May 19, 1804

Mine.Some peculiar notion took me while aboard that boat, returning from America, bearing

on it myself, and my new wife Victoria. The early morning mist cleared slightly as our vessel passed that island, north and west of the west-most coast of Scotland.

It's curious profile, dark against the rising sun, struck my mind and could not be driven therefrom. Even now, some four hours after making our way to my residence, the thought lingers, at once giving me equal measures of fear and poisonous curiosity.

I shall inquire about it further.

May 20, 1804Victoria returned to her physician's post.Though I too carry a title of the medical sciences, it seems the world is foremost interested in the ways of one of its few female practitioners, over a couple of equal standing. I am proud of my new wife's capabilities and poise. We have money enough to allow me to indulge my curiosity about that island a little further.I have made all the necessary arrangements to discuss it with the Lord of the district.It seems my wife's name is not the only one with weight.

May 21, 1804The enigma of that island is apparently of insignificant interest to my fellow man.It seems ownership to say nothing of history- is a mystery. It seems it is unsureveyed and– unregistered, to any person or group. This inspires distress and excitement in my breast. I cannot fathom what might make other men forgo that enchanting growth of land. I will charter some exploration of this island, while the district Lord inquires further on my behalf.

May 22, 1804A truth uncovered.The island is an unregistered property of Scotland, free to be investigated and perhaps purchased. I have expedited the survey. We will be leaving in two days time.

May 24, 1804Again I see it, and the dark, oppressive thought Mine carries on with new vigor.I have now seen the island with my eyes under the clear mid-morning sun. Its waters are treacherous for small craft, and it's shores rocky. However, with this island (some 18 miles in length, and 13 miles in breadth) I am enthralled. It's proximity, being less than two days from the mainland is very desirable.

May 26, 1804I have walked on that island and returned. I am resolved to purchase it. The extent of variation that island affords is astounding. It has fields, forests, even an ocean-fed loch. Finance is on my side here. I know my limits, and this is a particular gamble, yet I am confidant I might make it work. I will inform my wife and we will decide together how to move forward. I hope this blood is a sign..

May 27, 1804Victoria was skeptical when I revealed my activities and ambitions. I eventually brought forth that which I had discovered on my initial survey, and pocketed : a sizable rough of a pinkish garnet. She was much more receptive to the premise of acquiring the island once I produced this little secret. It looks to be of a vastly different colour than other specimens I am familiar with, and of good clarity. We can turn a profit form this.

May 29, 1804It Is done. We now own that mind-possessing island. We have chartered a group of men and two ships to begin construction of the island, which my wife has taken to calling Grimvalk. I have sent word for help to my cousin Drake McCallester in America, for the operation of this Island.

August 13, 1804I have been negligent of my personal records. A dock and cluster of temporary houses have been erected for the continued development of Grimvalk. Drake has Taken monumental efforts to secure himself here. He has contributed a dozen Negroes from his former residence in The United States' south. I hope the barbarian nation has not corrupted his tartan soul.

September 21, 1804Drake has completed work on his house and fields, giving the surplus of his laborers to the production of my manor. Laying foundations, It was discovered that a network of caverns , laden with garnets, pervades perhaps the whole Island. It is accessible now through the basement of my manor. We are ecstatic at the concept. We will succeed.

September 28, 1804Our house is now externally erected. Spacious, or rather cavernous without much of the requisite interior, which will indubitably fill it. I am Satisfied with the work our hired men have supplied, most of them being general workmen. I have offered continued employment to many, making my cuz pale in shock. I see honest men. I suspect most will accept. I could be a Lord of this place.

November 2, 1804Now, here we are. Two docks, a mine, a boat house, and grinding building are all erected. As I suspected, Most of the men did accept my offer, receiving a small patch of land to the north or south on which to build cabins for their families. More than that, We have now a Deacon amonst ourselves. The good Catholic men have agreed to begin work on a chapel. The weather makes waters near here almost impossible to navigate safely, and I suspect this winter will come soon to cut travel to and from this island. This winter looks to be rough, so I shall send Victoria and several women away for that time.

March 11, 1805We have endured Drake has lost a few of his Negroes. All other men are in excellent shape. Work has begun on the chapel, and in the mines. Prosperity seems inevitable.

April 13, 1805Victoria and the other women return to our Grimvalk. I have sorely missed the woman's touch in these last cold months. We have made great progress in exploration of the caverns that pervade the island. It appears that the network is vast and deep, having underwater segments. It is this that keeps the salt-loch. A number of ocean fish fill its deep waters. It is know that there are a few fish in the fresh pond to the south.

Aside from entrances created by ourselves, there appear to be two entrances to the cavern network, being on opposite ends of the island. Both have been noted to be submerged at high tide.

April 30, 1805Victoria came to me with glee this morn.

I am going to be a father.

Never have I felt so much joy at one time, not even my wedding.

May 2, 1805This island was once inhabited. Of this I am quite sure. I discovered bits of pottery which had curious marking unlike anything in my experiences. Indeed, I doubt I have the words to describe them. I also hear word of some artificial stonework in the woods to the south, I will investigate these claims shortly. I am sending word to an old college associate of mine in London. To investigate. We are on the business rise now. None expect the source of such unique and appealing garnets to be so close! England is truly on our doorstep.

May 14, 1805After review of the sketches I included in my letter of request, Wallace Thompson has furiously accepted my invitation. He is due to arrive shortly with many books.

May 23, 1805I have made arrangements for Wallace to have the secret study, as he requested privacy in the ongoing study. I have never seen a man so in love with his books. His books being of all variety in tongues which I do not know and symbologies which I cannot fathom.

December 24, 1805I have at last rediscovered this log book. Drake has a habit, it seems, of placing it apart from my instruction.The garnets continue to shine in abundance.

Victoria will bear our firstborn soon.

January 6, 1806My firstborn child is a beautiful daughter, Rachel. Peculiar for an infant, she makes no fuss at all. Hardly ever does she cry. She always seems to listen, to me, to Victoria, even to Drake on occasion. Her silence worries me.Thompson's silence worries me more.Always it is his custom now to keep to himself in that study, or in the caverns below. I seldom get more than a vacant glance from him.

March 16, 1806Thompson has gone with great haste to the east on some lead. I cannot say why. He promised to return but gave no date. I dare not go into that study, as something possesses that man.

August 20, 1806A few workers have died of sickness in the northern cabins.The chapel now has its graveyard.

December 11, 1806Stores of food low, here and elsewhere. We should be alright. Rachel has taken ill.

February 16, 1807Rachel has recovered, and all is presently well. We suspect a long summer will be with us. Still no word from Thompson.

June 2, 1807I have heard Scuffling noises in the dead of night. I cannot say what of them makes me sit on edge. They sound larger than rats, I cannot say what of them makes me sit on edge. A droning buzz of cicada like insects leaves me awake. Even at the witching hour.

July 4, 1807A small statue, having oblong shape with two rows of spines running along its length, was discovered in the woods to the south. How much of t his island do we still not know? Where do the caverns end?

November 30, 1807It seems all my firstborn wishes to do is sit in our library. She is ill at ease anywhere else, even to the point of escaping the nursery to cuddle up in the armchair of the library.

February 12, 1808Thompson returned. He declared in some excitement that the history of this island is in some way connected to other sites in the east. How or why I cannot fathom.I gave him a rough description of our discovery to the south, and he set off first thing in the morning to investigate the woodlands nearby.

10 pages have been torn from the journal after this last entry.

The entries resume :

November 2, 1810Melanie still grants us no sleep. Even Rachel is complaining. More scuffling outside, and buzzing. Drake said his Negroes were scared silent of something in the night.I now sleep with a rifle near.

November 18, 1810Victoria has taken to sleeping in another room to allow me some rest, but she does not know that she and Melanie are not what keep me awake at night. I dare not inform Victoria that I discovered more of those awful claw marks on the door.

December 12, 1810Rachel Stumbled upon the secret study. It was several hours before I discovered this, and horrified, saw her sprawled in a pile of Thompson's notes.She didn't cry when I Scolded her or smacked her.She astonishes me.I hope she learned her lesson well. It doesn’t pay to know what Wallace's books contain.

Many more torn pages

Some edges seem burnt

Entries resume here:

June 1, 1815Victoria is due most soon. Rachel pays little mind and often does, as is her custom, try to seek asylum in the library. She has read a great deal of what our library contains.She has most recently adopted a fascination with Lepidoptera. I suspect she will be a first rate naturalist.Melanie on the other hand has adopted a curiosity for the less ladylike time occupations available. She has on more than one occasion caught a ride with the workmen to the Cutting building, or to carpentry jobs. They say they don't mind having a young lady overlook their work, yet I can only see Melanie getting in the way.

I think she shall be learning the piano soon.

June 4, 1815My son is born. We have named him Goddwin, after Victoria's father. He is healthy and strong, even as a newborn. Unlike Rachel, he is boisterous. His laments drown out the damned buzzing that pervades the night. I can understand Rachel's desire for solitude during these times.He never wishes to sleep.

More missing pages

Resuming here:

October 19, 1816Something has possessed some of my working men and their families, in the northOne stumbled down from the cabins, wounded, babbling about something incomprehensible. We ventured north with arms to discover a scene too gruesome to describe. The last to die said in delirium to stay out of the woods near the loch.The cemetery gets larger.

October 20, 1816We now sleep with arms in reach. I have taken to barring the cellar door. I still hear them, climbing over the house. If only I could see them to take aim!

They talk.

It is horrifying to think of that locust-like voice trying the English tongue. They are vile.

November 3, 1816Goddwin still refuses to sleep. He has genuine dread in his eyes, Clear despite his infancy. I am wise enough now not to wonder what terrifies him so.I see now, the map Wallace had created and crammed in the study. Shrines and altars. Warnings, and babble.

December 2, 1816I shot one of those things in the cavern. It had some manner of fleeing or was more likely carried by another of its kind. I only could see a splatter of green where it had bled against the cave wall.I cannot help but shudder at the thought of them.They are not of this world.

February 12, 1817It is our custom now to post two men, armed, to oversee mining.I hope once the weather clears we can send for more armaments.

February 18, 1817A miner's boy found something of interest.An oblong stone, of dark amber or wine color ( Not unlike a cloudy bourbon.) It is of the same form as the statue found in the woods.Curious.I was going to leave it in the study, but I dare not part with it

March 1, 1817Rachel and Melanie are missing. So is the Stone. Victoria and I went downstairs when we discovered their absence. There were more tracks of those things, but more than that, there were a pair of trails of sticky black slime which led from a puddle in the grand hall to the cellar.The door was smashed.Drake and I investigated the trail of whatever horror had visited, but we were only able to recover the stone.How had that been left in the middle of one cavern path? We continue to look for Rachel and Melanie.

March 2, 1817I went to ask some workmen for assistance.They're gone. No traces, nothing but fucking wheel tracks.The sun dips low, and I am forced to spend the night here.Those bastards can come for me if they have the courage.I am ready for them.

March 3, 1817More Buzzing noises.

They called my name in the night, but I did not unbolt the door, nor did I let my rifle leave my hand. They lack the conviction to kill a man such as myself.

March 4, 1817I have seen a horrible thing.One of the men living in the northern cabins was standing on the edge of the boat dock on the loch. I hailed him, seeing that further in the loch was something awful.

The man had bound his family and left them bleeding in the loch. Whether or not they were alive when he did this I cannot say, but they were being chewed to pieces by a frenzy of sharks. He had vacant eyes, and a strained tear-washed face with a half smile when he turned to acknowledge my presence. I called out to him, as he plunged backwards into the Loch, joining his family.I can write no more.

March 5, 1817No sign of Rachel or Melanie.We now sleep in one room with the door bolted. I do my best to not sleep in the night. More scuffling.They move freely through our house.

March 6, 1817I discovered atrocious symbols painted in that slime. We need to get away from here. No word from the southern cabins in days. There is no safe means of travel at night. Indeed, sleep is the greatest enemy.

Two pages are missing.

Resumes here:

July 22, 1817I miss Victoria and my children. The dock is vacant, I suspect some of the workmen have taken it an fled.Drake and I will try to move the boat from the old stone boathouse. This may take some time, but the steam engine should get us away from this wretched island.

How it caught my mind I cannot know, but now it has my wife and children. At least I still have this stone.

August 18, 1817Did the birds always sound this way?I think I am lost.How can I not carry this wood t the grinder?Where is that blasted hammer?

I have burnt my blasphemous sayings, and writings. Maybe I can be forgiven now.

September 19, 1817I have seen my beloved Victoria.How beautiful she is , dressed in white. Where has she been hiding?Has she seen Rachel or Goddwin?Where is Drake?Why wont he help me?

September 11, 1817I am all alone again.No Drake. No Victoria.Nobody.I must look for my wife. She has to be near, I can hear her whispering to me in the night.

September 12, 1817My wife is here. How beautiful she is in white. I long for her to kiss me softly with her tendrils.I am hers.