Peter Lot

Peter Lot

Backstory

They didn't come much more ordinary than Peter Lot, that's for damn sure. Ordinary childhood, ordinary college life, ordinary day job as an office middle manager. Truly, Peter was not destined for greatness, but he and his parents were fine with that.

Being born to "yankee" parents in the South wasn't exactly fun, but Peter learned to roll with the punches and avoid the white power groups as a teenager, moving back to Atlanta to start working to pay off his college debts. There, he met his girlfriend Sarah, as he literally ran into her newsstand, knocking a rack of adult magazines onto the pavement. In helping her pick up the merchandise (along with the stares from a few confused old ladies), Peter and Sarah managed to form that kind of connection that only forms when life decides to throw the dog a bone.

There was only one strange part about Peter's life, really, and that was his brother Jeremy. "Jerry" had tried to become a journalist, and then completely dropped off the face of the Earth after graduating three years before Peter. The family had thought he'd gone missing, but every month an email arrived informing them yes, he was still okay, just working on getting his big break.

Well, finally, his big break found him, and his family was later informed that he was shot at a gas station holdup in Houston, trying to save the cashier. The very day before the storm engulfed North Georgia. Peter and the family were heartbroken, and the funeral was as solemn as could be expected. That's when Peter's life turned upside down.

It seems Jerry had willed his video and news collection to Peter, and a few days later, a UPS man arrived with the boxes. Signing the paperwork, Peter piled everything into his apartment and sat down, staring at the numerous boxes that nearly rose to the ceiling. Shrugging, he went to the box marked, "OPEN FIRST!", and found a tape inside, atop a collection of scrap books, DVDs, and even VHS tapes, labelled, "WATCH ME NOW!" Now intrigued, Peter did as the tape commanded.

At first, Peter was surprised at the image of his brother on the screen, a whiskey bottle in hand, staring drunkenly out at Peter. "I know I'll be dead by the time anyone watches this, but I'm hoping you see it first, Pete." Watching his brother take another gulp, Peter was confused, trying to connect the drunk on the tape with the clean-shaven brother that had left home so long ago. "You'll probably puke when you see this, but you have to. You have a right to know what's out there."

Jerry was right, because by the time Peter had come to his senses, he was watching Jerry drain half the bottle before he stared at the camera again. "I still don't know what that monster was, brother," Jerry said, sorrow heavy in his words. "I just know you know what's really out in the shadows now. You should have my entire collection; don't give it to anyone, keep it a secret. Only tell the people you trust the most, and the doesn't include Mom and Dad."

By the time Peter had cleaned up the vomit, he grabbed a DVD, and saw a first-person shoot of a group of people, carrying weapons of every stripe, converging on a warehouse, the video ending with the warehouse on fire, the great furry beast inside burning with it. A series of floating lights in the sky being engaged by fighter jets. Shadow people with red eyes grabbing a screaming woman and dragging her into the walls, as she became another shadow.

He searched through the boxes; "Witches", "Vampires", "Wolves", "Aliens", "Miscellaneous", "Government". The tapes kept playing, but Peter saw that he hadn't finished the first tape. Shakily, he put the cassette back into the VHS and let it play.

"This was the only safe way to tell you, Pete," Jerry said, as he took another sip of the whiskey. "I think I'm the only one who still wants the truth to get out. Don't trust anyone who's part of an organization, brother. They'll screw you over like they did me." Jerry was quiet for a few seconds, then just threw the bottle at the camera.

Since that night, Peter has spent all his time looking over his shoulder. And ever since that night, he's bought a gun, and kept an eye out. His brothers tapes can only help him so much, and he knows that he won't last a second against the monsters on his own. He needs to bring someone else into the know. The question is who to trust when everything is covered in shadows.

Threads

The Candle, Lit: Drinking his troubles away in his local bar, Peter encounters a man who is apparently very interested in who he is and why he's crying over his drinks. Peter, not one to talk to many weirdos who randomly approach him in bars, decides to walk out. Only the sight of a couple in the alley next to the bar leads him to attempt a little mischief, calling the police from inside the bar. When the weirdo walks out, Peter follows, hoping to take down two birds with one stone. So when the woman reveals that she was sucking the blood from the poor John, and that the other man didn't question when Peter called for stakes, he realized that his brother's tapes weren't just the ravings of a drunk with a chip on his shoulder.