It is with significant effort that I provide an account of the events that took so many lives in such loathsome fashion, but the story must be told, and I hope that you will receive it with an open mind and, should you be charitable enough to take me at my word, a decision to act. Not for my sake—my life is forfeit—but for the sake of all mankind.
Before I present to you the grisly details of so many deaths, and the lessons learned, I must insist that you take a moment to consider my account, for in the reading of it, there will be devilish forces—invisible to the world of men—with designs upon your reasoning. A rational mind could not readily accept the things I must bring to your attention, and these forces of which I speak will glut upon your incredulity, feeding it yet further with the sole intent of confirming your rejection of the truth.
These beings observe you now through a singular, malevolent mind, able only to sway your resolve with spiritual utterance, urging you to believe that these writings are merely the fictional ravings of a disturbed imagination. And though there is some truth in those whispers, I call upon you to consider what may have wrought such ruin to an otherwise sound intellect. Therefore compose yourself, reader, for their machinations are real, and though I cannot hope to understand the workings of cause and effect within the order of Creation, your attention to my account has the power to save multitudes. The success of my endeavors and the hopes of my companions, indeed of the world, are no longer in my hands, dear reader. This yoke has been passed to you.