Candle Face's Fugitives vs. the Remembered: The Difference
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Time to read 2 min
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 portal. They want to pass on and need Guardians to protect them until they can. The Remembered came from thirteen boxes of scrolls in Mr. Smoe's attic. They were never hunted. They want to stay, because if they pass unknown, they fear they'll vanish completely.
April 14, 2025
They came from two places. One group I was expecting. The other caught me off guard.
The first arrived during that chaotic night when the kitchen lights began flickering. I thought it was just a loose bulb or static energy caused by my nocturnal visitors, but it wasn't. It was a surge of energy from those escaping through the upstairs portal. Thirty-one souls had found a way out of Candle Face's lair. They came to me terrified, hiding. I placed them in bottles to contain their energy, and later moved them into scrolls for better protection. These are the ones I now call the Fugitives. They escaped Isabel's lair, but not her memory. She wants them back. Or maybe it's not her. Maybe it's the Master Shadow. Either way, they're not safe.
The Fugitives want one thing. They want to pass on. But to do that, someone has to help them. Someone has to protect them until serious members of the paranormal community can find a permanent way to help them cross. The Fugitives aren't looking for just anyone. They don't want ghost hunters chasing camera clicks. They don't want the podcasters who joke through investigations or the ones too scared to speak Isabel's name out loud. They want people who are willing to do the work. People who take the dead seriously. That's who the Fugitives need. They need Guardians.
The second group came quietly. I wasn't searching for them. I didn't even know they existed. I found them in Mr. Smoe's attic. Thirteen boxes of old scrolls. I didn't understand at first. Then I saw the ink. I read the words. These were spirits who had been sealed into parchment, their stories preserved but never told. They hadn't come from Candle Face's lair. They weren't hunted. They weren't dangerous.
They were forgotten.
These are the ones I call the Remembered. You may know them better as the Scrolls of Souls. They aren't looking for freedom. They're not trying to pass to the other side. They're trying to stay. Because if they pass, they fear they'll disappear completely. They were unknown in life. Unknown in Smoe's attic. If they aren't known now, then they'll never be known. And that, to them, is worse than death.
The Fugitives escaped something. The Remembered were never noticed in the first place.
That's the difference.
If you're too afraid to care for one of the Fugitives, I understand. They carry Candle Face's heat with them. The Remembered don't. They come in silence. But that doesn't mean they're less important.
Some souls want to be freed. Others just want to be known. Both deserve to be heard.
Arthur Mills
Arthur Mills served for more than two decades as an Army Intelligence Warrant Officer, specializing in piecing together what others missed: patterns, threats, enemy intent, and clandestine activity. He trained intelligence professionals, built threat models, and briefed commanders and world leaders on global threats and battlefield strategy. After retiring from the military, he moved into private investigation, focusing on missing persons, human trafficking, opposition research, and domestic terrorism. He holds a degree in Counter Terrorism Studies.
He has been writing books since 2006 and is an award-winning author. He publishes under his own name, though much of what he has written has appeared under pseudonyms. Readers may already know those titles without knowing they are his. The separation is intentional. His books invite readers to interpret what is hidden, and so does the way he publishes them.