If you find this than there still might be a chance. It is October 13th, 2006 around 5 in the morning and I am in the middle of what people will believe to be a forest fire in the mountains of Big Beat California. But this was no regular forest fire. The flames were not created by any known force to humanity and the damage will be indescribable. My name is Joseph Fits, my brother and I were on a vacation for just being out of collage and decided to take a trip to the Big Bear mountains. Though now my brother is gone... And there isn't another living thing in sight. I am sitting here under what I believe to be a safe haven from the destruction around me. We thought it was nothing. We didn't believe that the stories were true, we should have listened. And now, sitting here under a lone Elm tree; there is only silence as the forest burns.

October 10th, 2006
Today James and I are finally reaching out to some of our relatives up in the mountains. After being cooped up in Orange County all our lives we finally wanted to escape to somewhere a little more quiet.

James and I weren't ever much of beach people, and living next to one growing up was a pretty big bother, ever summer being invited to bonfires and surfing events. We just weren't as into it as all our friends were. James and I enjoy close to the same things. Similar tastes in food, music, art... Women, don't even get me started on the fights we had about that! Makes sense that we were twins, only seconds apart and fractions of DNA from Being different. We were almost the same person. Though the one thing that we had the most in common was where we wanted to live when we grew up. Somewhere nice and cool, surrounded by forest and not a living soul for possibly miles across. We have had that dream ever sense we visited our cousins up in Big Bear the first time when we were 7. We were finally going to do it! I think that's why I'm writing this log, so that one day we can look back on our first experiences with our new home, our dream come true.

As soon as graduation was over James and I headed on the road, no family, no friends, just the two of us in our shitty mini van and hardly any luggage. Most people would travel to Paris, or Italy, or something fancy. But all we wanted was peace and quiet in a nice warm cabin surrounded by seemingly endless amounts of forest.

James asked me if I was excited around 45 minutes into the drive, and of course I was! I was thrilled to finally have this come true. All of the horrible hours from jobs I never had a sliver of enjoy mount out of payed off. The saving for the car and small, yet comfortable cabin was going to work out. Our cousins lived right next door so until we were completely moved in we would be staying with them. It was perfect!

Upon arrival we sped through the large trees and cool winds of the air. Consistent amounts of wild life and occasional carvings into close by trees.
"Hey James, when we get to the cabin we should carve something into the biggest tree on our lot." I said.
"Are you kidding?" He replied, "We are carving on ALL the trees! It's going to be our territory!"

Looking out the window to the almost pale blue shy, a small amount of sunlight could be seen through the canapés above. And for the first time ever, thinking about the forest gave me any setting feeling. I had no idea where the feeling came from but I brushed it off as nothing. On to Adventure!

October 11th, 2006/10 AM
We spent almost the whole day yesterday with Uncle Charlie and Aunt Gloria. Hardly got any word done trying to pack everything into the cabin but I have to say everything seemed worth it so far. The view from the cabin was beautiful and the patch of trees around us seemed almost mystical. Everything was coming together just fine. Today is going to be full of packing everything in and making sure there isn't anything else we might need. So, we have to get that all done first.

1PM
After around 3 hours most of our things are packed into the cabin, like I said we didn't have much to begin with so the stress free effort of moving was super simple. I have gone back and force from saying this is a vacation to us actually moving because honestly, we don't know yet. We are going to be out here for as long as we can the figure everything out later on.

5PM
The day seemed to go by fast as Aunt Gloria told us all about the things they have done in the past years, all the little adventures they had and the crazy things they have seen and heard.

They told us about the time a beat had raided their trash cans and about the time a deer had almost attacked their car on the road! I gotta say I don't think I laughed that much in a while. The thing I was looking forward to was the stories Uncle Charlie wanted to tell us later tonight. He said they were all about true events that actually happened in the forest, and one was a reason they never leave their cabin at night.

James and I's uncle and aunt were always the superstitious type. They always had some kind of mystical thing to talk about that lead them to believing another creature of some sort. Though this time they seemed particularly spooked, that wasn't like then. They would talk about a creature or being as if it's some kind of old wise tale, but when describing this story they had little to no enthusiasm. And when Uncle Charlie would talk about telling it to us he would describe it as a warning. I personally thought it was just his way of trying to scare us grown men but hey, you never know.

9PM
For dinner we had some kind of strange bean casserole that Aunt Gloria put together. Getting past the strange pasty texture and random crunches of an unknown substance, it was pretty good. In a day James and I had successfully moved into the cabin next door. We could easily move out if we do decide this is a long term vacation but we haven't talked about it yet. Him and I are too caught up in the moment to really think about the future.

After we ate and Uncle Charlie had taken care of the dishes he gathered us all in the main living room of the house.
"Alright everyone." He began, "I think it is time we tell you about, the Black Orphious."
As soon as I heard the name I got hills down my spine. Uncle Charlie always had some kind of scary story but I thought I would have grown out of actually getting scared by these thing, I guess not.

"Now boys, the Black Orphious is no laughing matter. It is a real being that used to be a man, and he turned in these here woods." Uncle Charlie said, "So I will say this once. After midnight do not leave your property and wonder the woods behind your cabin. Cause close to here is where the story of the Black Orphious took place. Now to the actual story."

The Black Orphious:
Back in 1967 there was a camp sight at the base of Gray Back Mountain. The camp sight was called Orphious Falls, and it was a large camp sight full of life year round. One weekend in the summer, exact dates not described. The Johnson Family had decided to take a trip to Orphious Falls for a weekend long camping trip. The family consisted of a Mother, Father, Daughter, and Son. The first day went as any family camping trip would. Fishing canoeing and all the rock climbing u can imagine. Though their trip was short lived when news of a forest fire; miles away, had taken the camp by storm. After the news there was a large amount of people that had decided to leave Orphious Falls for obvious reasons for fear that the fire would eventually make its way to them. Those people, were smart. The Johnsons on the other hand had decided to stay regardless of the fire. The Father of the family was confident that nothing could get in the way of their weekend of fun. Hearing this, the mother was released and agreed. The second day news of the fire getting closer to Orphious Falls had drawn even more campers away from the sight. But not the Johnsons were determined that they could continue to have a great time and leave ok the morning like planned. More and more campers had left until there were only a handful of family's left. Including the Johnsons. That night Mr. Johnson had woken up to a blood chilling scream of his wife trying to pry open their tent as everything around them was engulfed in flames. The wild fire had made it to Orphious Falls and they never took the warnings to heart. By the time Mr. Johnson had gotten out of his sleeping bag his wife had already gotten third degree burns and was getting closer to death every second.
Mr. Johnson left her. He had to get to his kids and there was nothing he could do for his wife. He burst through the tent to find himself in a valley full of flames and had to follow the screams of his children to find them. When he came across his children's tent all that was left was his sons black sleeping bag and the corpse of his once sweet and beautiful daughter. His son wasn't in sight and the flames grew hotter and higher as the seconds that felt like hours passed. Mr. Johnson grabbed the sleeping bag that had once belonged to his son and wrapped it around him, hoping it would shield him from the flames long enough to find his son. He ran through the flames occasionally hearing the sound of screams and blood curtailing screeches. The sleeping bag began to melt around him and slowly stick to his skin. The pain was so immense but he had to find his son. The heat from the flames began to fuse his skin and the black sleeping bag into a charcoal color mixed with ash and blood. Each step felt like a mile on broken glass as every part of his body began to be fused with the melting sleeping bag. His hair began to burn off his scalp and face and when his eyelashes went... So did his eyelids. Leaving open wide bloodshot eyes filled with pain and regret. And before Mr. Johnson had finally collapsed to the ground. Through the corner of his newly burned eyes he could see a man carrying his son away from him, into the forest. Only two bodies were recovered, the bodies of
Mrs. Johnson and her daughter. The father and son where never found. Though the story doesn't end there. Cause the story continues to this day, because days after the event in Orphious Falls many camps began reporting a strange black figure with large pale eyes watching the children as they place. Whenever at police get involved the case runs cold, but some people believe that the figure is
Mr. Johnson still out looking for the man that took his son. Still looking to reunite himself with his boy. Many children and men have gone missing after sighting of he being. And due to the color of his body and relations to the camp sight he is connected to, he was named The Black Orphious. ~

James and I sat there in our seats, shocked yet curious from the story that we had just heard.
"Now boys." Aunt Gloria began," You are both grown men now. But your uncle and I have beliefs that this being is real. He wonders the woods at night and there have been many sightings of him. We don't know if he is really alive or if it's all just a fake but we are honestly terrified. So promise us... Promise us you won't leave your cabin and go into the woods past midnight!"

Aunt Gloria was very passionate about this, and so was Uncle Charlie. They actually believed that this was going on. That this Black Orphious was actually out there. But we continued with the conversation.
"Uncle Charlie, Orphious Falls is close to here?" James asked.
"As you know the cabins here are at the base of the Gray Back Mountains. Orphious Falls is maybe on a half a mile away from here. If you go during the day you can still see the different from the forest here and where the wild fire had taken place."

James and I had thanked both of them for dinner and the story. We were both honestly spooked by this and it seemed like James was eager to go explore the sight as soon as we could.

I was just getting ready for bed when James walked into my room. And he asked me something I honestly wasn't expecting.
"Alright Joseph, what do you say you and I go on a little hike tomorrow night yeah?"
Of course I was going to go with him! Going out just the two of us men and exploring what is supposed to be a strange being? Sounds like a lot of fun to kick of this new experience. And maybe we will put our Uncle and Aunt to rest knowing that this Black Orphious isn't real. It's all bogus anyway, I mean something like that actually existing? It couldn't happen...

October 12th, 2006/7PM

James and I are just about to head out for a hike all the way to where Orphious Falls should be. Earlier in the day we made sure we had everything we needed when it came to surprised, Chargers, and a map to show us how to get around. I was way more excited for this than I thought I would be but this might actually be a bit of fun. A nice hike all the way to another part of Gray Back and explore the scenery. Thought of course James is more interested in solving the case of the oh so mysterious Black Orphious! Seeing him get really into this detective shit for the supernatural should be interesting. We are fresh out of collage and the first thing we do is go ghost hunting... Great....

12PM
James and I have been hiking for about 5 hours and I have to say this view is outstanding! The wild life is crazy and the smell of the air is remarkable. Meanwhile I'm over here enjoying the view and James is caught up in the Map trying to get to the sight.
"James can't we just enjoy ourselves for w minute?" I asked.
"Are you kidding? I'm having more fun trying to figure out this Black Orphious crap. Yeah the forest is amazing don't get me wrong but a weird super natural mystery that probably leads nowhere is kinda fun! Common you'll see!" James turned back toward the train we were on and began running down it. I swear he never knows when to quit. 

2AM
Holy shit! Holy Shit! Holy Shit! About an hour ago James and I decided to get dorm shut eye before getting to the sight and I swear there's something outside our tent. This story that we were told is definitely starting to spook me. But it's the forest. The forest has noises!

I woke up James and told him that we should keep moving if we wanted to make it to the sight before sunrise, sense he wanted to inspect the area when it was dark but honestly I just wanted to get the hell out of there. The hour that we slept I kept waking up to strange noises outside our tent like somebody was out there. I just had to keep walking and get my mind off of it.

2:45AM
Ok I SWEAR to god I think I'm actually starting to go insane. I keep seeing something out of the corner of my eye following us. I'm a grown ass man some story my Uncle told me shouldn't be getting me so damn spooked. James is starting to notice it too and I think he's actually starting to feel the same way. I can't believe we are actually feeling like this cause the forest, something we have always wanted to be a part of is starting to scare me. I don't know what is ahead but it is freaking us out.

3:15AM

We wanted to take a rest for a while to clear our heads... James fell asleep... I later back and... I see something standing behind us. I can't see anything other than two white dots constantly staring at me... What the fuck is going on here..?

3:30AM

SHIT! SHIT! I couldn't stand to be stared at by that... Thing anymore! I pulled up my bag grabbed James by the collar and began to run as fast as I could. He was well behind me but running too and I think he knew what we were running from because I have never seen anyone that scared in my entire life. Nothing seems to have followed us but I swear to god I know what we saw. This is insane...

4AM

It's right next to me... We had to stop, we were so tired from running that we eventually came across a massive patch of land that we could rest on. We were sweaty and beat and we had to try and sleep this off... But the second I closed my eyes it's like they opened immediately, lol I blinked. One second it was the night sky and the next all I felt was heat and all I heard was James and all I saw was the figure standing right in front of me...

All around were flames and they seemed to move as the being did. James was no where in sight but I could hear him close to me, but he wasn't on a patch of dead grass... He was in the flames being burnt alive.
I blinked with fear and the creature was so much closer to me. It's eyes... It's god forsaken eyes! So white and full of terror! All the skin on its body was covered with patchy scaly char that smelled like a fire pit and flesh.
"No! James!" I screamed, But it was no use, his screams for help had faded to a slow but painful to hear gargling noise. I couldn't see him but I knew he was as good as dead.

How could this happen to us? So quickly our time hear had fallen apart to the terror of this creature. Then, in the most raspy voice I had ever heard... It began to speak...
"NOW YOU KNOW WHAT ITS LIKE TO LOOSE A LOVED ONE." It screeched wth a voice that sounded like it was coughing up glass.

I turned to run as fast as I could away from that thing. With every step it took the flames around me grew higher and hotter. I couldn't escape this. He thought I took his son. I don't know what he really is but he wants nothing more than to fuel his anger.

I kept running through the woods, it almost felt like forever before my legs began to feel like jelly and I collapsed. The flames around me burned brighter and felt hotter than ever. My clothes began to stick to me and I knew I would meet the same fate as it did. The being, the creature. We should have listened to our aunt and uncle. We shouldn't have gone out like some kids and explored the world...

I was crawling at this point, when before me I saw something that seemed to be some kind of miracle. In front of me was a small, yet powerful Elm tree. Completely untouched by the flames. I turned to see the creature behind me at a distance. It stopped walking forward and stood where it was. The flames stopped growing and the heat kept its temperature. It was like time began to come to a halt. And as time did, so did the sound around me. I began to craw toward the Elm, I knew that somehow, someway it was the reason this was happening, and I realized, that we were now in Orphious Falls.

The moonlight slowly crept upon the tree as I could see it was surrounded by black, ash filled snow. And there. I began to dig, for something I knew had to be there because this was no ordinary tree. Somehow, this elm was important to this whole mess. And the creature. The Black Orphious just stood and watched.

I dogged faster and faster and wouldn't stop. Something was keeping me from stopping even when my fingers began to bleed. Then I felt something around a foot down from the base, I could feel something with the rawness of my fingers. It wasn't a rock or more dirt. It felt like leather. I pulled on it as much as I could until it plopped from the ground to reveal a worn, leather wallet.

The flames around me began to grow again and felt as hot as ever. I turned to the Black Orphious and saw him struggling to keep balance. He held his hand out as if it was some kind of gesture for something. I turned back to the wallet and began to open it. The leather started to melt in my hands from the heat and it hurt like burning an open wound shut.

Inside was an ID. The information said; Maxwell Johnson, official boy scout, 1967.
This is where his son had died all those years ago.

5AM
With my back on the Elm tree everything around me is starting to grow cloudy. The fire is sucking the oxygen out of my lungs and into the fiery flames around. I can see the sunrise appear across the horizon. As the flames grow higher the Black Orphious fades away. I can see the pure hatred in his red glory fade to sorrow and regret like it did so many years ago, and with my lungs slowly getting less and less air, and my body heating up around me... There is no living thing in sight and with the silence, stands the single Elm.~