Chapter Text
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Elias recently notified me that we received a collection of statements from our sister organization, the Usher Foundation, located in Washington DC. Giving them a quick read, they all seem to relate to this town by the name of Echo. Elias, as always, didn’t explain to me why these statements were sent our way so I’m unsure what exactly to do with them. I suppose recording them would be a good starting point.
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Statement of Leonardo Alvarez, regarding a buzzing in the abandoned rail yard near his home. Original statement given February 25th 2015. Audio recording by Jonathan Sims, Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute, London.
Statement Begins.
Well then, where should I begin? I guess I should start from the beginning. Me and my family arrived here in Echo from Mexico when I was just eight years old, if I remember correctly it was in 2000? Oh well, it isn’t really important, yeah? Anyway, when we settled here I didn’t know a single word of english, but I was fortunate enough to quickly become friends with two of the local kids, their names are Jenna and Chase. Eventually our little friend group expanded, mainly thanks to me. I always found it weird how all the kids from Echo never hung out together, so I tried to include the others and eventually I succeeded. First TJ and Carl, then Flynn and Sydney joined us.
Looking back this is when I started to hear it. Although I never really noticed it until later.
The first time I actually registered hearing it was three years later. It is difficult to talk about this topic, I tried to avoid it with the others every time I could. But I feel like telling you everything is something it doesn’t want me to do, and so I’m here, writing this down.
It only really began the day that Sydney died. I couldn’t have been there, I was too far away. But I should have. I should have helped him. I should have done something, but I was too late. The only thing I could do was watch as Chase, beckoned by Flynn, dragged his body out of the murky water of the lake. Sydney didn’t die on that beach, he was taken to the hospital and later died there, but for us he did. That day I swore that I would’ve always protected them, my friends, my family. But that’s also the day it started buzzing.
It started off really far away, only a faint sound in the depth of the night, nothing I could worry about, after all, I could only hear it while I was alone, something that back in the day didn’t happen very regularly. I wish I could go back. The first times it happened I asked my parents if they could hear it too, but they couldn’t. So in the end I simply tried to stop bothering myself with it, the sound simply became part of my routine. However it sometimes got closer, and never backed up.
For a while I was able to make it go away, not really on purpose, it just happened. It was in 2008, on November 1st, you know? Dia de Los Muertos. Well, there was a party that I was attending, kinda, outside of town. I didn’t really go there to attend the party since I had other plans with… another person that I won’t name here, since they are not really part of it. Those plans were kind of crashed by Chase, while he was in a sort of dazed state. The details here aren’t really important, I made sure that he was alright and we talked for a long while, and in the end we became boyfriends, which was something I had kind of hoped for some time.
Those four years were the best of my life, I was madly in love with him. I still am, and it knows. We spent most of our time together, we couldn’t have enough of each other, and yes, there were some moments where we fought, but that’s a thing every couple does, yeah? And eventually we always were back together, maybe not stronger, but still together. During this period I forgot about the buzzing. I thought it went away, but now I know better. It was always there, waiting, lurking. And in the end its patience paid back.
Three years ago we broke up. It was probably my fault, I reacted too too badly to a stupid prank, and he was gone. He went to college, and left me alone here. I was, and still am, heartbroken. After this almost everyone had left, but to be fair, the only one I was really missing was Chase. I had forgotten how it felt to be alone. This is when the buzzing returned, after all this time while I silently hoped it was gone for good, but it was back, and way closer than before.
Behind my house there is an old abandoned rail yard, very few people go there since it’s in the outskirts of the town, in the desert, but it was our special place, where we shared our first kiss, and where time and time again we met up.
This time the buzzing came from there. And it was louder. I tried my best to ignore it again but this time I couldn’t. Night after night it was growing louder, along with my desperation for having lost Chase. I couldn’t bear it for much longer. I tried inspecting the rail yard for the source of the buzzing but I couldn’t find anything, it didn’t come from a specific point, it was all around me. In some twisted way, feeling it totally embrace me felt almost comforting.
At first I tried to find someone else, but you know, a little city in the middle of nowhere doesn’t offer that many options, and I was already lucky once. So i tried giving a shot at casual sex, but it was never the same, it couldn’t have been, Chase still wasn’t with me, and the incessant buzzing was still ringing in my ears every night. So I started doing the only thing that I could to try and keep myself sane, I started to pretend. I started to pretend he was there, with me, all throughout the day. I taught him how to fix cars. We listened to the radio together in my car, laughing at his face every time a country song mentioned a truck. We relaxed on my porch after a long day. We slept together every night.
I know this was a bad decision, it isn’t healthy, but these moments of lucidity away from my desperation are rare. Writing this statement is one of those.
The buzzing didn’t exactly stop, it just became more bearable. It started to talk. Not like a normal human being, but like the cacophony of thousands of little sounds, overlapped and synched to form something resembling human’s speech.
No.
Not a human’s.
Chase’s speech.
He talks to me. At night he talks to me. He tells me that we will forever be together, that he wishes to remain with me forever. He tells me that he loves me. And I love him too.
This has been going on for a couple of years now, everytime he speaks his voice is always more like the real one. I’m very happy he is making this effort for me. He cares about me.
But this isn’t everything, is it? Last night someone knocked at my door. It’s something that doesn’t happen very often these days, especially not at night. So I went and opened the door. He was there. Deep down, I know he isn’t the real one. His form is always changing and made by many things. But I don’t care. He still is beautiful to me. I invited him inside, and he accepted.
We talked long into the night, he kept telling me how we will forever be together, that he loves me, that he would do anything for me. I am so glad I met him. Eventually he spent the night at my place. But this morning he wasn’t there. It happens, but it also made me realize that maybe this isn’t right. Maybe it shouldn’t feel this good? After all he is only an imitation.
I had to tell someone about this. And that’s when I remembered Carl talking about your foundation. This is why I’m writing. I’m not really expecting anything. I just needed to tell someone, to try and get my head straight, and this story seemed like something you could want. So here we are.
I think it worked. While I’m still in a somewhat good mental state I should probably talk with Chase, maybe get him, and everyone else, to spend spring break here. I should make things right, I should talk with him.
I hope we’ll work something out.
Statement ends.
There is not much to actually to follow-up in this statement. It seems to be the ramblings of a person with declining mental health, given his development of more complex auditory hallucinations, followed by visual ones. Although he seems to still be able to tell what’s real and what isn’t. There isn't much more to say about this specific statement, although while doing the follow-up Tim was able to find some more information about Mr. Alvarez’s town.
A few weeks later from the date of the statement something happened in Echo. There are reports of extreme acts of violence all around town, all happening in the course of a single night, which don’t seem to be related to one another or this statement.
The only thing that seems to be connected to this story is the death of Chase Hunter, an ex-resident of Echo, and probably the same Chase from this statement, whose body was found by rescuers inside Mr. Alvarez’s house. Police reports said that the body, and most of the house, were encased inside of what seemed like an enormous wasp’s nest that seemingly formed overnight.
Authorities at the time weren’t able to follow up with Mr. Alvarez, who seemed to have disappeared.
End recording.
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