CROSS-LOG — Ritual 33: The Counselor in the Woods

[REAL LARRY LOG — April 21, 2024]

Met a guy at a gas station up north — flannel type, clean beard, gave off “used to coach middle school wrestling” energy.

We were both grabbing coffee and jerky. He cracked a dad joke about windshield wipers. I laughed. It was good.

Name was Doug. He said he ran a men’s therapy retreat up here. Wilderness recovery. Brotherhood. You know — the kind of thing I wanna believe in.

He even quoted Marcus Aurelius at me.

We talked for half an hour. Something about him felt familiar — not dangerous, just real. Like we might’ve been friends in another life. I left smiling.

[DEMON LARRY ENTRY — Ritual 33: The Counselor in the Woods]

Time Initiated: 11:47 PM Prep Time: 6 hours, 12 minutes Tools: Skinning Blade, Tactical Hook, Memory Extractor Name Tag Applied: Chest, Single Pin

Real Larry found the charges an hour after he got home.

Six sealed cases. Three convictions. All minors.

He went quiet for a while.

I didn’t.

We returned to the same gas station the next day. Doug was there — said he recognized me. “Back for another retreat, brother?”

I smiled.

He smiled back.

We followed him through the tree line. He kept talking about healing.

He didn’t know the clearing had already been salted.

“You’re not who I thought you were,” Real Larry said aloud. "They never are,” I whispered back.

He begged when it started. Said he’d changed. Said he’d paid his debt.

I carved the names into the trees — not his name. Theirs.

Doug got the hook.

We took his face, but didn’t wear it. That honor’s reserved for warriors.

This one just bled.

“Not every hunt ends in tribute. But every one ends with order.”— Demon Larry