The year is 1879. When thirteen-year-old Ruth Merritt Holbrook emerges from her family's burning estate, bloody and charred, but entirely numb--She makes headlines. Reporters believe she is deranged. They accuse her of having set the fire. All the h...
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The greatest of horrors was revealed on Wednesday morning at 3698 Cherry Lane when OLIVIA DORIS stumbled upon two bodies in the cellar of the renter's estate where she is employed. MISS DORIS works as a housemaid for the landlord of the block, a MR. ADAMS.
The lady states that upon arriving at work she was instructed to clean one of the recently exited homes: 3698 Cherry Lane of Atlanta. Upon arriving at the home MISS DORIS noted a "musty tart smell, a kin to that of a fire or a kitchen stove." She reported that some places in the smelled of sulfur or sour food. MISS DORIS, being unaware of the particulars of the recent renter, proceeded into the home to do her work. It became apparent to the lady that the home had been left for some time without attention, as there was no sign of the kitchen having been disturbed and all plants in the front room had withered. She did what she could for the main house before the smell of sulfur became unbearable and she went to investigate the source.
This investigation led MISS DORIS into the cellar of the home—a dark room that was never visited by any of the staff before this instant. Upon opening the hatch to the stairs MISS DORIS was overwhelmed with the smell of smoke, she believed at the time that there might have been some sort of fire inside. Upon drawing this conclusion, the lady exited the home and sent a local paperboy to fetch the fire marshal, a MR. FORGE. When he arrived, the two proceeded into the home with great caution until they had reached the cellar; MR. FORGE descended the stairs first, his account is as follows:
"After I had first entered the home I was certain that it was indeed not a house fire, as I am familiar with such smells and was able to discern that this was not of that nature. I requested the company of the lady when venturing into the home as she knew the way about better than I. She led me to a stairwell leading down to a root cellar of some sort. I went in ahead of her and found no fire. What I did find was the smell of rotting eggs and evidence of smoke. It was so strong that I retched and called for the lady to remain back. Fearing for me, she called for help and then descended the stairs herself. Once she was in the cellar with me and had with her a light by which to see better, we found the most hellish of scenes."
What MR. FORGE and MISS DORIS stumbled upon was some form of torture chamber equipped with all manner of devices. The smell, which was so pungent that both parties had to remove themselves from it for fear of being direly ill, came firstly from a burlap sack in which there were found the remains of a mutilated body. The corpse charred and cut so as to fit into the small sack. It was, after this grisly discovery and the arrival of the Sheriff, that a second body was found mutilated in a similar manner as the first differing only in the manner of disposal—large canning jars.
At this time, law enforcement is attempting to apprehend the former renter of the home, a man who goes by the name of MR. MALCOLM ALVAH. He has neither been seen nor heard from in the last month. It is currently unclear whether MR. ALVAH was the perpetrator or yet another victim. Neither body has been identified. We shall keep the public updated on any new occurrences.
At this time, we urge those who know something about this man to step forward so that we might return our town to its regular peace. Remain vigilant.
