Candle Face Victim #18 and #19: The Walkman Left in the Road

March 8, 2024

Main Subjects: Candle Face

• Victim #18
• Victim #19
• Victim #7
• Victim #12

My plans for an evening walk got wrecked by a sudden wave of pollen, so I got on the treadmill instead. It’s in the sunroom, angled near the same corner where Victim #7 and Victim #12 once appeared. As I slowed down for my cooldown, I heard soft sobbing coming from that corner. When I looked over, I saw two faint figures, a man and a woman.

I stepped off the treadmill, but before I could speak, the woman said, “Please, keep going. I miss the days when I could run. I miss it so much.” I gave her a small smile, then walked over to the sofa and sat down, motioning for them to come closer. They stayed where they were, standing side by side and holding hands. Then she began her story:

My last day alive is burned into me, every step of that winter run, every moment that led to the end. I had my Walkman strapped to my arm, and my favorite songs were drowning out the cold and everything around me. Music made me feel safe, sealed off from the world.

That ended when a car slowed down next to me. A young guy leaned out and asked for directions. I was so caught up in the music and the rhythm of my run that I didn’t hear him at first. I had to pull off my headphones to understand what he was saying.

At first, it felt normal. Then he asked whether I wanted a ride. I said no. Before I could react, he grabbed me. It was fast and violent. One second, I was standing at the edge of the road. The next, he was shoving me into the trunk of his car. My Walkman hit the ground, and the music cut off. The silence that followed made everything feel even more real.

He drove off, but a few minutes later, he came back. I could hear him outside, moving like he was in no hurry at all. He was looking for the Walkman. He must have seen it fall. He picked it up, but he left the battery case and the batteries behind, scattered on the road like they meant nothing.

I didn’t know it then, but Candle Face had sent him. He was supposed to take me somewhere secluded in the woods as part of whatever plan she had. But he didn’t follow through. He never got me to the woods. He killed me on that road instead. Maybe he wanted control. Maybe he just couldn’t stop himself. Whatever the reason, he disobeyed her.

Candle Face doesn’t forgive disobedience. She came for him too, and now he’s trapped here with me. She bound us together, literally. Our hands are fused. I feel him every moment, and it’s unbearable. I hate him, and there’s no escape. Not yet.

Ray, if you want to help, find the battery case and the batteries. They’re still out there somewhere along that lonely road where he grabbed me. Trace the path of my last run in the Georgetown area. Somewhere along that stretch of road, my body is still waiting to be found. If you find it, maybe I can finally be free of him. Free of Candle Face.

Thank you for listening.

She gave me a knowing smirk, then stepped back into the portal, her killer following close behind, their hands still joined.

Personal Note to My Readers

The young man brought about his own end without realizing it. Now he’s trapped with her in Candle Face’s Lair. There’s a hard kind of justice in that. The room went quiet, and I caught myself giving a faint, dark smile at the thought of his shock when he learned he would be fused to the woman he killed.

That reaction felt honest, even if it was cold. As I keep replaying the encounter, I can still feel the laugh I never let out sitting in my chest. I think I’ve accepted the twisted justice of what happened to him.

But my heart still aches for her.

The investigation continues in the three most recent entries below. Each adds to the record on Candle Face (Isabel), the Lost Souls, and the Fugitives. You’ll find every entry to date in The Journal.