MAG 89: Twice as Bright

Statement of Jude Perry, regarding some advice. Recorded direct from subject.
==Pre-Statement==
Jonathan refused to shake Jude Perry's hand when he found her. She confirms that she and others burnt down Gwydir Forest because Nikola Orsinov asked her to. She explains that she could reach into John's chest and burn his heart, but decides not to.
Jonathan says that he believes he serves Beholding, as Jude serves The Lightless Flame, which she calls The Desolation. She says she will not kill him as a favour to Elias, as repayment for him killing Gertrude. John starts to compel Jude to explain why she wanted Gertrude dead, but she burns him, telling him to stop. Regardless, she decides to give him some advice.
== Statement ==
Jude explains that flames must be fed or they go out. She used to be a stockbroker at a bank that has gone out of business due to frequent fires (it is implied that Jude set them). When working at the bank, she became depressed, or "burnt out" before she met Agnes Montague. The two talked about sacrifice and power, as they did, strangers gathered around them. One of them, Sandy, was dismissive of Jude. When Sandy squatted down to stare at Jude and said "I don't think so" to Agnes, Jude pushed her away but her hand sank into her waxlike flesh. After Jude removed her hand from Sandy's now-misshapen head, Sandy stood up, reshaped it, and nodded her approval to Agnes.
Jude knew she had to make a sacrifice to The Desolation, someone who had value. She chose her colleague and friend Nicolas Trikenzo, whose wife, Julie, had just given birth to their first child: Desmond. She got him drunk and stabbed him to death. After she did, his body burnt and she felt her senses sharpen as she felt the warmth of The Desolation. The death wasn't the thing that it craved, but the destruction of his life. She also burnt down his new house and forged his signature to have his wife's assets seized. She still keeps an eye on Desmond to see if there is anything worth taking from him.
Jude continued to burn people around her but, thanks to help from other members of the Cult of the Lightless Flame, she was never caught. She was living for the pain that she caused and for Agnes. 
Jude doused herself in petrol in front of Gretchen, her girlfriend, and immolated herself, feeling her bones crack and pop.
== Post-Statement ==
John starts to ask more questions, but Jude says that she will kill him if he compels her. She confirms that she met Agnes in 1989 and completed her 'transformation' in 1991, putting her in her 50s. Jonathan notes that she does not look 50 and she replies, "Wax is easy to mould", changing her face.
John asks what he can feed the Beholding, but she does not know. He starts to leave, muttering about dead ends, but Jude stops him, saying she knows where Michael Crew is and that he hangs around with the Fairchilds, stating he is closer to "your lot than mine". She says the price for this information is John shaking her hand, which he does, screaming in pain as she burns his hand.
==Continuity==
*This is where John is marked by The Desolation.
*Related Entity: The Desolation
*Jude's comment on Michael Crew being associated with the Fairchilds is a reference to him being an avatar of The Vast.
Category:Live Statements
Category:The Magnus Archives Episodes