Concerning the Young Man in the Woods...

Chapter 2

Well…this is Awkward…

April 1
Day before I have to pick up the “Patient”. Right now, I’m just hoping that this is really some
elaborate belated April Fools’ Day prank…

. . .

April 2

Alright, Journal, my hopes were shattered today. That is, this whole thing is not an elaborate hoax…

Anyway, I took the “patient” into my residence today and, let me tell you, he’s…not that bad, actually. I mean, it was pretty awkward, getting everything, pretty much being dead silent on the way over, stuff like that, but he seems nice enough. Like, genuinely a nice guy, just a bit…off in places. But, Florina is supposedly going to be taking care of that. She’s going to be coming over every few days to help with “rehabilitation” and, if what I hear around the rumor mill is to be true, she’s working with some doctors and police officers to try and figure out exactly what happened to Feliciano, and how he managed to survive that long. Funny thing is, I never really imagined Florina to be the type who would work with “the man” saying as she’s spouting conspiracy theories non-stop (yes, Florina, wearing a tin-foil will protect you from aliens when you’re out and about at night, yes, Florina, the government has a secret plan to turn all books digital, and, my personal favorite in pure ridiculousness, yes, Florina, there is one person that embodies a nation, seriously).

Either way though, she told me to keep a close eye on him, make sure he doesn’t do anything dangerous to either himself or me. That said though, I am now wondering if it was exactly smart of me to allow a practical stranger into my house…I mean…well, what if he is a psychopath?! Then what?! Ugh…I really hope I’m worrying about nothing though…

. . .

April 3

I talked to my mom today. She had quite a few things to say about the “strange and dangerous man in my house!” and my dad ended up stepping in and, after telling her to calm down, stated that if Feliciano so much as laid a finger on me, that he would come with a hunting rifle and “Make him sleep with the fishes”. I…I really have nothing to say to that.

Their worries are perfectly justified though, as I mentioned yesterday. However, Feliciano’s been pretty amiable with me or, at the very least, quiet. But, what can you really expect? The guy looks like he’s been through Hell; I wouldn’t be too cheerful either, for that matter.

Anyway, Florina’s coming over in a day or two, in order to perform a “therapy session”. God knows what she’s going to do to him but, I know that I’m probably going to want to stay far away…

…Or, I’ll just duck out in the kitchen and hope that she doesn’t see me, either way.

. . .

April 5

Florina is coming tomorrow, thank God. I’ve been feeling a bit worried; he’s been talking in his sleep a lot lately. About what, you ask, Journal? Well…I don’t know…not much, at least. What I hear is mainly in a language I don’t understand. Sometimes it sounds Italian, sometimes Latin, and sometimes, it’s something completely different that doesn’t really sound anything like anything; I don’t speak any of those languages. Well…at least, not well.

With this in mind, I went to the best source for translations: Google translate. I am a genius. Due to Latin being a dead language, I couldn’t find anything there but, I did manage to figure out a little bit of the Italian and, from there, could deduce bits of the Latin. It was mainly phrases like “Let them go!” and “Take me!” and stuff.

I don’t know what happened to this guy but, whatever it was, it was Not. Pleasant. Hopefully, Florina can clear some of this up when she comes by tomorrow. Until then though…well…let’s just hope she figures something out…

. . .

April 6

Mere words cannot explain my level of confusion right now, Journal.

Allow me to explain.

So, like I said yesterday, Florina finally came today, thank God. She explained that she wasn’t going to do anything drastic (knowing her, I didn’t really expect anything drastic but, then again…) and that it wouldn’t take too long. So, after she took (read: forcefully pulled) Feliciano into the empty study room, I immediately took my position (damn my curiosity!) in front of the door, ear pressed near so I could hear.

Of course, things went normally, at first. You know, the typical “how-are-you?”s and “is she treating you well?”s and such. I’ll give it to Florina, she is most certainly a bunny-ears type of psychologist. Heck, I think she actually wore a pair of bunny-ears during a work day one time! What I mean though is, no matter how weird she gets, Florina is without a doubt, very good at her job! Which, I often forget sometimes, to tell the truth.

Anyhow, things were going normally, until Florina brought up how I found him. Saying it was a sore spot was an understatement. I didn’t know what was going on at the time, being a sort of blind fly-on-the-wall, if you will but, Florina filled me in later, saying that, when she brought it up, he seemed to fall into what she described to me as a ‘blue-screen-of-death’, and that it was a very bad idea for her to bring it up that early. “I got a little too far ahead of myself” she had told me after the matter.

Needless to say, the appointment was cut short by said ‘blue-screen-of-death’ (or, BSOD, for short), and I managed to flee the scene before Florina stepped out to talk to me. She had asked me if anything had happened since I took Feliciano in, and, of course, I had to tell her about the sleep-talking thing. She took particular interest in that, and requested that I somehow record it one night so that she could examine it. I felt a little bad about treading onto what was obviously a very fragile situation but, I accepted anyway, noticing that Florina was being more than a little serious about the case.

So, I’ve set up the recorder and, I’m supposed to give it to her tomorrow. Let’s hope this works…

. . .

April 7

Gave Florina the recording today. She told me that she’d analyze it and give me the results soon. There’s nothing else to report, really, just a normal day. Feliciano is still very quiet; I’m keeping an eye on him though, just like they asked.

. . .

April 9

Okay, now, Journal, before I begin, let me just say one thing. This is awkward, this is awkward, this is SO awkward, like you have NO idea how uncomfortable this is!!!

Once again, allow me to explain. Florina hasn’t fully analyzed the recording yet, if you were wondering but, this isn’t what the entry’s about, really. Anyway, things were fine yesterday, as you know, but, something…interesting happened that night.

Now, you know me, slip into bed, fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow but, last night was a little different. This time around, I had a little trouble falling asleep. I was probably just riled up from anything. But, anyway, when I finally managed to fall asleep, no sooner than what felt like only a few minutes (though, in reality, it was around 1 AM, about two hours past when I had fallen asleep, when it happened) somebody comes in and grabs my shoulder.

Needless to say, if it weren’t one in the morning, I wasn’t still half asleep, and assured that every single door in the house was locked, somebody would’ve ended up in the hospital with more than a few bumps and bruises around the throat and chest but, it was one in the morning, I was still half asleep, and every door in the house was triple-checked to be locked so, that didn’t necessarily happen. Plus, when I looked to see who this certain somebody was, I found that I actually knew them. You know where this is going, Journal. Feliciano had apparently moved on from sleep-talking to sleep-walking and, for that matter, he had somehow managed to stumble over to my bed.

Yes, I know, Journal. It sounds like a stupid Romantic Dramedy plot point. I've questioned the universe on this but, have yet to receive an answer. Stupid, popcorn-film-loving universe...

Anyway, of course, I was still half-asleep, so I didn’t really take any mind, save the mental note of “remind guest to not fall asleep in street-clothes again; dirt gets on sheets, makes mess” that is, before he started talking again, asking “Um…could I stay here a bit…please?”

Now, like I said before, I was still half-asleep (due to it being one in the morning) and groggily said “sure…” and rolled over to the other side of the full-sized bed. Of course, by the time he snuggled up next to me, I realized something rather…important. There was a man, in my bed. A man who, for that matter, I had found in the middle of a forest, was covered in blood at the time, most likely had some serious psychological issues, and was most certainly not my boyfriend!

By that point, I was wide awake but, too shocked to move. However, that wasn’t the only thing that kept me there. After all, my (damnable) curiosity just needed to be satisfied and, his half-asleep talking was giving me just that.

“Thank you for taking me in…” he said quietly, most likely unaware of what he was saying.

That said, I had no idea how to try and get information out of him, saying as I had no real experience in this sort of thing. So, I went for the obvious “It’s no problem, really. But, what were you doing out there?

He seemed to grow tense for a moment “Everyone else is gone…” Feliciano managed to choke out “It’s all my fault…”

“Hoo boy Florina is gonna have fun with this one!” was my immediate thought before I answered with “What happened?” (yes, Journal, I know, real smooth of me, right?)

That did not help the tension at all “I…I can’t tell you…not now…I just…I just can’t…” he said before officially falling asleep and thus loosening his grip on me.

I immediately slipped out of the bed and took the stage left exit, not wanting to wake him up and make everything even more awkward. So, there I was, laying on the couch, trying to figure everything out. I mean, if everyone he cared about was dead then…ouch, man…that’s…that’s rough. But, what exactly happened? How does this all pertain to the case? Why is Feliciano, apparently, the only survivor? And why the hell did he want to come over into my bed?! Wait…that’s not important…

Needless to say, it took me a bit to fall asleep after that but, from that point on, everything was
normal. By now though, I’m really hoping that Florina has that tape analyzed! Gah…I need to talk to her ASAP.

. . .

April 10

Florina finally got the results of that tape ready, and came over today for both the “therapy” session and, to give them to me. She told me that it took her awhile due to wanting accurate translation of everything…and, just trying to figure it all out in general. Of course, I had to ask her what that one weird language was but, apparently, she couldn’t identify that one. However, it wasn’t a huge problem, as she could deduce what it meant via the other phrases. Needless to say, I asked her what the results were but, all of a sudden, she became very quiet (which is most definitely not normal for Florina!) and said “Let’s take this outside, where he can’t hear us…”

…yeah…bit not good, Journal…

Anyhow, with my damnable curiosity, I accepted the offer, and we went out to the back porch. From there, Florina went on to explain that most of the phrases were indeed in either Italian or Latin (CALLED IT!!!) but, some were also in English (very few, for that matter), and, of course, the unidentifiable language. Of course, it was the translations of those identifiable languages that bothered her.

“It’s actually really kinda sad, Agatha…” she had told me “I mean…oh, God…I might not know what’s wrong with Feliciano but, whatever caused it was definitely not pretty…”

Now, as you know, Journal, Florina only refers to me as “Agatha” in serious situations, saying as she usually calls me AJ (a nickname that she came up with herself, mind you), for short (of “Agatha Jane”, if you had forgotten, Journal). That, and the fact that she was being unusually subdued, made me worried.

She then went on to tell me what the exact translations were and…well, Journal, to put it bluntly. Some serious junk happened to the guy and, I am now seriously worried.

You see, Journal, I had some of the translation partly right but, the real stuff is very depressing. Now, you recall I had said that the phrases translated roughly to “Let them go” and “Take me” and stuff. Well, I was right…for the most part. Most of the stuff was actually way more desperate, and that is putting it likely. I mean…oh, God…let me give you a sample, Journal

“Please, don’t die…I don’t want to be alone!”

“I’ll make bandages, just hold on!”

“Run away! Don’t look back, don’t cry, don’t blame me…”

Oh, and, my personal favorite~ A freaking prayer in Latin! Which, I will not transcribe here due to my inability to spell it…

…okay, maybe I’m exaggerating the desperation but, I guess you have to hear it, Journal…

Anyhow, the point is, it’s some really freaky stuff, if you will. We discussed it for a bit, and, at the half-way point through the conversation, I remembered something rather…important that I wanted to tell Florina. You know, Journal, that little awkward situation I talked about before.

I’ll put her reaction simply, Journal: “HE DID WHAT?!”

Of course, I probably shouldn’t have started with the phrase “My guest managed to get into my bed last night…”

Yeah…stupid…I know…

Anyway, after what felt like a millennia of explaining, Florina finally calmed down and grew serious again, being just as confused as I was about what “everyone’s gone” and “all my fault” meant (at that point though, we were just happy that Feliciano hadn’t heard the shouting…we think…)

It was at this point that I asked Florina if she had found out anything of importance through the “sessions”. She stated that it was most likely going to be a long, delicate process, which could take a long time to complete (she wasn’t specific with how long, “long” was though). “After all, if what we’re hearing from the tapes is true…” she had said “…then we have a big problem on our hands; and it’s going to take awhile to get what we need out of him. I’m pulling strings as is to keep the police uninvolved but, I can’t keep them away forever…” (I had no idea Florina was even able to “pull strings”…or…wait…didn’t she have a relative in the force? I can’t remember…)

After that though, things lightened up again (if only just a little bit) and Florina gave farewells and left, leaving me with the findings from the tapes, and various other bits of information.

So, that’s how that went, Journal. I’d call it a step forward, at least. Of course, right after Florina left, Feliciano seemed to remember a rather important bit of information and apologized about the “incident”…rather…passionately for that matter: “I’m so sorry, m’am!” (oh, God, am I already credited with “m’am”?) “it won’t happen again, I swear!” (seriously doubt that…) “Please don’t be mad!” (Well…this was a complete change…)

Needless to say, I told him that it was alright and not to panic if it happened again (though I seriously doubt he’ll follow that), I mean, he seemed to be on the verge of tears, for crying out loud!

God…he’s a mess…let’s hope that things go well in the end.