Iona Clark

Written by quddles

Character Background

"Oh for the love of-- This is taking forever. Make yourselves known! Now! Someone! Anyone! Come talk to us! Come scare us! Just do something! I'm not afraid!" - Iona Clark, c. 2007

Iona was born into a loving family in the small rural town of Sumas in the state of Washington. Her father was a local corn farmer, her mother a stay at home wife who took care Iona along with her two other children. As a child, she was bright and curious, with a keen interest in the supernatural and the unexplained. However, her life took a dramatic turn when she was just 15 years old.
On a calm Halloween night in 2007, Iona convinced her youngers siblings to join her in playing with a homemade Ouija board. Born and raised in a small rural town with not much else to do, Iona had always been fascinated by the supernatural and the unexplained. Her siblings, however, were more hesitant but agreed to join her nonetheless. After sever minutes of nothing happening, Iona grew impatient and demanded the spirits to make themselves known. Suddenly, the planchette started moving, spelling out something that terrified and fascinated them. As they huddled together, the entity continued to reveal its message, leaving all of them stunned and shaken:
"W-E A-R-E M-A-N-Y L-E-G-I-O-"
Iona suddenly ripped the planchette and the board away from the table. Her siblings were visibly shaken and nervously asking one another if they had moved the planchette on purpose. Iona interrupted them, imploring her siblings not to tell their parents about this experience. She made the excuse that she was the one who guided the planchette - an obvious lie that her siblings apprehensively accepted. They started as their parents called them to dinner, a distraction all of them happily accepted.
That night, Iona woke up in a panic. She turned on the lights in her room; nothing seemed out of the ordinary. She got up and walked to the hallway to check on her siblings. After turning on the lights in the hall and opening their door, she was relieved to find them both sound asleep. Feeling thirsty, she turned to go to the kitchen. But out of the corner of her eye, she caught a shadow slithering into the darkness. She froze in place, and fear overwhelmed her. She screamed for her mother and father, and the whole household woke up and stormed into the hallway. Iona's father had a short-barreled shotgun in hand, which made her feel a little more at ease. She explained what she had seen to her family as tears started to well up in her eyes. Her mother stayed with Iona and her siblings in the hall as they started to pray for safety, while her father looked around the house with the shotgun in hand, in case Iona had actually spotted an intruder. After a few minutes, Iona's father came back to the hallway and gave the all-clear. A cumulative sigh of relief came from her mother and siblings. Iona's father consoled his wife and children, told them everything would be alright, and went to embrace all of them, one by one. When he got to Iona, he held her tightly.
She felt so safe in her father's arms. The familiar smell of his clothes. The coarseness of his beard. He regarded her. An unnaturally wide smile spread across his face.
"We are many."
The next few minutes was hell on earth for Iona. Her father raised the shotgun in his hand and shot his wife in the head. Iona's ears were ringing, she could her her siblings scream in terror, her father breathing heavily. In a panic, her siblings jolted off to different rooms of the house, Iona's father calmly walking towards them. She was paralyzed. She looked at her mother and saw a sight no child should ever see. That was the last time she would see her mother. The last memory of see her - a mangled mess of flesh, blood, and bone where her face had once been. She couldn't move. She tried screaming the names of her siblings. She needed to tell them to hide, to run, to get away from here.
What were their names again?
Her father brought back one of her siblings in front of her and executed him in the same way he had his wife. Iona couldn't move. Her father shot a glance at her before walking off, presumably to find her other sibling. Her father came back after a couple of minutes dragging a young boy by the scruff of his neck. He ended up sharing the same fate as their mother and that young girl.
Why couldn't she remember their names?
Iona's father stood in front of her. She couldn't move. An unnatural smile on his face. Bits of blood and flesh splattered on his clothes and face. Iona could hear her father breathing heavily; his breaths sounding like screaming under his breath. She couldn't move. Her father's last words to her were "You should have said 'good-bye' earlier. Rookie mistake." before turning the shotgun under his chin and pulling the trigger. She couldn't move. All she could do was look at was a mutilated and gnarled mess that had once been her happy and loving family. A shadow emerged from the pile of corpses and glided to the end of the hallway, attaching itself to an unlit corner of the room. She was able to get a good look at it. The shadow looked like the silhouette of a woman, horns protruding out from the sides of her heads resembling those of a watusi. A harsh voice came from the entity, "There should be one more shot. It won't work on me, but don't worry. I can wait." Sinister eyes looking expectantly at her.
Iona couldn't take it anymore. She had seen evil tonight. Her family slaughtered in front of her eyes. The last memories of her family wouldn't be of them sitting down at the dinner table and talking, no. The last sight of them are in a pile in the hallway. The sound of dripping blood falling from the ceiling and nearby decorations. She stopped crying. She couldn't feel anymore. She wanted to die. Not by her father's shotgun. Too quick. She had done this to her family - her loving, happy family. All because she wanted to play around with that stupid Ouija board.
Slower. She had to go slower. Painfully.
She stood up and slowly walked towards the laundry room. Spotting the bottle of bleach on the shelf, she took it down, and removed the cap. Suddenly, the prospect of dying had terrified her. Dying was the easy way out. She needed to atone. She simply had to. In an instant, Iona looked upwards, took the bottle, and poured its contents over her face - the burning sensation searing itself into her memory.
She forced herself to open her eyes. Pain. Atonement.

Current Status

On a field operation

Current Location

Site-27

Age

26

Sex

Female

Gender

Woman

Presentation

Feminine, well kept

Hair

Long, kept in a bun

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Tanned

Height

5'11"

Weight

150

Belief/Deity

Atheist