't know what they were planning, but all I was doing was trying to judge where they probably really were and once I had a reasonable guess, I jumped down the full flight of stairs landed in front of them and plunged my machete through his face and into her chest, then pulled it out and watched them fall. I searched the rooms to make sure there was no one else and there wasn't I then headed back upstairs. I'd killed 5 of them and about 3 had managed to escape. With 11, 12 and 9 seemingly not here at all. That's 7 still alive. Actually that's eight, but I killed one more at this point. See at the end of the hall was another room and in that room was good old Zero. It was a large chamber of sorts. Almost like a church with pews and a pulpit. She was standing beside the lectern and glaring at me as I entered.

Tell me... Those of you who have read The Children's blog... What was your mental picture of Zero?

Did any of you guess a girl seemingly no older than 10 complete with brown hair in pig tails, because that's what I found waiting for me. She spoke and her voice sounded exactly like the petulant child she was.

"You've killed my friends! It doesn't matter though. You won't send me to The Archangel and you won't stop the coming of The Nothing," she screeched at me. I stood there just admiring this little girl, acting like a big shot... Well I stood there until she pulled out a shotgun.

"I've heard The Archangel is very fond of these, I thought it would be appropriate," she said and fired. I dived behind a pew, but I didn't really need to. The room was far too large for the shotgun to have been all that effective at that range. All she really managed to do was slam herself against the wall with the recoil. I leapt over the pew and rushed the pulpit as she was standing back up. Before she could raise the shotgun I was in front of her decoy. I raised my machete and placed it so the blade was poised at the temple of her decoy. She grinned, "You can't kill-" she started and stopped as the hilt of my machete slammed into the side of her real head knocking her to the ground, I heard the shotgun clatter to the ground and it became visible as the one in her decoy's hands vanished. I then reached down until I found her and pulled her up by her hair slamming her against the wall and pushing the blade of the machete to her throat. I couldn't see so, I moved it slowly, until I felt resistance and saw blood begin to appear on the blade.

"Say hello, to The Archangel," I told her and I heard her sobbing. She was terrified.

"Please! Please don't! I don't want to die! He'll torture me!" she begged.

"Well you should have thought of that before you sent 11 and 12 to kill me," I informed her.

"I'm sorry do-" she began, but never finished as my machete tore through the skin of her throat. As her body became visible I tossed her to the ground and headed for the exit.

11, 12 and any other Children of Nothing who are still alive. I hope you're reading this. You are all going to die. Every last one of you. Especially 11 and 12. If you think what I did to Zero sounds bad, just wait until you see what I'm going to do to you two.

YOU DO NOT FUCK WITH THE FACELESS BASTARD.

P.S. Michael might not of been home, but that's because he was going to meet The Archive. I told them about The Children's little defense mechanism. I doubt he'll be coming back home. So, I guess that's 6 Children still alive.

P.P.S. It's actually kind of amazing how accurate that name seems to be. Most of the people I killed last night were seemingly under 18...

P.P.P.S.? Hey Children. Tell me who I killed I want to be able to cross you all off a list as I kill you off.

War Stories and disappointment.

So... I got back to my neighbourhood and found the entire place in shambles. Apparently 11's little incitement to rebellion actually worked... mostly. The fucking people I lived to serve torched my fucking house, but that's not the most of it. See... Apparently my reign of fear was still pretty damn effective, because some of the people in the neighbourhood tried to quell the rebellion fearing that 11 and 12 were simply going to get everyone else killed and that trying to work against me and the birds was folly.

Smart folks. Of course the rioting people responded by burning down the house of one of the protesters. Unfortunately a member of that person's family was still inside and so the first life was lost on what will undoubtedly become known as the (I'm not telling you what neighbourhood I'm in) civil war. With the death of one of them at the hands of the... Let's call them Rebels the... let's call these loyalists... The loyalists took up arms and started to attack the rebels. Houses were burned. Streets were barricaded. Police were dispatched and attacked and apparently the chaos even spread out of the neighbourhood a bit as outlying areas began to fight each other as they sided with random sides, apparently with no actual idea of what either side was fighting for. When I arrived The Rebels lead by Mr. Greeley, were currently winning against the loyalists, and the cops were trying to calm things down. The death toll at that point I'm told was about 13 with 2 of them being cops and 5 more being people who did not in fact live in this neighbourhood. With my arrival that number jumped a bit. Well almost doubled would be the word. My arrival had an immediate effect on those who noticed me. Some of the rebels took this as the opportunity to attack their generous sovereign and were immediately annihilated by the birds who I am very displeased to say had remained entirely passive up until that moment from what I'm told.

Regardless, the loyalist forces begged for my forgiveness and told me that they had tried to stop this foolishness. I asked them where 11 and 12 had gone and then told them I'd help them if they launched a full scale assault on The Rebels. I then sat back and watched the slaughter. By the end of it the death toll had jumped to 24, with all the rebels dead and most of the loyalists dead. I made myself scarce as the cops made their move, rounding up the survivors.

So, unfortunately my neighbourhood is in shambles and worst of all 11 and 12 had fucked off at some point during the battle. Probably at the beginning if I'm any judge of character.

So... this is a direct letter to you Children of Nothing dumbasses. You took Sandy from me, you took my house from me and you took my neighbourhood from me. That was the point. You wanted to take everything from me, but you haven't. See, in taking these things from me you've given me the only thing I've ever really cared for. A reason to kill people. Well I say given, but I've never really been lacking in one. I suppose now it's personal, but I've always felt making something personal, is just like seasoning, it makes things better sure, but it's not really necessary.

Anyway my point is. I suppose now I can tell you what the first bit of info The Archive gave me was.

Your location. See, The Archive apparently managed through great diligence to track down your headquarters. Why am I telling you this?

Because I'm parked right outside and by the time any of you bastards read this I'll already be inside and most likely one of you will be terminally aware of that fact.

Info Whores

So, I arrived at a meeting place specified by The Archive. I met one of them... They gave me a name, but I couldn't care enough to remember it. Broker insert random ancient alphabet letter here.

They told me they'd tell me what they know in return for me doing a short job for them. I won't recount it here, but I might later. Suffice to say it was bloody and bloody good fun.

The information they gave me was mostly useful, but nothing that will be directly helpful dealing with 11 and 12. Apparently they've done a pretty good job, of figuring out names though. They obviously knew the Ex-archivists name. Michael Lawson apparently.

But, in preparation for our meeting they also took a look at the blog and using the backstory Zero gave they identified her as well. Her name was Emelia Hausier. They also looked into 11 and 12 for me and found out their identities as well. They told me, however that I'd need to pay extra for their real names. I told them they could go fuck themselves as I had no need to know the names of two dead kids. Anyway... One of the things they told me, I won't recount here since they apparently read my blog and that information will be much more useful if they don't know I have it. The other somewhat useful bit of information I've got is that they can be harmed. When Michael first showed up to strike a new deal with the Archive one of the Martyr's took a swing at him. The attack went right through, but Michael still reacted like he was hit and showed a mark on his cheek like as though he'd been hit. Similar to how 11 reacted when I tried to decapitate her. This means a few things. I'm still thinking them through, but I will have ample opportunity to test my theories soon. I'm going to be heading back to my neighbourhood to go make sure they haven't started an actual rebellion or anything yet and I might just try out my theory on the boy. Teach him to run that mouth of his...

God I hope this works. I cannot deal with the idea of these two punk ass kids making a mockery of me again.

Edit: Thought of a better title for this post. Changed it.

EAT ETA TAE TEA AET ATE

I think I got every possible permutation... It's kind of amazing how many of those are actually words...

EAT, ATE, TEA Exactly half of them form real words...

And that's assuming you don't count ETA as Estimated Time of Arrival and that Tae and Aet aren't some archaic word that most people just don't know about.

Also Eta being a greek letter doesn't god damn count.

Oh right I should probably actually talk about what EAT said.

So, The Eternal Amorphous Terror told me, that there is very little information on 11 and 12... What little is known comes from some first hand accounts and a blog called The Children of Nothing. In fact apparently my good buddy WereMagi linked to the blog and that was the first time EAT had heard of The Blog which itself she was unable to locate outside that link. She was actually surprised that I had not seen the blog already and so was I. I had been reading WereMagi's blog as well as many other blogs everytime a new post came out. Somehow I completely missed this post... It's not like I didn't read it though. I apparently had, but I just... I hadn't registered it. It's like something just removed it from my mind the moment I saw it. Seemingly others had the same problem or similar since not a single person has commented on that post at the time of this writing.

Now all of this would seem weird, except for two things. I now know what this Children of Nothing Cult's deal is and knowing that a lot of shit makes a lot more sense.

They worship The Quiet... A god? Possibly? Jury seems to be out on that... It doesn't seem to really work or interact with the other gods and who knows what it actually is. Even the birds seem confused on that point. Regardless... It's a being of pure non-existence. It simply appears and consumes entire universes. It's had cults before, though they tend to be very secretive and so if it's ever been active like it appears to be here, that is unknown. It's entire deal though is making things disappear. It's power is to create nothing and turn things that are something into nothing.

Knowing that it's not a long stretch to assume that these strange abilities possessed by this cult, all stem from that. EAT and The Convocation can't find them, because they're not there. I can't hurt them because they don't exist. Unfortunately this doesn't answer some questions...

Mostly, why can they still hurt me and what the hell can I do about it.

Well... EAT is going to continue monitoring The Blog for me... Though I'm also going to try and monitor it myself now and meanwhile I'm continuing on to The Archive. They might still know more and EAT has also informed me there might be a major lead there. Apparently one of the Children of Nothing was an Archivist and continues to have dealings of a sort with The Archive. They might know important information.

So, hopefully this will end up being worth it.

Oh! I also got a very strange call. The number on the caller ID was my old house... You know the one that burnt down. When I answered after a few minutes there was only the sound of a bird cawing and then... Well the sound of a fire slowly starting up... I hung up. I'd already heard that noise before. I didn't want to hear it again.

Sources of Knowledge

So, I'm seeking out what sources of knowledge I can on these two. The most useful sources of knowledge are of course The Archive and EAT. The Archive are... Essentially information brokers who are arguably neutral though they do worship one of the Gods, by the common name of The Blind Man. EAT is herself one of the gods, but generally works through extensions of herself called The Camper. I don't understand the name either. I had to leave my little neighbourhood in order to meet with both.

I don't like the idea of leaving here. Who knows what those two psycho kids will do while I'm gone.

However, it's not like I can do much here either, so I guess this is a necessary evil. Hopefully when I get back I can fucking mutilate both of these children in front of everyone. That will put the fear of me back into their traitorous hearts... Then I'll probably kill a bunch of them anyway for having said traitorous hearts.

I'm going to EAT first. It is more likely to provide information without cost or great cost at least.

These little brats are really pissing me off.

So, the girl has spent all of her time undermining me. She has been publicly trying to incite rebellion. It's not working so far, but I can't confront her without them realizing I can't kill her, but if I don't confront her I'll look weak... Worse then that Sandy's gone. I'm sure they took her somehow. The fucking boy probably broke into my house and kidnapped her while his bitch of a sister distracted me with her public ranting. The birds can't find her so, it has to be them. No one else can hide from the birds.

This is getting fucking maddening...

I want nothing more than to cut them into pieces, but I can't. I tried actually. I went over to their house and stabbed the bitch in the gut. Nothing happened. She just stood there grinning at me. Though when I tried to slice off her head she did seem a little startled. Gave a little sidestep and then just continued grinning when my blade passed through her anyway. I stormed out. I could burn their house down, but they'd probably just stand there in the wreckage and laugh at me...

How can one be a crazed dictator in the face of unkillable insurgents?

Also I've been trying to get drunk... It doesn't seem to be working... I did see a Convocation Bird fly into a window though... Maybe the two are connected... Wouldn't that be funny?

Fucking Ghosts or some shit.

So... I just got back from greeting our new tenants. Things were... Weird. There were two of them. A man and a woman... well a boy and a girl actually. The girl was maybe 18 at best, but the boy couldn't have been older than 16. I greeted them as they were moving stuff into their living room. Just walked right in. Gave them a nice wave.

They didn't seem bothered by my mask which should have tipped me off that something was wrong. They both stopped what they were doing and approached me. "Hello, I am The Faceless Bastard, who are you?" The girl opened her mouth and then stopped she seemed to be having trouble speaking. She simply stood there for a few seconds before the boy spoke for her, "I am Twelve and She is Eleven,"

"You look older than that," I said, but the boy didn't respond. He seemed mad. Which is strange because I hadn't even insulted or threatened him yet. I decided to rectify that and began to tell him and the girl all about the rules of my neighbourhood. The little brat cut me off about half way and told me they had no intention of following my rules. In fact he told me that he was going to topple my control of the neighbourhood. He was yammering idiocy, so I decided to give him a small dose of my specific brand of discipline. He was young and new, so I thought I'd be lenient. I raised my hand and tried to smack him. You know show this punk what a little bitch he was.

My hand passed right through him. Like he wasn't even there. His own hand, however didn't pass through me. I didn't see him move, but I felt his fist plunge into my gut and I doubled over coughing. I hear him talk then. He told me he was going to kill me... Well he said erase, but that he wouldn't kill me just yet. That he and his sister were going to take everything away from me before they erased me. He then told me to get the fuck out of his house... I... I would love to say I stayed and fought, but... I didn't. I got the hell out of there.

I do not understand what just happened. I'm not scared, but I need to find out more about this before I tackle it. The weirdest thing is... When I was looking through the bird's eyes I could see them, but The Birds claim they can't see them at all...

What the hell is going on?

A note to a certain Mr. WereMagi

I spelled your name right this time. Happy?

So, I didn't have anything to do today and I spent the day just... well... Reading that other blog you found on my account. You'd think I'd be surprised to find that apparently I wrote an entirely different account of my life. Well... I'm not. I mean I've never really heard of this happening before, but the existence of other universes is basically a known factor when you work with The Gods and so obviously this is just me from another world and somehow WereMagi tapped into a version of my account that exists in both worlds. Stranger things have happened.

My alternate universe self sure had a strange life and an unhappy death, but that's what happens when you do stupid shit. I do not intend to be him. I am not going to sacrifice my life to save the world. Besides The Brute is already a thing in this universe, so I doubt that will ever be necessary. Actually that's not the only change... There were a few fundamental changes I found... One slightly more troubling than the rest.

Harold Ardy... Alternate Me's arch nemesis. I knew a Harold Ardy once...


I knew him fairly well... I only knew him for a while, but he was a part of my family...

Quite literally in fact... See my alternate universe self... I'll call him Eyeholes, never mentioned his wife's name, but I assume his wife wasn't the same as mine. See my wife's name was Maria Ardy.

Harold was the name she gave my son... So, that's pretty damn weird.

Also in case anyone is wondering we split the last names among our children. She named the boy and I named The Girl. My daughter's name was Tamara Korchaviv.

Anyway that weirdness aside... Things have been fairly simple around here. Apparently the empty house next door was bought while I was gone and the new additions to my lovely family will be moving in tomorrow morning so that will be fun. I'll have to meet them and introduce them to the way things work around here. Sandy has been surprisingly compliant by the way. I mean I figured it was just shock at first, but no... She's seemingly perfectly happy to just stay in the basement. Hell I've even rewarded her for her good behaviour by letting her come upstairs to use the facilities as opposed to my initial plan and so far she hasn't tried to capitalize on it. She's the best house guest I've ever had.

Taking it easy.

So, I'm basically recovered now. It wasn't a bad injury or anything and my body does seem to be more resilient than usual anyway.

I'm actually not entirely sure what the extent of my new resilience is... Maybe being shot with that shotgun wouldn't have even killed me. Not really intent on testing it and of course, despite it being information that might be very helpful to me in performing my job, the birds still aren't answering my questions.

Also, The Convocation haven't been telling me off for bringing Sandy here so, I'm just gonna keep her in the basement. There's plenty of room to sleep down there and I can toss some food down there every once in a while. I'll even put a litterbox down there if she complains. No one can say I'm not kind.

So, since she's in my house now I suppose I can just relax as I continue my watch on her. So, that's what I'm doing. Laying back on my couch and just relaxing. I found a bunch of new fun blogs to monitor.

The first one is called... Um... I have the name here somewhere... Puppies and Joy... Oh god really?

Well now I feel like killing a puppy in front of a small child...

Anyway it's run by my new bestie Fien. She seems like a swell Girl woman (HA did it) and she's obviously in love with me. Can't wait to talk more with her also can't wait to find out what horrible thing she did to the owner of the book. Bet it's gonna be wondrous.

Another fun blog is I am a- Ha ha oh god... I'm just really reading these names for the first time and I just can't... Okay... Okay... It's called I am a Creature of Darkness... Sounds like a song, by one of those trashy emo bands, but regardless it certainly is interesting, mostly because it seems like unbeknownst to the writer... It stars me! At least somewhat... Poor bastard seems to be having dreams about me. I knew someone was... Still, unfortunately not eligible for the contest as it wasn't a dream about me murdering them.

Oh speaking of me murdering people there was another blog I found interesting. This one is by some guy with an Edgar Allan Poe obsession. I doubt it will be much of a fun read in general, but apparently he had a run in with me once and I killed his girlfriend. So, that's cool. After he brought it up I remembered it pretty clearly. That was a fun time. I didn't have my neighbourhood back then I wandered around, sometimes far from home. Just wandering the world killing on The Convocation's say so. Good times good times. Also looking back at his blog to find out it's name (Once Upon a Midnight Dreary, by the way. Can you say obsessed?) I found he replied to my comment about how fun killing his girlfriend was with a death threat to my person. How fun. I do so hope he tries to follow through. 

There were also a few other blogs I noticed, but I'll probably mention them when and if they do something interesting.

More noticeably, I showed remarkable restraint today. See, I didn't bother to inform anyone I had come back yet and you'll never guess what happened. I emerged from my house today to find that the bastards in this neighbourhood were having a party without me. Now, you're probably thinking I killed all of them. Well you are wrong. As I said I showed remarkable restraint. Only one person died and I wasn't the one who killed them. I made everyone else kill them.

See, I come out and see these people... These people I had treated so well having a party in my honor without me. I say in my honor, because they were celebrating me not being there. Obviously I was fairly pissed at this betrayal. They had taken all the love and compassion I had shown them and threw it in my face. So... I showed up. The party died fairly quickly. A few people even tried to run back into their houses like that would save them. I told them not to panic. Well more accurately what I said was "Next person to take a step will be fed their families fingers one by one and if they don't have family their own fingers." that got everyone to stop. I then told them they shouldn't stop their party on my account and they continued the festivities... Well they continued after a bit of urging. Seemed much less festive afterwards, can't imagine why.

The party continued and I must say, they certainly had a wondrous party planned. I will definitely give them that. They know how to have a good time. At the end there was cake and a pinata. I destroyed the pinata with one swing of my machete. However, I thought that wasn't very much fun was it. Everyone else should have had a turn.

So, I set up a new pinata. I used one of the smaller children. A 6 year old I believe. A nice young boy. Probably would have grown up to be a great man. I let his mother get the first whack. She didn't hit very hard so I let her have a few more. Then everyone else got a turn until everyone had gone and by then so had he. After that we had the cake. Strangely enough no one else felt like eating, so I enjoyed it by myself. I gave a piece to Sandy as well.

Now... We've had a few laughs on this blog and I've had a few laughs at the expense of others, but allow me to be serious for a second. I am a very kind person. I feel great compassion for others. All I ask is that that kindness and compassion be returned. Actually not even that. I ask only that it be accepted. If my kindness is rejected or, worse yet, thrown back in my face... Well I get a little angry. Young Bradley has learned that quite well and I think he will pass on that message to his fellows... even if indirectly.

Also that is why this post is a little bit later than usual. Goodnight friends, especially you Fien, Catty and... Weremagi? Dream about me? I hope you will.

Masked crazy people.

So... Watched the girl at work today. I did not in fact try to enter the place. Well at least not alone. I listened in on the various gossip as people got their hair done and mostly was bored out of my mind. I unfortunately wasn't paying too much attention when the car drove up. This guy got out wearing a clown mask and that's when I started to pay attention. I started to move when he took the shotgun out of the back seat. He kicked the front door, which since it was glass caused it to shatter instead of opening, but I guess that was effective enough... Made him look pretty foolish though. The people inside, however were apparently far easier to intimidate than I was expecting.

Even after such a failed stunt they all started to panic. I will give the guy one thing though. He was fairly ruthless. Most people see a panicking crowd during a heist and they try to yell it down or they fire the gun into the air to make everyone shut up. This guy turned his gun and blew one of the screaming hairdressers away. That got everyone's attention. Mine included. I kind of wanted to see where this went. The police would probably be coming soon and as much as I wanted to get involved as long as my target wasn't in immediate danger it was probably a better idea not to get myself involved with the police. The man placed the gun to the guy in the chair, the now deceased, hairdresser had been working at and probably made some demands... I couldn't really hear most of it from where I was.

It seemed like this was going to wrap itself up without my involvement until my vapid idiot of a target apparently decided to say or do something that got a shot gun shoved in her face. I still hadn't been given any other orders and so for now it was best to keep her alive. I moved in.

I would like to preface everything that happened next by saying I hate all of you normal humans. You are all so god damn stupid. I walked in as quietly as I could, slid my machete out and... had him immediately alerted to my presence by some dumbass crying out loudly about "another masked man" Sir... Can you not recognize a hero when you see one?

Regardless, the clownfaced criminal immediately turned to see what was up and I now found myself facing down the barrel of a shotgun. I suppose I should have been happy that it wasn't facing my charge now, but personally I consider myself more important than the mission usually. Now... part of me expected him to just shoot me like he did the hairdresser, but either that was only a single bout of intelligence and brutality or something about me really fascinated him, because he simply told me to drop my weapon. So, I did. Then he told me to take off my mask... So I did. As the torrent of birds flew out, he fired off a shot that luckily only grazed me, but still hurt like hell... I fell to the ground clutching where the slugs had left searing marks along my... already burned and therefore not all that altered flesh. As I lay there on the ground, birds filling the place even as it was also filled by the screams of everyone inside, I found myself thinking... When the convocation gave me back the ability to move my body... was reinstating my ability to feel pain actually necessary. The pain eventually subsided and by then so, had the carnage. The screams had stopped and were now instead filled with the sound of sirens arriving. I got back to my feet, placed my mask back on and grabbed my machete and then turned to see my charge crouched down on the ground, seemingly in a state of shock. I probably could have left her there... I probably should have left her there, but since the birds hadn't killed her, despite killing everyone else I guess she's probably important. So, I staggered over to her, grabbed her by the hair, pulled her up to her feet and brought us both to The Convocation's domain. I'll tell you about it later, but suffice to say I am now back at my place in my neighbourhood and I have a woman locked in my basement. The place where the slugs grazed hurts on and off and is flaring up again so, I'll cut this short here.

I'll probably feel fine by tomorrow.

Oh and I am very disappointed nobody had dreams about me last night. Shame on all of you.

A little light reading.

Stalking people is so boring... I'll never understand how the other Faceless Bastard can spend so much of his time doing it. Oh right  I'm not the only Faceless Bastard, though the other one is only called that by impertinent people like myself. He's another god in the same terrifying pantheon as The Convocation. He has more common names, but I'm going to keep referring to him as The Faceless Bastard as well, because that will undoubtedly get confusing and I am not a people pleaser.

I was actually tempted to make this blogs layout a horrid combination of colours and shapes designed to make any more able sighted people cry upon seeing it, but apparently even The Convocation didn't want to look at it and so I wouldn't have been able to see my own blog and was forced to change it to this... generic trash.

I'm fairly sure I had a point here somewhere.

Well I reread the title I had picked for this post and have been reminded what I had been talking about. So, to alleviate the boredom of watching this vapid white girl stereotype go through her monotonous daily routine, I spent some time perusing the internet. Strangely enough others who have interacted with the Gods of this particular pantheon make up an obscure, but fairly large community on this humble site of public online journals. Both predators like myself and our prey find some strange solace in telling the random faceless idiots who might stumble across our tiny patch of the internet all about our activities. The reason why is probably known, but I've never cared enough to find out. I never did tell you why I myself chose to grace the internet with a record of my fun little life. I don't think I will.

It appears the subject got away from me again, but the point is I've been reading about the daily struggles of my fellow servants of The Gods and those hapless fools who find themselves as victims. I've even been thinking of sending some of them my love and adoration in the form of tiny shouts of encouragement.

Something like: "I hope your hand gets trapped in a blender" or "I hope The Faceless Bastard tears your legs off and beats your family to death with them." You know little bits of positivity like that. It is in fact marvelous fun. Of course I only get to engage in this behaviour in those periods of time when the object of my current enforced fascination is stuck in one place and easily supervised. Like school, home or the part time job she does as a receptionist at a hairdressers after school. I haven't been following her long enough to figure out an exact pattern, but based on the things I've overheard and the calendar I stole from her school locker. I think she works there mondays, wednesdays and Thursdays. Tomorrow is a monday. I wonder if I could enter her place of work without causing too much alarm. The mask doesn't exactly help me be inconspicuous, but I guess a face like beef jerky wouldn't make me inconspicuous either.

You know I never really looked at myself in the mirror after my accident... I wonder if I looked anything like Freddy Krueger? I've always preferred Jason anyway. It's why I use a machete. I mean I'm already a mostly silent killer in a mask, might as well go all the way.

Well, I mean not all the way. My mask isn't a hockey mask. It's a do it yourself paper mask with candlewick twine holding it on. It's not great, but it does the job and I think the shoddiness of it adds to the creepiness.

Oh as for the silent killer part, while it doesn't hurt to speak anymore, my voice is still pretty fucked up from the accident, so I generally try not to speak often in the presence of people I'm trying to intimidate. I'm worried they'd assume I was doing the voice on purpose and they'd think I was trying too hard.

One thing you should never do is try too hard.

I feel like I lost the point again, but who cares. The girl is asleep and I'm gonna take this chance to get some sleep myself.

What did you think I didn't sleep? I'm not a robot. I still need to eat, sleep and do other human things. Although given that I don't seem to have any internal organs anymore I'm not entirely sure why I need to... I'd ask The Convocation, but I doubt they'd answer. They don't tend to talk much unless it's to tell me to do something.

Anyway night folks. Have unpleasant dreams. Preferably with me in them. In fact if you manage to dream of me murdering you and post it on this blog in the comments you'll win a prize!

What prize you ask? Well... I'll make that dream a reality!

No purchase necessary, only the first entrant will win, prize not eligible in all continents, must be over thirteen years of age. Not because I don't kill children, but because then I'll probably have to kill your whole family and that's likely to be a whole big thing and while that would probably be extremely fun I don't really have the time for it right now...

So, I'm spending tonight in a hotel.

I hate traveling out of town. I'm not worried about leaving my neighbourhood alone. The birds will watch it and make sure no one tries to do anything stupid, but I still don't like being away from my charges. It is my job to keep them safe and in line. Still, when my god tells me I have to go away for a while, I do not argue. I'm here to keep an eye on someone. It's not an unusual job. The target is some random girl. A real annoying type. Pink everywhere and talks non-stop. I can't wait to find out what The Convocation want me to do to her. Until then I'm just stuck watching her. One might be wondering why they can't just watch her themselves?

I don't know. I don't question The Convocation when they tell me to do things. Especially when it means I might get to kill some barbie girl wannabe.

This job is pretty boring so far though, so how about I tell you a bit more about myself. I already told you my name and a bit about my history, but let's talk about how I met The Convocation and came to have them nesting inside of me. That's the commonly used term for what I am by the way. I am a Nest of The Convocation. They hide inside me until I need them. Most nests cut themselves open to let the birds free of their skin, but I have this big gaping hole where my face should be that makes it much easier.

My story begins as many stories do, with a happy family. There was the father, the mother and the happy little children. Then one day there was a fire. The Father worked to get his family out safely, but failed to get himself out. He burned. He burned for a long time. He was eventually rescued. Near death. Most of his body burned away. He couldn't move, his muscles and nerves destroyed by the fire. He couldn't see his eyes having boiled away in his skull. Probably some brain damage, who knows. He survived though. It was a miracle he survived they say, but he didn't think so. He thought he should have died... So, did his wife. She couldn't deal with him anymore. Blind and paralyzed she had to provide for him. His throat was badly burned and the raspy sound of his breaths and attempts to talk grated on her ears. She left him and took the kids. He remained all alone. Nobody to provide for him. He waited to die. Then he was visited. The visitors were a large group of birds who surrounded him and told him they could fix him. All he had to do was give himself to them. Of course he agreed and they turned him into a Nest. The alterations they made to his body, made him able to move again. Made him able to speak without it hurting. Made him live again. His eyes still didn't work, but they could see for him. He didn't need those eyes anymore, he didn't need that hideous face and so, he took a machete and carved it off. Everything from just below the nose to the forehead carved away, leaving only a void. The birds look out from that void and through them he sees. They gave him his first mission. To prove his loyalty. Find the woman he loved. The woman who left him to die and kill her in turn and his children. He did so without hesitation. The birds helped him find her and he arrived one day. Carved her heart out of her chest and crushed it beneath his boot. The kids weren't there, however, to this day he doesn't know where they've gone. The birds didn't mind and called it a success and he became their servant.

He became The Faceless Bastard.

Gonna spend the rest of the night watching this girl sleep... Hope your night will be less boring then mine.

The Delay Was For Dramatic Effect

So, I am a busy little bird and will be flitting about on a number of errands soon and I will tell you about that later on. For now though I have kept you in suspense long enough.

Let me tell you about Gods.

There are a number of Gods... Small ones, tall ones, some without physical forms or at least physical forms that defy categorization...

My personal god is called The Convocation. Now how do I explain this simply... They are birds. Absolutely perfectly normal birds...

However, these are no absolutely perfectly normal birds! No, these are absolutely perfectly normal birds that are part of a absolutely perfectly abnormal hive mind and as a result these absolutely perfectly normal birds can do amazing things! Like cause lightning strikes. Also nest inside the still living and normally functioning body of ordinary people. Like myself.

What you thought the title of this blog was a joke? Well it is, but it's also accurate. The Convocation are somewhat unrelated to my lack of a face though. I'll get to that eventually.

Now, some of you might be thinking why would a god have a servant as bloodthirsty and crazy as I am? Well I have two things to say to you.

First. Have you read history? Religious people are completely insane and some of the most cruel and murderous people to have ever walked the earth.

Second. Nobody said all gods are kind and loving. The Convocation does not love and it is not kind. It is a god of fear and it exists for no other reason, but to punish those who it deems deserving of it's punishment. Some, it merely kills with the power of the storm it controls and some get worse fates. Their bodies pecked apart, by swarms of birds or dragged up into the sky never to be seen again.

Why serve one of these horrifying gods?

Well... There's a simple answer and a more complicated answer. The more complicated answer I'll get to at a later date, but for now the simple answer is.

Doesn't everyone want to be on the winning side?

Upholding Property Values through Fear.

So, let me tell you about myself. The name is Sergei Korchaviv, though most people know me better as The Faceless Bastard. I'm a russian immigrant to Canada and I live on a mostly quiet street. I'm the unnofficial head of the neighbourhood watch and association. The association is made up of myself and three other people who all do exactly as I say and together we set the basic standards for life in this neighbourhood and I make it very clear what happens if anyone fails to meet those standards. Like I did with Mr. Greeley. Was it Greeley? I think it was... I don't care to go back and check and he doesn't seem to want to talk to me for some reason. Not very neighbourly of him.

Some of the more astute of you may be wondering, how the hell does this work? Why hasn't anyone called the cops on me? Why does no one stand up to me?

Well in order the answers are, quite well thank you, they did and that is why I don't have a neighbour on the other side anymore and they do, but they usually aren't capable of standing up afterwards. See, here's the deal. I'm not just some crazy psychopath, running this neighbourhood like a tiny tinpot dictatorship, I'm a magical crazy psychopath, running this neighbourhood like a tiny tinpot Theocratic Dictatorship. The police who came after me were disappeared and any records of them were removed from the police department records. The person who snitched on me, was mysteriously struck by lightning... In her basement. Her husband was struck by lightning as well, two provinces away during a business trip and all those who try to stand up to me learn they are not fighting a man, they are fighting a monster who works as the mortal will of a powerful and angry god.

Why don't people just move away? Oh they do. I even let them, but the eyes of my god watch them everywhere they go and if they ever speak of what happens in my neighbourhood, they'll never be able to speak again.

So, that is how my happy little neighbourhood continues to run content and free as long as everyone continues to listen to me.

Now, you may also wonder... Who is this god of mine?

Well... Let me tell you about my God... Wait wait... Let me do this right...

*Ding dong* Have you heard the good news about The Convocation?

Good Morning World.

I woke up today, got out of bed and did my morning stretches. After that I went downstairs and made myself a nice breakfast of buttered toast, Orange Juice and a bowl of Frosted Flakes. After I ate, I fed the birds and then headed outside. I picked up my mask off the hook by the door, took my machete out of the umbrella stand and went outside to greet the day.

Mr. Greeley was watering his lawn so, I gave him a friendly wave. Always a good idea to be friendly to your neighbours. I took my car into town and went to my favourite hang out, O'briens bar. Had a few drinks, hung out with some friends of mine and after that I went to talk to an associate, see if he had any news about a big job that was coming up. He didn't have anything interesting for me today, so I just wandered around town for a bit before driving back to my home. Once there I found that Mr. Greeley had been doing some gardening as well. He'd cut the hedges between our properties. He'd done an okay job, but unfortunately he'd cut them just a bit too short for my liking.

So, I went around to his back door and broke in. He wasn't home and neither were his wife and children. His cat was though. I slit it's throat and used it's blood to write "Five and a half feet," in big letters on his bathroom mirror. He'll get the message and undoubtedly be more considerate next time. I also left the cat's body in his youngest daughter's room. Always nice to give a young girl a toy to play with.

I spent the rest of the day watching television and surfing the internet.

All in all a pretty good day, how was yours?