The Case of Jonathan Taylor
Archive Number: 000021881
Written by: Elamort Vien
Audio Recording by: Eclair Vin
Okay, right, we have more clues now; we are trying to find some record that might be connected with the church that Jonathan Taylor regularly goes to. And we found something. A report of a missing person named, Orpheus Sere. Apparently, he was a Pastor. Is this going to be another cult-related case? I don't know, but still, this was good news.
The church near Bradbury Street has been abandoned. We sent some people from the organization to take a picture, and when the Polaroid Film arrived at my table, I could see the building had been badly worn out with some of the ceilings already exposed to the sky, vine growing between the broken glass shards. But one thing struck me as unusual, the door. Despite the church that nearly collapsed, the door seems to be in quite good condition. Although still, it was old and probably would shatter if someone just kicked it. But the more I look the more I'm sure that the door has been frequently being used. But by who?
That night, I decided to drive there alone; writing it down now, I realized how foolish my action was. But still, I'm eager to know what is inside the churches. The building looked exactly like the one in the Polaroid Photo, I sat there in my car seat looking at it while collecting my will to go inside. And then I slapped myself in the cheek and just went for it.
The road is dark and cold without any street lamp functioning, the lightbulb has been blown up, and the shard is still lying there on the pavement. I touch the cold metal handle of the door and open it. The room inside was dark, and I can't see anything inside, so I turned on my torch. There was a chandelier that had already fallen, and the shard of glass had almost reached the front door. And in the corner of my eye, I caught something. Something moving. Remembering it I hope it was a rat or some other wild animal. But no. There were no sounds of footsteps or anything that might indicate that this was an animal. I came closer, and my shoes stepped on the glass shard, creating noise. And then there, I saw it.
My eyes began to adjust, and there was someone. Or something? Standing there still. And when I tried to confront it a canister was suddenly thrown at me. But I didn't see their hand moving. The canister began to release a thick white smoke, which I now believe was Hexachloroethane and Zinc Oxide. When I look back at the figure, they are gone. I immediately covered my nose and ran from the church, only suffer a little cough.
I drove my way back to the Ophelia Institute and sought some medical help with an oxygen canister masked around my nose and mouth. I spoke to the other members about what I experienced and what I saw. Whoever did this is now on an alert and this was my mistake.
Kevin suggested that we inform the authorities. But David immediately rejects the suggestion, he says that the authorities won't do anything without enough evidence. And probably would just ignore this case. He was not wrong but now everything is simply becoming harder.
Sitting here in the office I couldn't quite forget how the creature looks. It was a slender tall body, but I didn't quite catch the other details. I try to look for an Orpheus Sere Missing Person Report. And sure enough, he had a slender and tall body, but this was not enough evidence. Even though I am slightly sure that he is what I saw in that church.
I recovered now and the organization had agreed to check the church. Surprisingly I didn't realize that we had a gun… well for an Archivist like me, something like that is not too necessary… Well… if I didn't try to check the scene myself like yesterday… Ekhem…
We came in a van and the moon is shining on the road now. And now I realized something: they also prepared with a gas mask. Since when do we have the budget– never mind… I took one of the gas masks and the gun… of course, I didn't have any idea how to use this, but something to protect me was important, they said, as I was the one who recorded anything they'd done. Well, thanks for the consideration, but if I'm being honest, I'm not the kind of person to do fieldwork.
We gathered in front of the church and slowly opened the door. The room is still empty and each member turns on their own torch. The chandelier is still there. We checked every corner of the church and found nothing. Nothing. Not even a single paper or a remnant that someone lives here. They must have been fleeing already.
We gathered near the entrance. I felt a deep guilt from my foolish action but this wasn't the time to weep and blame myself. I'm the one who is responsible for this outcome.
After going back to the institute I started working on doing some digging. I didn't sleep that day, and finally, after hours, I found something. It was an old shed where Orpheus Sere used to live when he was still a college student. But at that time, after informing the organization, I collapsed and fainted.
Apparently, I forgot to take my medicine that day. My blood pressure plummeted. They gave me the details about what they did with the shed. A couple of Polaroid Photos of the shed arrive at my desk and they have found something inside. They found a jar with a name plastered to it, "Jonathan Taylor." There's a trace of Formaldehyde, but the jar is mostly empty. This case is making my head hurt, what did they want? What did they do to him?
They didn't take anything physically to the institute room, only a photo due to what we avoid when they get alarmed again. For now, this case has become the top priority and I hope we can crack this sooner.