It all started with a single email:
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From: lilithchild13 (at) xxxxxxxxxx
To: jason.reiterberg (at) xxxxxxxxx
Time: 02/09/2022 18:31
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“Hello! I just wanted to say I’m a huge fan of your music. The lyrics are exceptional. It’s like you’ve seen the inside of my head. Man, that ”Blasphemy in Darkness“ really hit me hard. Didn’t like your cover songs, tbh. But the original ones are dope. When will you release something?
XOXO LilithChild13“
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That was… something, and I think I need to bring some context here. I played in a couple of bands when I was in college. That’s, what? 15 years ago? Mostly as a session guitarist and a drummer. Nothing serious or groundbreaking. Just a couple of dudes jamming some metal. We never got big or even reached that step where we would record a demo tape and send it over to a recording company.
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Yeah, back then it was much harder to become a musical phenomenon: now you can streak three chords, upload it and wake up famous. Not then.
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But point is - we never went out in public seriously. We threw a couple of gigs and even performed in a club, but the crowd was mostly our friends and their friends. What was the band name, again? “Grim Sorrow” or “Dim Sorrow”, even I can’t recall at this time. And that girl (?) even knew the song's name. How? Are my friends pulling pranks on me?
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So I replied with the following:
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“Dear, LilithChild13.
Thank you for your kind words and I appreciate your interest in our music, but the sad news is - we broke up 15 years ago, and I don’t know how did you hear about us, but consider that as our Opus Magnum. There’s no chance we’ll be getting back together anytime soon, sorry.
Have a great day.
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Regards,
Jason“
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And that was it. Exciting, if you ask me. My first fan letter, even though it was 15 years late.
I’ve been submerged in memories of the good old days. What a pity that Mark passed away. That dude could growl like a beast. And I wonder where did Kyle go… The last time I heard about him - was at a class reunion 10 years ago. He was going to Africa to build houses for the poor or something…
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Morning greeted me with a reply to my message:
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From: lilithchild13 (at) xxxxxxxxxx
To: jason.reiterberg (at) xxxxxxxxx
Time: 03/09/2022 02:18
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“Nooooo! That’s so unfair. You can’t leave me like that. I want more. I need more. You’ve composed all of it. Start a new band or find new players, I don’t know. You need to play or I don’t want to live, jk lol. But seriously, Is it so much that I ask? I watched all your videos and even went through your unfinished material - there’s so much potential. Especially that ”Queen of Worms“ you’ve never completed. It’s so good. Please?
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Love,
LilithChild13“
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I didn’t believe my eyes at first. No, of course, there was a probability somebody filmed us on that gig and such, mobile cameras were already a thing back there, but the second part… Not a single person knew about that song. I never showed it to anyone. “Queen of Worms” was written after a breakup with my girlfriend back then. I was sad and angry, so I wrote a verse and chorus, but never finished it.
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“Hi, LilithChild13.
The videos? I don’t recall anything like that, at least the ones I would be aware of. How did you know about that song?
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Regards,
Jason“
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The response dropped immediately:
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“Hi, Jason.
Well, the videos were hard to get and I paid a lot to obtain them. The recordings from security cameras in club ”Paramount“, remember? This is a jewel among collector’s items and now I own it. And as for the song for your ex-girlfriend… I know a lot of things about you, Jason. He-he. So it seems you are interested in recording some new material, amirite? :D
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Love,
LilithChild13“.
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That was disturbing. Security cameras? Personal details? Am I being stalked or something or is it a stupid joke? I wonder if Kyle is experiencing the same shit. So I went to search for my old notebook where I had his number written. 40 minutes later I entered the digits and pressed “call”. But no luck - there was no response. I wonder if he even uses the number anymore.
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So I checked my writing again and called his parents. Minutes later I hanged the phone, devastated - Kyle, my former drummer and friend died 2 years ago in an accident on a construction site. That was just sad…
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A notification popped up informing me of a new email, I opened it.
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“Hey! I’m not taking ”no“ for an answer. So, what do you say? Heading to the studio already?
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Love,
LilithChild13“.
I was furious. This was becoming quite annoying, so without a second thought I fired back:
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“Hey. I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but this is a bit too much, don’t you think?
There will be no new songs. Please, stop writing me. Get a life.
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Regards,
Jason“.
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And just as I tapped “Send” on my phone - a new one arrived:
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“Oh! Look who’s talking. Mr. Tough Guy!
Look, Jason. Your thoughts are tangled right now, you’re not thinking straight. I’m pretty sure you would enjoy writing some songs once you get enough motivation. You are a creator, so you can’t just be aside from your talent. Let’s try something else then.
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Love,
LilithChild13.“
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I blocked the address and went to take care of my business, pretty sure that the problem is solved. I didn’t have time to mess with some cuckoos who had nothing better to do with their lives. I spent the day with my woodworking project in the shed, so most of the time only the buzzing of the saw and drill noises were my company.
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Later in the evening, I checked my phone - not expecting to see what was there. Hundreds and hundreds of emails. Some of them were marked important and were placed atop the list.
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“Hey, Jason. This is James from that band that was in Stranger Things, he-he. I & Kirk listened to your songs and thought you’d be a perfect match for our upcoming tour…”
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“Hey, son. I just found your old guitar in the garage. So nostalgic. We spent a fortune on your equipment, as you seemed so excited. And we never heard any of your songs. Your mother and I are not getting younger, you know…”
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“Hey, this is Michael, your CEO. We never met in person, but it came to me that you are quite a talented musician. Would you care to write some jingles for our next promo campaign…”.
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All the addresses were fake as fuck. Though they were countless. Some of them were in foreign languages, I guess I saw a couple of emails written in Japanese, or was it Chinese?
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I have been spammed and it looked like someone had an obsession. I spent some time clearing my inbox by deleting batches and batches of new arrivals. By the night, that crazy person got tired, I think and the thing stopped. I put the phone in silent mode and went to sleep.
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By morning there was a single new email reading:
“Well, did it work? :D” sent from ab_bad_don666 (at) xxxxxxxxx. I blocked that too.
I washed my face and went out to get something for breakfast. The next incident happened in the store: there were a couple of teens, wearing all black, heavy makeup, studs, spikes, and chains.
As I was checking the cereal section - they came along, whispering something to each other and looking at me. Finally, one of them approached me and said:
“Hi. I’m sorry, but aren’t you the guitarist for Grim Sorrow? May I ask you for a favor, please? Could you sign me, sir?”
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“Excuse me, do I know you? What are you talking about?” - I didn’t understand and just stared back at the teen, who was handing me a large bowie knife.
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“Right here” - he said, rolling up the sleeve, revealing the pale skin of his forearm, making his intention clear.
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“Are you out of your fucking mind? I am not doing that. What the fuck? Are you that Lilith Child?” - I almost shouted back at him.
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“No, I’m Gore Master, a huge fan” - he smiled back at me with all that makeup making his face look like a macabre mask.
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I just walked away, leaving the kids standing there with their knife and stupid requests. What the hell was going on? Did I wake up to become a meme character or something? I just didn’t add up.
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The following weeks made things worse - I transferred all my contacts to a new email address and terminated my main account. That didn’t help. Somehow they found out - my inbox is bloated with emails. So is my physical one - tons of handwritten letters, asking for one thing - more songs.
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I see more and more teens wearing black around the town. They keep following me wherever I go. This is insane. I went to the cops, and you know what?
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“Hey, aren’t you that guy from that band? My daughter is a huge fan. Could I get an autograph?” - the officer told me.
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It’s like my whole town went crazy at the same time.
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The messages are getting grimmer and grimmer - I tend to read them from time to time. They vary from “Will you drop a song if I sacrifice myself tonight?..” to “I will break your knees and spoon-feed you as long as it’s necessary until you record the album”.
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I have no clue what to do. Police just ignore my claims, saying those are just edgy teens and there is no threat to my life. Whom should I call? National guard?
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I was about to post this and ask for your advice, but then something unnerving happened. I was sitting in my room upstairs, browsing Reddit, when suddenly I got a message notification. I would ignore it, the same way I did to thousands of others, but something made me click it. It read:
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“Jason, we are still not getting anywhere, so I, the president of your fan club decided to take action. We decided to visit you and make sure we’re on the same note here. This is taking too long and we can’t wait any longer. We will force you to do it if you’re not feeling it. Art is for the people, not for keeping to yourself. As a deed of goodwill - we brought Mark and Kyle with us, so maybe seeing old friends will light a spark? See you soon. :)
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Best wishes,
Horned Shadow”.
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And then I realized I’m not alone. The sky was pitch black with clouds covering the rising moon. Dead silence hung in the house and I heard the floorboards creaking slightly in a room below. I leaned to the door and listened - there were some whispers and quiet shuffling sounds as if somebody was dragging a duffle bag across the hall. And then the smell kicked in - as if some raccoon found its way to a space between the walls and died there, emanating the horrible stench of putrid flesh.
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I’ve never felt more scared in my life. What were they up to? I called 112 as quietly as I could and before I said anything the operator said to my ear: “Hi Jason. Thank you for your call. Are you excited about a reunion party? We all expect new songs soon….”