WARNING The subject matter contained in this story is very difficult and parental guidance is strongly urged.





Lisa Lansing, discovered missing in the summer of 1985 and now presumed dead, left behind many clues to her fate. These included several diaries, some of which have been found and others which are known to exist, but yet to be located. Interestingly, there are several manuscripts. A few of these have been discovered, and others, according to those diaries actually located, are hidden. All appear to have been written before she disappeared.

The following are excerpts taken from the Red Diary, the first to be discovered. Also incuded are excerpts from two manuscripts. While some diaries were penned earlier, the Red Diary was apparently written around the age of twenty-one and is considered important since it was found near one of the manuscripts and at the scene of one of the most heinous crimes in Texas history.

The excerpts presented here are included to provide a general idea of the destructive path almost forced upon a young girl and her brothers.

From the Red Diary:

I will be twenty-one next January and I understand so much more. The contradictions of a criminal mind are endless. One minute it can rape, kill, pillage, take what it wants, and the next it professes to believe it can feel love, and be true to those who deserve it. For years I accepted his words without question.

******

"They are weak if they need to change you. They have no control over their own thoughts, so they find it necessary to control others."

I remember how he bragged about holding a gun to a store clerk's head. How he made him kneel on the floor and said, "I'll blow your mother-fucking head off if you don't do exactly as I say." He never stuttered and his conviction rang true when he spoke. He believed in what he said so there were no doubts in the mind of the victim that this could be his last breath. The victim would have been correct; I was convinced of that.

From the manuscript "I'll Always Be Your Friend":

The flames rose as high as I could see. The only home I had ever known, along with the apartments of many of my friends, melted away before an onslaught of bright red, orange and yellow monsters. They seemed almost as tall as the city skyscrapers looming five blocks away.

Hours later, the smell of charred wood, even the taste of it in the air, hammered home the fact the fire consumed everything we owned. Every possession, every bit of clothing save what we wore, had become a pile of ash

******

Benji stopped and looked at me, her face pale. “Lisa, please help me. You don't think I'm going to die do you? I've never bled this much before." She covered her face with her hands to silence her sobs and sank to the bathroom floor.

I sat beside her. “I won't let you die, Benji. I'll take care of you."

She leaned her head on my shoulder and curled as close to me as she could. I wrapped my arms around her and rocked her gently.

She repeated, “Please don’t tell anyone, Lisa."

“I won't, Benji. I won't say anything. I promise.”

From the manuscript "Yellow Bandana":

"Oh God! Oh, no, David, David," Les wept loudly. I shook uncontrollably as I watched my two brothers, one bleeding from at least two gunshot wounds, one holding the other in his arms, crying.

David began to twitch and his eyelids fluttered. His eyes rolled back and I heard him gurgle.

I crawled over to Les. "Help him, Les, help him." My words faded; I felt faint.

Les glanced over at me. "Lisa!" He noticed the bloody mixture on me. He laid David's head back gently and grabbed me by both shoulders.