Sing to Me Songs of Darkness

So I may better love my light.

And with it cast hope on a thousand nameless faces,

so I may better know their plight.

Its only right.

Amen.

                                                                                                                      -Orignal Draft by Je-Ji-Jack

                                                                                                                       Edited by Maggot.

(Apparently there was 7 instances of the term                        

 'Fucking' in the original draft.)                                           

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lets take a peek into one of my cells...

"NO! You fuck off traitor! No wait, get CLOSER. I want to GOUGE your eyes out!"

"Shhh, Shh, Shhh.... calm down doll face."

"DOLL face? Is that a crack at my FACE?!" screamed Picasso as she slammed herself hard against the bars of her cell, reaching out as far as she could at grasping at the air to try to grab Helrick. Helrick, startled by the violent outburst, back up against the wall behind him to get away from her. "Stop MOVING you fucking COWARD! I'm gonna rip your THROAT out!"

"Stop it! Calm down. Keep it down!" he said looking around nervously, worried that all the noise might have already drawn too much attention to him. He was, after all, not supposed to be down there. "I meant it as a good thing! You have a pretty face, like a little doll you might buy at a toy store or something."

The statement made Picasso stop in her place. After a moments pause, she pulled her arm back into her cell and gave Helrick an angry look. "My face is NOT little," she huffed.

"But it is pretty..." said Helrick giving her a confused look.

"NO its NOT! Its all... mask face... and SHIT..."

"Your beauty shines through those pieces of mask. That's just how gorgeous you really are," said Helrick, stupidly reaching though the bars to put his not claw hand on the piece of mask that covered her cheek. And for a moment, Picasso looked take back by this as she brought her hand up to meet his hand. Then she screamed and grabbed his wrist and threw all her weight back backward, slamming Helrick hard against the cell bars. He fell hard on his ass and scrambled back away from her to safety. 

I could see he took this as rejection, but knowing Picasso as well as I do if she wasn't moved by his advances she probably would have snapped his neck.

"Fuck," whined Helrick, grasping his head with his good hand where it had been slammed against the bars.

"FUCK YOU ASSHOLE. You don't get to try to make nice with me after ABANDONING ME, siding with FUCK FACE, and then BETRAYING AND KIDNAPPING ME."

"Picasso," he said groaning and then pushing himself to his feet. "What I did is for the best. You need help. You're sick. Fracture can help you."

"OH MY GOD YOU TRUST THAT LYING PIECE OF SHIT! You're so FUCKING sheep! Baaaaww! BAAAAWW I say!"

"What... is... you're making the noise wrong. Its Bahahahw. You have to reverberate the-"

"FUCK YOU, I know what sound a sheep makes. I can hear YOU talking. BAW is what I hear. BAWWW."

"Right... Picasso. Hes gonna help you, and when you're better-"

"Hes not gonna HELP me. Hes gonna REPROGRAM me. Hes gonna bring whisper in, and they're gonna take me to the fucking WHITE room and then do his MIND FUCK thing and make me into an OBEDIENT little doll again. And its gonna be YOUR fucking FAULT. YOU. YOU HAVE DONE THIS TO ME. Hes gonna hollow me out and fill me with fluff like a FUCKING POSSUM and use me for a  FUCKING PAPER weight because YOU fucking BETRAYED ME."

"... When you're better-"

"I WON'T be."

"I'll make this all up to you. I promise."

"Helly, when this fails and I break out of here, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU."

"When this works and you're better-"

"THEN I'LL STILL FUCKING KILL YOU!" she said slamming herself against the bars again and grasping at Helrick once more. Helrick jumped back out of her reach and sighed, shaking his head before giving up and leaving.

"I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU!" called Picasso after him, jumping on the bars to her cell door and shaking the door like a lunatic.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Picasso and Moth are so convinced I did this to her on purpose. That I'm some sort of monster. But I'm not. I, like them, am just a... little unique.

I am doing this to help Picasso. Yes, I was trying to get Moth to talk in the memory he retold in that post, but it wasn't something sinister. I wasn't trying to make what was going to happen to Picasso his fault. I didn't even know what was gonna happen to her. I don't entirely understand why I was made to do it if her current state of being was gonna be the result. Its not exactly a usual change.

It made her unwarrantably violent and completely unmanageable. But its what Father wanted, to take her to see the Bleeding Tree...

I... I've seen the tree many times. Its the stepping stone I use to travel through the path as fast as I do... I never... never freaked out like Zero and Picasso did... right? I've... always been me... I think.

Its all very concerning. I was fortunate enough to have Whisper under my employ. His words mesmerize and brainwash those who can't escape them. If he tells you to do something, you have to do it. If he tells you to think something, you have to think it. Even if you he wasn't talking to you. If you hear him say it, its all over.

He calls it the voice of Father. I'm one of five people hes met since he got the gift that was completely unaffected by it. We're not sure what causes certain people to be resistant. The only other person hes been kind enough to tell me about is David. Which isn't surprising. David Banks in inherently immune to so such shit his blood may very well cure cancer.

We'd been using whisper to bring the real Picasso out. That's the point of this. To bring her in so whisper can push the Tree's madness back down as much as possible and bring the real her, the her I met, back into the light.

And once shes thinking with her right mind, once shes herself, she'll talk Moth back into line for us. Hes infatuated with her, even if he won't admit it. No one else will have to die, and I'll have to two ungrateful little shits I helped save back.

The Lord Guardian Fracture Out

A Game of Cat and Louse

Calm, composed, vigilant. I could see her studying faces on her way into the alley. Profiling.

Probably looking of injuries or scars. Hell, probably trench coats and hoodies too. Proxies can be a little predictable with their wardrobe at times. I could see her eyeing the homeless guy slouched against the dumpster as she made her way closer, putting a hand on her gun ready for him to spring up... usually where I'd have put Sloth.

Homeless guy didn't even register she was there. Too busy sleeping.

She pulled her gun out as she reached the center of the alleyway and made a sweep around. I could see her mouthing words.

'Running late?' she questioned as she swept one way before turning to what had been her back flanking and making another sweep. Hard to read lips when you look away. I managed to catch 'Where' at the beginning of the sweep and 'you' at the end of it.

I heard her gun cock as a sudden realization hit her. She suddenly looked up, gun pointed and ready for an ambush from above.

I waved as she spotted me relaxing on the fire escape stairs above. Her leery scanning eyes hardened into a glare as they fixed on me before making another sweep to make sure no one was trying to sneak up on her from the sides.

"Hello, Beautiful. Good to see you again."

"Yeah, I bet." She made another quick sweep. "What are you doing up there?" She demanded to know as she leveled her gun at me.

"Just... you know, hanging out. Being a stud."

"That what studs do nowadays? Hide up high to attend the meetings they called?"

"Pretty sure, yeah. I think I saw it on People magazine... besides, its safer up here. I mean, you're not exactly friendly when you're on the best of terms so I can only imagine what form of bitch factor force you're riding right now in regards to me after I gave you my chloroform cloth good bye when last I left you."

"Heh. I was always planning to kill you just the same, Fracture."

"... Comforting?"

She makes another sweep  of the alley before looking back up at me and lowering her gun a fraction.

"You called me. What do you want?"

"Well uh..."

"Spit it out! Is this about your little policy change? Because I don't need a babysitter."

"Well, of course not. You lack babies for me to send sitters to sit on."

I could see that that one actually managed to get a slight smirk but it didn't last. "Cut the shit. If this isn't a trap and this isn't part of your mass coddling crusade, then what the hell do you what?"

"There's been quite the surge of active cultists out there as of late, hasn't there? They're spreading out. Wedging themselves into the lives of everyday civilians. Spreading corruption onto innocent little souls, dragging them into the Great Game one by one in their desperate bid for dominance."

Her body language made a sharp change as she stiffened and clenched her non-gun holding fist. Grumbling so loud I could hear it from where I was.

Yes, she had most certainly noticed the change. She knew as I knew, the other Fears were on the rise.

"What of it?" She said when she finally spoke, looking back up at me. I can only imagine the gruesome slide show of killings against my cousins that had just finished replaying in her head.

"It's just a lot of people to have to try to track down. Who knows what could happen to them in the m-" 

She didn't let me finish that thought. "Cut the shit, fuck-face. Get to the point. What do you want?"

"... Ow. My pride..." I teased putting a hand to chest to try to act wounded. An act likely ruined by my bright beautiful grin. "I want to strike a deal... uh... bitch babe...?"

She spun her finger around in a circle, silently insisting that I keep explaining with a stern glare.

"I'll help you find and get at these fuckers quicker. But I want a favor first."

She let out an exhausted sigh. "Of course you do," she said shifting her weight and resting a hand on her own hip as she raised her gun back up at me with the other. "Just what favor would that be?"

"Woah. Calm down. Nothing big. Not for you anyways." A statement she reacted to by cocking her gun. Not sure if that was due to impatience or if she had read some unintended innuendo in my words.

 "I want you to bring me Picasso. Your old chum. Bring her alive though. Oh, and don't kill Moth while your at it."

"...Why the-"

"Does it matter? I know you want them both dead after what they pulled back in Black Lake but this is my only offer. Do you want my help expediting your work or not?"

For those who don't know or don't remember, Moth and Picasso destroyed Black Lake.

"Fine."

"Good. Shoot me a text w-" I started but stopped as she just kind of turned and started leaving. So very rude of her. No class. 


...


That was a several days ago, though.

Before this went up.

I tried calling her a few times after that but she never answered.

But I got a call this morning.

"Hel-"

"It's done," Is what I was immediately greeted with when I answered. Then before I could react she hung up.

About 20 seconds later I got a text from her with a location.

I popped in to find Picasso bound, gagged, and unconscious with a ribbon for the gag and a note that read:

'You owe me.'

                -LeCroix

Helrick was also there. Alive but unconscious. I sent him to help her bring Picasso in since he also has a history with them. Judging by the burn mark on his body, I think LeCroix hit him with a stun gun from behind.

Apparently Moth had managed to land a solid hit on her and she wasn't looking too good. Nothing fatal Helrick assures me, but it's concerning all the same. Even more so because shes still not taking my calls.

Either way, I have Picasso. I win! This is definitively a win. Suck it Moth. Your little radio silence tactic did you a fat lot of fucking good didn't it!

The Lord Guardian Fracture out.

A Policy Change

Why hello there.

As some of you make or may not care to know, I just got back from helping Alex put down Redlight.

And that really fucking sucked. Between the headaches, the choke slams, fighting a supernatural house, and the near apocalypse we had to avert, the whole thing was a horrible shit storms of events and situations that both myself and the world might have been better off without.

And when I really stopped to think about it once I was finally home, it occurred to me that Redlight was a product of the Bureaucracy. Its been an entire year and half and we're still dealing with the fallout and depraved products the Bureau created when it came and went.

A full YEAR AND A HALF. That's fucking insane.

And yet, without them we find ourselves in a particularly difficult situation.

Many proxies fell when the Bureau did. A lot of them died. Those who didn't were forced to adopt to humbler and less protected life styles with nothing to protect them from the authorities and no one means of paying the bill.

And while we are not without standing remnants of organization, on the whole most proxies now operate in small intimate cells assuming they aren't entirely self dependent.

And I have done what I can to support these cells and independents find supplies, weapons, part time jobs, bases, and have even gone so far as to reward work done for Father with monetary compensation.

But I have not been able to do for these people what the Bureau did. I have not been able to keep them safe.

Without the overbearing hand of the Bureau to keep them in check, Father's Siblings [the other Fears] and our cousins [the servants of the other Fears] have been expanding at an extremely alarming rate.

I believe we've seen so little of the Fears because they are violently at each others throats. With Father's dominance crush and with Father himself now on his back tendril, every territorial fear is making a power grab.

And as the people of the dethroned king, we are  assholes ever other asshole is gunning for. And where the servants of other fears have a documented history of general cooperation, proxies have always been heavily divided.

I reformed the Fire Cult as a specialized task force to try to deal with this unprecedented aggression but we are not seeing the results we were hoping for. In fact, it would seem things have gotten worse. The situation have evolved in ways I could have never imagined.

The other Fears and their servants aren't just hunting proxies anymore. They've taken to hunting OUR runners justifying the maneuver as an attack against the 'Future Proxy Pool'.

This can not go on. We need a change.

No can no longer allow degenerates pretending to know Father's will reign over us, nor can we ourselves go on with the delusion that Father's will is a thing that can be known.

Its time to go back to the basics. There has always been one absolute truth when it comes to Father. One single truth that has never changed over the course of his documentation.

Father hunts runners.

And it is with that basis that the Free Market will be moving forward. No longer will it be the job of the proxy to put down the runner for this was never really ours to do. We our not his reapers. Our job as the proud selected that Father has seen fit to tolerate and spare should be to keep runners safe until Father himself is done hunting, killing, or sparing them.

I am calling for closure on the great rift that separates runners and proxies for both are brothers under Father, one simply has not met his judgement yet and it will be our task to see that judgement be it life or death finds them.

And in light of this, psychopaths and degenerates that displayed incredibly aggression to our newly claimed brothers will not be tolerated. Monsters like the Morningstar and Arkady WILL be put down.

...That said there will be some tolerance for justified personal vendettas a single person or persons. I am still very much going to kill Sloth, Picasso, and Moth...

I know not every proxy is going to agree to this. In fact, I suspect most won't. I actually anticipate we're going to lose a lot of the cells and independents that currently associate themselves with the Free Market over this. And other standing orders like the Order of Oracles may try to rain fire on us for this.

But know this. Any threat to our runners, the runners we claim or who we approve for protection under the Free Market, that isn't tall and faceless will be neutralized. Be that threat the servant of another Fear, one of Father's proxies, or fucking Fear itself.

For these people are our brothers and we are their guardians.

-The Lord Guardian Fracture

Dani the Girl is...?

I think that's the right song. I'm looking at the last three entry titles and they seem to be the lyrics from a Red Hot Chili Peppers song.

No wait... my Ginger is informing me that those are lyrics from the song hes being making Jack listen too.

Guess that makes sense... sort of. Not sure why he would do that after he spent all that time bitching being forced to listen to music. Maybe its stuck in his head or something? Suppose that could also make sense.

I should introduce my Ginger.

Meet Jaivannelloxisomianthei'untimnyscious (Shorted for your benefit) O'Donnel

Sup. Just call me Ivan. Letters 3 through 6 of my name. Its easier that way.

Care to explain to people why the fuck your name is so messed up.

My Dad was a proxy. He had this weird ritual where he would add a letter to his name ever time he killed someone. Apparently until I was old enough to speak, he gave those letter me to and made that my legal name... somehow. Pretty sure they aren't supposed to let you do that but then again the Bureaucracy was a thing back then. He probably greased some palms or something.

Same man that kept you locked in basement and dumped you in the woods for a week to fend for yourself to prove your strength?

Yep... thanks for sharing that... asshole. I just gonna remove all that.

I'm just gonna put it back in when you leave the room.

Fuck you fuck face.

I missed you too.

So yeah. I've actually been back for a little while. Been taking a nice little mini vacation in my closet to get away from the world and catch up on my reading. 

I mean, I just helped save the world and shit... or 'a world' I guess. Regardless, I'd definitely earned my sabbatical. 

And along came Jack, the whiny and terrible.

Yep. Your pupil. I can't help but feel that you have to shoulder some of the blame there.

I abso-fucking-lutely disagree.

By the powers vested in me by my lord guardianness-

Your self proclaimed title.

... Yeah. I declare you overruled. Its your fault.

Classy.

So much class you can kiss my ass.

So yeah. Jack spoiled that. Not only did he tell Devil and Fire I was back, and they made me get back to work, but he fucking announced it to the world that I was available again and now I have to go do things.

You're such a whiny fucking slacker.

I'll take no sass from schzo.

The hello you won't.

The hell I won't what?

You said... uh...

Exactly.

Fuck you.

So right. Back. Should explain what Jack did after his last post and wrap this train wreck of an introduction up.

Apparently, following him using me as an distraction by announcing my return to the rest of the compound, he went and stole your iPod. 

Yep.

And then he had a mask open up a path door in front of where Maggot had dumped all his stuff in the path and threw the iPod in blaring 'Never Gonna give you up'.

A beautiful classic.

So while the denizen that had been sleeping on his stuff was busy being Rick Rolled and was out desperately trying to find and destroy your iPod, little jack grabbed all his shit and returned to the compound and had the path door sealed behind him.

Yep.

How do we know all this?

The little dumbass was bragging about it.

Hahahaha. Classic Jack.

Said the guy who has't been her to hand out with Jack for the last month.

Fuck you.

So to punish Jack for destroying my shit we've locked him in a room with 'Never Gonna give you up' playing over and over again and with Maggot in there to beat on him.

Harsh.

But well deserved.

Don't think you might be power tripping on this mentor things? No repressed Daddy issues coming out.

This is fucking over. Later fuck face, I have a ten year old to torture.

... Well okay then. Guess this is as good a way to announce my return as any.

I'm back. 

Lord Guardian Fracture out.

Is singing songs to me

Hello! I did a thing!

That's right, this is Jack. That makes this...

A Jack Attack!

More exclamation marks!!!!!

Hahahahahaha!

I'm gonna be honest. Couldn't help myself. I started with three lines, and then I did three more lines, and then I did three more lines that sounded terrible.

So I went back and reread the first two lines to figure out why those sounded so much better than my thirds set and realized they adhered to a syllable limit where my third set did not. So I rewrote the third set on to obey that limit. I probably spent like... a solid hour on that.

Kind of couldn't help myself. Started the commented not thinking about it and then I felt strangely compelled. The whole little exercise felt very familiar. And then Fracture accused my music lessons of being the cause. Which was weird. I wrote it because writing it was the right thing to do. Needed to be done.

But I could see where you might think music would inspire acts of annoyance. Music is annoying noise to a half assed beat where some asshole incessantly repeats words at you in desperate hope that those words might lodge themselves and your ear and brainwash you into thinking they're catchy.

In fact, I hear there is a Fear who likes to fuck with what you hear.

Ryhming aside, Fracture's accusation gave me an idea. To reiterate, music is annoying noise and I have a hunch that denizens hate music even more than I do....








Post note!
              ^Necessary Exclamation mark

I found Fracture.

I was gathering supplies for my ingenious plan to get my shit back from that disgusting fucking filth dimension of ask and leaves and the denizen I am assuming is still fucking sleeping on all my crap when I went riffling for blankets in the closet.

First oddity. There was a pillow fort in the closet with a blanket roof.

Kicking it down, I had assumed it was Maggot's, I discovered a startled Fuck Face (Fracture) sitting there reading a book with a flashlight with a plugged in laptop in the corner.

He tried to get me to keep it quiet insisting he was on a well earned 'sabbatical'.

I went running down the hall yelling "Fractures Home! Fractures Home!" He chased me down cursing.

Some mute cat and mouse shit. He tackled me as Ms. Devil and Ms. Fire came out tapping their toes. They pulled him off my by his ears off to his office.

Fuck you fuck face!




.... Hindsight... I probably should have just offered to stay quiet in-exchange for him helping my get my shit back.... I've been told I've been written out of the will. Maggot now goes a wide selection of other people who would all have to be dead before I can inherit the asshole.

Fucking bullshit.

Beneath the Marquee

Howdy there! Its Jack.

And this is, another Jack Attack!



So, Fracture isn't back yet. Which is odd. I thought he would be when he started commenting again.

Apparently Ivan, my ginger fuck-tarded song happy fighting instructor, got a call from him informing the compound that he was 'On his way back'. Apparently hes lost in, and I'm quoting here, 'Metaphysics' somewhere across the 'Unspace' but within our 'Spectrum of Undeniable Plausability.'

So if I understand correctly Fracture is within a college tier school of study, in not space, and in definitive uncertainty.

Does that make any fucking sense to anyone else? I'm stumped. I'm pretty sure that's senseless gibberish and hes lost out in Antarctica or something. Hes probably gonna die. Then Maggot will be mine.

Then I will skin him... slowly, hehehe.

He'll damn well deserve it. I came into my room today to find all of my stuff missing. Clothes, books, shoes, weapons, everything.

When I confronted Maggot about it, he opened up a Path door to (redundancy I know) the path to show me a big ass pile off all my stuff slowly collecting ash and feathers with one of those Things sleeping on it. One of those disgusting fucking mutants.

Think I've seen them referred to as 'Denizens'.

I covered my mouth. Once Maggot had closed the door I fucking vomited. That thing was particularly grotesque. The thought of it /touching/ all of my things ... gah, making me gag now just revisiting the thought.

I think I was about to start running and screaming at Maggot but he drop kicked me. That fucker.

I asked everyone in the compound to help me get my stuff back but I have been repeated reminded that 'You really should learn to handle your own business if you instant to keep talking and treating people like the little shithead you are.'

Unbelievably fucking useless, all of them. I will fucking kill all of them

Overload

DIP, DO, ZAP! Jack ATTACK

So. This last week has been hell.

I thought Maggot was bad but I've actually started 'Proper' training now and that somehow sucks even harder.

My instructor is a fucking twit. Like, a real twit. Oh my god the twittiness. He has ALL the twittiness. Fucking ginger.

He never shuts up. Hes always making some sort of noise, singing or humming. Sometimes he'll just start randomly fucking clapping.

Clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap.

Its fucking annoying.

Training sessions consist of him and Maggot beating on me while he rags on me about how bad my sing is and how tone deaf I am. Oh, did I forget to mention he's worked singing in as mandatory for my curriculum in 'Killing 101'?

Yeah. Apparently its a must. Which makes no fucking sense.

I asked him, "Why doesn't maggot have to fucking sing."

He just slapped me. Informed me that "Mutes can't sing." And that I should "Ask less stupid questions."

This is absolute fucking bullshit

The only lull I've earned myself over the course of this last week was Fracture's preset 'will'.

Apparently Fracture has one of those. A little notice set to be sent to the higher ups in the compound if Fracture is away from his computer for too long informing said higher ups of how to operate and who inherits what in the event of Fracture's death.

Apparently, if Fracture dies, I inherit Maggot. Maggot gets to be my bitch! I... may very well kill Fracture at some point so I can make Maggot lay down and let me skin him alive.

But apparently some complicated stuff is supposed to go down when Fracture dies. Something complicated even further due to the current state of affairs. I can't say why, but needless to say its messy.

Ms. Devil decided we'd wait for proof of Fracture's death before we started enforcing the will just in case.

And quite unfortunately, Fuck Face still lives.

So... in the meantime more classes, beatings, and more harassment from that insufferable asshole.

But mark my words Maggot, one day Fracture will be gone and I'll crush you under my heel!

Sincerely,
Jack.