My name is Donald Andrews. Donald Andrews, Ph.D., to be precise. I have always been fascinated by the supernatural world and the mysteries surrounding it.
As a physicist and chemist, I believed that if one could understand the underlying principles, the supernatural could be studied and harnessed through scientific means. For years, I was ridiculed by my peers in the scientific community for my unconventional theories. Little did they know how close I was to discovering the truth.
It all started in 1972 when I stumbled upon an old journal written by John B. Wallace, its earliest entries dating back to 1880. The journal was in tatters, but I managed to piece together the entries by date. Here are some excerpts from the journal from (year: 1895).
-–x—
April 3rd, Morning:
“The wolves have not yet stopped howling. It’s been 4 days straight. The wretched creature shows no sign of relenting. It is not human, that I can be sure of. It strangled my hound yesterday. The poor creature is still yelping. How is it influencing those wild wolves? I intend to find out soon! Today I plan to poison the gutter it drinks water from. I have created an odorless compound composed of mercury - it is capable of dissolving in water. I will write down my findings in the afternoon.”
April 3rd, Noon:
“As expected, he is dying. Even with all his uncanny abilities, it was not able to detect my compound. It is hissing and seems to be cursing me now. I have not been able to decipher its speech, but the creature is surely intelligent. It is the way the creature dresses - those golden robes, the brown leather armor and silvery boots. I bet it even knows English or some other human tongue.
It appears human, except that its ears are pointed, and it has no hair. It used to sing a sweet tune. It is capable of mesmerizing even the sanest of minds. It is only by plugging my ears that I was able to escape its godforsaken hypnotic tune.
I fear that poisoning it might have taken away the properties in its blood.”
April 5th:
“The accursed creature is truly astounding. It has a heart - a heart yes! Its blood has properties which seem out of this world. It MUST be rich in nutrients. I fed some to my hound yesterday. My hound’s injured eye has fully recovered!”
April 10th:
“I fear I have murdered a creature divine. May God have mercy on my soul! ‘Twas a messenger of God! Even in its dying breath, it told me a way to save my wife. It worked! She can walk again now.
I shall now describe the recipe I used to heal her. What more arcane knowledge this creature had, I cannot fathom. But its body and belongings contain as many secrets as its mind, that I am sure of.”
-–x—
Through hours of rumbling in John’s descendents’ dilapidated mansion, I had come across what might have been elf-blood.
I became obsessed with the idea that this creature’s blood might be the key to unlocking the supernatural world. I managed to obtain a sample of the supposed elf-blood and, using the University’s electron microscope, I discovered something extraordinary. The DNA in the sample exhibited self-assembly mechanisms only intelligent entities could display. I was certain that I had found the source of so-called ‘wizardry’. I believed that all ‘magic’ was a result of manipulating ancient technology, possibly of extraterrestrial origin; just as the modern computer revolution was a result of combining the power of thousands and millions of transistors and manipulating the electric current passing through them.
Intrigued by these possibilities, I dedicated my life to uncovering the secrets of this arcane technology. It took me three decades, but I finally collected all the necessary components for a ritual that I believed would grant me immortality.
As I gathered the materials for the ritual, I faced numerous challenges and setbacks. My own children had me diagnosed with schizophrenia in the 90s, and I became a pariah among my colleagues. I spent years trying to recreate the machinery from scratch, only to fail time and time again. Eventually, I realized that attempting to fully understand the mechanisms behind this was an insurmountable task for a single person.
It was a humungous mult-decade research project which would require immense government funding and possibly hundreds of scientists, engineers and investors. Not to mention the humiliation I had previously faced from the scientific community either…
Frustrated and impatient, I decided to focus on my initial goal: using this ancient technology to perform supernatural feats. I planned to revive the dead. The ancients considered it taboo to do so…however, I was sure that it had been attempted several times in the past.
I started my experiments in the 90s, successfully resurrecting dead bacteria and later, larger animals. Just a few days ago, I managed to revive a dead deer that I had hunted for sport.
Emboldened by my success, I decided that it was time to test my theories on a human subject. I chose my assistant, Dr. Canberra, as the first test subject. He knew too much about my experiments anyway. He would have the honor of being the first human to be revived using my newfound knowledge.
It took me decades to collect the numerous objects I required to conduct this ritual; esoteric objects and the skull of a beast long extinct.
-—–
June 5th, 2007
The day of the experiment has finally arrived. I plan to kill Dr. Canberra today. Or Archie, as I call him. He is one of my oldest students.
2 parts magnesium. 5 ounces of elf blood, 5 pounds of troll skin, 3 liters of sulphuric acid…, yes; I am ready.
“Goodbye Archie! You were a good assistant…”, I said. He stared at me; his eyes filled with terror, like a dog trapped in a cage. Well, he is literally trapped in a cage, after all.
Dr. Canberra shrieked in agony as the machine sucked his soul. I then took my rifle and shot Canberra’s lifeless body in the head 3 times and twice in the heart.
I transferred his consciousness into an artificial chamber made from artificial elements of my design, elements unknown to any modern scientist. I then bound the consciousness back to his lifeless, destroyed body.
To my horror, the resurrection went awry. Dr. Canberra’s body went into a grotesque dance, and his organs fell out as he tried to escape the cage. Realizing the process was too much for him, I activated my plasma incinerator, completely annihilating his body and disintegrating it at the particulate level. Large parts of my lab caught fire too. What was I thinking, having him only 50 feet away from me? I should have developed a sealed incineration chamber before-hand. Good to keep this in mind for the next time!
Despite the failure of my first human experiment, I remain determined to achieve my ultimate goal: immortality and unfathomable power through this ancient technology I have spent my life studying…I must find a new test subject soon…
[part 2 to be inserted here]