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[color=gray][hider=Journal Entry #1 - Unfinished][i]Initial thoughts...
I do not have any qualms with traveling outside of New York, I never have. I like the trains, I like the way they smell and I like the sounds. There's a nostalgic value in watching the world go by outside but being incapable of doing anything about what I see. Watching people is easy. This will not be easy and that makes me nervous.

I feel weird and that's no surprise, I opened enough doors that the devil came knocking at [b]mine[/b]. I am not one to ignore a rap at the door but for a moment I considered it. I'm not sure that chasing shadows is [b]smart[/b] but it is what I've chosen to do. Violet might appreciate my fortitude. Too bad she does nothing but scream at those same shadows any longer. 

I bite my tongue as I consider what might face me and I find I can't reason why I shouldn't go. I'm not the brave sort but I am the curious sort and sometimes that is just as bad. It's important that I keep my wits about me despite this, although the idea of venturing into this lacks wits all itself. Oh well. Hell awaits, yes?[/i][/hider]

Standing now at what he'd considered the point of no return, Simon was left to face down with a peculiar figure. His instinct was to go for a weapon but he could hardly bring himself to move. He had frozen in place shortly after his unsuccessful retreat, staring up at the cold blue eyes that stared back at him. His heart was hammering in his chest and he was [i]stuck[/i] there, incapable of speaking or acting. His breath exhaled sharply and he tried to make note of as many details as he could about the individual although they were shrouded in gloom and that was no easy task. He could not make out much of their face but he [i]could[/i] see the scar, a twisted, knotted thing that stretched across their cheek. 

He wanted to brush them off as some sort of vagrant, a nobody in the darkness who was hungry for a fight. He considered they could perhaps be a local who was too keen on superstition, he was familiar with the type. He did what he could to ease his posture as he stared them down, tried not to look threatening, just in case they [i]were[/i] looking for a fight. If they were just a superstitious local then he doubted they'd strike him but it helped to be nonthreatening in these situations all the same. He did [i]not[/i] want to consider them to be some sort of [i]sign[/i]. The words they spoke rung too true with his own internal turmoil, they was [i]too[/i] close for comfort. 

[i]At the very least, this was an opportunity, wasn't it?[/i]

He had wanted to ask questions anyway, his whole purpose for visiting was to ask questions. If this dark figure had some kind of answers then [i]who was he to complain?[/i] He tried to reassure himself with this logic although it did little to qualm the fear in the pit of his stomach. He would quiz this strange person a little and then he'd retreat the carriage, preferably without sustaining any injuries. He struggled for one more deep breath, and exhaled through his nose before he managed to force a pleasant smile on his face. The change was almost [i]immediate[/i], he'd gone from [i]cornered animal[/i] to [i]friendly face[/i] in no time flat.

He swallowed down the anxiety rising up the back of his throat and he forced his words out through his teeth, smiling all the while. "[b][color=7ea7d8]I don't know what you mean,[/color][/b]" he knew [i]exactly[/i] what they meant but he would [i]not[/i] show fear if he could help it. Fear was no use to him when he was engaging in investigative journalism, this wasn't the first shady figure he'd ever had to face off with and he presumed (or hoped) they would not be the last. His eyebrows drew together in an attempt to look confused. "[b][color=7ea7d8]What's to fear about the woods?[/color][/b]"

[i]What wasn't to fear about the woods?[/i]

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