"The Departed," What does it mean?
5/7/2006
Okay, I spent the entire day digging through Red Creek’s official founding documents, which are, by the way, hilariously vague. but I did find something. An 1864 church ledger that's archived in the basement of the Town Hall. Which, mind you, took my dad’s suit, a tie, and an incredibly convincing lie to be able to get my hands on. Don’t ask. (But if anyone asks YOU, I'm a travelling SDSU student doing research on small towns in South Dakota)
Out of the hundred and twelve residents that were listed that year, 11 were crossed out, with the word “Departed”. no death date, no graves from what I can tell, and no explanations. I thought maybe “departed” meant that they moved, but then I found a margin note from the old pastor. it said “departed in the woods no trace, as in ‘61 and before.”
As in EIGHTEEN sixty one. That's before the town was even officially founded. This town has been hiding something since its earliest days. These disappearances aren't random, it's a cycle. From what I can tell, roughly every five to six years. I'm still mapping the pattern but the next cycle might be soon, since the last incident was in 2001. The lab, the woods, the stange disappearances might be a part of it. I think whatever is causing all of this might be larger than they say. This isn't some sort of conspiracy that I'm just making up for shits and giggles. It’s the foundation of this town. And either nobody talks about it because they're too scared or maybe they already know