PS

PS' icon on the Evil Takes Root blog

PS or Paige Steerington is a character linked to Halloween Horror Nights 23. The gender of the character was unknown, due to the fact they remained in dark light with their face hidden. However, it was is hinted that the character was a female, and somehow linked to Legendary Truth: The Collective (later revealed to be through her father).

History

For some time now, PS had been receiving messages from an unknown source about a "rooted evil" that will be released, along with GPS directions, into the woods, toward two mysterious artifacts: a cellphone containing a video of a mysterious cabin, and a backpack containing even more mysterious items, including hand-drawn sketches drawn in blood, a video of a devastated town, a video camera with a haunting video of what appears to be a ghost girl, a severed ear in a box, a train conductor's whistle, an old crime magazine and a microcassette recording the sound of an ominous-sounding animal. It was believed that the backpack and phone belonged to a member of a group that had disappeared a few days before the discovery. Throughout the months of 2013, PS showed signs of paranoia as they believed that someone was spying on them as their desktop background picture changed from a picture of Hohenzalzburg Castle in Austria into a picture of a forest path, along with gaining strange phone calls.

It's finally been revealed that PS are the initials for Paige Steerington. She had been investigating corruption within the Legendary Truth's senior staff which was connected to the disappearance of her father, Richard, who was a former member of the Legendary Truth and a Princeton University teacher. He disappeared while on a fishing trip with Captain Lawrence B. "Lazy Bastard" Manely in Amity Island, New England.

It's also revealed that Paige is a member of the Legions of Horror; a Baccanoid, like her father. In 2010, he sent her to Salzburg, Austria from Princeton, New Jersey so that she wouldn't suffer the fate of five teenagers who, while in the same forest where she found the backpack and cellphone, were ambushed and slaughtered by a mysterious killer. The children were each a member of the other five Legions and if she had joined them, she would have died as well.

On the final night of the event, as part of the finalé for the Legendary Truth game that year, Paige could be found in a restaurant across from the Blues Brothers stage being interrogated by an agent of The Collective (though due to the thickness of the glass, the conversation was largely unheard). She was later brought on stage during Dr. Thorncastle’s speech to the present members of The Collective, before being ushered away by agents. The identity of the killer, along with Paige's current status and location, is unknown...

Evil Takes Root blog

June 27, 2013: The Unexplained/Stepping into the Unexplained...

Just posted the first video. I don’t think anyone will be able to track it back to me. Praying they can’t. Was careful to alter both audio and video image. If you recognize the dirt road you’ll know where I was-but not who I am.

Can’t divulge who gave me the GPS coordinates. Not because I don’t want to but because I found them written on a scrap of paper that was tucked under my windshield wiper ­so I don’t know myself. Thought it was a pizza ad at first. Coordinates and the two words midnight tonight.

So I went (someone somewhere knows me too well). And you see what happened. Those I trust say the sound on the video sounds like a wild pig.

Maybe. The stench was awful. And if it was a hog, what has it been eating?

Don’t recognize the cabin. May need to go back to search for more.

Check back for more – will make it available as soon as I can – PS

Video Transcript

PS: I have to be careful about all of this, so I've altered my voice and removed any visual clues that will give away where I am or who I am. I need to show you what I discovered and tell you why.

(PS drives down a wooded road. A text appears. "The Investigation." As soon as PS starts talking, the text vanishes.)

PS: I am here because I found out where it was supposed to have happened. They say many things have happened out here. Unexplained things. I'm not authorized to be on the property so, truth be told, technically, I am trespassing. I like to think of it as geocaching. But it doesn't matter.

(Cut to first POV of a forest seen in night vision)

PS: So, this is the place, within eight to ten feet according to the GPS coordinates. So this is supposed to be it. This is where GPS says. Wait a minute. There's something...(texts appear: "Backpack discovered." "GPS location correct.") It's someone's backpack! Someone dropped a backpack! (an animal of unknown species is heard) What...was that? What the hell was that?! (s/he starts coughing and retching) Awful smell! I'm going to be sick! Something's - something's behind me! (shriek) Jesus!

(Cut to black. Text: No time to examine area. Not sure what was behind me. Felt like I was being hunted. Overpowering odor of decaying matter. Escaped: 12:22 AM. Cut back to PS' room)

PS: So, my camera work was not the best, especially when I'm scared out of my skull. I did not stay to find out what made the sound. But I did manage to hold onto the backpack I found. (cut to PS wearing blue antiseptic gloves and carefully handling the backpack) And now, I need to find out who it belonged to and why they left it behind. I'm hoping someone out there recognizes this phone, or this video that was shot on it. We'll post more as soon as I can. As you can see, there are more objects in the pack.

(Cut to a video of a POV shot of a cabin in the woods. Someone is walking towards it. Cut to black. Text: PS...Check back to see more of what I found.

June 29, 2013: Why me?

Why was I chosen to look into this? Because someone knows that I’ll look into anything out of the ordinary. Anything that hints at an unsolved mystery. And this mystery seemed simple enough at first – what happened to them?

There are reports that they ran away. Others say abducted.
Hoping the contents of the backpack yield answers…but so far just more questions. Waiting to see reaction to the videos and this blog.

Check back for more… PS

July 1, 2013: Is someone watching?

Computer suddenly running VERRRRY slow. Also noticed the stuff on my desk not exactly where it was when I left this morning. At least I think it isn’t. Maybe just imagining things. Turning off cell phone except to make calls. It tells whoever is watching where I am whenever it is on.

Shot another video and will post as soon as I can. Disgusting find this time. You’ll see what I mean…

Check back… PS

July 3, 2013: I'm watching too.

I’m reading your comments, observations and opinions. The positive ones help. Okay so someone was looking for a cabin in the woods. They found one, recorded the discovery on the cell phone and then left it behind?! I don’t think so.

Will post more later…PS

July 5, 2013: Crank Calls

Okay this is getting very creepy and a little unsettling. Every time I open the file to update this blog my home phone rings within 30 seconds or so…but when I answer there is no response. They don’t hang up… so I know they’re listening. It’s like someone is telling me they’re watching us while we’re looking for them.

I’ll let you know if anything else out of the ordinary happens.

There’s more…PS

July 8, 2013: Paranoid Precautions/Unwelcome Contact

I’ve decided I will need to disconnect my home phone when I open this file on my computer. Obviously whoever is monitoring my moves online will know, but at least they cannot harass me in my house.

Some of you are asking why I don’t open up the blog for comments and this is precisely the reason – you do not want to draw their attention because they may start to focus on you too.

Back to the issue at hand, the bloody photographs look like pictures of hand-drawn sketches. Will explain in more detail in next post…PS

Video Transcript

(Text appears in black background. Research continues. 3:27 AM. Cut to PS sitting down at a desk.)

PS: So, I've been reading your comments and opinions about the first video. Apparently, there is no consensus. Maybe its sole information will help us all. As I mentioned in my previous post, there are a number of things in the backpack I found in the woods. While the backpack itself is not the source of the horrible odor that I encountered, there are certain add to the awful smell. Everything in the pack carries the scent of rotting stuff...decaying...organic material. Including this. (Cut to PS' gloved hands pulling out photographs from an envelope) Old fashioned photographs; sketches someone made. Looks like the stains are dried blood.

(Cut to black. The phone rings)

PS: Oh! Again?! (PS rushes to answer the phone) Hello? Hello? Who is this? Who is this?! (The caller hangs up)

Text: Again my phone rings in the middle of the night and there's no answer on the other end. Or if there is, they listen for a few seconds, then hang up. They never speak. More to come...

July 10, 2013: Bloodied pics

There were three in the envelope.  One looks like a drawing of what appears at first glance to be a star on a badge or disc with markings I do not understand.

Another has track-like markings.  And the third is a sketch that is unmistakable.  All of which you can judge for yourselves because I am going to get them each scanned and will post them soon…PS

July 13, 2013: Things getting serious!

Someone was in my house while I was out.  Back door open when I got home. Envelope and bloodied pics have gone missing.  So has my cat!!!

July 15, 2013: A Confession

Okay so I may have posted too quickly.  As you know some of the events following my discovery of the backpack left me a little unnerved.  I found out this morning that my neighbor left the back door open to let my cat in after spotting her in the yard.

Furball came bounding in just after I posted about her missing and the first thing she did was jump up onto the table and begin pawing at the little box tied with leather.  Knocked it off the table onto the floor…which is where I found the bloodied photos.  So this also explains why things seem to be moved when I’m out.   PS

July 16, 2013: See for yourself

Here are all three photographs in one scan.  They speak for themselves.  Will post each individually so you can get a closer look….PS  (By the way, only a complete bonehead would be dumb enough put their cat’s real name on a blog where everyone is trying to figure out who they are.)

July 17, 2013: Stitched

Upon closer examination, what looked like tracks now appear like stitching.  Not sure what the other lines were meant to signify.  Two more to follow…PS

Badge of Horror

Realized that this is not really a badge with a star but a pentagram with symbols.  Haven’t had time to research them and am hoping you can assist…PS

Neither dead nor buried...yet

Pretty clear what’s happening here.  So these are pages from a book of hand-drawn sketches.  As disturbing as all of this is, it pales in comparison to what I found in the box…PS

July 18, 2013: Who put the note on my car?

Whoever put the note on my windshield knows where I’ll be and when.  Can’t get that out of my head…PS

July 20, 2013: Who to trust?

No one!

July 21, 2013: Phone calls

While I’ve turned my home phone off, the calls apparently continue when I log on and open this file.  Last night they left a whispered voice message (or question to be more accurate).

“WHO WERE THEY?”

July 22, 2013: A disturbing discovery

The things found in the backpack go from bad to worse. First bloodied pictures and now a surprise in the box… tied up with loving care and displayed on a bed of cotton.  No wonder my cat was obsessed…PS

Video Transcript:

Text: The investigation turns grotesque... (Cut to PS at her desk)

PS: I have been giving this a lot of thought, and I must admit, that the middle of the night phone calls had me a little rattled. So I turned off the phone. I am of the opinion now that whoever geve me the GPS coordinates where I found the backpack wants me to know that they are closely following everything that I do with it. And the contents with that in mind...let me show you what I found next. And it explains why my cat went a little nuts. (Cut to PS carefully untying a brown parcel.) The cell phone video didn't help much in identifying its owner other than someone who felt it was important to record their discovery of an abandoned cabin. (PS opens the package and takes out a ring box from it) I thought the envelope with bloody photographs were disturbing enough until...I...saw...this!

(Cut to PS' gloved hands opening the ring box. Inside it is a severed human ear. S/he carefully flips it over, showing the bloodied flesh.)

PS: Ugh! A friend of mine works at a local funeral home while he's earning his degree. Forensic pathology. He took a look and called me with a preliminary observation report. (cut to black)

Organ: Auricle (Outer ear)

Species: Human

Gender: Male

Age: Undetermined (Adult in appearance.)

Condition: Severed (post mortem), Mutilation (single puncture hole)

Conclusion: Collector's item.

Who did this–and why?

Okay it is bad enough that someone cut it off of a corpse, but to pierce it and box it up?  There’s a reason here that I don’t really want to know…PS

July 23, 2013: Whose backpack?

The objects suggest some kind of twisted scavenger hunt.  But there’s a bigger connection that I am trying to stitch together (so to speak)…PS

Anonymous letter

Today’s mail had an unsigned letter and no return address.  A folded note with only this on it:

FIND OUT THEIR NAMES AND YOUR DEEPEST WISH COMES TRUE

No one but me knows my deepest wish…PS

July 24, 2013: Aren't you listening?

I said in my very first post that “I found out where it was supposed to have happened.”  None of you seem to want to know more about that.   Why is that?

Unsettling change

Just logged on and my personal screensaver has been changed by someone.  It had been this:

Now it is this: 

I did not change it. They’re telling me that I may have to go back…PS

July 25, 2013: The smell

An untreated corpse has a certain air about it.  I learned this when I visited my friend at the funeral home.  They brought in a body that had gone undiscovered for a week. Unforgettable.
Unnerving.
And for me, familiar.

July 29, 2013: Does it matter?

What difference does it make who I am?  Paranoid?  Maybe.  How many of you are getting middle of the night phone calls, cryptic notes left on your car, and now own a smelly bag full of creepy clues?  Someone knows I have to look into mysteries…PS

July 30, 2013: Pushing me

They want me to go back.  But first I think I’ll go back to the parking garage where they left the note.  They must have security surveillance cameras…PS

July 31, 2013: Surveillance footage

Not as easy as I thought.  It’s not like on television or the movies – you can’t just walk into a parking garage security office and get footage from their cameras for a specific day/date/time.  There’s no drawer full of DVDs or tapes.  Everything now is digital, uploaded to the cloud and available only after a formal written request.  If there’s no crime involved, Security decides if they’ll accommodate.  If there is a crime involved, you have to have a police report…which I don’t.  PS

August 2, 2013: Wandering souls

So now we've gone from grotesque to paranormal.

Video Transcript:

Text: High-end motion activated remote cameras capture video and sound on a video chip. They are often used to record wildlife without being detected.

(cut to PS removing an object in a plastic zip-lock bag from the backpack)

PS: I want to make this quick. I found this and I am told that it is an SD card from a game camera. The kind that hunters put on a tree in the woods. (Cut to the video, which shows a forest) There are hours of f***ing squirrels, but then take a look at this.

(In the video, faint images of a small figure is seen walking around the area; sometimes skipping. A mysterious sounding music plays in the background. More and more images of the small figure, now clearly seen as a young girl, appear and start wandering around. Then while all the rest of the images disappear, the small girl walks towards the camera, stops in front of it, then disappears. Cut to black)

Text: Is it real, or is someone playing me? If there is an SD card, then there may still be the camera where it came from. I have to go back to see.

Production value

So unless ghosts come with music and sound effects, this is part of the reason for planting the backpack.

August 3, 2013: Revelation

Since I was directed to the backpack, it was placed there for me to find.  No one else.  Someone went to a lot of work assembling all the elements inside.  I cannot tell you why…PS

August 4, 2013: Questions

Why not call the police?  Why extract one item per week?  There is a reason for not dumping the whole lot out at once.  It is “against the rules.”

August 6, 2013: No peace – no rest

Apparently a well executed plan can lead to unintended results…

Video transcript:

Text: I'll put these out there, just as I found them in the bag. Magazine article redacted by someone before I got it.

(PS pulls out an old Justice magazine; the main cover's picture is that of an electric chair. Next s/he pulls out a sword-like dagger stained in dried blood and a set of keys on a key ring. S/he opens the magazine and zooms in on an article about a serial killer named Robert "the Blade" G who was executed via the electric chair.)

Text: According to my research, things did not turn out at all as anticipated...PS

Be careful what you wish for

According to subsequent newspaper reports, the emotional and eager witnesses at the execution got more than they bargained for.  None were the same after that night.  Each and everyone interviewed wished they’d never set foot near the prison.

August 7, 2013: Based on a true story.

A number of books, films, and documentaries have been created, loosely based on the trial and execution.  And if believed, something horrific moves among us still.

August 8, 2013: Life after death?

After looking into this story, I wouldn’t bet against it.

August 9, 2013: Accidents happen

The items speak for themselves.

Video transcript:

Text: By now, you should be keeping track of everything.

(PS takes out a small black bag and removes the following items from it: a pair of handcuffs, a railroad spike, a whistle, and a lock of dark hair.)

Text: Clearly, somebody got away who should not have.

August 10, 2013: Realization

At first I thought it was my responsibility to put meaning to each of these things.  And now I realize that I am not supposed to connect the dots.  I’m only supposed to show you the dots.  That’s why there were rules…PS

August 11, 2013: Rules are made to be broken

On the night I followed the GPS coordinates and found the backpack, I was not alone in the woods.  When I got back to my car there was another note on the windshield …which I haven’t mentioned until now, and for obvious reasons;

It set forth specific instructions with regard to opening the items in the backpack…in what order…and when.

• Do not involve the authorities.
• Make “the curiously obsessed” aware of your thoughts and findings as you puzzle through the odd evidence.
• Do as you’re told and the deep dark answer you seek shall elude you no more.

There was one final rule;

• Whatever you do, do not mention the rules.

Screw that, all the sniping is wearing me out…PS

August 12, 2013: Backlash

Okay so I broke the final rule and admitted that I’ve been following secret instructions.  Nothing bad happened.  Not yet anyway.   Just a little bit more to reveal from the backpack and I will, according to the schedule I was given.

Then, although I didn’t like it at first, I’m going “home” to Salzburg and finish.

August 13, 2013: Hello darkness

No one dare disturb the sound of violence…PS

Video Transcript:

Text: Believe only half that you see...and everything of that you hear.

(PS pulls out a bag and spills out its contents: a few coins. Then s/he pulls out a microcassette tape from a red velvet bag. Cut to her/him holding up the tape for all to see as s/he looks at it. Cut to the audio footage of the tape: a church bell ringing, and the sounds of a wolf howling. Then, the sound of something eating someone and screams, snarls and roars can be heard.)

Text: A grand performance in the theater of the twisted mind...PS

August 14, 2013: Change

Enough to cure the parched.

Transformative

Travel has the power to transform one’s very soul.  Look what happened to me…PS

August 15, 2013: Infectious

"Look how the pale queen of the silent night doth cause the ocean to attend upon her, and he, as long as she is in sight, with his full tide is ready here to honor…" Charles Best ...PS

August 23, 2013: The real deal...

THIS IS NO GAME…

Video transcript:

Text: Aftermath or the calm before the storm?

(PS pulls out a huge collar and chain, and a disk. S/he holds up the disk for all to see. Cuts to black and white video of a dead tree outside a window. A helicopter is heard in the background. Cuts to the interior of a house's hallway. In the middle of it is a bucket. Cut to an image of a doorway that leads to another room with a staircase. Cuts to an open exit at the bottom of a staircase. A dog can be heard barking. Cut to a closeup of a window sill. A moth crawls on the window pane. Cut to more hallways; one of them is flooding. Cut to a broken spinning swing ride in an abandoned amusement park. Cut to a broken window; a curtain flutters in the room. Cut to a dog sleeping peacefully. Close up on its face.)

Text: Prophetic or historic? Find out for yourself...PS

August 25, 2013: It's your turn

But where do you turn?  What’s safe and what’s not?  In this case you’ll have to determine your own course of action…PS

August 27, 2013: Best friend

You know the saying; “With friends like this you don’t need enemies.”  …PS

August 28, 2013: The Hunger Grows

The “hair of the dog that bit you” may cure a hangover but I wouldn’t try it with what’s hanging over you here …PS

(These final two posts were not actually from the Evil Takes Root blog, but instead logged and stored onto the computer found on Level 3 S of the Legendary Truth mansion. Along with these is a newspaper clipping mentioning Richard Steerington's disappearance, and his daughter Paige's concern for his whereabouts.)

November 3, 2013

• Hello?

• Is this Ignatia Himmel? My name is Paige Steerington. I'd like to ask you some questions.

• I'm sorry, who is this?

• What I'd like to know is if you knew Richard Steerington? He was with Legendary Truth in Princeton, New Jersey shortly before you joined the organization as chief legal counsel and then senior staff. Did you know him?

• Who am I talking to?

• My name is Paige Steerington. I'm looking into the disappearance of my father, Richard Steerington.

• May I ask how you got this number?

• It was given to me by the current senior staff of Legendary Truth. You were once a member of the senior staff, right? You are Ignatia Himmel?

• Y-yes, indeed. What can I do for you?

• I want to know what happened to my father. You replaced him at Legendary Truth and I want to know the circumstances surrounding that.

• I'm sorry, I don't talk about my association with Legendary Truth. I'm afraid I can't help you there.

• From what I can gather, you were there when my father left and I just want answers from someone who was there.

• Uh, there is nothing that I'm prepared to answer at this time. I'm sorry I'm not...

• Gabriel Fell actually conspired to oust my father, Calvin Thorncastle and Kirstin Ivers McLure. What was or is your relationship with Gabriel Fell?

• I have no further association with Gabrial Fell, and uh, any information that could lead...

• My father disappeared while on a fishing charter that you arranged. Did you pay Lawrence B. Manely to take my father out for a fishing trip? Some of the locals call him "Captain Lazy Bastard".

• I'm afraid I don't know who you're referring to.

• I think you do. Others think you do. The police think you do!

• I have no comment to make at this time. I'm sorry. And a word of advice: I would strongly suggest you never call me again.

November 3, 2013

Video Transcription

Text: It was all deliberate and it was "for my own good." Where have I heard those words before? They said I would have to find the truth for myself. This is my final video.

PS: So, I've done what was asked of me. Maybe not exactly as they wanted me to. But I've kept to the schedule and all I really wanted to know is why I was sent away to school in Salzburg and what happened to my father while I was there.

Text: Upon investigation it is now clear that this was all orchestrated by people my father trusted with his life...and the truth is he paid for mine with his.

(Cut to a mute video of five teenage kids walking down a forest path.)

Text: I was the sixth student when I was invited. But when my father found out, he sent me away before I could join the other five. I now know who they were...or at least what they were.

(We get a close up of the five children)

Text: One was the son of Cerebins. One was Kerezen. One was a Strengoit daughter. The fourth was Maschorian. The fifth was pure Morphan. (cut to black) If I had joined them as intended, I would not be here to write this. They all perished that night in 2010. Like my father, Richard Steerington, I am Baccanoid. PS

(Cut to the mute video. The teenagers scream as something zooms in on them. End of video.)

Trivia

• All of the artifacts PS removed from the backpack are related to the haunted houses in the event.
  • Evil Dead: The hand-drawn blood illustrations of the Naturom Demonto (also called the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis and the Book of the Dead), an upside down pentagram and a man being buried alive by the Kandarian Demon.
  • Urban Legends: La Llorona: The video of the ghost girl, possibly one of La Llorona's children, walking around the forest.
  • Afterlife: Death's Vengeance: The 1920's Justice magazine with the article report about Robert "Bobby the Blade" Galetta and his execution, his dagger, and the set of prison keys.
  • An American Werewolf in London: The bag of British coins and the audio footage of David Kessler in his werewolf form howling and then attacking someone.
  • The Cabin in the Woods: The cell phone video footage of the cabin itself.
  • Havoc: Derailed: The handcuffs, the train conductor's whistle, the lock of dark hair from one of the Dogs of War, and the railroad spike.
  • Resident Evil: Escape from Raccoon City: The collar and chain for restraining a zombie and the video of the abandoned Spencer Mansion, the broken-down Raccoon City amusement park and the sleeping dog.
  • The Walking Dead: No Safe Haven: The punctured severed zombie's ear from Daryl Dixon's necklace.

• The five kids that were in the final video PS posted were the ones in the commercial for the 2013 event, which was also used in the Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood commercial in 2012. Halloween Horror Nights Orlando's 2012 commercial became Hollywood's commercial in 2013.

• This, along with the events in 2012, connects to the incident and investigations involving the Legendary Truth's unintentional release of the entity, Fear, in 2010.