Archive of Our Own ^beta

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Test… test… is this on? Okay, seems to be working.

My name is Parker Riffs, but I go by Pix. I’ve been hired by Mayor Xisuma Void of Lakeside Town to be head archivist of their records house and library… Which is turning out to be a difficult task. The previous archivist seemed to just throw things in boxes and stack them in a corner.. Though I doubt I actually have a predecessor, no matter what my employer says. 

I have half the mind to complain to Mayor Void, but the man hasn’t answered a single one of my calls. I figure he’s ignoring me. After seeing this place, he doesn’t strike me as a man who keeps track of things. 

No matter. Back to the topic. Because of this mess of an archive, I've hired a team of researchers and assistants to help me clean it up and obtain any information that may be missing. 

… actually, hired is the wrong word. They volunteered. Not to say that they aren’t being paid! They simply showed up, offered to help, and since I was struggling, I gave the okay. 

The name of my head researcher is Zenon Slab. We call him Zloy. He’s from Lakeside, actually, so he knows a bit of the town's history… and he’s also my husband. Lyarrah says I’m biased, but Zloy’s skills are valuable, and he was most qualified for the position. 

Lyarrah Jones is another researcher, but she also assists me with the archiving, and interviews people when needed. She’s an old friend from before I moved to this town. 

My newer employees are Martyn Slab and Grian Solidarity. They’re… I wouldn’t say they’re the most reliable… but I need all I can get, and Grian has proved himself to be at least a tad competent. 

That’s enough from me. I’ll… get on with reading out this case. 

Case #103775: the Shooting at Smajor Farm, night of August 17th, 2010.

This file is a collection of statements, letters, newspaper articles, and other documents relating to the crime. I’ve picked out three statements that I find the most relevant, which I will record separately and go over the overall information in a later update. 

clears throat Statement of Scott Major regarding the events of August 17th, 2010. Original statement taken August 18th, 2010. Audio recording by Parker Riffs, head archivist of the Lakeside Town Archives. 

Statement begins.

I.. Okay, i’ve been dating Martyn Littlewood for about a year now. Secret, of course. My parents are pretty against gay people, so we couldn’t exactly go around willy nilly holding hands and kissing. 

He’s always been so sweet and funny. We built a treehouse together out in the woods, which was great! He’s always encouraging my interests…

Sorry, i’m getting sentimental. I guess i should tell you about my family and our business! We, ah, we’re farmers. My dad and mum, Exor and Freyja Smajor, own the place. I have three brothers, one older, two younger. 

Xornoth is the eldest. They’re pretty great, all things considered. They looked after the rest of us, handle most family finances, and they take Aimsey and Acho to whatever transition clinic they may need. Pays for them, too. They work a part time job at the blacksmith’s to make extra cash.

Acho is third. He’s shy and doesn’t say much, but star’s actually interesting! We’ll race the horses over the fields in our spare time. 

Aimsey is the youngest of us all. His legal name is Alice, but no one calls him that. He’s such a joy! A little troublemaker at times, but I love him all the same.

So uh… yeah. Last night. We were hanging out in the loft of the barn. We usually hang out in our treehouse, but something had destroyed the markers we set up in the woods, and we didn’t want to get lost at night. 

We… well, we were making out. No hiding it. We were making out when I heard my dad shouting outside the barn, accusing me of sneaking a girl into the barn. 

I’m gay. I’m very gay. If i’ve not made that clear, sorry.

Anyway, there’s a window in the loft that I'd attached a rope to a long time ago. I told Martyn to escape by climbing down the rope while I distracted my dad. 

I quickly climbed down the ladder, my heart thumping. I don’t know if you’ve ever experienced what it’s like to know you’re prey. Your heart rate speeds up, your thoughts start spiraling, and the adrenaline is flowing through your body like never before. Every nerve in your body wants to run. 

It’s terrifying. I’ve never gotten used to it. 

I pushed open the barn doors, looking up at my dad. He was shouting something about sneaking a girl in and letting him at her…

And he had that gun in his hands. 

For all my parent’s… questionable views, they’ve always been kind. I’ve only seen my dad pick his gun up to hunt.

We were his prey, I just knew it.

I tried to distract him, arguing about how I hadn’t brought anyone in and I was just talking to myself. If I could’ve stalled him longer, I know Martyn would’ve been able to escape. I just know it.

But oh god, that rope…

Martyn is really athletic, but the rope burned. I could hear him struggling and yelping in pain, which meant so could my dad.

He got mad. Like, really really mad.

He ran around the side of the barn, where Martyn was dangling on a rope hung from the hayloft.

Everything was a blur… but I saw him cock his gun and take aim.

So I yelled and tried to push him away, but I was too late. Dad shot the gun and, as he pushed me to the ground, I heard Martyn’s heartbreaking scream of pain.

I’ll never forget that. His scream… it was like nothing i’d ever heard before. Agony, fear, loss, I couldn’t describe it if I wanted to. 

I started to get to my feet, hoping I could get over to Martyn before dad did, but he pushed me down again.

He started yelling at me, cocking his gun again and pointing it at my head. 

Fear. Pure fear. Fear so strong it stops you in place. That’s what I felt at that moment. My dad’s eyes held violence. He was going to shoot me, I was sure of it. This was so unlike him, but...

I can’t believe it. I know the horses like us, but I didn’t know they were out in the field that night. I heard it’s whiney as it galloped over, full speed, and rammed my dad to the ground. For a moment, the stallion looked like a blur of pure mist.

But that’s impossible! Horses aren’t made of mist. Even if they were, they wouldn’t be able to knock a grown man over!

I took the chance I got, ignoring how weird this was and running over to Martyn. He was bleeding. A lot. A lot, a lot. The wound was in his thigh- though I’m sure you know that already. He was crying and breathing hard and I just.. I couldn’t stand it. I gritted my teeth and took off my jacket, wrapping it around his wound.

Martyn started talking. It was mostly nonsense, and I tried to comfort him best I could. Just until an ambulance could be called. I didn’t want him to die- he couldn’t die! I couldn’t stand the thought of his smile being gone from my life…

I don’t remember the rest. It’s all a blur, I was tired. I just hope Martyn’s okay. If he dies, I don’t know what i’ll do. Maybe run away. 

I should go now. That’s all I can give you. Xornoth wanted me to check up on the horse that got loose, make sure it’s okay and all.

… Xornoth said dad shouldn’t be a problem from now on. I hope that’s true.

Statement ends.

big sigh Wow. So that’s why Martyn has his limp. Both him and Zloy refused to tell me what happened when I asked. Kinda weird that this is the first case file I picked up.

I did some more research into what happened after this night. Apparently, even though Exor Smajor was arrested and tried for his crimes, he never made it behind bars. He died a couple days after he was found guilty. Choking. 

As for the misty horse, probably just a trick of the mind. Adrenaline is powerful, and so is fear, and that horse most likely was just a Blue Roan or some other type of blue-ish horse.

What does concern me is the mention of a treehouse in the woods. The police searched for it after they got a tip that it might help with the investigation, but they couldn’t find it. Nothing.

Reports say the only thing out of place was a dip in the ground where it looked like a tree had been torn out, and large horse tracks leading away into the deep woods.

End Recording. 

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Statement of Dr. Shelia Shubble-

[DOOR OPENS AND CLOSES] Pix, I found something you’ll want to see.

Sigh What is it, Zloy? I’m recording a statement.

My mum let me look through her old stuff. [SOUND OF SHUFFLING PAPER] This letter was in there. It’s from when we moved and talks a bit about the Smajor Farm incident. I thought you’d like it for follow up.

Thanks, Zloy. How’s your mum by the way?

She’s… better..

Still sick?

Yeah.. but… it’ll pass. She’s strong..

Go visit her.

What?

Go visit her. Take the day off. Family is important. I’ll get Lyarrah to do whatever needs to be done, she’ll understand.

But-

Honey, I love you, and I adore your mum. I want both of you to be okay.

… [SOFT SNIFFLE] Yeah, okay. 

I love you.

Love you too. [DOOR OPENS AND CLOSES]

[SOUND OF RUSTLING PAPER]

[HUMMING]

Hm. Interesting. I’ll have to read that statement later. This seems more important.

Statement, I guess, of Cleo Slabs. Statement taken from a letter to one Sasha “Stress” Morrison, dated November 29th, 2010. Audio recording by Parker Riffs, head archivist of the Lakeside Town Archives.

Statement begins.

My dearest Stress,

I hope this letter finds you well. How’s life back home? We’re doing well over here. Evo City isn’t as glamorous as I’d hoped, but at least there aren’t any killers up here. You should really get an email, or even a new phone. It’d make it so much easier to talk. 

Martyn is healing well from the injury. The doctors said he’ll have some trouble walking, with a limp at best. It’s not the best news, but I'm just happy he’s not dead. It’s not like we don’t have experience with physical disability anyway.

I can’t say I don’t miss Lakeside. The city is crowded and noisy, and despite the wonderful schooling, I've not been able to find a good job. Not that interior design was a stable job back home anyway.

I hate relying on Etho. I love him to pieces, but… I get the feeling we’re drifting apart. It’s not the way it used to be. He came home from work late last night with a hickey on his neck. I think he’s hooking up with one of his coworkers. 

Scar and Bdubs are struggling at their new school. They don’t have many friends and Scar’s having trouble getting around in his wheelchair. 

On top of all of this, I… think I’m rotting. I don’t know how to explain it, but I’ll try. 

I woke up two weeks ago, looked in the mirror, and my skin looked sickly. Kinda.. Green. I of course went to the doctor, who said I just need to take better care of my skin. So I got some new lotions, went to a salon, but nothing has been helping.

This morning, while I was making breakfast, some of my hair fell out. I know i’m getting old, but 50 is hardly a time for huge clumps of hair to just fall out of your head. 

The weirdest part about it is that… I didn’t even think about it, I just grabbed the hair off the ground and started looking for my sewing kit. 

Stress, I sewed my hair back into my scalp. It hurt, it hurt like all hell, but I couldn’t stop. It was like my hands weren’t my own. I couldn’t keep control.

I stink. Literally. I’ve been washing every single day, even twice sometimes, but I still smell like death. 

I fear I’m dying.

Please come visit. Bring False as well. I want to see you two one last time, just in case this is truly the end for me.

With all my love, Cleo.

Statement ends

… Oh boy. I’m glad that I told Zloy to take the day off. If this is what’s been happening to Cleo this whole time… 

It’s probably cancer. It doesn’t seem like cancer, but there’s no other explanation. 

Cleo lives a couple streets away from the library in her old parent’s house. She moved back to Lakeside in 2019. She’s always been cheery and bright. She’s a strong woman, and I see a lot of her in Zloy.

I’m learning a lot about my husband’s family from this case..

By the way, I checked out that spot where the treehouse supposedly was. I didn’t find anything unusual. Just grass and forest.

I can’t give any follow up research on the letter at the moment, so I'll give an update at the beginning of the next statement in this case file.

End recording.

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