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Apollo Ipsum / Things That Shouldn't Exist / Case 10

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Fictional case file and witness thread from the Apollo Ipsum story world.

They face the house. Each evening the number changes.

Card reference / Final photograph from Roll 12

The first figure could have been a pale bag caught in a branch. It stood beyond the fence where the woods began, perfectly still despite the movement of the leaves. Peter took a photograph through the kitchen window and forgot about it until the following evening.

There were two. They faced the house from different trees. Neither seemed to have arms. When he went outside with a torch, the beam found only bark and ivy. From the kitchen, both figures were visible again.

He began photographing them at the same time each night. Three, then four, then five. The positions changed, but the direction did not. Even the ones behind other trees appeared to be facing the kitchen. His wife suggested that someone was hanging sheets to frighten them. Peter asked why none of the sheets ever moved.

The roll contains twelve exposures. In the ninth, a figure stands on the house side of the fence. In the tenth, two are on the lawn. The eleventh is blurred because Peter has photographed the garden while pulling the blind down. One pale shape is reflected in the glass much closer than the others.

The final photograph was taken from farther back in the kitchen. The window occupies only a small part of the frame. Beyond it, the figures stand in a loose line towards the house. The back door is visible at the edge of the image.

The envelope containing Roll 12 carries no explanation. On its reverse, in Peter’s handwriting, are two numbers. The first is the count of figures outside. The second is one higher. No photograph accompanies it, and the archive contains no account of what happened when they reached the door.