Darkest Night
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Source: The New York Register
Date: 25th June
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BEIJING BREAKS SILENCE – ADMITS VAMPIRES ARE REAL
Alan Horner, International Affairs Correspondent, New York
The Chinese government in Beijing today issued a statement formally recognising the existence of vampires and reassuring Chinese citizens that their safety remains the regime’s highest priority. The statement leaves North Korea as the only nation not to have officially recognised the existence of the supernatural.
The statement, which had been widely expected after a draft document leaked online over the weekend, stopped short of acknowledging the existence of PBS6, heavily rumoured to be the Chinese equivalent of the USA’s NS9. Chinese citizens were urged to report all incidents of a supernatural nature to the police.
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Source: www.newsonline.co.uk
Date: 19th July
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EXCLUSIVE! THE SSL FOUNDERS SPEAK OUT IN THEIR ONLY INTERVIEW
The internet has been buzzing for the last twenty-four hours, following the announcement of the formation of the Supernatural Survivors League, which the mainstream media is already referring to as the Samaritans for the supernatural.
Much of that buzz has been about the two men who founded the organisation, Greg Browning and Pete Randall. Why, you ask? Because both men were already notorious for their rumoured involvement in Kevin McKenna’s now infamous posthumous article, widely considered to have been the first crack in the wall of secrecy surrounding the existence of the supernatural.
As regular visitors to this site will be aware, our Features Editor Dan Bennett has shown great bravery in writing about the impact of the supernatural on his own family, in particular his sister Catherine, who is still missing after being attacked by a vampire two years ago in Melbourne. As a result, it came as no surprise to us that Randall and Browning chose to give their ONLY interview to Dan. We proudly present their conversation in full, unedited and unexpurgated.
DB: Pete, Greg. Thanks for doing this. It’s a pleasure to talk to you.
PR: Cheers, Dan. And I’d just like to say how sorry we both are for your loss.
GB: Absolutely.
DB: Thank you. And I guess that’s as good a place to start as any. Can you tell me how your personal experiences with the supernatural led to the founding of SSL?
GB: Sure. It involves telling you something that we’ve thought long and hard about whether we should tell anyone, but here goes. Approximately nine months ago, my son Matt, and Pete’s daughter Kate, were brainwashed by the group that calls itself Blacklight, and coerced into joining them. So, for starters, that’s why SSL is different from—
DB: Hang on. I’m sorry to interrupt, but are you saying that you both have children who are serving members of Blacklight?
PR: That’s right.
DB: How do you know that? My understanding is that Blacklight Operators aren’t allowed to tell anyone what they do.
GB: We believe that’s the case.
DB: So how do you know?
PR: It’s a long story, Dan. Greg and I first met online, when neither of us was in a very good place. I’m a survivor of the vampire attack on Lindisfarne, and at the time I was grieving for Kate. She went missing during the attack, and the police told me to assume she was dead. I watched them cover it all up and was ordered never to talk about what had happened. So I started searching for other people who were in the same boat as me, and I met Greg on a forum for people who’d survived vampire encounters. Everyone on there was nervous, paranoid even, but it was instantly clear to me that some of them had seen the same things I had. And I knew I wasn’t alone.
GB: I was grieving too, although I didn’t know whether Matt was alive or dead. I’m still not supposed to talk about any of it, even now, but I don’t give a shit any more. A vampire fell out of the sky into my garden, and Blacklight stormed our house, pointed guns at my family, brought scientists in protective suits to collect the vamp. My son got hurt, badly hurt, and they took him with them. Didn’t say anything to us, didn’t tell us where they were taking him. They just packed him into one of their helicopters and took off.
DB: That’s incredible. I mean, that’s kidnapping, surely? It’s hard to believe something like that can happen in a supposedly civilised country.
GB: Supposedly is right. Anyway. Afterwards, my life fell apart. Matt’s mother and I, we’d had some problems, and his disappearance, and what we’d seen, just brought them all to a head, and she left me. Then one day, completely out of the blue, Matt came back. He couldn’t tell me where he’d been, but he was safe, and he was home, and that was all that mattered to me. But two days later he was gone again, for good this time.
DB: Gone where?
GB: Back to them. They’d got into his head while they had him, filled it up with God knows what. They let him go, and he went straight back to them. I know that now.
DB: How come?
PR: We saw them with our own eyes. After what happened last year, in Reading. A Blacklight squad arrested us, and Matt and Kate were part of it. I’m sure they weren’t supposed to let us know it was them, but they did. We saw them, and actually talked to them for a little while. Then their bosses sent us home, and warned us not to tell anyone what we’d seen.
DB: Jesus. OK, so you mentioned Reading. You’re referring to your roles in the publication of Kevin McKenna’s final story?
PR: Right. Ever since Greg and I got to know each other, we’ve looked for ways to make a difference. But we trusted somebody we shouldn’t have, and we made a terrible mistake.
GB: We were misled. Afterwards, we both wondered whether we should just keep our heads down, you know? But neither of us could do it. We’d seen so much. And people needed to know the truth.
PR: I don’t mind admitting that after McKenna’s story came out, I was scared for a long time. Blacklight threatened us with prison when they let us go, and we didn’t know whether we were making things harder for Kate and Matt.
GB: But then Gideon went on TV, and everything changed. We saw a chance to do something.
DB: And you definitely took it. So what exactly are the aims of SSL?
PR: We don’t have aims as such. This isn’t a political movement, it doesn’t have a cause. What we hope to provide is a sympathetic ear for people who have been hurt by the supernatural, directly or indirectly.
GB: And I think our own experiences with Blacklight are what set us apart from the other vampire support groups that are out there—
PR: —although some of them do excellent work—
GB: —right, sure. But SSL is for anyone whose life has been affected by any aspect of the supernatural, including the people who are supposed to protect us from them.
DB: So what can someone who calls SSL expect?
PR: Someone who’ll listen to them. And believe them. And won’t judge them.
GB: I should make it clear that SSL is more than just a helpline. That’s an important part of it, but we also have programmes that will be going live over the next few months that we believe will make a real difference to the public, both humans and vampires. We’re going to be offering safe sources of blood, ultraviolet torches and bulbs for people to protect themselves with. The helpline is just the beginning.
DB: SSL is a registered charity.
PR: Right.
DB: But in your statement you announced that you won’t be taking donations from the public. Why not?
GB: Because we don’t need them. We have a board of directors and a number of private individuals who have been extremely generous in helping us get started. If at some point the financial situation changes, then we’ll look at it. But, for now, we don’t want people’s money. We’d rather they kept it in their pockets.
DB: Let me ask you both a blunt question. Do you hate vampires?
GB: I just told you that we’re going to be running programmes designed to make the lives of vampires easier, so let me be very clear. SSL is absolutely not an anti-vampire group. It’s a victim-support group.
DB: Right. I hear you. But given what you’ve been through, I guess a better way to phrase my question would be: how can you not hate vampires?
PR: Because we don’t believe that they’re inherently evil. Many of them are victims themselves, turned against their will.
DB: So if a vampire wanted to volunteer with SSL, he or she would be welcome?
GB: Absolutely.
DB: What about Blacklight? What are your feelings towards them?
PR: SSL doesn’t believe that a highly armed military unit operating in secrecy is a good thing for the country.
DB: Come on. Get real. What do the two of you really think?
GB: They kidnapped my son and brainwashed him into a bloody stormtrooper. What do you think I think?
DB: I would assume you’re angry with them.
GB: And you’d be right.
DB: So what would you say to those commentators who are calling SSL a personal crusade? Who claim that your motivation for founding it is revenge against Blacklight?
PR: That’s completely ridiculous. As we’ve already said, this is not a lobbying organisation or a pressure group. It’s a way for us to reach out to people whose lives have been touched by darkness and let them know they’re not alone. It’s as simple as that.
DB: And I wish you the very best of luck with it. Thank you both for your time.
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Source: The London Record
Date: 6th August
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RIOTING BREAKS OUT AS ICC RULES THAT BLACKLIGHT WILL NOT FACE CHARGES
Julian Dawes, Senior Political Correspondent, London
Armed police were called to deal with rioting in more than a dozen European cities overnight, following the International Criminal Court in The Hague’s announcement that it would not be pursuing charges against Blacklight, its international equivalents, or any individuals for either genocide or crimes against humanity. The verdict was met with violent protests outside the court, and triggered a wave of unrest across the continent that only ended with the rising of the sun. Professor David Albright, who has campaigned for vampire rights and co-authored the petition that was presented to the ICC, spoke to the media on the steps of the court.
“This is a dark day for European democracy,” said Albright. “For more than a century, secret death squads have been carrying out summary executions of men and women guilty of nothing more than being vampires, without affording them due process, or legal counsel. History will view this as the secret holocaust of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, a holocaust that the International Criminal Court is now a party to.”
Authorities in all major European cities have placed police and emergency services on high alert, in anticipation of further unrest as the sun sets this evening.
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Source: The National Recorder
Date: 6th September
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ALLEGED FORMER HEAD OF BLACKLIGHT RETIRES ON MEDICAL GROUNDS
Kimberley Dennison, News Editor, London
Buried deep in a Ministry of Defence bulletin released online yesterday morning, among the regular schedules of public events and awarded medals, was a small, seemingly innocuous announcement that read as follows:
The Royal Navy announces the medical discharge and retirement of Admiral Henry Seward (GCB(Mil), OM(Mil), DSO) after thirty-four years of distinguished service to his country. Admiral Seward is a recipient of the Military Cross, the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross, and more than two dozen other awards and decorations. Ad perpetuam rei memoriam.
Less than fifteen minutes later, however, the bulletin had been updated, and Admiral Seward’s retirement announcement removed. Why? Why would the Royal Navy remove a tribute to such a highly decorated member of their ranks? Was it a premature announcement? Was it removed at the request of the man himself? Or was it because Admiral Henry Seward has been named by multiple witnesses, both human and vampire, as a former Director of Department 19?
Let us consider the facts: firstly, the name. One of the most popular theories to have emerged since V-Day is the belief that the contents of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, notably its main characters, were real. This has proven problematic as, with the exception of the Hon. Arthur Holmwood, who was a notable public figure of the time, no records have ever been found of Jonathan Harker, Abraham Van Helsing, or any of the other men and women described in the novel. Those inclined towards the conspiratorial insist that all such records were destroyed when Blacklight was founded, although this correspondent finds that explanation somewhat hard to swallow. Nonetheless, if one is inclined to believe, as has been widely claimed, that Blacklight has evolved over the decades and centuries under the stewardship of the descendants of a small group of founding fathers, then the name Seward is clearly of significance.
Secondly, the Admiral’s record. The decorations listed include three of the highest honours that this country bestows – the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Bath, the Order of Merit, and the Distinguished Service Order. These honours make Henry Seward one of the most highly decorated Royal Navy officers of the last half a century. But nobody that I have spoken to today, either in Whitehall or at Portsmouth, has been able to provide me with a single detail of the Admiral’s career – not a posting, a ship, or even a personal anecdote. To put it bluntly, nobody has ever heard of him.
Could that be because the Admiral spent his career in the shadowy, highly classified world of Blacklight? It’s likely that we, the public, will never know, at least not with any certainty. But one thing is clear – as Department 19 is dragged, slowly and unwillingly, into the light, Henry Seward’s will not be the last name subjected to close scrutiny in relation to this country’s defence against the supernatural. In the meantime, all that remains is for this correspondent to wish the Admiral a happy and peaceful retirement, hopefully with nary a vampire to be seen …
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Source: The South Yorkshire Herald
Date: 29th September
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NEW ‘NIGHT STALKER’ ATTACK INCREASES TENSION IN MIDLANDS
Robert Viner, Senior Correspondent, Sheffield
A vampire was killed last night on the outskirts of Nottingham in an attack that bears similarities to the so-called ‘Night Stalker’ killings that have blighted the Midlands over the last month.
The victim was killed in a warehouse in the Trent Bridge area of Nottingham, his remains marked in the same way as the nine previous victims – a wolf’s head sprayed on to them with white paint. Previous vampire victims attributed to the ‘Night Stalker’ have had the front doors of their homes vandalised in the same way, in what has been interpreted by many as a reference to symbols painted on medieval dwellings to mark the presence of plague.
The identity of only a single one of the ‘Night Stalker’ victims has been released to the public – Albert Matheson, a convicted child molester who had been living in the Kimberley area under an assumed name. Nottinghamshire Police have confirmed that they believe they are looking for a single individual, although they have not ruled out the possibility of copycat attacks. They have appealed for anyone with information regarding last night’s incident to contact them immediately.
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Jamie Carpenter walked along the corridor of Level 0 towards a meeting he no longer saw any point in.
The Zero Hour Task Force had been created specifically to deal with Dracula, and to attempt to prevent the passing of the Intelligence
Division’s best estimate of when the first vampire would regain his full strength, the implication being that unless he was stopped before then, it would be unlikely he could be stopped at all.
Zero Hour had been six months ago.
Jamie reached the Ops Room, laid a hand on its door, and took a deep breath, steeling himself against the next thirty minutes or so. There had been a time when he had been proud to be a member of the Task Force, working on matters of the very highest priority alongside people he had respected. But Henry Seward was gone, Cal Holmwood was dead, he no longer spoke to Frankenstein, and Richard Brennan had turned out to be a spy who had tried to assassinate Kate and Paul Turner before he too had died. The Zero Hour briefings, once so full of purpose, had become meetings of misery, of decline and failure.
The release of Dracula’s video had initially shocked them, then given them momentary hope that it might provide clues to the first vampire’s location. But it had led nowhere, despite painstaking analysis of every frame; there had been nothing in the video to suggest where he was or what he might do next, and every other line of enquiry had turned as cold as ice. As a result, Jamie no longer believed there was any chance of finding Dracula before he wanted to be found, and was far from alone in that opinion. And with no updates on the vampire the Task Force had been created to stop, the Zero Hour briefings were now usually full of the terrible things that the public were routinely doing to vampires, and to each other.
The revelation of the existence of the supernatural had unleashed a wave of chaos and violence, one that showed no signs of abating. Patrol Responds, the routine missions that had once seen Operational Squads hunting down and destroying vampires, had become exercises in policing the human population as they hacked and clawed at each other, fear and paranoia hijacking their reason. On a seemingly daily basis, the government called for calm, the supernatural integration groups called for harmony, and those vampires who had been brave enough to put their heads above the parapet tried to explain to the frightened populace that the overwhelming majority of their kind were not dangerous.