The Journal

These are my field notes from the Candle Face investigation, dated as the events happened, beginning in October 2023. They track the Lost Souls, the Fugitives and Isabel. The newest entries appear first. To follow the case in order, go to the last page, read from the bottom up, and work back one page at a time. If you catch something I missed, tell me.

The Journal

Ray's hand reaching up from dark, storm-covered water, asking for help that never came. Featured image for Candle Face Chronicles.

Candle Face Chronicles: Why I Went Silent and Why I'm Back

The Journal went dark in December 2025 after the Master Shadow's second visit to my garage. This entry explains the silence: the help that never...

Arthur Mills
Candle Face over a document with a candle in the background.

Candle Face Chronicles: Where the Investigation Stands

The Journal returns to candleface.com with a full update on where the investigation stands. Forty-seven Lost Souls, thirty-one Fugitives, Isabel at the center. The case...

Arthur Mills
Isabel, before she was Candle Face, stands alone in a shadowy black-and-white portrait with her head lowered in quiet sadness.

Returning to Isabel: The Forgotten Daughter of La Llorona

This entry returns to Isabel: The Forgotten Daughter of La Llorona after months focused on Lady Bird Lake and the wider investigation. Isabel is a...

Arthur Mills
Silhouette of a drowning person’s hand reaching above the water, symbolizing the mysterious deaths at Lady Bird Lake in Austin, Texas.

Is La Llorona’s Daughter the Lady Bird Lake Serial Killer?

This entry reviews decades of drownings at Lady Bird Lake, from the first high-profile tragedy in 1964 to the cluster of recent cases that fueled...

Arthur Mills
Dark hallway with three doors; the center door displays neon signs advertising paranormal tours, haunted shows, psychics, and tips.

It’s Time to Divide the Paranormal Community for Good

This entry divides the paranormal world into three groups. Paranormal Fans are the curious, open-minded backbone. Paranormal Entertainers, the loudest group, sell fear, merch, and...

Arthur Mills
Sad clown with rainbow wig and ghost-hunting gear holds an EMF meter while two cartoonish ghosts loom in the smoky background.

Paranormal Groups Ignore Candle Face Just to Sell Merch

This entry is about nearly two years of asking the paranormal community for help and getting sales pitches back. Out of the 62 groups I...

Arthur Mills
Split attic scene showing glowing corked bottles and parchment on one side, and boxes of rolled documents in shadow on the other.

Candle Face's Fugitives vs. the Remembered: The Difference

This entry explains the two groups of spirits in my care. The Fugitives are the 31 souls who escaped Candle Face's lair through my upstairs...

Arthur Mills
Outstretched open hand emerging from darkness, softly illuminated against a shadowy background, suggesting an offer of help or protection.

How to Become a Guardian of Candle Face's Fugitive Souls

This entry explains what it means to become a Guardian of a Fugitive. Their energy is sealed in scrolls where the Master Shadow can't track...

Arthur Mills
Dimly lit wooden desk and chair in a dark, worn room, with several aged handwritten pages scattered across the tabletop.

Candle Face's Lost Souls Need Guardians Before It's Too Late

This entry breaks my silence after February 23. Since then, I've been going through Mr. Smoe's papers and merging my two websites into branchingplotbooks.com, which...

Arthur Mills
White feather quill resting in a glass inkwell atop a stack of aged, worn parchment pages against a dramatic black background.

Isabel: The Candle Face Book That Could Save or Doom Us

This entry marks the day I finished piecing together Isabel from Mr. Smoe's scraps: eleven books, each eight pages long, with eight notes per page...

Arthur Mills
An aged parchment scroll tied with braided cord and sealed with red wax against a white background.

No More Spirit Bottles: Sealing the Fugitives in Scrolls

This entry describes moving the 31 fugitives out of their glitter-filled bottles and into scrolls. Using the stories I had already saved with their QR...

Arthur Mills
An empty corked glass bottle sits beside an aged handwritten scroll, quill, and ink bottle, with storage boxes stacked in a dim background.

From Bottles to Scrolls: Protecting Candle Face's Fugitives

This entry describes the night I brought Mr. Smoe's thirteen boxes home and read through his scrolls. Each held a name and a voice preserved...

Arthur Mills
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