Small Town Secrets: Five Horror Stories of Hidden Cults, Monsters, and Dark Rituals

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, my Spookyes. Welcome back for another trip to the
Weekly Spooky Vault, where the post cards are pretty, the
locals are friendly, and the ground beneath your feet is
actively telling you a lie. Tonight's theme is small town secrets,

(00:20):
the kind you taste in the diner coffee and feel
in the silence after someone says you're not from around here,
are you? In just a moment, you'll walk into a
quiet town that hires an outsider for security, while a
church renovation quietly opens the door to something that loves

(00:43):
basements and forgotten history. Then will pass an abandoned factory
where a shady deal turns into a sprint for your
life because some experiments do not stay buried. And after that,
welcome to Nepa or northeastern Pennsylvania, where the woods press

(01:04):
in close, the dogs start acting wrong, and the moon
makes everybody remember why they splurged on that second dead bolt.
And if you think school is safe, well wait until
we visit Strickfield Academy, where a stolen uniform and a
forbidden book can buy you power if you pay in blood. Finally,

(01:29):
we'll meet someone with no voice at all until the
fog gives him one. So lock the doors, turn down
the lights, and let's let the secrets crawl out. I
was sent to a small town where strange things were
happening by Michael Kelso. Even thinking about retelling this story

(01:56):
has made me the most afraid I've ever been in
my life. I suppose if I keep it bottled up,
I'll go insane. God knows, the security company isn't talking.
I feel like if I don't warn people and they
go there all right, if I'm telling the story, then

(02:17):
I'd better back up a bit. It started a little
over a month ago. I work for a security firm
that guards projects all over the country. I'm sort of
a specialist. It seems like if there's some weird stuff
happening at a site, I get called in. I'm not
sure why. Maybe my ex military background, or maybe the

(02:41):
fact that, well, we'll get to that. This place up
in New England was having some trouble. A local firm
was remodeling an old church when workers suddenly started quitting.
No one seemed to have a good reason why they
didn't want to work there anymore. So guess who got
the call to come in and straighten things out. Driving

(03:05):
up there, gave me the most profound feeling of being
alone I've ever had. And mind you, I've sat watch
in caves, foxholes, ditches, some of the most god forsaken
places on the planet, all by my lonesome, and never
did I ever feel his soul crushingly alone as driving

(03:26):
up that little two lane road that was the only
sign of humanity, as the trees seemed to close in
on me from every side. As unnerving as that was,
it was nothing compared to pulling into the little town
where the church was. It was like the nightmare scene
from a bee horror movie. I guess arriving at night

(03:48):
in the middle of a rainstorm didn't help much. I
pulled in beside the only vehicle I saw and ran
inside the hotel that looked like a saloon out of
an old Western. I barely got the door closed when
there was a light and a gun shoved in my face.
Who the hell are you, said a man from somewhere

(04:09):
behind the glare of a flashlight. Jones, I said, slowly,
raising my hands. I was called in to help out
with your worker problem. The light lowered, but the gun stayed.
What company do you work for? Sentinel Security? I saw
the man relax a little, but mostly I was happy

(04:32):
that he lowered the gun. In the best of times,
a gun in a situation is less than ideal. All
kinds of accidents can happen. I've seen many innocent bystanders
fall victim to contagious gunfire. The man stepped over to
a table and sat. As I looked around the room,
I was surprised at how much it looked like a

(04:53):
movie set from an old Western, right down to the
lit lanterns on the tables and hanging from the afters.
He beckoned me over and I sat across from him.
Judging by the welcome I'm guessing the workers aren't the
only ones who are spooked, I said. He looked at
the gun, then laid it on the table. He seemed

(05:15):
to be in his forties or fifties, but there was
a tiredness in his eyes. He looked weary and haggard.
Truth be told, I'm not even sure a gun would
do any good. Maybe you should tell me when the
trouble started. He looked at me. I could see worry
tugging at his eyes. Your contract's open, right, I nodded,

(05:38):
which means you have to finish the job or you
don't get paid, right, I nodded again. He looked me
over for a long moment, then sat back, drained his
glass of amber colored liquid, and sighed. I bought this
town a while back, he started recently with the past

(06:00):
my wife. I decided I needed to throw myself into
a project to keep me busy. I wanted to revitalize
this town and turn it into a tourist attraction. I'm
sorry for your loss. He nodded in recognition, but never
said another word about her. Things were going along smoothly,
he said. The buildings you see have all been restored.

(06:23):
They look good. You should have seen them when we started,
he scoffed, they were falling apart. No one had lived
here for years. That's why I was able to buy
the whole place for next to nothing. I'm thinking that's
not the only reason, yes, he said, as a haunted
look passed through his eyes. We saved the church for

(06:44):
last because it needed the most work. But once they
started remodeling is when things began to happen. Things It
wasn't much at first, shovels and saws would go missing,
to would be left in fine order. At night, only
to be in complete disarray in the morning. For a while,

(07:05):
the workers blamed each other, saying there was a prankster
among them. But that wasn't the case. Oh how I
wish it was. I waited for a long moment for
him to continue. We found the first body shortly after that,
he said so quietly, I barely heard him. Of a worker,

(07:28):
He nodded dead. He nodded again. Why didn't you stop
everything and leave? Because it was already too late, he said,
we had disturbed it disturbed what. He opened his mouth
as if to speak, but no words came out. He

(07:49):
shook his head and looked away. For a moment. I
could swear I saw a tear run down his cheek.
I'm sorry, he said, rubbing his palms on his face.
Let me take you to your room and we'll discuss
this further in the morning. My curiosity wanted him to
finish the story, but it seemed like his weariness had

(08:09):
been amplified by alcohol. I followed him as he carried
the lantern up the stairs to the first floor and
opened it for me. He handed me the light and
told me the bathroom was across the hall if I
needed it. I'll be here bright and early in the
morning to give you the dollar tour, he said, sounding
more like a host. Aren't you staying here tonight? His

(08:32):
eyes flashed genuine fear. Not here, he said, I'll be
back in the morning. I looked around the comfortable looking room,
trying to decide what was so wrong with it. As
he stepped to the door. Oh, by the way, he said,
stopping at the doorway. Don't bother with your cell phone.

(08:53):
There's no signal up here. I glanced down at my phone,
and when I looked up, he was gone. I picked
up the lantern and stepped to the doorway, but I
didn't hear him leaving. He would have thought someone walking
out on the hardwood floor would make some noise, but
it was silent. The only noise I heard was the

(09:15):
rain pelting against the windows. Since I was already in
the hallway, I decided to check out the bathroom. I
walked a short distance down the hall and found it
to be functional and clean, but nothing extraordinary. While I
was there, I used the toilet and washed my hands,
then went to my room and got my toiletry's kit

(09:36):
to brush my teeth. Carrying a lantern, around was a
little disconcerting. I've had to deal without electricity many times before,
but that wasn't what was bothering me. The shadows from
the lamp danced all over, giving the impression of others
in the room with me. It's strange because I've never
had that feeling before. Shadows were always just shadow. I

(10:01):
was trained to be cautious of who could be hiding
in the shadows, but not the shadows themselves. I finished
up my bedtime routine and settled in to sleep. There
wasn't much of anything else to do, so might as
well get some rest. One of the things I was
taught early on in my career was that any time

(10:22):
you'd get a chance rest, you never know when the
next chance will come. I laid down on the comfortable
bed and did some relaxation exercises. Before I knew it,
I was asleep. I woke with a start, not knowing

(10:47):
why it was pitch black in the room. Instead of panicking,
I touched my watch to illuminate it and found my phone.
Turning on the flashlight and lighting the lamp helped me
get my bearings, but still didn't tell me why I
was awake. I sat there for a long moment. Then
I heard it. There was a loud clanking sound coming

(11:09):
from somewhere outside. Sleeping in my clothes when on a
job was a habit I'd gotten into when I first
started doing private security, another carryover from the military. I
slipped out of bed and into my boots, then strapped
on my utility belt, then checked to make sure my
side arm was loaded. I turned off the phone's flashlight

(11:32):
and grabbed a small utility flashlight from one of the
pouches on the belt. For the moment, I holstered the
gun and explored with just the flashlight. This could be nothing.
I didn't want to go in gangbusters just to find
some kids playing around or a worker who came in early.
I double checked my watch. It was five o'clock in

(11:53):
the morning. Seemed like an odd time for a worker
to come in, but stranger things have happened. Working my
way down the stairs quietly, I double checked the bar room.
It was empty. Opening the door, I had the strangest
feeling that something was wrong. Nothing seemed to be out
of place. It had stopped raining, and I stepped out

(12:16):
into the street to find a light layer of fog.
Looking up and down the street. I heard the noise again.
It sounded like it was coming from the direction of
the church. Leading with the flashlight, I started in that direction.
There seemed to be a slight orange glow coming from

(12:36):
the inside of the building. The closer I got, the
beam of my flashlight made the air around me glow.
It made me feel like I was giving my position away.
I fought back the feeling. This was a little town
in Vermont, not an active war zone. I had to
be cautious, but also temperate with non lethal actions. The

(13:00):
church loomed in front of me. It seemed much larger
up close. I climbed the steps and reached for the
door knob. When a loud crack sounded behind me. I
whipped around, shining my flashlight at everything, but there was
nothing there. As I was looking back, I noticed a
light in the window of my room. I must have

(13:21):
left the lantern lit. As I looked, I saw the
light dim for an instant and then get brighter, almost
as if some one had walked in front of it.
The temperature felt like it was in the lower seventies,
but that didn't keep a chill from running down my spine.
Some one was curious to know who I was. From

(13:43):
years of experience, I've found that it's never good if
someone wants to find out who you are but doesn't
want to do it face to face. That would be
something to deal with. When I got back to my room.
For now there was a church to explore, I got
the feeling that someone was trying to distract me from entering.
I reached the top of the stairs and turned the knob,

(14:06):
but nothing happened. It didn't feel like it was locked.
It was almost as if someone was on the other
side holding the knob. I turned as hard as I could,
and finally it gave and the door opened, dragging me
inside and nearly knocking me to the floor. Regaining my balance,
my hand hovered over my gun, expecting to see someone

(14:29):
doing something they weren't supposed to. As I slowly panned
around the room, I found something much worse, absolutely nothing.
There was a lit lantern set up on a table
near the altar that was in the middle of being restored.
Other than that, there were a lot of pews that

(14:50):
were halfway constructed. The ones that were finished looked like
they had been sanded and were waiting for a layer
of stain. I walked down the center aisle as looking
for a seat at a wedding or a funeral. As

(15:12):
I approached the partially reconstructed pulpit, I looked up and
saw a life sized wooden carving of Jesus on the cross.
It looked old, not like wine that ages well, but
like decrepit. It had been painted flesh colors at one time,
but now it was cracked and peeling away from the carving.

(15:34):
It looked grotesque to see layers of skin peeling away,
like it was rotting off his body. I'm not the
most religious man, but I believe in Jesus. I've prayed
enough prayers sitting in foxholes and caves, asking to be
rescued from bad situations, and I'm still here. I wouldn't

(15:55):
call him and I best buds. I know our relationship
could be closer, but seeing him that way, rotting to
pieces was just disturbing. As I looked into his face,
I swore I saw his eyes open. For an instant.
I blinked my own eyes to be sure I was
seeing right, but when I looked again, they were closed.

(16:19):
It was my imagination playing tricks on me. At least
that was what I told myself as I stepped onto
the platform and looked around. Off to each side were doors.
I went to the one to the right and found
a small broom closet. The one on the left held
a set of stairs that went down and disappeared into darkness.

(16:41):
Just inside the door, there was yellow and black caution
tape blocking the way down. I shone the light on
the stairs, and they looked sturdy enough. I reached for
the tape, but before I got hold of it, a
strong hand grabbed my shoulder and turned me around. What
do you think you're doing here, said a man who

(17:01):
was a full foot shorter than me, but his grip
felt like iron. I was about to go down those stairs,
I said. He looked at me with the incredulous look
a parent gave a toddler who was reaching for a
hot stove. And you didn't see the caution tape, he said,
I saw it. Who are you anyway? I've never seen

(17:23):
you before, Jones, I said, offering my hand. I'm with
Sentinel Security. I was called in to investigate why workers
keep quitting. He looked at my hand, then at me.
So this investigation includes ignoring obvious warnings. My hand was
still extended but had yet to be shaken. I let

(17:45):
it fall to my side. Are you a worker or
a foreman? He scoffed, Nothing so formal. I make sure
people do what needs to be done, so foreman. His
eyes bled with suspicion as he stared at me. Where
did you say you were from? Again? As I was
about to answer, more workers entered, followed by the owner

(18:07):
i'd met last night. Let's ask the boss if he
knows you, the foreman said, smugly. The owner locked eyes
with me and gave me the strangest look as he
walked up to us. Good morning, he said, addressing both
of us. Good morning, sir. The foreman said, I caught
this man snooping around in here, did you now? He said?

(18:30):
Is that true? I wasn't snooping. I was investigating, I said.
Don't you remember our conversation from last night? His eyes
opened a hair wider for an instant, then went back
to normal. Of course I do, he said, with a
smile that seemed forced. Remind me again. My memory isn't

(18:50):
the best. We met in the saloon, talked for a
little bit, and then you showed me to my room. Indeed,
he said, with a raised eyebrow. Did I say anything else?
You told me you bought this place after your wife
passed away, and problems started after you found the first
dead worker dead. The foreman said, with alarm. When did

(19:13):
this happen? The owner burst into laughter. It appears mister Jones,
mister Jones here has pulled a fast one on you,
he said to the foreman. Perhaps he and I should
go and discuss the matter in private, and you can
continue with your work. The owner grabbed my arm and
guided me away from the foreman, whose eyes burned as

(19:35):
they followed us out the door. We walked out of
the church in silence as he nodded to workers who
were straggling in to start work for the day. He
led me back to the saloon where we sat at
the same table as before. So you and I met
in this saloon last night, he said, at this very table.
I said, I came to the door and you pulled

(19:57):
a gun on me. His eyebrows ran, Did I now,
and what time was this? I'd say around nine? We
sat here and talked about what was going on with
the workers. And what else did I say other than
about the worker? I asked you why you hadn't left,

(20:18):
and you said it was too late. This time, he
didn't try to hide it. His eyes grew wide. He
stared at me for a long moment, then seemed to
gather himself. I apologize, mister Jones, if this all seems
a little strange, he said. You and I did not
have a conversation last night. It was my turn to

(20:41):
raise my eyebrows at nine o'clock last night. I was
in bed with my very much alive wife. But you said,
and we have not had any workers die. I don't understand.
Neither do I. I thought about it for a long moment.
You were drinking when you talk to me. Is it

(21:02):
possible you were too drunk to remember? He leaned a
little closer. I haven't had a drink in nineteen years.
He reached into his pocket and set a coin on
the table. I picked it up and looked at it.
It was an alcohol anonymous coin. Then who did I

(21:22):
talk to last night? He put the coin back in
his pocket. Are you sure it was me who was drinking?
I looked at him and read the suspicion in his eyes.
I don't drink. He leaned back in his chair. It
seems we've reached an impasse, he said. Perhaps I should
call your company and have a different person come and

(21:45):
investigate the matter. I wanted to find out what was
going on. Perhaps you should give me at least a
day to investigate, I said, unless there's some other reason,
you don't want me to get to the bottom of this,
he smiled, but it wasn't friendly. Please continue your investigation,

(22:05):
mister Jones, he said, unimpeded. I will inform the foreman
to allow you free reign. Thank you, I said, standing
to leave. Just one more thing, he said, what was
the last part of what my doppelganger told you? You
said it was too late to leave because you had

(22:27):
disturbed something. His eyes fell to the table, as if
deep in thought. I went back to the church and
began talking to the workers one by one. Each of
them was hesitant to talk around the foreman, but once
they were out of earshot, told very similar stories. There
had been strange things going on, especially at night. It

(22:48):
was more than just tools being moved around. Strange symbols
would appear carved into the wood they were using. The
owner would tell them to cut the symbols out and
use whatever they could of the wood. One of the
workers had gone missing, but after a day or so,
the owner said he had quit. The strange thing was
no one was able to contact him after that. The

(23:11):
more I dug, the more I found some of the
workers had become curious as to why they were restoring
this town out in the middle of nowhere. It turned
out it had been long suspected that Satanic rituals were
carried out in this very church. It was also suspected
to be the sight of the earliest witch burnings. But

(23:33):
the two facts that stuck out in my mind were
no one hung around after dark, that was when things
were alleged to get strange, and no one was allowed
down the steps I had found before the foreman stopped me.
The workers had been told the steps were unsafe and
could collapse under the weight of a person. It didn't

(23:53):
take much convincing to keep them away from the creepy stairs.
By afternoon, I knew exactly what my next move was.
I went back to my room and checked around to
see if anything was missing. Nothing seemed to be, so
I set my watch and took a nap. The alarm
went off at nine o'clock I went to the bathroom

(24:13):
to splash some water on my face, then geared up
for my expedition. When I got to the church, it
was empty. I made a bee line for the left
door in the creepy staircase. With flashlights attached to a
headband and my waistband, I was good to go. To
keep my hands free for whatever I might need them for,

(24:34):
I attached a safety rope like mountain climbers do and
found a sturdy spot to anchor it into the wall.
If the stairs gave out on me, at least I
wouldn't fall. As advertised. Every stair creaked like it was
about to give out, but thankfully none of them did.
The trip down was an assault on the senses. The damp,

(24:55):
musty smell of rotting wood in general decay was nearly overwhelming.
I was surprised at the general lack of cobwebs. It
told me this area wasn't quite as off limits as
some had let on. Surprisingly, the bottom didn't open up
into a full basement. There were a few wooden shelves
at the base of the stairs, but they were empty. Instead,

(25:19):
it became a narrow passageway. The floor was made of dirt,
and the walls were the same stone the foundation of
the church was made from. It seemed whoever had built
this tunnel built it at the same time as the church.
The ceiling barely made it to six feet. I had
to duck to keep from brushing my head against it.

(25:40):
I wasn't sure what I expected to find, but this
was the key to discovering what was happening here. I
had been walking for ten minutes, senses alert, hand on
my holstered side arm. Suddenly the air changed. The smell
became more pungent, and the air there was a feeling

(26:02):
of closing in that made the hairs on my arms
stand up. I turned a corner and the tunnel opened
into a large room with a high ceiling. I panned around,
trying to get the scope of the room, when my
light fell on something big in the corner. It looked
like a massive black boulder that was made of leather.

(26:24):
Watching transfixed, I noticed it was moving, not much, but
just a bit, rising and falling. I realized it was breathing.
Fear gripped me. I no longer had any interest in
finding out what was going on here. I just wanted
to turn and slowly back away. The thing made a noise.

(26:50):
It was either a snort or a cough, but in
either case it seemed to be waking up. I doused
my lights and stayed as still as possible while listening
in the total darkness. Its breathing became louder and less steady.
I heard a creaking that sounded like bones when some
one stretched. It was getting up, and I was standing

(27:13):
in the middle of the tunnel. If by some miracle,
it didn't already know I was here, as soon as
it walked over here, it would run right into me.
My mind raced to come up with options. As I
heard footsteps coming closer, I backed up against the wall
and started edging to the left, hoping I was in
the main room and not still in the tunnel. The

(27:36):
footsteps were so close when they suddenly stopped, the absence
of sound was deafening. I tried to hold my breath
as I listened for the beast's breathing. It was slow
and sporadic, as if it was listening for me. Neither
of us moved. We barely breathed, each waiting for the

(27:57):
other to reveal their location. My hand drifted to the
gun As I tried to pull it out of the
holster as quietly as possible, the air shifted. The beast
had moved, but I didn't know where. I heard a
strange squelching sound, and then, what are you doing, mister Jones?

(28:18):
I tried to hold off as long as possible, but
curiosity got the best of me. I turned on my
head lamp to find the owner standing right in front
of me, staring at me with a maddening smile. My
eyes darted around looking for the beast, but I knew
I wouldn't find it. It was standing in front of me.

(28:41):
So are you the real thing? I said, hoping to
keep the panic out of my voice. Or are you
some shape shifter who pretends to be some one else
because he has no identity of his own. I am
whoever I want to be, he said. I heard the
squelching again, only this I had the displeasure of watching

(29:01):
it happen. His entire body rippled and tore itself apart,
only to reform into the beast for a moment, then
tear apart again and reform into something much more terrifying.
I gasped, looking into my very own eyes. You see,
he said in my voice, I can take your place

(29:24):
and travel around pretending to solve problems. While he was changing,
I glanced around to see if there was anything else
in the room I could use. In the far corner,
I saw what looked like a nest and an inverted
cross hanging on the wall. If you could, why haven't you,
I said, playing a hunch. What if you were free

(29:48):
to go anywhere, then why haven't you? Why sit here
in the middle of the woods with nothing to do.
I choose to stay here, he said in my voice.
You choose because this is where your power is. You
know so little. I'm rebuilding this place so my worshippers
can live here and pray to me, giving me all

(30:09):
the power I need, just like when this place was
first built, and until my followers thrive, I survive off
of human sacrifices. So you did kill the worker, and
no one remembers him, just like they won't remember you.
He grinned and took a step toward me, but I

(30:31):
drew my pistol and shot him in the forehead. He
fell to the ground, bleeding. It was a strange sight
to watch myself die. But then the squelching began again,
and he reshaped into his demonic form. He stood ten
feet tall and covered in leathery skin that looked like
tiny teeth. His face was a nightmare of glowing red

(30:53):
eyes and massive, sharp fangs. He roared at me in
what sounded like a thousand voices. I turned and ran
down the tunnel, ducking so I didn't hit my head
and knock myself out. That would have ended my escape
and my life. I heard the squelching again and heard
my voice call after me. You can't escape, and besides,

(31:15):
I know how to find you. I turned and fired,
hitting him or me in the chest. He dropped and
squelched again. I wanted to watch him turn into his
demon form, to see him squashed into the tunnel that
was too small for him, But I didn't dare squander
this time for anything but escape. It seemed like forever

(31:36):
until I came to the stairs. I took them two
at a time. Once I reached the top, I turned
to see him at the bottom. I shot him again,
then found a lantern inside the church, lit it and
tossed it down the stairs. The glass shattered, spreading fire
all over the bottom stairs. They began to burn almost immediately.

(31:58):
I could hear his desperate cry as the flames crawled
up the stairs, destroying them one by one, turning and
running out the doors. I didn't bother with my things
in my room. I hopped in my car and drove
like a bat out of well, you know. My hands
shook on the steering wheel as I glanced in my

(32:18):
rear view mirror, hoping I wouldn't see that thing chasing me. Instead,
I saw a glow growing in the forest behind me.
I prayed the whole church was on fire and it
would spread to all the houses. I only wished his
followers were in the houses when they burned. I wondered

(32:39):
how many more places there were like this in the world.
The Devil Reaps the Harvest by John Oak Dalton. The
laboratory at the end of the dead End Road had
been closed for so long now that people had forgotten

(33:00):
all about it, or tried to forget about it, and
now everybody said it was an abandoned factory. It was
there that Peter O'Day was supposed to meet a guy
who had a couple of kidneys and a beer cooler.
So Peter parked in a weed choked employee lot and
walked about a quarter a mile into the woods where
the old laboratory sat. There he was meeting Octavius. Octavius

(33:24):
sounded like a mad scientist's name, and as it happened,
Octavius kind of was a mad scientist. He had worked
at the lab long ago doing things that are frowned
upon in the mainstream medical world, but that gig dried up.
He ended up harvesting organs, which wasn't much of a
step down. He still liked meeting people there for the

(33:45):
handoff because his greatest triumphs had been at that lab.
Also his greatest failures, but those were buried here and
there around the property. Peter had a bag of money,
and Octavius had a cooler with organs in it and
a new England Patriots sticker on it, so that went
down about like you'd expect. Peter was a dot com guy.

(34:08):
The bubble never burst on, so he had plenty of
money and could jump the transplant list and buy a
new kidney for their little girl a landra. People with
money can pretty much do what they want. Just look
at celebrities. They do drugs and get married eight or
ten times, but can adopt all the kids they want
and go on TV talking about various causes. If they

(34:29):
did all the same things but lived in that trailer
park on the other edge of town, the one called
Warning Side, but everybody actually called it homicide, nobody would
give them kids or want them on TV talking about
their causes. When Peter took the Patriots cooler from Octavius
that had a kidney and despair for Alandra, his hands
were shaking pretty badly, and some of the blood sloshed

(34:52):
out from under the lid and onto his shoes and
into the dirt. And it wasn't until that very moment
that Peter sort of realized what hell he was doing.
Octavius stepped back easily and missed the sloshing, but he
was used to blood spraying out all over the place.
Peter nodded and walked away, but Octavius stayed where he was.

(35:13):
To his misfortune, he had parked behind the old lab
on an access road everybody had forgotten about too, because
he did not want Peter or anybody else to see
the car he drove. Peter was hardly out of sight
when something just under Octavius's feet, where the blood was
soaking in sniffed and swallowed and opened its eyes. If

(35:36):
this lab had been that good at black science, they'd
still be in business. But they weren't, so they made
the mistake of burying their problems instead of burning them
in a big bonfire so that there would be no trace,
or in this case, so something could not bite and
claw its way with long fingernails and sharp teeth out

(35:59):
of the dirt and grab Octavius by the ankles, then
pull him to the ground and bite him right on
his face. But his face was kind of bony, so
it started working on some of the soft parts. Peter
had stopped not far away to call his wife, but
never heard a damn thing. It was ironic because as
soon as that creature's hand popped out of the dirt,

(36:21):
Octavius's heart popped like a balloon. All those times Octavius
had arranged for guys to meet Russian women off the
internet for a night of passion, only for those guys
to wake up in the hotel tub, packed an ice
or dumped in a landfill, and never waking up at all.
All those times, Octavius never knew he needed an organ himself.

(36:43):
He ignored the shortness of breath and the tingling in
his fingers and all the rest. Like I said, if
they were better at science, they would still have been
in business, And if they weren't all so lazy, they
would have buried these things deeper. Peter's wife was named
Stacy and was waiting in a big McMansion out in

(37:05):
the suburbs for news of a Landra's kidney. Do I
even need to say that? This was his second wife
and very young. Were halfway there, Peter told her, it's
not like a pig kidney or anything. She asked, how
would I know? I don't know, She fretted. Look, this
guy came highly recommended, and when it comes to Alandra,

(37:28):
we don't have another choice, I know, said Stacy. And
there was a lot in those words, And those two
words were all the feelings Stacy had growing for little
Elandra and all the feelings Peter lacked. But Peter did
what he had to do. What Peter had to do
next was walk out of the edge of the overgrown
parking lot and wait for a guy from the transplant

(37:51):
organization he'd paid off. Actually, this guy, whose name was
Rollo New Octavius quite well, but neither man wanted anyone
to know they were. Rollo had worked in that lab too,
back in the day, not so much in the sciences
as in the more nebulous parts of the organization. Octavius
could have just given the organ to Rollo, but Octavius

(38:14):
and Rollo always wanted a middleman. It wasn't fool proof,
but it was better than nothing. Look, just go to
the hospital and wait, Peter said. The guy is on
his way here, and then he's going to be bringing
the kidneys within the hour. Okay, said Stacy, but there
was so much she could not face. She knew she

(38:34):
was staying right where she was Okay, and Peter hung up.
Peter had only taken a few steps before he saw
something moving in the trees, just out of the corner
of his eye. Of course, Peter was thinking it was
a cop or the FBI, or maybe an investigative reporter
trying to entrap him and put him on TV with

(38:54):
all the pedophiles. So Peter stepped off the road and
hid behind a tree, which was stupid because unlike cops
and FBI agents and reporters, what was shambling towards him
could smell the blood on his shoes, Peter peeked around
the tree and realized he was wrong about the cops
and the reporters, because how this person was dressed, how

(39:16):
this shape was dressed, was in things goodwill would not take.
They looked like clothes somebody took out of a compost pile.
Peter started moving quickly through the trees, trying not to
slash the beer cooler too much, and cut cross country
towards the parking lot. All the bones and muscles and
ligaments and the things sniffing along behind Peter, which seemed

(39:40):
barely connected to each other still let the thing move
faster than you would think, But it would not have
mattered if Peter had watched where he was going, which
he did not, so he overshot the parking lot and
thrashed deeper into the woods, and the thing that could
smell his bloody footprints, who saw the shoeprint, glowing like fire,

(40:01):
kept on coming. Peter saw the bland gray concrete block
of the lab building looming in front of him, and
he realized he'd been a dumbass and circled back on himself.
He was ultimately a tech guy. He'd never been much
out in nature and did not really know how to
navigate even a small forest of trees, much less tell

(40:21):
one from another. And he'd never seen a dead body,
but he recognized that Octavius was dead when he saw
what was left of him in the small clearing where
they had met up minutes ago, the chewed parts and
the parts that should have been tucked inside but were
glistening in the sun. The thing behind Peter was getting closer,

(40:43):
so close now Peter could hear a slurping noise. And
Peter turned and looked, and what he saw sent his
heart plummeting and his balls scurrying up inside himself to
meet it, and his butthole slammed shut with the finality
of a coffin lid. Peter dropped the beer cooler, and
this time a lot more blood slashed out than was good,

(41:05):
and the thing moved faster. Somehow, Peter grabbed the cooler
back up and started running. Peter was running, and the
only place he knew he was running was away, wherever
that was, and he was bouncing off of trunks and
getting whipped in the face by branches and all that
because instead of joining boy scouts, he had taught himself
computer programming he was richer, but very close to being dead,

(41:29):
so some of his life choices seemed poorer today. He
kept splashing blood out of that cooler, and that wasn't
great for a landra, but more importantly for Peter, it
wasn't great for him at all. So Peter stopped and
opened the cooler. He plunged his hand in and grabbed
out a kidney that was in a leaky sandwich bag,

(41:50):
and he flung that kidney in a long red arc
that hit the thing's chest with a wet sound and
plopped into the grass, and the creature looked down at
it with yellow eyes, and it gave Peter a chance
to catch his breath. Then the creature showed broken teeth
and reached down with those long nails and grabbed the
kidney up and it went down in one gulp, and

(42:12):
Peter threw up in his mouth a little. When Peter ran,
this time, he didn't even pick up the cooler. The
thing tipped the cooler back and gulped the other kidney down,
and that bought Peter a little more time. Peter ran
and looked back, ran and looked back, and sure enough,
in a minute or two, he saw that raggedy shape
moving between the trees. Again, Peter was looking back when

(42:34):
his foot touched asphalt and he was out on a
country road. The woman driving the mini van was leaning over,
pushing the Hocus Pocus DVD into the dashboard for her
kids in the back seat to watch for the millionth time,
so she didn't even tap the brake before she hit
Peter head on. Rather than explain what that looked like,

(42:55):
it's simpler to say the kids never asked to watch
Hocus Pocus ever. Again, As it happens, Rollo was not
too far behind the woman in a truck that looked
like a medical vehicle but really wasn't. Rollo was very
quick on his feet and looked like he had a
lot of authority. He bet on ponies with the same authority,

(43:16):
but no common sense, which is what got him into
this bad situation to begin with. It didn't take much
for Rollo to convince the stunned woman that he was
going to take care of everything and she was free
to go. He would even contact her insurance company for her.
She wrote everything down on a piece of paper with
tears in her eyes. Of course, as soon as she

(43:36):
drove away, he chucked that paper in a cup of
cold coffee he left on the dash. Rollo set to
looking around for that cooler and started back into the
tree line. He didn't find it, but he found a shambling,
shuffling creature with blood dripping off of a lipless, leering
mouth and grasping clawed hands stained with blood. Rollo was

(43:58):
a bad gambler, but he'd been a good crooked cop
and a decent emt who stole drugs. So he took
a snubnose thirty two he kept under his shirt tail
in the back and shot that thing in both its
yellow eyes. It fell down, as you might suspect, and
did not get back up. Then Rollo found the empty,

(44:18):
bloody cooler with the Patriot sticker on it. His mind
remained remarkably clear, and he knew what he had to do.
Rollo did a very good job at the transplant center,
which was his real job now, but he paid special
attention when he was getting a fat envelope on the side.
Rollo pulled Peter's body up into the back of the
white truck that if you squinted your eyes at it

(44:41):
might be a medical vehicle. He had some tools back there,
that could have medical uses. The back of his truck
was not as clean as some places, but it was
not as dirty as the back room of that massage
parlor where Rollo knew Octavius had done a little surgery.
If he hadn't already been a decent empt, he could
have used you tube. Stacy had been sitting very still

(45:06):
in her spacious living room when the doorbell rang. She
answered it, her hands trembling. Two stone faced men in
dark suits stared at her. Stacy O'Day one asked. It
was more of a statement than a question. Yes, is
this about a landra? She asked in a manner of speaking.

(45:27):
The man showed her a piece of official looking paper.
This is a warrant to search your house. Stacy took
a step back. But a landra's in the hospital. She
needs a transplant. It's on its way. Why is this
happening right now? The man looked at her. That's just it.
The hospital checked. There's no record that Alandra was officially

(45:49):
adopted from anywhere. Stacy swallowed hard. There's no record she
was ever enrolled in school. Stacy got her feet under her.
She's homeschooled. Your neighbors have a lot to say. One
of them says they saw a mattress on the floor
in the basement, next to an ironing board and a
stack of laundry. Stacy shook her head. We're painting her room,

(46:15):
so can you show me that room? He asked, Like
I said, it's being painted. The cop gave her a
thousand yard stare. You're not the first housewife that needed
a little help around the place. Tears showed in Stacy's eyes.
She's living better than she was in that hell whole orphanage.
She will be. She's in surgery and the kidney looks

(46:38):
like it's going to take. Stacy leaned against the wall
with relief, which surprised the two cops. But she's not
coming back here, the cop added. Stacy stood up straight.
If I didn't care, I wouldn't have pushed to get
her that kidney when she got sick. The cop had
cold eyes. What else could you do? I reckon you
didn't keep the receipt. Stacy processed this. She looked the

(47:03):
cop full in the face. This whole thing, it started
out differently than it ended with a landra at least
for me, Stacy making that statement was the only thing
that kept the cops from cuffing her and banging her
head on the door when they lowered her into the
back seat. They let her walk out on her own
free will, but she did not see that McMansion again

(47:25):
for a long time. The cops assumed Peter had run
out on Stacy and all of their problems. Nobody ever
found a trace of him. They were soon distracted by
a very large fire at an old factory in the
woods outside of town, which burned a big tract of land.
Rollo had a steady hand and a clear head and
got a bonus for all his quick thinking. Didn't change

(47:47):
his luck at the track. But you can't have it all, eh.
Real Monsters from by Michelle Adler. I don't know about

(48:07):
the new kid. Don't you think he's a little weird.
Tom McCullough whispered, leaning slightly over his desk to get
closer to his friend, A little weird. Come on, he's
a freak. Jacob nodded. They both snickered in front of them.
Sat Patrick Marshall Sherwood, the third the aforementioned new kid.
His incredibly formal sounding name wasn't really befitting his posture.

(48:31):
Hunched over, staring at his desk and wincing at their laughter.
His dyed black shoulder length hair, eyeliner, and all black
wardrobe should have succeeded in making him look dangerous, but
in reality it just made him look tired and pale.
I have to admit I felt bad for the kid.
The rumor around school was that his dad had been

(48:52):
killed by a pack of feral dogs while he and
Patrick were camping somewhere in the mountains of Georgia. Patrick
had somehow escaped meeting his end there, but he hadn't
gotten away easily. His face and arms were covered in
a multitude of deep, gnarly scars from the event, a
permanent reminder that he and only he, had survived something

(49:16):
truly horrible, and not by much. To be fair, he'd
have been an ugly kid even without the scars. He
was just a little too lanky and awkward for me
to believe he'd ever been cool. Life ain't really fair,
I guess. I didn't know how much if any of
the story was just dumb rumors. I wasn't even sure

(49:36):
if Georgia had mountains, But if it was true, he'd
picked just about the worst town to move to if
he and his mom were trying to escape their tragic passed.
Our town, located in a quiet corner of northeastern Pennsylvania,
was mostly rural, encompassing part of the valley and a
lot of the surrounding woods. That might sound fine, though

(49:57):
maybe boring on paper, but incidents involving feral dogs had
always been common here. Usually it was just pets and
small animals that went missing, but lately some cows had
been found halfway eaten, dotting the nearby farms. Some more
people were on edge than usual. Not really a vacation
from their grief, is what I mean. So back to

(50:20):
the story. Those chuckleheads kept up with their insults for
a while, calling him every name they could think of,
poking him, sticking gum on his back, you name it.
You'd probably have thought that our English teacher, missus Alder,
just kept blathering on about Shakespeare during all this. I
wish she'd take notice, but she was so hard of
hearing that I wasn't sure she could even hear what

(50:42):
she was saying half the time. She was so old
and fragile looking that I often wondered if she'd escaped
a nursing home every morning just to come and teach us.
It wasn't fair though. I sat directly behind Tom in
the last row of desks against the window, like a
true delinquent. I was bouncing my leg waiting for I

(51:04):
don't know, a sign that I should jump in. I'm
not proud of the fact that it took Patrick brushing
teardrops off his desk for me to do something. I
reached forward and punched the back of Tom's chair hard
enough to get everyone, including our teacher's attention, stop making
fun of him, or the next thing I punch will
be your face, I shouted. I saw Tom and Jacob

(51:26):
flinch from behind. Marisa, missus Alder, spat sternly, miraculously cured
of her partial deafness for a moment. How many outbursts
do we really need to have this week? But they were,
I tried. No one will be picking on poor Patrick
in my classroom. It's not his fault. He's covered with

(51:46):
horrible scars, she continued. I watched Patrick cringe, and the
whole class began to giggle. There I go again, making
matters worse. I left school late that day, long after
the buses and carpools had gone basically my normal routine.
Gotta make sure I don't run into any trouble. You see,

(52:08):
like our scarred up sad boy, I too was the
subject of the other kid's hatred. But unlike him, I
actually knew how to stand up for myself and I
could hold my own in a fight. Still, I didn't
like to start trouble. I just relished in it when
it came calling. But even if I won, bites and
scratches do hurt, after all, so it was better to

(52:29):
avoid the rest of the student body when we were unsupervised,
especially in the middle of the afternoon in broad daylight.
Who needs that kind of attention. However, on this particular day,
waiting until my usual time four PM to leave wasn't enough.
I pushed open the side entrance and there was Patrick.

(52:49):
He sat on the curb, his posture the same as earlier,
the cool autumn breeze blowing his hair over his face.
I held my breath, trying to be comically quiet and
sneak away before he noticed. I just wanted to get
home and not do my homework. Until again I realized
he was crying. I sighed and plopped myself down next

(53:13):
to him, waiting for your folks to pick you up.
Oh right, I forgot dead dad. Your mom running late,
I corrected myself. I don't think she's coming, he said softly,
continuing to focus on the puddle of tears collecting on
the asphalt. I realized this was the first time i'd

(53:33):
heard him speak. She's been different since. I can tell
she doesn't like to look at me. Sometimes I think
she forgets me on purpose. I would just try to
walk back, but I don't know how to get home
from here. I can't even look it up because a
couple of kids from class pushed me and my phone

(53:54):
broke my fall. You just gonna sit here all night? Then,
I was hoping too. I like the dark. I honestly
couldn't tell if that line was supposed to be sarcastic.
Come on, tell me where you live. I'll walk you home,
I offered, as I stood up and brushed myself off.

(54:14):
You're not going to trick me and leave me halfway
and steal my wallet, right, he asked expectantly. Well, geez,
not anymore. I'm not, Patrick let out a little chuckle. Okay,
maybe we could make this work. I'm Marisa, I said,
helping him up, and I promise I won't hurt you.
Us freak's got to stick together. As it turned out,

(54:37):
Patrick only lived one block over from me and the
cute little cape cod that old mister Patel owned before
he got sick and had to move in with his kids.
It was great because I didn't really have to go
out of my way, but also a little sad because
I only lived six blocks from the school. He was
crying over a ten minute walk. I agreed to help
him find his way back to school the next morning,

(55:00):
walk home with him again the following afternoon. Like I said,
freaks need to stick together. So is it true about
what happened to your dad? I asked? On our walk
home the following afternoon, Patrick stopped dead in the center
of the sidewalk. Isn't it obvious it is? He touched
one of the scars on his arm tenderly. My dad

(55:22):
is dead, my mom probably blames me, and I look
like some villain from a slasher film. My life is
totally ruined. Oh that's a little dark, dude. I'm sorry. No,
it's better if I just lean into it. I'm a
monster now and I have to get used to it,
he sighed. Us monsters got to stick together. I said,

(55:43):
like it was my tagline or something. Marisa, he said bluntly,
you are not a monster. I furrowed my brow. He
was silent the rest of the walk home. I felt
bad for bringing up his dad and wouldn't have blamed
him if I didn't even get a goodbye. But when
he was halfway up his driveway, he stopped. Marisa, I

(56:05):
need to tell you something, he began without turning around.
Can you keep a secret. What did I say five
minutes ago about us sticking together? Patrick paused for a
long time, like he was having trouble finding the right words. Listen,
you're gonna think I'm crazy. But that's okay. Even I
think I'm crazy sometimes. He clenched his fists tightly at

(56:29):
his sides. But when we were camping, when those dogs
showed up, they attacked me first. My dad fought so
hard to stop them and lure them away from me.
That's why he's dead, and I'm just this thing now.
It's not your fault. No, that's not what I mean.

(56:52):
When I was lying there when they were tearing my
dad to shreds, I could have sworn I heard them
talking to each other. I could have sworn they were laughing.
What does that even mean? I guess it's possible that
I was delirious from blood loss. But if that's true,
then how come even now when it's really quiet, I

(57:13):
can almost still hear them laughing. His voice was shaking
at this point. He was staring directly at me again,
his eyes full of fear. Are you saying, I don't
think they were dogs? I think they were something else, wolves, maybe,
I offered, Patrick let out a little pitiful laugh. No,

(57:36):
not wolves. So now you know the truth. I'm crazy
nice knowing you. I don't think you're crazy, Patrick, I said,
not sure if I was lying or not. Either way,
I don't think that's a good enough reason for us
to stop hanging out. He smiled in a mix of
confusion and relief. Thanks, Marisa. It seemed that let someone

(58:00):
else share his secret took a lot of weight off
the poor guy's shoulders, because after that he was a
lot more outgoing around me. The edges of his sadness
had been sanded down a little, and he actually let
me get to know him. And as it turned out,
Patrick was a pretty good kid. We were into the
same comics and video games and even got each other's humor.

(58:20):
We walked to and from school together every day for
the next couple of weeks, and my mom let him
stay for dinner most nights and sleep over on the weekends.
As much as I considered myself something of a lone wolf,
I had to admit it felt good to have someone
around that really got me. I guess this is what
it's like to have friends. Huh. Things stayed good for
a while. When the other kids realized that I had

(58:41):
taken him under my wing, a lot of the bullying stopped,
and when he was picked on, he had gotten pretty
good at standing up for himself. This, however, leads us
to the incident that threatened to shatter the small bit
of peace we'd begun to carve out for ourselves. Tom
and Jacob, the only two kids still brazen enough to
constantly mess with Patrick, had come up with a new

(59:01):
way to get under his skin. You see, whenever Patrick
tried to speak in class, or passed them in the hallway,
or even entered a room, they'd howl like wolves. Because
it was a relatively easy and safe way to upset him.
They were usually able to get whoever else was around
to howl along with them. I know it doesn't sound
that bad, but after three days of it, Patrick wasn't

(59:24):
looking too good. It happened in missus Alder's class, as
most bad things did. Man, she was a terrible teacher
and was discussing another terrible book that they tell you
was a classic and has all this symbolism, but was
just written by some dumb guy who probably didn't even
know what symbolism was. So who can tell me why
they think the author decided to make the badge read?

(59:47):
She asked. Everyone stayed perfectly, still dead eyed, hoping to
avoid being called on having to discuss colors. Well, everyone
except Patrick. He actually raised his and ah, yes, mister
Marshall Sherwood, please enlighten us. You see there's not actual,

(01:00:08):
was all I could hear before a cacophony of howling
delinquents overtook his quiet voice. Now, students, settle down and
let him finish. You can howl all you want on
the bus home, she said, sternly, in her traditionally tone
death sort of way. Silence returned to the room. Patrick
tried again, there's not actually a The howling returned, then

(01:00:30):
quickly abated, go on, not actually a howling, then silence again,
a reason that howling, then silence. This pattern continued for
a tragically long time. I thought maybe he'd be struggling
to say that one sentence for the rest of the class,
until during that last interruption I saw something change in

(01:00:51):
his eyes. Patrick had finally snapped. He waited patiently for
the noise to calm and took a deep breath. Let
me start over. There's not actually a reason this time.
He didn't stop when they began again. He just slowly
turned to Tom, who was directly behind him, grabbed him

(01:01:13):
by the collar, and punched him in the face repeatedly,
all the while continuing to relay his point about the book.
When he was done, Tom's face was a mess, and
there was no more howling. Ever, again, the rest isn't
really important. Patrick went to the principal's office and got
detention for the rest of the week, and Tom went
to the nurse and got everyone's sympathy. Even though he'd

(01:01:35):
gotten in trouble, Patrick's attitude drastically improved. Detention was a
small price to pay for being able to speak again.
This did mean that we couldn't walk home together for
a while, though on Fridays he would usually pack an
overnight bag and come straight home with me for the weekend.
But with detention and his mom grounding him for beating
Tom to a bloody pulp, Patrick told me we'd have

(01:01:57):
to skip our normal weekend hangouts. It was actually relieved
to hear it. It was a weird time of the
month for me, and our hangout would have been super awkward.
I felt I dodged a major bullet, and was also
thrilled that his mom was paying enough attention to know
he'd gotten in trouble and that she actually seemed to care.
I expected an easy Friday night, so I was surprised

(01:02:18):
that as I finished washing dishes from dinner and turned
off the water, I was alerted to a frantic knocking
at our front door. Maybe Patrick's mom had changed her mind,
I figured, disregarding the overwhelming panic that seemed to loom
in the constant banging. I was totally shocked when the
opening door revealed none other than the devil himself, Tom
mc cullough, still bruised from his run in earlier in

(01:02:40):
the week, panting hard. Why are you here? I asked.
I really couldn't think of a single reason he'd want
anything to do with me. He tried to catch his breath.
I where's Patrick? He pleaded, What you want a rematch? No? No, listen,
I think I messed up. He was still trying to

(01:03:01):
catch his breath. Had he ran all the way here?
You want to apologize? Well, he isn't here. He's at home, grounded,
I was ready to close the door and get back
to my evening. No, he isn't. I went there first.
His mom said he never came home after detention. I
was hoping I was wrong and that he's here. But
oh no, I really messed up. His voice trembled. What

(01:03:24):
are you trying to say? Tom? Maybe I already knew.
My dad was pretty upset that I got beat up,
and I was really angry, so I said some things
about Patrick that maybe I shouldn't have. You know, we
own the farm on Schoogl Road, right, and you know
some of our animals have been killed lately. Right, Well,
he thinks, Tom struggled with how to say the next part.

(01:03:49):
I could feel adrenaline creeping into my limbs. I heard
him talking to his friends this afternoon, and I saw
him load silver bullets into his shotgun. Marisa, he knows
everything felt fuzzy. Where would they take him? I had
to think, clearly, there's woods on our property, fifteen acres

(01:04:11):
of it. We can basically do anything we want out there. Okay.
I pushed him out of the way and proceeded down
my steps. The sky was already turning pink and purple
with the coming of evening. There was no more time.
There was going to be a full moon tonight. Wait,
I'll come with No, it's dangerous and you've messed up enough,

(01:04:32):
I thundered, not bothering to look back. This is why
we don't tell adults things. They always get all murdery. Marisa,
you have to understand, I didn't mean for this to happen. Sure,
I've been messing with Patrick, but I would never want
him to get He paused, hurt. I tried to stop.
My dad tried to pretend I was lying about the

(01:04:53):
whole thing, but he's so set on well you know
that he wouldn't listen to me. I turned toward the
direction of the farm and took off running. Marisa. Tom
called out, but he was far behind me. Now. There
was no way I could be there before the sun
went down, but maybe I could still get there in
time to stop them. By the time I reached Tom's

(01:05:14):
family farm, the last threads of daylight were fading from
the sky. I was exhausted, but confident that I was
about to get my second wind. The woods were dark
and cool, and I could feel myself returning to my senses.
I picked up speed, heading in the direction I was
now confident I would find them. Please let me make
it in time. Eventually, distant chatter alerted me to Patrick's location.

(01:05:38):
I approached quietly, hiding myself in the underbrush while I
gaged the situation. Crickets and frogs had begun to sing.
In the blackness of the evening. Seven adults with flashlights
were gathered in a circle. I couldn't see him, but
I knew Patrick was in the center. Each man was
carrying a firearm on his shoulder or holding one in
his hand. I was not relieved to confirm that Tom

(01:06:01):
had been telling the truth. Please, I don't understand what
you're talking about. What would I want with cows? I'm
a vegetarian. A voice that had to be Patrick's pleaded.
In the back of my mind, I got a weird
feeling that something wasn't right, but brushed it off. Listen,
we know it was you. I mean, a kid who's
been attacked by feral dogs shows up and we just

(01:06:24):
coincidentally start losing livestock. I don't need to be a
statistician to see the connection. A man that was probably
Tom's dad was saying, confess now, and maybe we'll be
kind enough to let you live out the rest of
your life in a cage. I swear I didn't do
anything bad. I don't know what you've heard, but please,
I'm telling you the truth. Patrick begged. We'll see about

(01:06:46):
that in a minute. Any minute now, mister McCullough said,
looking up at the sky. One of the other men
cocked his rifle. I'm tired of waiting. Let's get this
over with. I'm missing my shows. A few of them
began to argue about the merits of killing my friend
now as opposed to later, and that was really enough
for me. I moved forward slightly, twigs snapping under my weight,

(01:07:09):
and let out a loud, guttural cry that just about
shook the earth. The entire forest went completely silent and
stayed that way. I saw fear overtake the murderous group
as they tried to find the source of the noise.
I emerged confidently from my hiding place. Let him go,
I howled. The blood collectively drained from their faces as

(01:07:32):
they got a good look at me. I positioned myself
to look as large as possible, my dense, wiry hair
standing on end, teeth exposed in a snarl, saliva dripping
from my jagged mouth. They pointed their guns in my direction,
but I charged forward and latched onto the closest one,
pulling it away from its owner and smacking him in
the head with it. He hit the ground with the

(01:07:53):
resounding thud. I bit into the rifle and broke it
into pieces with my massive jaws, as easily as if
it had been a crack. You really think your tiny
bullets can stop me, I wailed. They inched back, still
surrounding Patrick, but I was winning. Just one more push, guys,
shoot him already. Oh thanks, mister McCullough. I've had enough.

(01:08:16):
I lunged at them, ready to do whatever I had to,
but that was enough to send them running for their lives,
Scurrying away like the cockroaches. They were cowards, I huffed.
Patrick was still on the ground, his hands were tied,
and he looked a little beaten up. He stared up
at me, his whole body shaking in fear. I poked

(01:08:37):
my nose in closer and sniffed at his face, trying
to wrap my mind around the situation, then went for
his hands. He flinched at my hot breath, not seeming
to realize that I was chewing through the ropes and
not his fingers. It's okay, You're okay, I assured him,
but he was just hopelessly confused. Suddenly his posture shifted. Marisa,

(01:09:04):
you're why are you a werewolf? Patrick? Why are you
not a werewolf? I don't know how to answer that.
You aren't going to eat me? Are you? Well? Not anymore?
I'm not, I groaned. Us. Monster's got to stick together
after all, sin by rob Fields. I'm sitting here in

(01:09:36):
this motherfucking classroom about to lose my mother fucking shit
listening to this boring, mother fucking lecture. Like I give
two mother fucking shits about religion. Personally, I like my
other classes. I just hate the ones about a fictitious

(01:09:57):
God and the stories that come out of that big
book of lies called the Holy Bible. That's what I
get for coming to a hell hole like Strickfield Academy. Still,
this place does have its advantages. For one, it's got
great food, unlike your average high school cafeteria. Two, they

(01:10:21):
give you these sexy schoolgirl outfits. And three I get
away with murder here. No really, I do get away
with murder here. Listen and learn. I'm listening to Sister
Mary Theodore talking about some shit called revelations. I can't

(01:10:43):
wait to get the fuck out of here. Then these
two cunts get my attention. We ain't allowed to have
smartphones on in classes. Let these nuns catch you with one.
You're lucky if you'll ever see it again. So these
two are going old school passing notes. Personally, I don't
care if people pass notes. It's the two of them

(01:11:05):
hissing piste when they pass them. When I've had enough
of their pists, I snatch the note and crinkle it up,
making sure the nun catches me. She comes right over
and holds out her hand, hand it over Elaine. Now
she snaps, that's Laney to you. I reply and throw

(01:11:27):
the crinkled ball up front. The bitch retrieves it and
reads it to herself. Then she reads the rather interesting
conversation to the whole class. These two both glare at
me after the rest of the class finishes, laughing at
the juiciness the sister just read. The girls are both

(01:11:48):
told to go see Headmistress Hiltonson. Then the bitch points
at me, you too, Elaine. Now, I sigh and grab
my books as long as it gets me out of
this fucking class. Excuse me, she demands. You heard me.
I've easily got the attention of the other students. They

(01:12:10):
know I don't take shit from anybody, especially these fucking nuns. Oh.
I know, Sister Theodore wants to call me everything but
a child of God. I just love pushing her buttons,
but not nearly as much as I love pushing Headmistress Hiltonson's.

(01:12:30):
After school, I walk into detention hall and those two
cunts are here. I think their names are Joni Sawyer
and Teresa Gilmer. Yep, they're glaring right at me. One.
I got them both in trouble. Two. I only have
to be in detention just today. Those two are here

(01:12:51):
for a whole week. Ain't it funny those two are
passing sexual notes to each other. I back talked both
Sister Theodore and head Mistres Hiltonson, and all I get
is one detention period. I keep telling Hiltonson she can
expel me anytime she likes, but she won't budge. Still,

(01:13:13):
I cause more problems than both Janie and Teresa, and
I keep getting the lesser punishments. You're dead, Jony hisses.
After detention. Teresa adds, I roll my eyes eat me,
remembering my shirt is tied up in front of me
and not buttoned. I decide to provoke Jony and Teresa

(01:13:35):
even more, and to show I really don't give a fuck,
I pull down my bra and shake my tits for them.
I even get the appropriate reactions from everybody else in here.
Jony and Teresa are out of their seats and ready
to lunge at me when I quickly sit down. Sister Theodore,
who's in charge of detention hall this week, comes in.

(01:13:58):
I'm laughing inside when she points right at those two
and tells them they'll be in detention all next week too.
Teresa points right at me. She just flashed her fucking
tits at us. Bad move. Sister Theodore not only kicks
them both out of detention Hall, but she tacks on
two more weeks for the f bomb and the vulgar

(01:14:21):
bodily reference her words, I'm serving my detention by reading
my Bible. Oh no, I never read the false words
of the fictitious God. No, I read a completely different Bible.
To the naked eye, it looks like a copy of
the Holy Bible, but what I'm really reading are the

(01:14:42):
words of hell Weaver. There's no name for this Bible
that I'm aware of. I found it when I was
swimming naked in the Castalia River next to some caves
two weeks ago. I got out of the water and
went into the cave where I was going to spend
the night. Get the idea yet, I'm a fucking runaway.

(01:15:03):
I ran away from home when I was twelve. Believe
it or not. I came from a very rich family,
probably not as rich as these Mirons living in Strickfield.
But our family never wanted for anything. And that was
the big problem. Right there. You'd think I'd be so
happy with having money and power. The problem was money

(01:15:24):
just didn't interest me. It's fucking toilet paper. Then there
was the whole society thing and the government bullshit. To
put it mildly, I just do not respect or appreciate
being told what to do. I fucking hate rules. I
fucking hate society. On my twelfth birthday, I couldn't take

(01:15:46):
it anymore. I left that huge fucking mansion in Los
Angeles with only the clothes on my back. I didn't
take my smartphone or any money. Why I can just
steal whatever I want. Through the years, I've paid my dues,
I got my ass kicked, I learned to kick ass.
I've even killed people. I learned so much in the

(01:16:09):
wild that if it was a profession, I could have
made big money. Anyway, I kept wandering from place to place,
stealing everything I needed or living off the land. I'm
currently nineteen years old and doing just fine. Why did
I come to Strickfield. I just happened to jump off
a train in that area. As I walked the tracks,

(01:16:32):
two girls wearing Strickfield Academy uniforms decided to fuck with me.
When they decided to jump me from behind, I grabbed
one girl and snapped her neck. Then I grabbed the
other one and bit a huge chunk of flesh right
out of her neck. She bled all over me before
she fell over and died. I took both of their

(01:16:52):
uniforms and washed them in the nearby river. Curiosity got
the better of me, and I wanted to see what
Strickfield Academy was all about. After checking it out and
seeing the place was pretty much a parochial school for
fucking rich brats, I decided to settle down here for
the time being. Unfortunately, you needed money to go here,

(01:17:15):
so I had to steal some. Far from that, getting
in here was easy peasy. Getting back to swimming naked
in the river. I was staying at this nearby cave.
I got done swimming and was sitting down. I had
a fire going and was eating a hot dog. I
was cooking on it. While I was eating, I saw

(01:17:35):
something interesting sticking out a little further in the cave.
I got up and went to look. I found and
uncovered this big, thick book, a copy of the Bible. Fuck. No,
who the hell would bury that fucking book in here? No,
someone buried this particular book to keep it secret. I

(01:17:58):
took it back to my fire, opened it. The text
was in some language I'd never seen before. Funny thing, though,
I found I could both read and understand the words
I'm not any special kind of girl with powers or anything.
The only other language I could speak fluently was Spanish,
but there I was reading away. I read about a

(01:18:22):
demonic goddess called hell Weaver. Turns out she was banished
to the hellish dimension known as Perdition. Hell Weaver battled
with an alien girl known as Genessa. Hell Weaver was
going to use the reality sphere to change the entire
multiverse into a hellish one of her desire. Jenessa had
done the unthinkable and damaged the reality sphere to where

(01:18:44):
it exploded. This Bible doesn't say what happened to Genessa,
but hell Weaver found herself banished and imprisoned in Perdition,
where she remains trapped to this day. Hell Weaver had
been able to communicate with other beings, which would explain
how this Bible was created. Hell Weaver had been trying

(01:19:05):
to escape Perdition for eons. There were two ways to
free hell Weaver. One find the reality sphere and throw
it into the Infinity Core. But since us mortals can't
exactly move through time and space, hell Weaver had defined
another way, and she did. It's a long process, but

(01:19:26):
if done correctly, it would weaken and shatter the barriers
that keep hell Weaver locked in perdition. In fact, that's
what I'm reading about again here in detention right now. First,
Hell Weaver needs a disciple, an advocate, someone who's willing
to give herself to hell Weaver. I already told you

(01:19:48):
how sick I am of this fucking world, about everything
being about money and rules. The more I'm reading these passages,
the more I'm absolutely sure I want to commit myself
to help Weaver. Once I succeed in bringing her into
our world, she can do what this Genessa kept her
from doing. However, long ago. That was the first step

(01:20:12):
to becoming hell Weaver's advocate, is to prove to her
that I'm willing to do whatever it takes. In fact,
that's what's going to happen. After detention, thirty minutes go
by quickly, Sister Theodore says, we can leave. I repacked
my Bible and slide my backpack on. Sure enough, as
soon as I leave through the gates of Strickfield Academy,

(01:20:35):
Joni and Teresa are waiting for me, and they made
it a point to bring friends. Teresa has a wicked smirk.
We're gonna fuck you up. Should we kick or kill
her ass? Petitole asks kill her ass. Joni immediately answers.
Then she takes a switchblade out and shows me the

(01:20:55):
glistening steel after we cut off her tits. I smile
a sexy smile. What these old things? I pull my
broad down and flash them all. Now get her, Petta yells.
I quickly turn and run. I can hear all those
bitches right behind me. I won't be able to outrun them,

(01:21:17):
especially with the weight of my hell Weaver Bible in
my backpack, but I can keep some distance in between
me and them. Unlike them, I'm in great physical shape,
thanks to enough years of exercising and also running from
the cops. I lead them to the abandoned house I've
been staying at. When I reach it, I move to
a basement window and throw my backpack in before I

(01:21:40):
slide right in myself. I'm already moving up the stairway
with my backpack when the bitches reach the window and
start coming in. It takes the bitches long enough, but
they finally find me sitting at a window sill of
what used to be the master bedroom, and my tits
are still out for them to see. Jony points right
out nowhere left to run. You are so fucking dead,

(01:22:04):
I laugh, Well, I'm right here. Come and get me.
When they come for me, I pull two hunting knives
out from behind me and go at them. The bitches
are finding out this girl's got moves. In under two minutes,
I've got multiple dead bodies all over the floor. I
lick the blood off both knives before I put them down. Mmm,

(01:22:27):
you babes made me feel so dirty. I purr as
I start taking my clothes off. I think I need
a bath. When I'm fully naked, I look at the
bodies and you can help me fill the tub. I
step into the full tub and lower my naked body
into the blood. When I'm seated, I sink underneath the

(01:22:51):
blood for a long moment and come back up. Those
girls were more than enough to fill this tub. Their
bloodlood is so rich, so warm, and so sticky. No,
I'm not taking after that blood, Countess. This blood won't
let me retain my youth and hotness. Also, I'm pretty

(01:23:14):
sure none of it is virgin blood. No. The first
step to becoming hell Weaver's advocate is to wash yourself
in the blood of your own kind mortals. I moan
softly and scoop some blood into both hands. I bring
them up and pour it over my face and hair.
I bathe in this blood for several minutes before I

(01:23:36):
get out of the tub and proceed to the second step.
I lower myself to my knees and pick up one
of the hearts I extracted from those girls. I don't
even think about it as I bring it to my
mouth and start eating. I have to eat all the
hearts of those sinful mortals I killed for their blood.

(01:23:57):
They couldn't be innocent hearts. I kept a close eye
on this particular group. They didn't just bully other students
at the academy. They sometimes beat them within an inch
of their lives. They also committed burglaries and hurt the
people they stole from, sometimes severely. I needed to show
I was even more merciless than they were and would

(01:24:20):
do whatever it took to win hell Weaver's favor. These
hearts are actually delicious, in case you haven't figured it out,
I've eaten other humans for food many times, kill or
be killed that's how this world works. My tummy's really full,
and I have one heart left to eat. I have

(01:24:41):
to force myself to I feel like I'm ready to burst.
I feel like I'm going to puke. I keep taking
in deep breaths until I'm starting to feel better. But
I do finish eating that final heart. Now, for the
third and final step, I must summon hell Weaver herself
and have he come before me. The Bible is already

(01:25:03):
open to the pages I need. Then I light enough
candles to illuminate this whole room for the ritual. Note
it's still daylight yet. I kneel down in front of
the pages and start reading the incantations. When I finish,
this light appears near me. I shriek with such happiness

(01:25:24):
when I finally see her. Hell Weaver is so very beautiful.
I've only seen the renderings of her in this Bible,
but they don't do her justice. Even though she appears
before me, She's not really here. It's just a manifestation
of herself from perdition. She's still trapped there until I

(01:25:47):
can free her, which will take much longer than the
summoning ritual. I just did. I turn my body to face,
hell Weaver, but remain on my knees. It's really you.
Hell Weaver smiles and takes firm hold of my chin.
And you are the first mortal to perform the ritual.

(01:26:09):
This goddess is the best way I can describe her,
an amped up version of a succubus. I mean, she's
a combination of whatever makes up her flesh, in her armor,
the blank fiery gems that are her eyes look deep
into mine. You're so beautiful, I choke out. I love you.

(01:26:31):
Hell Weavers still smiling. I have never seen or felt
such devotion from one among your mortal kind. Please please
let me serve you. I beg her. She still holds
my chin. I can feel that you abhor authority. Why

(01:26:51):
would you now obey me? Because I want to free you?
I reply, I want you to destroy this world and
remake it the way you desire. I hate my people,
I hate this world what it's become. I want there
to be hell on earth. I can feel myself crying now.
I swear my eternal loyalty to you, my hell Weaver.

(01:27:15):
I'll obey your every command. Whatever you want, name it.
Hell Weaver smiles again. Interesting, none have ever cried for
me before I've read your words. I reply, You're real,
You're not a false god. I want to free you
and be by your side. I'm crying more now. I

(01:27:39):
love you. I choke out again. She lets go of
my chin rise. She takes my hand and helps me
to my feet. She takes a I don't know, a
kind of motherly hold of my face as she looks
into my teary eyes. Again. You have proven to me
that you can become my advocate it Elena Lister. But

(01:28:02):
you haven't just proven yourself to me, my daughter, You
even feel for me. This is a first for both
a disciple and a mortal. It was so easy for
you to bathe in the foul blood of your own kind. However,
eating all of their hearts was something only you have
succeeded in doing. It shows that you would give your

(01:28:24):
very existence to serve me, and you do not fear me.
I do not know whether you are foolish or I
don't fear you because I love you. I cry. Do
I need to prove myself more to show you that
hell Weaver considers me. Now come with me, my child.

(01:28:45):
There is one way you shall prove your love for me.
Suddenly everything changes. Now I find myself in an extravagant bedroom.
I know exactly where I am. This is my old house.
I ran away from here when I was twelve. Hell
Weaver folds her arms in front of her. You left

(01:29:07):
your family at such a young age, especially when you
had everything you could ever want. I hated my family.
I growled everything was all about money and power. They
were always forcing their ways on me, smothering me. This
house felt like a fucking prison. I had to run away,

(01:29:29):
and when I did, they wouldn't stop coming after me.
Not because they loved me, but because they wanted to
prove their power and superiority. Then prove yours. Sever your
ties with your family, completely kill them, kill all of them. Suddenly,

(01:29:50):
an ancient looking dagger appears in front of me. Due
to them, what you did to your enemies to summon me,
show me that you truly love and cherish own me me.
Do this act without mercy, and you shall be reborn
unto me. I take the dagger and start moving throughout
the house. Oh, the servants are quite surprised when they

(01:30:12):
see me naked and soaked with blood, and that's the
last thing they see before I use the dagger to
kill them. Wow, my parents sure had a lot of servants. Next,
I find my brothers and sisters, and I kill them too.
A few of them don't recognize me because they were
born after I ran away. As for my older siblings,

(01:30:35):
they recognize me immediately. Being naked and bloody certainly gives
me an advantage. Huh. Now it's down to only my parents.
I find Mom and Dad sitting in bed together and
watching TV. No surprise, the two of them aren't fucking
as many kids as they've had together. Boy do they

(01:30:56):
ever shit when they see me, Elena. Mom gasps, good God,
Dad practically chokes out. I don't waste time and march
right to their bed and slaughter them. I don't just
give them a few stabs. I fucking lay into them.
I hate them both so much that I viciously stab

(01:31:17):
them multiple times. When their blood splashes on me, I
rub it into the blood already on my body. Then
I put the dagger down and tear them both open.
I soak my hands and their blood and wet myself
more with it. I even wash my face and hair
with it. My hell weaver watches me. Do you want

(01:31:38):
me to eat their hearts too, I ask, yes, I'm
still very full from the other hearts I've already eaten,
but I don't hesitate. I reach inside my parents and
pull their hearts out. I eat them both in front
of my hell Weaver. Much to my surprise, my tummy
doesn't burst as I finish both of them. I love you.

(01:32:01):
I tell her again, anything you demand I will do.
She approaches me. Indeed, you have won my love, my child.
You may yet serve me and rule at my side.
But for you to do so, you must be reborn.
You must shed your mortal roots. You must allow me
to both destroy and remake you. This is all that

(01:32:24):
I further require for you to be my true daughter.
Will you knowingly and willingly give yourself unto me, body
and soul. I look into the Goddess's eyes. I give
you my everything. Hurt me, torture me, abuse me any
way you like. I'll prove my loyalty and love to

(01:32:45):
you again and again. Anything make me yours very well,
then you shall be reborn unto me. The scenery changes again.
We're in a temple right and in front of an altar.
Even though hell Weaver can't leave perdition. She's able to
bring me into her realm. My goddess lifts me into

(01:33:08):
her arms and places me on the altar. Now she
has fangs just like a vampire and sinks them deep
into my neck. I moan hard as she drinks my blood. Next,
she easily pushes her hot claws into my stomach. I'm
in serious pain, especially when I feel her hand on

(01:33:29):
my heart. The pain becomes so intense I don't think
anybody has ever felt this. I grit my teeth and
want to scream so badly. My Goddess stops drinking from me.
Drink the pain in my child, accept and relish it.
This is how you will shed your mortal roots and
become my true daughter. Give yourself to me, body and soul.

(01:33:52):
You must, yes, I scream. Now I can see my
beating heart in her hand as she pulls it right
out of me. Next, my body begins to burn with
her fire. The pain is terrible now, as I feel
my flesh and muscles burning right off my body. Soon
I can feel I'm just a charred skeleton. I'm laying

(01:34:15):
there helplessly as my hell weaver devours my heart. I'm
only a skeleton with just my eyes left. I look
up at my beautiful goddess in all of her glory
as she finishes eating my beating heart. Now she looks
at me, You shall die and relinquish the mortal realm.

(01:34:37):
You shall be reborn unto me. Very soon, I feel
myself being levitated off the altar. Now, I feel my
skeleton disintegrating until there's literally nothing left of me. I'm dead,
and yet I'm not. Now I'm in some kind of liquid,

(01:34:57):
and I see something attached to my tummy like a cord.
I can see how tiny I truly am now, and
then I realize what my hell weaver meant when she
said I had to be reborn unto her, I'm literally
inside the Goddess's womb, and she's pregnant with me. I'm
literally watching my own birth as I grow inside my

(01:35:20):
new mother. When the time comes, I can see myself
being pushed out of her own body. I'm a baby
all over again. I watch and feel myself grow and
mature as my new mother feeds me from her own
bountiful breasts and nurtures me. She teaches me everything I
need to know, re educating me She gives all of

(01:35:41):
herself to me, as an excellent mother would do with
a child she truly loves. Until finally I'm a full
adult once again. As I wake up and find I'm
in my own bed, in my new chambers, my new
mother is at my bedside. Rise, my daughter, you have
truly been reborn, unto me. I sit up and face

(01:36:05):
my new mother. Then she takes my hands so I
can stand. She brings me to a walled mirror. I'm naked,
and I scream when I see my new body for
the first time ever. My hair was just a dirty
color before. Now it's a mix of flaming red and yellow.
My eyes still look mortal, but now there as red

(01:36:28):
as my mother's. My tits were already sexy before, but
now they're as big as mother's. I'm the sexiest I've
ever looked. If I do say so, I'm the most
beautiful thing that's ever existed, now next to my mother.
Of course, I know I'm not mortal anymore. Truly I
have been reborn through Mother. I quickly kneel before my

(01:36:52):
new mother and cry again. I don't deserve this. Mother
caresses my cheek and smile. There is no return for you. Now,
from the moment I birthed you, you truly became my
daughter and my child. You ceased being Elaine a lister
when you surrendered yourself unto me. And now I shall

(01:37:14):
give you a new name. From this moment forward, your
name shall be Sin, simply Sin, for you abound with
so much of it, more than any other being I
have ever encountered. She caresses my cheek again. Arise, Sin

(01:37:34):
and stand with me. As of now you rule at
my side. I obey mother and stand in front of her.
You are entrusted to complete the ritual, to release your
mother from this prison that is perdition, and to help
me see my vision for this multiverse to its end.
I gaze into her eyes. Yes, Mother, I will not

(01:37:58):
fail you. I cry again. Now she leans in and
licks some of my tears away. Must you continue to cry?
I can't help it, Mother, I love you so deeply,
and you've truly blessed me with your love. That's why
I know I can't fail you. Use the power I

(01:38:18):
have given you, Sin, You are no longer mortal. Your
power is now second only to my own. She presents
me with new clothes to put on my new body.
You shall return to Strickfield to the exact moment. When
you summon me from there, you shall accomplish the first
task needed for the ritual. Also, I have a second

(01:38:39):
disciple on your world, my high Priest. I have placed
this knowledge within your mind as well. You shall know
of my High Priest once the two of you encounter
one another. As I dress, I will myself to change.
I now have wings and horns that are metallic and
razors sharp, just like my beautiful mother. My outfit is

(01:39:03):
an armored bra and panty set with open toad stiletto boots.
Mother is most pleased when she looks at me. Shall
I begin now, Mother, I ask eagerly. Yes. The next morning,

(01:39:23):
I'm walking the halls of Strickfield Academy. You wouldn't believe
all the heads I'm turning now. The nuns are looking
at me with such anger. Mother has truly given me
a beautiful new body and even greater beauty. I am
sin now, but I'll resume being laany lister while in

(01:39:43):
the mortal realm, I'm also in my human form. By
the way, I'm only going to be here long enough
to claim the heart of one of these nuns. It
can't be just any nun, however, it must be one
who's shall we say, a wolf in she Hepe's clothing.
Mother assured me that my new powers will allow me

(01:40:04):
to find such a nun here easily. You will always
find hypocritical false servants within your churches or places that
profess to follow in the path of their fictitious God.
You will see their sins on them as plain as
mortal days. And no sooner do I walk right past

(01:40:25):
Sister Mary Theodore. Wow, this fucking nun reeks of sin.
In fact, I can smell fresh sex right on her.
Elaine Lister. She yells at me. Over here now. I
walk right over to her eagerly. She's looking me over now.
As usual, I have my uniform shirt tied in a

(01:40:47):
knot in front of me, showing off my tight bra
with my new juicies ready to burst out. This time,
I've got a belly button stud on, which is against
the rules. Here he grabs my arm and pulls me
into an empty classroom. Get in here right now, you, Jezebel.
Then she pulls the door shut. When she turns and

(01:41:09):
glares at me, I immediately notice she's looking me over more.
What you don't want me to go to head Mistress
Hiltonson's office again, I purr softly. She's looking at my
belly button. Stud Remove that now, I smile, a very
toothy smile. Remove this. I untie my shirt and shake

(01:41:33):
myself a little to let it drop to the floor.
She's ready to give me hell again, but I can
literally feel the lust welling up. Insider. No, I whisper, okay,
maybe this. I grab the front of my braw, break
it open and let it drop to the floor. Then
I grab the nun and lock her in a deep,

(01:41:54):
lustful kiss. She kisses me back with the same hunger
and feels me up. Soon I let her strip me naked.
Then I unzip the back of her habit and watch
it fall to reveal she's not wearing anything underneath. Makes
me wonder how many of her so called God's commandments
she's broken here at Strickfield Academy, including the one on

(01:42:14):
committing adultery. I kiss her some more and caress her
this time for the record, I'm not going to have
sex with her. I'm here with this wretched, sinful nun
for one reason only. I feel her up a little
longer before. I will my finger nails to become claws
and slide them into her flesh like butter. She only

(01:42:37):
manages a gasp as I quickly rip her flesh open
right up the middle. I reach up into Sister Theodore's
rib cage and remove her corrupt heart. I hold the
dripping trophy in front of me to examine it. Yes,
this is perfect, well done, daughter, Now you must continue.

(01:42:57):
I hear my mother in my mind. Yes, Mother, your
every wish is my command. This is only the first
piece for the ritual to free mother. There are many
other pieces to obtain. A few more will be easy,
while others will be most difficult. But I will free Mother.
She will reshape this multiverse in her image. I'll be

(01:43:20):
right there by her side to see it all happen.
All life will be enslaved to her will, including you.
The God Tongue by Dan Wilder. Born without a tongue

(01:43:41):
to grant him the power of speech, Ezra had long
been the target of derision by his peers, so much
so that when his beloved mother had breathed her last,
he abandoned the home in which he was raised and
took to the hills and forests that bordered the microcosm
of the world's backwoods notions that was the town of
Jaden's Cross. Once there, Ezra built himself a modest cabin,

(01:44:05):
financed with his meager inheritance, where he could find solace
away from the chorus of mocking voices. Living off the land,
Ezra killed only that which he could consume, and his
growling stomach, coupled with his barren ice box, had told
him it was high time to venture out into the
crisp autumnal evening. After long, fruitless hours, Ezra had seen

(01:44:28):
nary a hint of prey, and though the moon hung
swollen in the sky, a mist had begun to encroach
upon the landscape of stoic pines that pointed like accusing
fingers at the heavens. Ezra exhaled wearily and sat down
at the base of the nearest pine. The miasma played
seductively at his neck and chin, causing his skin to

(01:44:49):
turn to goose flesh. As the fog was a great
deal cooler than the air that surrounded it, Ezra closed
his eyes for a moment and let the symphony of
the forest fill his ears, and for minutes, it did
just that, until his placid repose was shattered by the
sound of a twig breaking that echoed through the cool
air like the report of a shotgun being discharged. Ezra's

(01:45:12):
eyes snapped open, and as his gaze furatively darted to
and fro, he spied majestic antlers rising from the fog
in a fluid motion. He rose to his feet and
brought the sight of his Remington rifle to bear on
the dark shape that stood just below the mist. Ezra
squeezed the trigger, sending fire and thunder forth into the night,

(01:45:33):
and as soon as they appeared the antlers fell. He
bolted forward through the swirling gray, which seemed to recoil
from his advancing form, as if fearful of his presence
to his quarry. As he approached, the fog had now
parted and refused to trespass where the beasts lay. And
while Ezra was unable to give voice to his shock,

(01:45:53):
his slack jaw and bulging eyes more than conveyed his emotions.
For while he expected to find a stag, he instead
found a caricature of a man, albeit a man with antlers.
Ezra kneeled and rolled the creature on its back. Its
lifeless eyes were large, dark and set wide upon a

(01:46:15):
face covered in coarse fur. It wore little in the
way of clothing, just a simple robe, from which extended
limbs that resembled a dog's leg that ended in long,
tapered fingers tipped with crimson nails. It was in one
such appendage that the creature clutched what at first appeared
to Ezra to be a smooth ebony stone. He reached

(01:46:37):
for the object and found it malleable and warm, more
flesh than mineral. As he turned the artifact over and
over in his palm, the mist began to slowly creep back,
and with it came the inhuman wailing. Ezra panicked as
the mist around him produced its litany of grief, which

(01:46:58):
resulted in a mad flight through the dense pines. As
he ran, Ezra could feel the miasmas strike his legs
as it began to solidify into long, lashing tendrils. As
if that wasn't disconcerting enough, the wailing had now transformed
into protracted screams of pure rage. Onward, he flew, tripping
and struggling as the fog continued its battery Finally he

(01:47:21):
saw the familiar outline of his cabin in the clearing
just beyond the forest. He threw his weight against the
unlocked front door and exploded into his domain. In an instant,
he slammed shut the door, threw the bolt into place,
and collapsed to the floor in a crumpled mass of
pure exhaustion. He sat for minutes as hot tears ran
down his cheeks, and his heart beat so fast and

(01:47:42):
hard that at any other time he would have been
sure he was having a heart attack. Indeed, his hammering
pulse was all he could hear, and it was that
fact that made him realize that whatever outray abominations he
had left behind in the woods, they had decided not
to stray from that round. Finally, he gained control of
his faculties, moving his hands to his face to rub

(01:48:05):
the last vestiges of tears from his eyes, Ezra realized
he still clutched that preternatural stone, and where once it
was merely matt black, now it glowed a brilliant gold
from a thousand hairline cracks that crossed its surface like arteries,
no wider than a human hair. Ezra was entranced by

(01:48:26):
the artifact. So entranced he failed to notice the mist
that had crept ever closer along the floorboards as it
issued forth from the small wood burning stove behind him.
Ever onward it came crawling up his back, until finally
it plunged deep into his brain via his left ear canal.

(01:48:46):
Ezra's brain exploded with a thousand images of a history
not his own. He saw an endless array of beings,
more beast than man, hideous and beautiful in equal measure.
He floated onward through a great city beneath the forest floor.
Finally he saw a diaphanous stag over twenty feet high,
its head adorned with seven sets of antlers. The image

(01:49:08):
swirled and rippled as the sight of that ebony edifice
he held filled his field of vision. Ezrah felt his
arm move of its own accord, and while he struggled
to make it remain at rest, he was powerless to
stop its ascent or the action which followed. His hand
simply placed the glowing midnight hued object into his mouth,
which had mechanically opened to accept it. For the briefest

(01:49:31):
of seconds, he could taste infinity, and with that he
could feel a new organ grow inside him, a tongue
which pulsed and throbbed within his mouth. His first words
were a scream. Then came blackness. You murdered the historian.
You must take his place, The voice echoed so loud

(01:49:53):
in his mind that it snapped him awake. Ezra found
himself lying on the cold floor of his cabin Historian,
he said involuntarily. His eyes grew wide as the memory
of the dark tongue which had replaced his own missing organ,
flowed into his head. With a start, he lifted himself
from the floor and sped to the bathroom. Examining himself

(01:50:14):
in the mirror, he opened his mouth to view that
demon tissue, which he seemed to know, by some arcane intuition,
was connected to that ancient stag. There sat the obsidian
stone like mass of the previous night, But now it
pulsed and throbbed with an unearthly power, which flowed through
those golden veins which now had spread throughout the interior

(01:50:37):
of his mouth. Ezra began clawing at the offending member,
but to no avail. The flesh, though supple, was completely unyielding,
his thoughts locked upon its removal. Ezra ran to the
kitchen to procure a large steak knife. As he steeled
his nerves, Ezra stuck out his tongue and brought the
blade into place for the amputation. The air split with

(01:51:00):
static before he could begin that dreaded surgery. The small
shortwave radio his one mechanical distraction, which provided for him
a chance to voyeuristically listen to the voices of others
without being pressed to respond in kind, had come to
life from its home atop his rough hewn dining room table.
As he dashed into the room, his eyes beheld yet

(01:51:21):
another incomprehensible sight, the mist, now solidified into the contours
of a vaguely humanoid shape, save for the long horns
protruding from its incorporeal forehead. It hunched over the device
and exhaled streams of vapor directly into the microphone from
somewhere that sounded both close and at the opposite end

(01:51:42):
of the galaxy. Came a sound that at first was
not unlike the purring of a large cat, but quickly
turned into a low, guttural growl, before finally becoming words
that simply could not have been formed by human lips.
Pass on, old friend, we are coming, Ezra reached for
the figure, which dissipated into the ether at his touch,

(01:52:06):
accompanied by a chorus of melodic laughter. He grabbed for
the microphone in one hand, and with the other tried
furiously to find the proper channel to connect him with
the one agency he felt would be able to help
him fend off whatever malevolence was creeping his way the
town militia of Jaden's Cross. Finally, he arrived at the

(01:52:26):
proper frequency and parted his dry lips to do that
which had eluded him low these many years. Pressing the
button which would allow his voice to travel the waves,
Ezra began to speak. What followed was not one voice
but legion. Some were mere growls, others came like gently

(01:52:47):
chirping birds, and a few were close to human, yet
still possessing a preternatural timber. But above all rang the
impossibly deep tones of their god. For the stag did Sara,
the great animal whose voice was known when the universe
was a mere speck of dust hanging like a moat
in the eye of infinity. With that, the radio exploded

(01:53:11):
in a shower of acrid smoke and sparks that knocked
Ezra to the floor, Ezra began to weep, yet the
sound of crying that issued from his mouth was again
the product of that unholy throng. Unable to retain his
tenuous grasp on sanity, he was determined to rip the
organ from his mouth with his bare hands, hands that

(01:53:31):
he noticed were covered in ruins and glyphs carved deep
upon the surface of his skin. Furiously, he flew again
into the bathroom, where he exhaled in shock at the
face that met his gaze within the mirror. Like his
hands and every other scrap of visible flesh, he was
covered in those strange markings. Ezra clawed at the skin,

(01:53:52):
which gave way in thin sheets to reveal layers of
fresh dermis below, marked the same as the skin above.
He attempted to scra but what came instead was the
shouting of every supernatural being that had ever or will
ever walk the earth, all proclaiming their name to the
midnight that lie just beyond the cabin's roof. Ezra ran

(01:54:13):
towards the door of the cabin, the ancient instinct to
flee that which we do not or simply cannot understand
overtaking him. But suddenly he could move forward no more,
as that demon mist once more held him firm, where
it issued from between the floorboards of the cabin to
solidify into its humanoid form, the shifting arms of which

(01:54:34):
wrapped tightly around its panic stricken prey. You murdered me,
it whispered seductively. Now you shall walk eternally into that
resplendent ebony with your brethren. Ezra struggled for a moment
until a sound distant at first yet growing ever nearer,

(01:54:55):
began to fill the room, the pounding of hoofs upon
cold ground. The front door exploded in a mouthstrom of splinters,
as a menagerie appeared that was equal parts animal and man,
and the worst of both. Ezra once again succumbed to
the ebben darkness. Over the next hours, Ezra would occasionally

(01:55:16):
regain consciousness, and while the moonlight illuminated only endless miles
of forest, it also revealed the talon tipped hands that
held him aloft, as well as the nightmares they belonged to. Finally,
he came to the group had stopped before a long
forgotten farmhouse. Even in the waning moonlight, the house looked

(01:55:37):
impossibly ancient and beyond any hope of repair. One of
the creatures to his left loped forward and threw open
the large storm doors, whose hinges creaked and protested, and
led Ezra down into the darkness. They walked for what
seemed several minutes through the inky blackness. Occasionally Ezra could
swear that he felt hot breath on the back of

(01:55:59):
his neck, or a gentle touch of something inhuman reaching
toward him from the darkness. Soon, in the distance, a
faint light could be seen, which grew brighter and brighter,
until Ezra could make out the lithe silhouette of his guide.
They arrived in a large circular room which was carved
from the earth itself. A multitude of doorways dotted the walls,

(01:56:22):
and in the darkness of each Ezra could see indescribable
shapes moving ever closer in the light. Finally, all were
revealed as creatures which may have been constructed of wild
day dreams, absent visions, and children's chalk drawings. Gathered in
the chamber. Ezra shrunk under their gaze, for here, as
in the world above, he felt the outsider say hello

(01:56:46):
to your new family. Something croaked from the assemblage, a
being more owl than man stepped from the crowd and
stared at Ezra for what seemed like days. As it looked,
it would crane its head from side to side and
snap its great beak open and shut. Ezra stood stock still.

(01:57:09):
Suddenly it dawned on him that the beast wasn't figuring
out the best way to pluck out his eyes. Rather,
it was reading the glyphs that adorned his face. He gasped,
as the owl spoke, you you tell the story of
my family. Ezra could only stare at the being dumbfounded. No,
came a voice from the throng. He tells the tale

(01:57:30):
of the fleet Claus. I can read it even from
here and the moon rays, came a response from the crowd. No,
he tells the story of us all. Look. Ezra looked
down at his hands, which had started to unravel into
long flesh scrolls, which were soon picked up by the
discolored fingers, talons, and tentacles, the owners of which read

(01:57:51):
aloud and babbled excitedly of the stories contained therein, of
their sacred lineage as well as their futures. When Ezra
was unraveling from every piece of exposed skin, some of
which drifted to the ground as torn pages from an
ancient tome. More creatures arrived and picked up the pages,
laughing as they celebrated all that made them. Onward and

(01:58:13):
onward the pages and scrolls fell, until finally all that
was left of Ezra were the pages themselves. Each tribesmen
held a page or scroll of their own, and each
cherished the sacred words they contained. The stranger came to
speak to us all, and what words he has brought us?

(01:58:36):
And that's small town's secrets. Proof that the scariest places
aren't abandoned. They are occupied by neighbors, by traditions, by
things that have been normal for so long nobody remembers
what exactly started them or what they're feeding. If you

(01:59:02):
had a good time tonight, please do me a favor
and follow Weekly Spooky on your favorite podcasting app. And
while you're at it, why not leave a rating and
tell a friend who swears their hometown is boring. Those
are the ones with the best secrets. And don't go anywhere,

(01:59:23):
because this Monday, we've got a brand new terrifying and
true that's equal parts folklore, fever, dream and real world tradition.
Portugal's carnival demons, the Carretos Day and Trudeau. Imagine cow
bells clattering through stone alleys, horned masks, wild ribbons, torchlight bonfires.

(01:59:47):
It's ancient and unsettling, and I'll be telling you all
about it on Monday. Until then, stay warm,

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