Spooky Halloween Horror Stories — Vampires, Revenge & Winter Frights - Weekly Spooky: Scary Halloween Stories | Terrifying Tales to Creep Your Night

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, my spookies. Can you believe it? Halloween is right
around the corner, just days away. The decorations are up,
the candies mysteriously half gone, and every night feels just
a little more like a horror movie in the best
way possible. And you know me, I can't let the

(00:24):
season slip by without turning things up to maximum spooky.
So tonight we're going all in with a weekly spooky
novella compilation, three full length horror stories to sink your
teeth into while the moon's still high and the pumpkins
are still fresh. First, we hit the streets for a

(00:45):
midnight joy rock with fangs in Vampire Night. Then we
drift into the final Yes, a chilling reminder that not
every offer of love or immortality should be accept And finally,
where the snow begins to fall, we'll find what happens
when vengeance refuses to stay buried in blood and snow.

(01:11):
So light a candle and pour something dark and delicious.
It's time to get cozy. Halloween is practically breathing down
our necks, and that's how we like it. Vampire Night

(01:34):
by Joe Rustin from New Dynamic Press, narrated by Enrique
Cuto prologue. The jet black Impala tears through the Cleveland

(01:55):
night like a bat out of hell, the headlights off
making it practically and visible. It whips down Frankfort Avenue
at speed, flying right on past the do not enter
sign of the one way road, spoiled for choice. When
it comes to parking, it veers right into one of
the lots, narrowly avoiding the parking attendant on duty. The

(02:18):
scrawny guy jumps backward just in time, saving himself from
getting clipped by the front bumper. The Impala doesn't stop,
It doesn't even slow down. It continues on into the
lot proper and heads toward the far end, near the
fence that encloses it, and pulls into a spot. It

(02:38):
idles for a moment, then shuts off, the previous roar
of the engine, dying and allowing the relative quiet of
the night to settle in. After a few moments, the
driver gets out, a tall man in a leather jacket
a pair of sunglasses on. Despite the overwhelming darkness, his

(02:58):
name is Colgan, not that he ever offers it to anyone.
He circles around to the back of the car. Once there,
he fits the key into the hole on the trunk,
gives it a twist and opens it up. The inside
has been customized, the sides padded with pink velvet, giving
it an almost casket like appearance. Entombed are two women, who,

(03:23):
upon the trunklet opening, begin to unfurl their limbs from
one another and climb out, hands lazily, attempting to fix
their messy hair and wrinkled clothes Maxine rock Sand he says,
the first is attempting to get her mohawk to stand
back up. The latter is fixing the chain on her

(03:44):
nose ring. Without needing an invitation, he kisses one, then
the other. By this time the parking attendant is caught
up to them. He approaches, angry and out of breath,
and immediately launches into a slew of complaints how they
they were going the wrong way on a one way,
and how they almost hit him with their car, and

(04:04):
how they need to pay the fee to park here.
Colgan doesn't rush kissing rox Anne. If anything, he prolongs it.
The attendant stands there, fuming but not sure what to do.
In the absence of an actual idea, he just beerates
them some more. Are you even listening, moron? Apparently not, hey, jackass.

(04:29):
The attendant reaches out and grabs the man by the shoulder,
making a valiant attempt at giving him a rough pull.
It's like trying to move a brick wall slowly. Colgan
loosens his lips from ROC's hands and turns to stare
at the man, a smear of lipstick on his close
lipped smile. What happens next happens fast, practically in the

(04:52):
blink of an eye. Colgan catches the wrist of the
offending hand and then effortlessly twists it to the side.
The sickening crack of bone sounds, and the attendant lets
out an agonized scream. It turns into whimpering soon enough,
as Colgan continues squeezing his arm where he's broke it,
driving him down to his knees. When the attendant looks up,

(05:16):
face twisted in pain, it's to three smiles leering down
at him, though there's something off with the expressions. It's
the teeth, he realizes. The teeth are wrong, like some
kind of childhood nightmare come to life. They're thin and sharp,
like needles. Colgan rips the attendant forward and past himself,

(05:41):
slamming him face first into the rear bumper of the Impala.
He grabs him by the back of the head next
and effortlessly lifts him up just enough to clear the trunk,
before driving his throat down against it and then slamming
the lid like a makeshift guillotine. Doesn't behead the attendant, though,

(06:02):
simply biting into the flesh on the back of his neck.
He cries out, blood from his broken nose, flying out
into the velvet lined interior of the trunk. His voice
echoes around himself in his panic, The attendant doesn't at
first realize that he isn't alone in the trunk. No,

(06:22):
there's someone else stuffed far into the back, a woman.
It looks like her uniform saying seven to eleven. Her
dead eyes stare at him, glossy like marbles. Her throat
is a mess of dried gore. The trunk lid is
lifted off his neck, and the attendant tries to push

(06:44):
himself up with his one good hand, struggling against his fate.
Before he can make anything resembling an escape, though the
two women descend upon him. Chapter one, You're a Hot

(07:08):
Mess Jessica, you know that. Don't talk to me, Amy,
I can't piss if you're talking to me. The clerk
at the BP station the one caddy corner to Progressive
Field is a liar. He tells the girls Amy, Megan, Zoe,
and Jessica. She's out of sight, presently duck down on
the other side of the car, pants around her knees,
trying to take a leak in public, that they don't

(07:30):
have an indoor bathroom. That part is true. They do not,
in fact have an indoor bathroom. Amy made sure to
ask multiple times for clarification, and each time got the
same exact answer fed back to her. The lie is
when the boy behind the counter he couldn't be any
older than eighteen or nineteen, so he doesn't care. He's

(07:53):
thinking about his next math test, probably tells them that
it should be clean, considering it had been emptied out
earlier this week. His words don't exactly stand up to scrutiny.
If it's been emptied out this year, Amy would honestly
be shocked. What she saw in that porta potty will
haunt her for years to come. She fully expects to

(08:16):
wake up in the middle of the night, coming off
a PTSD nightmare, drenched in a cold sweat. Yes, she's
being dramatic, but still she leans back against the Toyota
parked off to the side of the pumps front bumper
aimed at Carnegie Avenue, fully expecting to see FEMA vehicles
pull into the otherwise empty lot any second to cordon

(08:38):
off the thing and declare it a disaster area. She
says as much as she passes her cigarette to Megan, who,
after a puff, passes it on to Zoe. It earns
her a few giggles. It's mid July and late evening,
a hot, sticky day creeping steadily into a hot, sticky night.
The dog days of summer are upon them, and Cleveland

(09:00):
has become a swamp. The asphalt from all the road
acts as a heat sink. The moisture rolling in off
Lake Erie offers up all the humidity anyone could ever
want put together. The city seems to be trying to
steam its population like broccoli. The sound of urine splashing
the concrete punctuates their idle conversation. I can't believe you

(09:23):
got us kicked out of an Applebee's, Amy says, as
the cigarette returns to her. Technically it was Jessica. Megan counters,
Come on, guys, I'm trying to focus. Here comes a
quiet voice from behind the car. It's honestly kind of
impressive when you think about it, though, Zoe offers, I

(09:44):
didn't even know Applebee's did kick people out. I thought
it was like waffle House. You know, you do something
outrageous and they give you a free meal or something
for entertaining the guests. Well, the guests were entertained alright,
Amy says, passing the cigarette to the left. You'd think
they'd never seen tits before. Megan remarks, before taking a puff.

(10:05):
Probably never seen them at the Applebee's bar, that's for sure.
You shouldn't encourage her when she's drunk, Amy continues, You
know how she gets, no, Amy, how do I get?
Jessica's words are spoken slowly as she struggles to her feet,
bouncing her ass off the car several times before she's
fully upright. She manages to get her pants back up

(10:29):
around her waist before she circles around the car. Her
eyes are glassy, her hair's slightly a mess. She takes
the cigarette right from Megan's lips and sucks the last
bits of life from it before flicking the butt out
toward the road. Too much fun for the average person,
Amy offers that seems to satisfy her. She finds her

(10:52):
grin reflected in Jessica's face. It's been a day and
it isn't over yet. They've been at it since five o'clock,
and this time at the gas station is the biggest
lull their evening has had. No one's ready to call
it a night, though. This could be the last time
they get to hang out, all of them together like this,

(11:12):
so making it last, even if that means they're going
to have the hangover to end all hangovers in the morning,
it's worth it to Amy's left the whole reason they're
out and about hitting up the bars of their youth
where they used to have to use fake IDs, and
now they don't even get carted. Megan short, round blonde hair,

(11:35):
a big, toothy smile, the sweetest girl in the world, really,
at least that's what Amy thinks. Also one of the
craziest bitches she's ever met, but that's neither here nor there.
There's an engagement ring on her finger and a doctor,
specifically a somnologist whatever that is waiting at home for

(11:56):
her whenever their girl's night comes to an end. The
plan is, after they say their vows, they're getting the
hell out of Dodge. Megan soon to be hubby Brett
has taken a job down in Springwood, and while that
isn't necessarily far away, it's far enough. The promises of
I'll keep in touch are well intentioned, but no one

(12:20):
is kidding themselves. Life happens, time happens. The years haven't
been exactly kind to their friend group, and Amy doubts
they're going to start taking it easy on them now.
Take for instance, Zoe, who presently is lighting up another
cigarette that after she takes a few initial hits on,

(12:41):
we'll pass it to Megan, who will pass it to Amy,
and so on and so forth. She's got dark hair
that she cuts herself, all choppy and stylish, so skinny
that she has to stand in two places at once
just to cast a shadow. She works as a hairdresser
when she isn't bouncing from one disc functional girlfriend to
the next. Could probably make rent a lot easier if

(13:04):
she didn't spend most of her money on psychotic women.
Then there's Jessica Tall, blonde, pretty all leg could have
been a model, or an actress or a porn star,
made something of herself. She's never been married, but she's
been engaged a bunch, is already in talks with a
new guy, who she says has really swept her off

(13:27):
her feet. This time is different, her words, it's always different,
the only constant being that she's scared to be alone.
Two kids at home, different fathers, but she's a good
mom or tries to be there with her own mother
right now, facilitating her current drunken escapades. Finally, Amy herself.

(13:51):
She's the designated driver tonight, which means she's only had
a few beers while the others have had a few
too many. Red hair, skinny because she forget gets to eat,
gifted with large breasts, which just means her boss finds
it difficult to take her seriously. She works at a bank,
makes okay money enough to keep the lights on and

(14:11):
the internet paid, so she can keep looking at online
colleges with the intention of applying, but never actually doing it.
It isn't lost on her that she probably had it
the best out of all of them before Megan's news,
and this is after a messy divorce. She wishes she
could find a nice doctor, but they would probably just

(14:33):
prescribe her prozac and call it a day. I feel
like I'm getting sober, Jessica says, what the hell are
we doing? I mean, it's getting kind of late. Zoe answers,
glancing down at her phone. Nine o'clock is not late,
you old maid. Come on, it's one of Megan's last

(14:55):
nights as a free woman. Amy wipes the sweat from
her brow, loosens the strands of red hair that had
been sticking to her forehead. All we've done is drink.
I think it's time we get Megan some action. The
shorter blonde looks caught off guard. She looks up expression
of shock and says, you did not hire me a prostitute. Okay, Charlie,

(15:21):
sheen reel it in. We're going to a strip club,
not getting you piped. Oh, Megan says. She almost sounds
disappointed for a moment before smiling. I could do a
strip club good because you didn't really have a choice
in the matter. Jessica's been looking forward to this since
I told her I've basically just been pregaming the woman

(15:43):
in question. Explains her pregaming would put a lot of
seasoned drinkers under the table. All right, my little drunk bastards,
get in the car. Next stop Wings and Dings, Chapter two.

(16:08):
Wings and Dings is only twenty minutes from her apartment
by foot, which is good since she doesn't own a car,
so Joan just hoofs it every day she works, which
is most days. She sets off north up East thirteenth Street,
walks the entire way in the shadow of the Reserve
Square building, then turns left onto Superior Avenue. It's late,

(16:31):
getting later, but even with the sundown and the moon
creeping higher and higher into the sky, it's still hot
and muggy. Joan's tank top sticks to her back as
she walks, damp with sweat. She regrets the biker boots now,
but it's too late to turn back. Besides, sneakers aren't
exactly her style, and style is important to Joan. She

(16:57):
crosses the intersection of East twelfth and Superior zigzags between
bright orange cones guys working on the road with a backo. Specifically,
one guy's working neck deep in a hole while six
others watch in the reflective glass of the eleven eleven
Superior Building. She takes a moment to be vain and

(17:17):
look at herself in the public mirror. During the day,
the entire city gets mirrored. Here at night, aided by
the glow of street lights, she can really just see
herself and a little bit across the street. Tall black
hair done in a punky undercut, blue eyes encased, and
thick liner, strong jaw, athletic figure. She looks good, better

(17:43):
than she did when she rolled back into town a
few years ago after failing to make a name for
herself in California. It turns out that it doesn't matter
how badly you want to chase a dream. Sometimes it's
just faster than you are. The light glints off the
ring in the left corner of her bottom lip, off

(18:04):
the dozen or so piercings spread between two ears. She
turns her attention back ahead faces Cleveland at night, which
is a lot like Cleveland in the daytime, just darker.
A different flavor of people creep out and fill the streets,
her kind of people. Joan gets as far as the

(18:28):
Hampton Inn before the thoughts creep back in failure. The
word has been dogging her lately, keeping her up at night,
driving her to drink good thing. She's a bartender. She
grew up not far from here, west bank of the Flats.
Now she works on the East Bank. It's like that

(18:48):
bon Jovi song who says you can't go home. What
he should have been asking is why would you want
to take a right at the Federal Reserve Bank take
a left onto Rockwell. It isn't like Joan doesn't like
her hometown. On the contrary, she likes Cleveland, all of it,

(19:10):
even the not so great parts. The urban decay, the
smell of lake erie permeating everything, that same stench getting
carried along by the Cyoga River. The people, the food,
the culture. She just thought she used to think about
more than just self loathing. Believe it or not, that
when she came back here she would be a bit

(19:32):
better off than when she left. On the contrary, she's
probably at the lowest point her life has ever sunk to.
For fuck's sake, she works in a strip club owned
by her aunt Diane. Not even as a stripper, at
least there's money in that. No, she just tends bar
and watches other people enjoying their lives. Up on the left,

(19:57):
Joan passes the park. The statue of Tom L. Johnson
sits in a chair with his back to her, his
gaze focused on the casino across the way. She feels
that she's getting closer to work, try as she might
to drag her feet. The thing is, it's not even
a cool strip club. What Wings and Dings is is

(20:21):
another family failure. Aunt Diane had set out to create.
Get this a male version of Hooters. Okay, all right,
that's fun. It's not going well. Every attempt she's made
to open up another location has ended in absolute disaster,

(20:43):
like approaching bankruptcy type stuff. Besides men on poles, their
other claim to fame is there sixty nine flavors of Wings? Yeah,
like the sex number.

Speaker 2 (20:55):
Ha ha.

Speaker 1 (20:57):
Buffalo Wild Wings only has twenty two flavors, and they're
a national chain. To get that kind of variety, corners
have to be cut. Here's the lemon pepper one, which
is just a chicken wing dusted with lemon pepper. Here's
the garlic salt one, which is just a chicken wing

(21:17):
dusted in garlic salt. Here's the Lawry's one. And no,
it's not a promotional item. It's just something Aunt Diane
had in the spice rack, lamenting her existence. At least
passes the time Joan crosses west third. The road gets
a lot worse here, cracks, potholes, big stretches of cold patch,

(21:41):
beads of sweater on her brow, threatening to streak down.
She can't tell if she's out of shape or if
it's the weather, maybe both. So much humidity she feels
like she's swimming. Her tank top clings to her by
this point, as if she took a dip in a pool.
Cross West sixth, continue on down the avenue. On the

(22:04):
right a red brick building with a four lease sign
plastered on the side. On the left a parking lot,
one of three. There's another right next to wings endings
another across from it, all owned by the same company.
A sign in the front of each says, please pay.
The uniformed attendant Joan doesn't see him, though. His name's

(22:28):
Marty or something, and usually he's out on the sidewalk
front and center, taking his job as seriously as a
high school hall monitor. She knows this because he's always
trying to get her attention. Joan isn't sure she would
quite classify what he does as cat calling because it
isn't creative enough. It's just as sad though. Another sign

(22:52):
says they have monthly parking available, which to her sounds
like a good way to get your car stolen and
early bird specials a real steal. Wings and Dings is
up on the right, next door to a little bar
called Tommy's that it shares a wall with. It's an
unsuspecting single story building of red brick. The entrance a

(23:15):
heavy metal door with a blacked out window above it.
The name of the club is printed in chipped white
letters spray painted right onto the brick. Beside it a
chalkboard routinely washed clean by the rain or vandalized by
passer by. Today in green chalk, it shows the happy
hour times, and below that in red proclaims that they

(23:39):
have football on the television. Joan really really hopes the
TV goes out again. Before heading inside, she stops to
light a cigarette by the door, figures its best to
get the first smoke break of the night out of
the way. Really, she's just buying time or wasting it

(24:01):
depends on your perspective. She glances across the street, across
the one of three parking lots there must be one
hundred cars parked in it, but she never sees anyone
actually come back to claim them. Maybe they're the ones
renting a space for a whole month. Who knows. Past
it is an apartment building. Past that the imposing tower

(24:24):
of the Carl B. Stokes United States Courthouse. It gleams
even at night. Why a courthouse needs to be so modern?
Art is beyond her need to spend those tax dollars somehow,
she guesses. Joan takes another puff, diverts her gaze down
the avenue toward where it opens up onto West Ninth.

(24:46):
The occasional car passes, but besides that, it's dead the
night still. There's a street light at the end of
the avenue and one at the beginning, but none in between.
So Joan stands in the dark. In the distance, she
hears an ambulance. Pretty quickly, it fades into the soundtrack

(25:08):
of the city indistinct, shouting traffic. What might be a
gunshot could be a car backfiring. She catches movement in
her periphery, so she glances back to the parking lot
across the street. There, moving across the dark background is
a darker silhouette Joan thinks for a moment that it's Marty.

(25:33):
She dismisses that thought though the figure too tall, too broad.
Marty's a shrimp of a man. Besides, this figure isn't alone.
Her eyes adjusting to the shadows, Joan sees more shapes
moving people walking. The lot doesn't have a single light
in it, a fact she's never really noticed before but

(25:55):
now is acutely aware. The hair's on the back of
her neck stand on end, but Joan feels silly for it.
She isn't scared per se. It's just somewhat unnerving to
see people moving around in the dark. It sparks a
primal sort of reaction. At the entrance to the lot,

(26:18):
where there's a little booth promising five dollars parking in
the evening, the initial figure stops. Joan knows it's rude
to stare, but she can't help herself. She watches the
other people come to a halt beside him. Two or
three she can't really be sure, for the dark in
the distance. The man, she's fairly certain it's a man anyway,

(26:42):
seems to have the same idea as she does. She
hears the faint but distinctive metal clink of a Zippo
lighter being flicked open, spots the flame and watches it
turn the end of a cigarette into a burning ember.
This action makes the people more real, less like demons
prowling the shadows. She can't make out any of the

(27:04):
finer details of the figures, but she assumes they're just
punks like her, trying to make the best of a
Friday night. Somewhere off beyond the lot, a howl rings out.
Could be a dog, could be a coyote. She's heard
they come into the city sometimes to scavenge. It's enough

(27:25):
to pull her out of her staring contest. How long
she's been at it, she has no idea. Her cigarette
is mostly ash now. She knocks off the excess, takes
one last drag, then flicks the rest out into the
street before turning. Reaching for the door handle with her
hand around it, the door pulled half open, she stops.

(27:50):
It's an unconscious action, her pausing to look back across
and up the avenue, sparing one last glance at the people.
That initial fear she had felt watching them skulk across
the parking lot returns tenfold when she does using the
lit end of his cigarette as a guide, she can

(28:12):
tell the smoking man is facing her, now staring back,
returning the favor of her voyeurism. His cohorts are too.
They don't have cigarettes to give away their exact position,
but she can sense their eyes, knows they're digging into her,

(28:33):
can practically feel them doing it. Then suddenly, hey, Joan,
what's up? She jumps. Can't be helped. She steps over
the threshold a bit too fast to appear natural, and
lets the door slam shut behind her with a heavy thud.
Her attention turns to the man talking to her, Brian

(28:54):
the bouncer. He occupies the little buffer room between the
street and the club prop in a fancier place. It
might be called a reception area, or maybe a lounge,
something like that. Joan thinks it resembles a glorified closet,
though all painted black. It throbs from the music deeper
in the club. Oh sorry, I didn't mean to startle you,

(29:18):
he apologizes. Nah, Nah, it's cool, Bee, What did you say? Asked?
What's up? Is all? Oh? Live in the dream? You
know how it is? Brian's big, like a real mountain
of a man. He towers head and shoulders over. Joan
towers over most other people too, who weren't themselves brought

(29:39):
up on a steady diet of gamma radiation. You know
you're late again, he tells her. Diane's pissed. Diane's always pissed.
Joan reasons, yeah, well try and not get fired. Alright,
you're the first cool bartender we've had. Aw you think
I'm cool. Joan leaves it on that comet. She knows

(30:02):
Brian is sweet on her, doesn't know why, but he is.
She wishes she felt the same. He's a nice guy.
She pushes through the swinging doors and crosses into a
whole other world, immediately greeted by loud, boisterous, bass boosted
remixes of rock and pop songs that make the walls

(30:23):
vibrate with life, Neon lights and hues of blue and
pink flash, making every other step a tripping hazard. They
pulse in time with the music. At least that's the plan.
Sometimes they feel too erratic, too random, to be attempting
any kind of pattern. The club is longer than it

(30:45):
is wide, and still shows evidence of its former life
as a common Midwestern bar, like the one next door.
Faux wood paneling on the walls in a solid concrete floor,
probably still beer stains on the seats from these days too.
Joan doesn't trust the cleaning job the janitor does. The

(31:05):
bar is located at the far end. In between her
and it are a slew of booths lining the walls
in two small circular stages, each one occupied by a
decently built man in a speedo, both gyrating their hips
in time to a Lady Gaga song. Most of the
clientele is women in their thirties and forties, and that's

(31:28):
what she sees as she weaves her way past them,
crisp dollar bills coming up from Michael Kor's bags at
the bar aunt, Diane is mixing a drink, but even
so seems to just know that Joan is nearby, like
she has a sixth sense for disappointment. You're late, she tells,

(31:49):
her voice raised, either so she can be heard over
the music, or because she wants to yell above the
liquor shelves. The TV shows some game of some sport.
I'm always late, Joan responds as she rounds the counter,
dropping into a crouch so she can dig her apron
out from under it. You're always late, Diana agrees. Exasperated.

(32:13):
Standing back up, Joan pulls the apron overhead begins nodding
at her back. What are you making? I'll finish it up.
You can head out, she says, don't worry about this.
Get me six shots of vodka. What brand didn't specify?
Dealer's choice. The shelves behind the bar are filled to

(32:34):
bursting with liquor, mostly organized tequila's with tequilas, whiskeys with whiskeys,
Vodkas with vodkas. They have Smirnoffin's Vedka and Crystal Lake
and Kettle One. Given it's her decision, Joan settles on
gray goose, nabs the bottle by the neck, and then
turns to the counter to work. Grab a tray, set

(32:56):
it down, arrange six shot glasses on it. Begin to pour.
That's too much, Diane chastises her from the side. It's
a shot as long as it fits in the glass.
It isn't too much. It's too much. Do you want
me to pour it back in and try again? The
woman goes quiet after that. Lips pursed, Joan can hear

(33:20):
the groaning of the scales as she weighs the option
of firing her on the spot. She never voices her decision.
Joan picks up the tray and asks which table. By
stage two, the three women with the bad die jobs
you see him? Yeah, I see them? Good. Diane pushes

(33:40):
the drink forward. A woman takes it with a polite smile,
and call your mom when you get a chance. I will,
Joan lies, all right, I'm heading out. If you burn
the place down, I know, I know, make it look
like an accident. Drive safe. Chapter three, the GPS takes

(34:08):
her down Carnegie Avenue has her turning up Ontario Street
on the other side of Progressive Field. Amy might have
lived in Cleveland all her life, but that doesn't mean
she knows the flats very well. Certainly not enough to
find a small strip club. Last thing she wants to
do is get lost this time of night. How'd you

(34:29):
even hear about this place? Megan asks from the passenger seat.
She has a red bull in her hand, chemically inducing
a second wind. Friend at work, the redhead explains. She
veers gently to the left onto West Huron. On the right,
the Landmark Office towers looms, an imposing structure of concrete

(34:49):
and glass. Twenty two stories done with an art deco flare.
The side of the building is dominated by a massive
billboard for the Cavaliers for the Love for the Land.
Is it full sausage or banana? Hammocks, Jessica inquires from behind.
I don't think it's legal for it to be full sausage,

(35:11):
Zoe offers. Amy's eyes flick up catch the brunettes in
the rearview mirror. She's quick to return them to the road. Besides,
she continues, if it was, they'd have to be byob
that's how other strip clubs work. You go to a
lot of strip clubs. I date a lot of strippers.

(35:33):
Amy takes a right after the post Office Plaza building,
turns right onto West Sixth, quickly turns left onto West Prospect.
Once it ends, veer's right back on to West Sixth,
her GPS yelling at her all the while giving orders
as quickly as it can, she turns left down a
one way Frankfort Avenue. Well this is spooky, Megan says,

(35:57):
leaning forward to get a better view of the shadow
we rode they've ended up on. Halfway down the avenue,
the GPS announces your destination is on the right It's
a squat, little red brick building that at first glance
looks abandoned. It isn't until Amy sees the name Wings
and Dings plastered over the door that she's confident she's

(36:20):
in the right place. There's two parking lots beyond it,
one on either side of the avenue. Amy chooses the
one on the left. Sees the little booth where the
attendant should be reflected in the moonlight. This is sketch,
Jessica observes, what you want the club to be in
Hunting Valley, Amy asks. She glances back at the blonde,

(36:45):
then returns her gaze to the road. She begins to
turn into the parking lot, but immediately has to stomp
on the break, causing the toyota to jerk as it
comes to a sudden stop. She comes this close to
hitting a group of people occupying the entrance. Amy hadn't
even seen them until her headlights lit them up from

(37:07):
one of her friends, and oh shit rings out. Megan's
hand extends forward in a flash, pressing against the dash,
bracing for an impact that doesn't come. Her heart skips
several beats, beating in her ears like a drum. Clenching
the steering wheels so tightly that her knuckles turn pale.

(37:27):
Amy stares at the person closest to her front bumper,
a man with short, dark hair wearing a pair of
sunglasses and a leather jacket. He's flanked on his left
and right by girls with messily cut, colorfully dyed hair,
studs in their ears and faces. They're pale too, in fact,

(37:48):
intensified by the light of her high beams. Despite their
near brush with vehicular homicide, the three don't move. They
don't even seem bothered. The man when the center just
keeps on smoking his cigarette as if nothing is a miss.
What's this dude's deal? Megan asks, honk your horn, Amy,

(38:10):
Jessica suggests she really doesn't want to do that. Then
Jessica repeats herself, and despite the anxiety welling up in
her chest like a balloon, Amy presses the horn, issuing
a loud beep. The man smiles. One of the women
he's with laughs. Then he plucks the cigarette from his mouth,

(38:31):
gives it a flick, sends it flying towards the car.
It hits the windshield, leaving a mark of burnt ash,
before rolling down to get stuck on her wipers. What
the fuck, Zoe says from the back seat. Amy isn't
sure if she's still recovering from the jolt of having
almost hit someone with her car, or if she's just

(38:54):
pissed now that he threw his cigarette at her. Either way,
she honks the horn again, holding it longer this time.
Now both women laugh. Then they finally move, stepping to
the side and then walking parallel with the car, seemingly
heading across the road. She sincerely hopes they aren't going

(39:18):
to the strip club too, or else this girl's night
is going to come to a swift end. What a
fucking dick, Megan murmurs, craning her head to look after
the punks. Amy, swallowing hard, moves her foot back to
the gas and steps on it, Pulling up into the
darkness of the lot. She casts a glance at the

(39:41):
booth where the attendant should be, but it's empty. Maybe
they're in another lot, she thinks, she just doesn't want
to get a ticket. Amy finds a spot and pulls in,
then puts the car in park. After taking a moment
to get her bearings, she twists the key, he pulls
it out of the ignition and steps into the muggy

(40:04):
embrace of the night. Her friends follow suit, and soon
enough they're walking across the lot toward the avenue, huddled
close together. Again, they pass the booth again. Amy looks
it's definitely empty, probably out of business. Zoe suggests, just

(40:24):
left all the signage up free parking in Cleveland. Don't
look a gift horse in the mouth, Jessica says. They
crossed the road, the punks nowhere in sight. Either they
went into wings Endings or they slipped off to some
other dark corner of the city. Amy's hoping for the latter,

(40:45):
but as with all things, she's expecting the worst. Hold up,
I'm gonna smoke before we head in. Amy stand with me,
Zoe asks her, and the redhead really wants to make
up an excuse she has to go to the restroom
or something, but can't think of one quick enough resigns.

(41:05):
She says, Yeah, I can do that, Oh, Megan, hold on.
She reaches into her purse, digs around, then pulls out
a wad of bills, all singles. Both blondes are only
too eager to accept the gift, and then, with the
cash in tow, head inside. Amy posts up next to

(41:26):
the door, leaning her back against the bricks, finds herself
staring at her feet, at the sidewalk, at anything except
the brunette. You've been avoiding me all night, Zoe says,
as she uses a cheap gas station bick to light
her smoke. I've been corralling our friends all night. Amy reasons, yeah,

(41:50):
but I mean you never return my texts either. Amy's
throat feels suddenly tight. The heat of the night must
be intense. That or she's about to spontaneously combust. Her
face feels hot, Yeah, she answers after a moment, not
sure what else to say, Zoe doesn't speak again, not

(42:13):
right away. She takes a moment to enjoy your cigarette
and reassess her approach, change her game plan. If you like,
regret it, you can just tell me no hard feelings.
Judging by her voice, there would in fact be hard feelings.

(42:33):
It's not that, Amy says, which she isn't entirely sure
is the truth. It's not the whole truth at least,
then what is it? Can we not? She asks, her
words a bit too quick, her tone a bit too harsh.
She looks at Zoe and knows. Her expression is the
same one she gives unruly customers at the bank, a

(42:57):
strict parent scolding a child. Let's just be here for
Megan tonight, all right. We can talk about us later,
all right. The brunette turns her attention away. Amy does
the same. She can vaguely hear the music from the club,
can feel it in the bricks. When Zoe is done

(43:19):
with her cigarette and says she's ready to head in,
she tells her to go ahead, that she'll be along shortly.
She needs to make a quick phone call. That's a lie.
She just needs a moment to herself to breathe. After
the brunette disappears through the door, she finally feels like
she can. Amy digs back through her purse. She's been

(43:43):
trying to quit, but there's still a pack of pall
Malls there at the bottom, along with a book of matches.
She puts the cancer stick between her lips, strikes a match,
and lights up. The initial rush of nicotine is just
the relief she's been looking for since picking Zoe up
earlier that day. A good idea on paper, not so

(44:06):
good in practice. It isn't like she doesn't want to
be friends with the brunette anymore, No, God, No, far
from it. They've known each other for so long that
Amy can't rightfully picture a life without Zoe in it.
But it's complicated right now, getting more so with each
text message. She ignores her parents wouldn't approve, but they're Baptist.

(44:30):
They wouldn't approve of much. Got another one of those.
The voice comes from her right, and Amy looks to
see who it is. Her blood runs cold when she
spots the man she almost hit with her car, sauntering
up those two women still flanking him. She tries to
say something, finds her throat has all but decided to

(44:52):
squeeze entirely shut. It can barely fit a breath of
air through it, let alone a sentence. What's wrong? Cat,
got your tongue, he asks, giving her a big, close
lipped grin. Come on, no hard feelings about earlier, right,
He holds up his hands and mocks surrender. But it

(45:14):
doesn't make Amy feel any better. There's a fear only
a woman will truly understand being confronted by a strange
man in the dead of night, even if he does
have a couple of women with him. Statistics of rape
and murder start pouring into her head like a faucet's
been turned. She goes on autopilot, reaching back into her

(45:36):
purse and retrieving the pack of cigarettes. Her fingers dig
one out, and she offers it up to the man.
Amy's hand shakes, and for a moment the man just
looks at it, letting it do so. Finally he accepts
the smoke, but doesn't ask for a light. Out comes

(45:57):
a zippo. It gleams, so does he. In fact, up
close and personal, Amy is taken aback by just how
pale the man is, so pale, in fact, that the
veins beneath his skin shine through, looking like black forks
of lightning. Maybe he's sick, she thinks. If he is,

(46:19):
though it's contagious. The women to either side of him
have the same quality about them, a sickly paler. They're
wearing sunglasses too, Whatever kind of disease they have must
make them sensitive to light. The woman on the left
has a bright purple mohawk. The one on the right

(46:39):
has a chain connecting her nose ring to a loop
in her ear. When the man lights his cigarette, it
gleams brightly. He takes a drag and then passes it
off to Mohawk, turning his whole body to do so
much appreciated, he says, twisting back. Amy, still not able
to find words that will fit through the pinhole that

(47:01):
is her throat, nods. She even attempts a smile, though
she can't say how successful she is. None of them
try and back off of her. Now that they have
the cigarette nose ring even comes closer, leaning against the
wall to Amy's right, blocking her path to the club's door.

(47:21):
She feels suddenly claustrophobic. The woman grins, Ain't you a
pretty thing? She says, I've always loved redheads. The man
reaches up and removes his sunglasses, looks down at them
while he folds the arms, and then tucks them into
his jacket pocket. When he glances up, Amy audibly gasps.

(47:47):
Can't help it. His eyes are black, from the pupils
to the sclaras like a night sky with no stars,
just two abyssle pits that under the right light, she
has no doubt she could see herself reflected in. She
thinks of the movie Jaws. She thinks of Sharks. He

(48:08):
steps forward, now just barely a foot separating them. He
extends an arm, presses his hand against the wall beside
Amy's head, and leans in. Let's see if we can't
get your tongue back from that pesky cat. Huh. He
grins again, this time spreading his lips. His teeth are

(48:30):
like needles, like some deep sea fish. Amy stares at
them and begins to breathe so hard that she's borderline hyperventilating.
Without warning, a scream rips up through her throat and
out into the night. Chapter four. Harvey Kowalcik didn't use

(48:58):
to do stuff like this, But then he used to
be a married man, a happily married man. Then his
lovely wife of thirty two years passed away, taken from
him by the big sea. His kids were already moved
out on their own by then, and he had been
a few years retired from the police force. This left

(49:21):
him with a lot of time to sit and come
to terms with things he had otherwise been putting off
for most of his life, things such as the fact that,
despite his happy marriage and his two sons, his wonderful daughter,
and his stereotypically machismo career, Harvey Kowalchek is a gay man. Sure,

(49:45):
he hides it well, he was raised Catholic, and that's
what Catholics do. Hide things, bury them deep down until
they become ulcers. Sure some things come out during confession,
but not everything. With nothing to distract himself from himself,
hiding it began to make less and less sense. It

(50:09):
isn't even really much of a revelation. He's more or
less known he's gay since his late teens, maybe earlier,
just never had the gumption to do anything about it
outside of the occasional dirty magazine or porno flick. Now, though,
he's been dipping his toes into the scene. He starts

(50:31):
with the bars. Those are easy enough. If he gets
cold feet, he can claim he didn't know what kind
of establishment he'd walked into and beat a quick retreat
back to his car. No harm, no foul. Next the clubs,
he's finding he has a real passion for dancing. It's

(50:51):
just a matter of learning these crazy new dances they
have nowadays. Every Friday. For the past few months, like clockwork,
he's been coming to Wings and Dings. He's a frequent
enough flier by this point that most people know him,
and he, in turn knows most of the dancers by
name and has a few favorites. None of them are

(51:14):
working tonight, though, so he just sits in his booth
by the entrance, enjoys the energy of the room, and
indulges in a favorite hobby of his, people watching. It's
a habit from being a cop, same as the reason
why he candied at a restaurant. Unless his back is
to the wall and he has a clear line of

(51:34):
sight toward the door, his eyes flick to the stage
closest to him. Almost sixty in his prescription for viagra
is suddenly no longer needed. Not when he's watching the
fit young guy on the pole spin and spin and
spin around the metal bar like he's a top, looks
like he's smuggling a squirrel in all its nuts and

(51:56):
his lime green speedow. His game moves to the women
surrounding the stage, most are half his age. At least
routinely a few will look his way, giving him the
side eye, before turning back to their friends to whisper
amongst one another. Maybe they call him creepy, probably call

(52:17):
him much worse. He doesn't care, not anymore. Used to be,
he would just the slightest hint of scrutiny would have
him running for the hills. Nowadays, though, he just takes
it with a grain of salt. They chose wings endings
for the same reason he did. It's out of the way, obscure,

(52:39):
not super popular, less likely to get recognized all the
darkness interrupted by neon lights, but still offering substantial shadows.
Offers a kind of anonymity. If they want to add
a bit of bigotry onto their night out before heading
home to their unhappy marriages, so be it. He looks

(53:00):
deeper into the club, toward the other stage. The heavy
set blonde that had come in is now getting a
lap dance, arms flailing in the air, laughing so loudly
that she can be heard over the music. Harvey doesn't
know the musician, but he knows the track well enough,
having heard it played over the speakers a few times.

(53:21):
Some woman singing to someone else about how they need
to shut their mouth and run her like a river
sounds hot, he has to admit. The bartender is weaving
through the club, coming his way just in time too.
He's down to just ice cubes in his glass. Another
gin and tonic Harve Joan asks him when she comes

(53:43):
to a stop by his table. I'd appreciate it, tanker Ey.
You know me so well, know you well enough to
take this bad boy, she says, reaching out to grab
the menu off the table and tuck it under her arm.
Sixty nine flavors of wings and not a one worth
writing home about. He's gotten into the habit of eating

(54:05):
before he comes or right after. The drinks are fine, though,
and Joan pours them heavy. She'd tell your aunt to
cut the menu down, maybe make it a bit more edible,
Joan offers, smiling. Harvey smiles back, Well, I was going
to say, refined. That's because you're nicer than me. Okay,

(54:28):
one tanga, age gin and tonic coming up. She takes
his empty glass and marches back off into the fray.
He watches her go, thinking what he has after most
conversations with the bartender. What he would look like with
that many piercings. Used to be a time he had
seriously considered getting his ears done, but it never came

(54:48):
to pass. Too old, Now, he thinks, would probably look silly.
He still has a full head of hair, but it's
gone entirely gray. Now his face is a map of wrinkles,
and stress lines, deep fissures that threaten to cut even
deeper with every passing year. His stomach used to be
flat as a board, but it's starting to round out

(55:10):
the front of his polo. Makes him look vaguely pregnant
early on in the pregnancy. Sure, but the point remains pregnant.
It sucks coming into a new lifestyle when you're already
past your prime. It is what it is, though Harvey
supposes it's just nice to be himself whatever age he's at.

(55:33):
He leans back in his booth, eases his sore back
against the uncomfortable padding. Sure, Wings and Dings isn't fancy,
but Harvey has yet to have a bad time here.
Chapter five. Scottie is the cook at Wings and Dings,

(55:57):
which means he's most likely the janet because hardly anyone
ever actually orders any food. He sweeps the floors, cleans
the restrooms, and when the piles of frozen wings go
bad in the walk in, he throws them out just
in time for the weekly delivery of fresh ones to
take their place. He gets how Sissyphus must feel. They're

(56:19):
doing Greek mythology in school right now. Scott he's nineteen,
but he didn't have enough credits to graduate last year,
so here he is doing it all over again, trying
to actually commit himself. This time, it's either commit himself
or commit suicide. At this point, he is not going
to be twenty and sitting in a high school classroom,

(56:41):
he pushes the broom from one end of the corner
to the next. The kitchen spans the entire backside of
the club. Between the employee bathroom and the walk in
is a stretch of the standard food service fair, a
three compartment sink, a flat top that he's never used
and he's pretty sure isn't even plugged in. Then a
row of four deep friars. The oil basically cooking itself

(57:03):
because it doesn't have the opportunity to cook anything else.
How often does he need to switch out the oil?
Scotty keeps meaning to look it up on his phone,
but keeps forgetting. Speaking of his phone, that's what he's
playing with at present. Sitting on top of the prep table,
he has headphones and music blaring. His social media feed

(57:25):
is a depressing reminder that life isn't going how he
wants it to. Friends, going on vacation, going to college,
going out he hasn't updated his status in six months,
isn't sure what he even updated with Ugh missus Becker's
class is such a drag. He doesn't do anything outside

(57:48):
of work and school. He doesn't hang out with people
anymore because they're off being adults and he's stuck being
Thunk thunk thunk. Scotty only barely hears noise. He isn't
sure what it is either. He looks up and around
the kitchen, finds himself as alone as he always is.

(58:09):
After a few moments long enough for him to think
he's just hearing things, it comes again. Thunk thunk thunk.
He reaches up, pulling out an earbud. Dave Grohl blares
from it, singing about how he's got another confession to make.
He waits again for the sound to come, and when

(58:30):
it does, he actually recognizes what it is. Knock, knock, knock.
Someone's knocking at the back door, the one that lets
out behind the building. He's basically the only one who
uses it, him and the delivery driver, and it isn't
a delivery day, so the list of people who could

(58:52):
be wanting in is exactly none. It's probably a homeless
person looking for a handout. That's what Scottie reasons. Anyway, knock, knock, knock,
whoever it is, they aren't going away, so he pulls
the other earbud out, sets his phone aside, and slides

(59:12):
off the prep table. It's a short walk to cross
the narrow kitchen. When he reaches the back door, there's
a moment of hesitation before he grabs the handle, gives
it a twist, and pushes it open. He isn't sure
what he expects to find waiting for him on the
other side, so he opens it slowly. There in the

(59:34):
darkness of the alley between the club and the building
behind it is a woman. She's shorter than him, with
bright blue hair and a chain connecting the loop in
her right nostril to a piercing in her ear. She
has on big, chunky sunglasses, despite the fact that it's
the middle of the night and she's incredibly pale, so

(59:56):
much so that she practically glows in the light pouring
out it the kitchen. Scotty doesn't know what to say.
The hypothetical situation he had cooked up in his brain
didn't prepare him for this. She breaks the silence. This
is wings endings right. She offers him a close lipped
smile after asking, uh, Scotty should tell her that the

(01:00:20):
entrance is around in front. Instead, he just says, yeah,
it is perfect. She walks right on in and brushes
past him into the kitchen. Scotty should definitely tell her
that she can't be back here, but all he's thinking
is that she is very pale. She's kind of pretty

(01:00:41):
from what he can see around her sunglasses. It's his
responsibility as an employee of the club versus his being
a man. He releases the door and it swings shut.
Oh wow, this dump serves food. She's over by the
friar baskets, lifts one by the handle, lets it splash

(01:01:02):
back down into the hot oil. He just watches, not
sure how to react. Yeah, hence the uh wings in
the name. So it seems she turns on him. His
eyes go to the split in her leather jacket. She
has a crop top on. A crucifix dangles from her

(01:01:24):
belly button. Scotty swallows, not exactly sure what sort of
situation he's found himself in. Is it too early to
be writing deer penthouse? You're staring? Huh what you're staring,
you perve, the woman says. She flashes him a close
lipped smile. Probably has bad teeth. Scottie thinks, oh, sorry,

(01:01:50):
don't apologize. She steps over to the prep table where
he'd been sat previously and pulls herself up on it
without asking. She picks up one of the earbuds and
sticks it in her fingers, then go to his phone,
tapping at the music app, probably changing the tunes. So

(01:02:12):
want to fuck? Record scratch? Scotty blinks, staring at the woman. Finally,
after a few moments of silence, he manages what I asked,
if you want to fuck? Scotty isn't a virgin, but
he feels like it in that moment. Nerves are getting
the better of him. Well. She peers at him over

(01:02:36):
the top of her sunglasses, but he's too anxious to
make eye contact. He stares at her knees instead. Sure, Sure,
he feels like the biggest loser on the planet. Then
come here. Awkwardly, Scotty shuffles forward. Once he's close enough,
the woman snatches him by his waist, jerks him forward

(01:02:59):
and inserts him between her legs. They're close now he
can smell her something like perfume and copper. It fills
his nostrils, makes his head swim Kiss me. She doesn't
frame it as a request. Scotty looks up, sees his
face reflected back at him in her sunglasses. He swallows,

(01:03:23):
steals his nerves, then does as he's bid, leaning in
his eyes, drifting closed. She meets him halfway. Her lips
are cold clammy. The kiss escalates quickly when her tongue
comes into play, bridging the gap between their mouths. He

(01:03:43):
has to race to keep up with how fast she's moving.
When his tongue slips past her own and into her mouth,
though he brushes up against her strange teeth, his immediate
thought is to pull away. He can't help it him
from doing that, though, is the woman's hands on his head,

(01:04:04):
holding him close and pulling him in. She opens her
mouth up wider it covers his own. Now, Scotty feels
something like needles pricking the perimeter of his lips. He
tries to pull away in earnest now, but his struggling
is in vain. She has a vice grip on him.
That stabbing sensation only becomes worse. Pain irrupts just as

(01:04:28):
the taste of blood hits his tongue. He screams. Her
mouth catches it. He tries to push her away. It's
like shoving a brick wall. Panic sets in. Scotty begins
to hit her, to no avail. She bites clean through
his lips, and only then does she release him, the

(01:04:49):
cook flailing backward and hitting the opposite wall. He can't
see the damage done to his face, but he can
see his lower lip hanging from the woman's own. She
spits it out onto the floor, where it makes a
wet slap against the tile. Her cheeks and chin are
painted red. What's wrong, baby? Don't you like foreplay? When

(01:05:14):
he screams, blood and saliva fly forward. It's a short
lived expression, though. The woman launches forward off the prep table,
earbud ripping from her head as she closes the distance
between them and the blink of an eye. Scotty's scream
gets cut off when her hand seizes his throat, squeezing
it so hard as to shut him up completely. That's okay,

(01:05:38):
we can move on to the real fun. She smiles
at him, exposing thin needlelike teeth the length of a finger.
When she opens her mouth, it's far too wide it
makes Scotty think of a snake. She dives into the
crook of his neck and clamps her jaw down. He

(01:05:58):
feels her teeth hair through his skin, then feels her
begin to suck. All he can do is weakly try
and fight her off, a battle he lost before he
even started. When that fails, he can't find the strength
to keep at it. Scotty just stares up at the
kitchen's dirty ceiling while darkness creeps in to the edges

(01:06:24):
of his vision. Chapter six, Megan is getting married. She's
going to be missus Brett McKay. The future is awesome
and bright and full of so much promise that it

(01:06:45):
makes her feel like she's going to explode. Megan also
has a face full of ass. She's courting sensory overload,
hot pink speedo, shrink wrapping, jiggling flesh, the smell of
body lotion and sweat, the toeve low remix reverberating in
her chest. This makes her feel like she's going to explode, too,

(01:07:07):
but in a different way. Heat burns between her thighs.
She hopes Bread isn't too tired when she gets home
to her right, Jessica is the best hype woman she
could ask for, cheering, laughing, feeding her drinks to Jessica's right,
Zoe is quiet, keeps looking toward the door, making comments

(01:07:28):
about what's taking Amy so long. She doesn't know what's
going on with her friends, but she can guess. Zoe
never did know how to keep it in her pants.
Dollar bills get stuffed into the dancer's waistband. She isn't
sure how many the shots of tequila have gone straight
to her head. Jessica is pushing another into her hand.

(01:07:48):
She spills most of it down her shirt, cackles like
it's the funniest thing in the world. Then all hell
breaks loose. Harvey can see the bartender working her way
back toward him, zigzagging through the crowd, drink in her hand.
She's about ten feet from his booth when the entrance

(01:08:10):
doors swing open, so hard that they bang noisily against
the wall, loud enough to be heard over the drone
of the music. Harvey's attention immediately snaps to his left.
There's a gun in his boot, has been since twenty sixteen.
Can't be too careful nowadays. It's the second thing that
pops into his head. The first being what the hell

(01:08:36):
the bouncer He's pretty sure his name is Brian or something,
is soaring sideways and backwards through the air like he's
been thrown almost, which seems preposterous. The guy is huge,
built like a linebacker. He keeps on flying too, for
several feet, before eventually hitting the floor and finally skidding
to a halt at the foot of the stage. The

(01:08:58):
man dancing there, startled, stumbles back from the pole, takes
one step too many, and walks right off the edge.
He lands on a woman, who shrieks and responds before
shoving him the rest of the way to the floor.
Brian's limp. Harvey can't tell if he's dead or not.
He would make his way over to check, but his

(01:09:19):
eyes are darting back to the door while he simultaneously
pushes himself to his feet. The doors swing outward, then
in outward, then in. On the final repetition, they stop
short of closing all the way, like something's blocking them.
Harvey leans down, hikes up the right pant leg of

(01:09:39):
his slacks, and pulls the glock from his boot. He
rights himself in time for the doors to get another
shove gentler than Brian's impromptu entrance. A man enters between them,
casually strolling into the club without a care in the world.
A woman with a purple mohawk follows closely behind safety
off bullet in the chamber both hands. He must be

(01:10:03):
outside of the man's periphery. That or he just plane
doesn't notice him in his lonely corner. It gives Harvey time,
which he needs. He hasn't done this in a while.
The muscle memory is still there guiding him. Harvey raises
the gun, aims at right at the man in the
leather jacket, and is about to start reciting lines he's

(01:10:26):
said a thousand times before. When the stranger turns and
looks right at him. It must be the darkness of
the club making his eyes so dark. The retired cop
thinks like pits in his face. It isn't like the
lights are flattering. There's something off about him though. His
skin has an unhealthy paler to it, like he's sick

(01:10:49):
with a terminal disease. Fear reaches a gnarled hand up
and seizes Harvey by the bowels. He forgets his training
and instead just squeezes the trip. A loud bang rings
out in the club, which is followed swiftly by a
chorus of screams. His shot connects with the man's right shoulder,

(01:11:11):
sends him jerking back, but he doesn't fall over. Instead,
he stares at the newfound wound in his person as
calmly as one might observe the hole in their sweater.
In for a penny, in for a pound, Harvey fires again,
and this time his bullet lands center mass bores a
hole through the man's white shirt and into his stomach.

(01:11:32):
Blood immediately starts to color the fabric. The light of
the club is what makes it look black. Has to
be still, the guy hasn't gone down yet, drugs, Harvey surmises, PCP,
probably meth. Maybe. The man extends his arms to either side,
the universal gesture of really, there's a smile on his face,

(01:11:56):
a horrible, awful smile. Even at this distance, Harvey can
see there's something terribly wrong with the guy's teeth. Then
the woman with the mohawk lunges forward, and despite him
squeezing the trigger again and again and emptying the magazine
into her, she keeps on coming. Chapter seven. It all

(01:12:27):
happens so fast that Joan's brain has to sprint to
keep up. Here comes Brian, flying through the door like
he's weightless six' eight but tossed around like a rag.
Doll she drops the glass she's carrying when she sees.
Him hears it explode on the floor by her. Feet
gin And tonic shower her. Legs troy dancing on the

(01:12:49):
stage That brian slams, into stumbles, backward ends up falling
onto a. Customer the woman screams and, flails pushing the
poor stripper the rest of the way to the. Floor
her a pair of. Strangers she feels like she knows
who they, are, though even if she's only ever saw their,
silhouettes because the way they stare at the club feels

(01:13:12):
familiar to the eyes that dug into her. Outside her
gut tells her as much, anyway and it's seldom been.
Wrong the hairs on the back of her neck stand on.
End she Sees harvey get up and pull a. Gun
he looks like he's about to say, something but instead just.
Fires panic begins clawing its insidious way up Through joan's,

(01:13:35):
body even before the man That harvey shoots first seems
to just brush off the two new holes in his.
Body the female stranger starts rushing the old, man takes
several shots and, counting but doesn't slow down for a.
Second she leaps lands hard Against harvey and sends him
reeling backward into his booth with her on top of.

(01:13:56):
Him she raises her left hand and maybe it's a
true of the, light but her fingers look unnaturally. Long
joan isn't so sure it is a, trick though not
when those fingers slash down and a splash of blood comes,
out painting the wall behind the booth with a visceral.
Spray in the, dark it looks black liquid. Night joan's

(01:14:19):
body switches to. Autopilot she, turns sees a flurry of
movement in her periphery and looks in time to see
the man diving into the crowd by the. Stage then
hears an eruption of panicked cries that drowns out the blaring.
Music she can't help but look sees in the flashing
neon lights a middle aged woman clutching her, stomach nodded

(01:14:40):
intestines spilling out around her. Hands her face is surprisingly,
serene shock numbing the. Pain the assailant is atop another
victim already face buried in her. Throat all she can
do is jerk. Hopelessly troy is backpedaling away from it,
all and the bartender to help him to his. Feet

(01:15:02):
neither one knows quite what to, do but what they
do know is they need to. Move people have begun
running for the, Entrance others stand stock, still frozen with.
Fear joan opts to move as quickly as she can
for the, bar With troy close, behind heart pounding in her.
Ears she uses a stool as a step, ladder goes

(01:15:23):
from it to the bar and then to the floor
on the other, side falling hard onto her ass and
out of. View the dancer follows right after, her landing
on her. Left she's, trembling despite trying to will them
to do, so her hands will not remain. Still troy
is faring no. Better he's gasping for, breath practically. Hyperventilating

(01:15:46):
wait until he finds out there's blood in his bleached. Hair, fuck, fuck, fuck,
Fuck she chants like a. Mantra with the loud, music
she can barely hear herself. Think not that she's having
any particularly brilliant, thoughts just pure primal fear rushing through
her mind like a freight. Train after a moment of,

(01:16:07):
sitting she shakily twists around and onto her, knees raises
herself up just high enough to peer over the top
of the.

Speaker 2 (01:16:15):
Bar.

Speaker 1 (01:16:15):
Counter high pitched screaming mixes with the chorus Of Motley, Cruz, Girls, Girls.
Girls spilled liquor stings her. Nostrils another, smell, too has
begun to permeate the, club something like. Rust what she
sees makes her feel sick to her. Stomach the woman
who had Attacked harvey is now indiscriminately slashing at anyone

(01:16:38):
unwise enough to get. Close those that do can only
cry out as arcs of blood erupt from newfound gashes
in their. Person she's fairly certain no one's made it
to the. Entrance the man is leaning against the stage
Where troy fell, off licking his. Fingers joan can't hear
it for the, music but it looks like he's. Laughing

(01:17:00):
at this, point she's seen. Enough she drops back down
behind the, bar a nauseous feeling rolling in her, stomach
the taste of bile creeping up in the back of her.
Throat troy is saying something what she asks him voice.
TREMBLING i, said we gotta, go, man he, repeats go, Go,

(01:17:23):
yeah they. Do she nods at. Him first things, first,
Though she digs her phone out of her. Pocket we
got to call the, police she tells, him having to
use both hands to keep her phone steady while her
thumb punches in nine one. One just make it. Quick oh,
fuck oh. Shit she raises the phone to her. Ear

(01:17:43):
here's the dial. Sound it can't take any more than
a couple of, seconds but it feels like hours before
she hears nine one. One what's your? Emergency joan is
about to tell the operator on the other end what's,
happening not that she's really all that sure. Herself when
a body flies over the top of the bar and
smashes into the shells behind, it glass and liquor rained

(01:18:04):
down on her And, troy and the thrown woman falls
dead at their. Feet troy, Screams she does, too feels
it rip up and out of her. Throat in the,
Chaos she throws her. Phone doesn't mean, to it just
flies out of her. Hand she's about to go for
it when the kitchen door swings. Open out walks a

(01:18:25):
woman she's never seen. Before definitely isn't a new. Cook
when she turns her dark eyes On, joan though the
bartender knows she's one of. Them the horrible toothy smile
the woman gives her is just. Confirmation on the, phone
the operator is asking, hello are you?

Speaker 2 (01:18:47):
There.

Speaker 1 (01:18:47):
Hello it's a short walk from the kitchen door to
the bar. Space the woman makes it with a confident,
stride the chain connecting her nose ring to her ear
bouncing with each. Step she's saying, something But joan can't
make sense of. It not over the sound of her
own heartbeat doesn't. Matter as soon as the woman reaches,
her stepping Over troy like he's not even, there she

(01:19:10):
dips and grabs her by the front of her tank,
top hauls her up and to her. Feet she thrusts
her back and against the. Bar it, hurts But joan
has more to worry about than some lower back. Pain
she's going to. Die she knows. It doesn't like, it
but it's just a. Fact joan, figures, though that if

(01:19:31):
she has to, die at the very, least she can
fight like hell before it. Happens pour me something, Strong,
Sweetie nosring is. Saying joan's response is to reach up
snatch the chain in her fist and rip it down
as hard as she. Can it tears from the, ear
taking the piercing it's attached to with. It the woman,

(01:19:51):
screams then she Slashes joan across the, chest leaving in
the wake of her claws four angry red. Lines she's
readying up for a second swipe When troy tackles her
from the, left knocking her. Sideways it's a short lived.
Victory Nose ring catches, herself shoves the dancer off her

(01:20:12):
with such force that he's thrown back several feet and
lands on his. Ass it Gives joan, time though her
hands blindly search the bar behind. Her she finds a
bottle the, tanga a gin she used For harvey's. Drink
she seizes it by the neck just in time, too
as Nose ring lunges back at her murderous intent in

(01:20:34):
those abyssal. Eyes joan swings the, bottle connects it with
the woman's, head an audible thunk that she can feel
the whole way. Up her arm rings, out and she
falls to the, side clutching the bar counter for. Support
dazed but not, Dead joan drops the bottle and turns
begins to run. Away she makes it maybe two feet

(01:20:57):
before Nose rings slams into, her knocking her down to the.
Floor Nose ring follows her down, too and lands right
on top of. Her the bartender, rolls a move she
immediately regrets as she stares up into the woman's hellish.
Mouth drool drips from around her needlelike, teeth painted red
already from a prior, Meal it hits her in the.

(01:21:19):
Face despite her best efforts to shove the woman, off
she can't manage to even make her. Budge all she
can do is amuse. Her it seems as Nose ring.
Laughs starving on the streets Of la doesn't seem like
such a bad way to. Go all of a, sudden
she glances up And joan follows her gaze Sees troy,

(01:21:41):
again this time armed with the chef knife she uses
to cut. Limes he shouts Something joan can't quite make it,
out before plunging the knife down into the woman's. Back
she cries out a, terrible high pitched, noise then slashes
at the, dancer knocking him backward, again this time into
where the counter wraps around toward the. Wall she rises

(01:22:04):
up off the bartender rushes toward him and pins him
to the wooden. Surface from her, back the knife glimmers
like a singular beacon of. Hope it's All joan can
do to struggle to her, feet the front of her
tank top a mess of red and shredded. Fabric she
takes the few steps forward she needs, to and then

(01:22:24):
grabs hold of the knife's, handle yanking it from the woman's,
flesh only to plunge it right back. In she manages
to do this a second, time foul smelling black blood
pouring from the holes in the woman's leather, jacket before
Nose ring throws herself, backward Knocking joan back with. Her she,
turns seizes the, bartender and throws her to the, side

(01:22:46):
directly into the liquor. Shelves bottles. Fall joan feels a
cut on her. Forehead stars dance in her vision before
Nose ring can attack her, Again Though troy comes up from,
behind smashing a glass over her. Head it does nothing
but piss her off and distract, her which is All joan.
Needs as the woman, turns the bartender pushes through the,

(01:23:07):
pain she launches, forward seizes the knife once, again and
returns to doing her. Best Norman bates, impression just fucking.
Die her words are, desperate but they seem to do the.
Trick she drives the knife in at an, angle feels
it sink in all the way up to the. Handle
Nose ring cries out, again but doesn't throw her off

(01:23:31):
like last. Time, instead she slumps forward Against, troy then
slips slowly to the. Side, finally she begins the short
journey to the. Floor joan follows her, down breathing heavy
tears stinging her, eyes and her hands still clutching the
handle of the. Knife her right arm burns from. Exertion

(01:23:53):
she might stay there forever on her. Knees troy grabs
her by the, shoulder, though and hauls her to her.
Feet she looks down at the woman the. Monster then
she casts her eyes out at the club to see
the unfettered violence unfolding from the other. Two it all
seems simultaneously like a, dream yet it's painfully. Real come,

(01:24:18):
on the dancer is, yelling even as she looks on
at the. Slaughter joan is being pulled away from the
bar and toward the kitchen. Door she doesn't, blink not,
once until she's pulled through the. Door chapter, Eight dominic

(01:24:44):
just needs. Money he's in COLLEGE. Csu dancing on the
weekends is an, ideal but it makes him enough to pay,
rent and at this point he has to accept that
the five year plan he made in high school is
going to have a few bumps along the, Way, okay
a lot of, bumps such as not getting the job

(01:25:06):
he wanted and having to settle for wings, endings and
his girlfriend leaving him because she's going to go to
college out of state and doesn't want to do the
long distance, thing and people trying to kill. Him the
last part comes as a. Surprise he has to admit

(01:25:27):
he watches the chaos unfold and isn't sure what to.
Do in just an electric blue, speedo he's not exactly
dressed for a, fight all the, same the fight comes to.
Him after killing that ex cop what's his, Name Harry Howard,
harvey the mohawked woman cuts into the screaming crowd with

(01:25:49):
abandon the man, too though he's further, away not the
one that Reaches dominic. First he stands between himself and
the bachelorette party's been entertaining for the past however, long
it isn't his intention to protect. Them not, really he
just hasn't had the chance to move. Yet now it's too.

(01:26:10):
Late fear, true, fear pulse, pounding hair, raising, pants, Shitting
fear floods every corner Of dominic's. Being he's about to start.
Pleading it's about the only thing he can think to,
do having Seen mohawk move a mile a minute without.
Trouble when her hand reaches out at speed and grabs

(01:26:33):
hold of, him his, balls, Specifically dominic, yelps high, pitched.
Pained there's an intense pressure as the woman retracts her
hand a tug and a. Pull his speedo is torn,
away but it isn't. Alone he feels a, tearing a,

(01:26:53):
SNAPPING a sound like a wounded animal rises up in his,
throat but he can't manage to make more than a.
Peep feeling, lightheaded his legs, shaking the dancer looks down
at his now nude. Body there's his, cock, shrunken fear below,
it a mess of. Red it paints his thighs and

(01:27:18):
the floor at his. Feet he looks up slowly to
Where mohawk is leering at him with a nightmarish grin
in her right. Hand she rolls his testicles between her
two long fingers like a coin. Trick he's fairly certain
he's going to. Vomit dominic can feel his cheap lunch

(01:27:39):
from McDonald's racing up from his stomach and flooding his
esophagus before he, spews, though the hand holding his gonads
strikes forward and clenches his, face contracting his jaw and
holding his mouth. Shut dominic feels his testicles squish against his.
Cheek one, pops not unlike a, grape spraying his skin

(01:28:03):
with fluids he would rather not think. About he isn't
sure how he's still. Conscious, Frankly dominic isn't wholly sure he.
Is maybe this is all a, dream he tells, himself
and he'll wake up in a cold sweat late for. Work,
yeah that's. It mohawk's left hand plunges. Forward he thinks

(01:28:25):
she just hit him in the, stomach but it's more than.
That the pull of skin feels far more. Intense he
can't move his head to, look, though so he's left
blissfully unaware of the whole that's just been punched through his.
Midsection his vision is fading any minute. Now he's going

(01:28:46):
to wake. Up this isn't, real can't be any minute.
Now chapter, Nine megan's bachelorette party is. Ruined, no that
isn't the most pressing thing right, now but it's what

(01:29:08):
she can't help but. Think her awesome and bright future
had seemed so, close and now it's infinitely far. Away
she doesn't even know if she's going to be alive much,
longer let alone get married and have. Kids the blood
of the stripper who had been giving her a lap
dance soaks her front from the hole that had been

(01:29:29):
punched through his chest and out his. Back at first,
warm now it's cold and. Sticky eyeliner draws dark streaks
down her face from the tears that refuse to stop.
Falling the heavy set huddles behind the, stage closest to the.
Bar jessica is right behind, her a hand on her.

(01:29:50):
Back next in line Is. Zoe all three peer out
at the, club at the living nightmare playing itself out
before their very. Eyes she doesn't know what to. Do
in the absence of a, plan all she does is
sit there and. Watch not ten feet in front of,
her there's mohawk all over a. Woman megan guesses she

(01:30:11):
should count herself, lucky having not been chosen as the
next victim in the woman's murder. Spree mohawk has her
head thrust into the crook of the lady's, neck needlelike
teeth digging into the, flesh throat flexing as she sucks down.
Blood the victim is dead. Already her unseeing eyes stare

(01:30:32):
blankly At, megan face frozen in a twisted expression of
pain and. Horror her fate isn't. Unique there's bodies everywhere now.
More by the minute people are, running they're. Screaming some
slip on the gore that paints the ground land, sprawling
get attacked before they can manage to get back to their.

(01:30:53):
Feet others almost make it to the, door but end
up stopped short by the man lingering. There others may
be also wanting for a, plan do like she and
her friends do and shelter in, place wait for their
turn to. Die megan now knows how the cows at

(01:31:14):
the slaughter house must, feel standing in, line listening to
their fellows up ahead getting. Killed and what do they?
Do the only thing they can do shuffle forward when
it's their. TURN i called the police Comes jessica's trembling.
Voice what are the police going to? Do zoe, asks

(01:31:37):
in response her, words a wet croak, Die megan, thinks
but she doesn't say. That she didn't Think RIHANNA'S s
AND m would be the soundtrack to her. Death but then,
again she also didn't think she would die in a strip,
club or that the thing that would kill her would be.
Monsters heart disease, maybe but not these pale. Horrors monsters

(01:32:04):
the stuff Of hollywood movie magic And Stephen king. Novels
But megan can't think of another word for these. Things
they have fangs and claws and a hunger for. Blood they're.
Monsters it isn't the scream that gets her, attention not
with the chorus of them filling the. Club, no it's

(01:32:25):
the reaction that both the attackers have to the. Scream
they look, up puzzlement on their. Faces megan dares a
look to the, bar sees the source of, it a
woman being mercilessly stabbed by the. Bartender it doesn't take
her having a front row seat to see that the

(01:32:45):
woman is one of. Them her nasty teeth glimmer as she.
Screams she looks, back sees the man mouthing. Something can't
hear it for the. Music they're, distracted, though their chance
come on while they're. Busy she finds herself saying shocked

(01:33:06):
she has the ability to even plan something so, bold
let alone. Enacted as her body begins to, move she
doesn't get, up but rather begins to crawl on hands
and knees to the. Left the floor is sticky with
spilled beer and spilled, blood but that's the least of
her concerns right. Now there's a bathroom on this side

(01:33:26):
of the, club between a set of. Booths she doesn't
know if they'll have a window or, what but it's
closer to the front door at, least and gets them
out of sight for a moment or. Two megan glances
over her shoulder to make sure her friends are. Following they,
are she's relieved to. Find she directs her eyes forward

(01:33:46):
again continues on her. Way she can barely hear the music,
now her heart pounding in her ears like a snare.
Drum she doesn't know if the monsters can see. Her
she can only hope that they can hand and if they, can,
well she's sure they'll let her. Know she reaches the,

(01:34:07):
booths twists right and continues crawling not far. Now her
breath comes and shutterers snot runs down her. Chin Maybe
zoe's earlier concern for Where amy had gotten off to
hadn't been just her worrying over. Nothing Oh, God, amy

(01:34:28):
they left her out, front the same front these things entered. From,
no she can't dwell on. That, now there's time to mourn.
Later the booth ends And megan follows it around to
the sticky leather. Back the archway for the bathrooms is
in front of, her but she doesn't come up off her. Knees,

(01:34:49):
instead she keeps crawling right on right for the, women
left for the. Men even though the circumstances maybe allowed
that she can choose whichever she wants May meagan still
ops for the door on the. Right she almost makes
it there when there's a loud thud not far behind,
her too close for. Comfort megan wouldn't even look dead

(01:35:12):
set on making it to the bathroom if it weren't
for the sound Of zoe. Screaming she turns, around feels
all the breath and her lungs. Vacate the woman with
the mohawk has the brunette pinned to the wall has
ripped her right off the floor so that her feet are.
Dangling zoe stares at, her and she in turn stares At.
Zoe if she And jessica both Rushed, mohawk then maybe

(01:35:36):
they could knock her, back grab the, brunette and make
it into the bathroom in time to barricade the. Door
it's a big. Maybe more likely they'll all three of
them die in quick. Succession zoe mouths, something it looks like.
Help megan mouths something, Back i'm. Sorry she turns quickly

(01:35:59):
and grabs the door handle for the, bathroom uses it
to hoist herself up to her, feet then shoves it
open and clamors. Inside jessica follows close, behind almost tripping
on her heels as she. Does she manages to push
the door shut and twist the lock just in time
For mohawk to crash into it from the other, side
denting the metal inward toward. Them both blonde scream then.

(01:36:24):
Silence it's almost as deafening as the music and screaming
had been with a locked. Door megan feels the promise
of relative safety we Left. Zoe jessica says that safety
seems to vanish with her friend's, words, Yeah megan, stammers

(01:36:45):
what else can she? Say we left? Her. Yeah When
megan repeats, herself the word. Cracks the tears are falling.
Again did they ever actually? Stop something slams into the door.
Again both women. Jump she thinks it's mohawk at, first
but then she hears the loud, groan the, whimper the

(01:37:08):
pleading from the other. Side the woman is using zoe
as a battering. Ram the second hit comes and it sounds.
Wetter maybe that's Just megan's, imagination but it. Does both
her And jessica cry out in, desperation but their words
aren't going to help. Here there just isn't a lot

(01:37:30):
to do otherwise except try and. Escape it's a small.
Bathroom one quick turn And megan has taken stock of
all she needs to a row of sinks on the
wall by the, door four stalls opposite. Them the strip
of floor in the middle leads to a small window
up near the, ceiling and that's where the heavy set
blonde runs, to looking up at it with a foolish

(01:37:52):
expression of hope briefly crossing her face before reality comes crashing.
In she won't. Fit it isn't even worth. Experimenting she
can tell from where she's. Standing help me, Up jessica,
says as she sidesteps her. Friend JESS i won't, fit she,
responds tears choking her. WORDS i. Will the other blonde,

(01:38:17):
answers and AND i can run and get us. Help
the door should hold until. THEN i won't, Fit, jessica
help me. Up trying to hold back her sobs as
best she, can but failing, Miserably megan kneels down and
clasps her hands together For jessica to step. Into once she,
does the heavy set blonde uses the wall for support

(01:38:40):
and gives her a. LIFT a third bang rings out
from the. Door there's no more groaning that follows. It
jessica opens the window and thrusts her head. Out all,
right just lift a bit, more she, instructs voice slightly.
Muffled megan, does even as the fear of being alone
starts to creep. In this is, it she, thinks the.

(01:39:03):
End no, wedding no, honeymoon no big, house no. Kids
she pushes her would be made of. Honor further, up
hears her loudly complain as her tits make squeezing through
the narrow slot. Difficult once they're, through, though it's smooth.
Sailing at a, point gravity takes, over And jessica just

(01:39:25):
slips From megan's. Hands as she topples through the. Window
she hears the other blonde let out a loud yell
from the other side of the wall as she tumbles
to the. Ground the next bang that comes from the
bathroom door is rougher. Louder it Isn't zoe this, time
But mohawk. Herself megan is sure of. It are you,

(01:39:48):
okay she calls toward the. Window, Yeah jessica, answers sounding
like she's in. Pain, Okay i'm going to get, help
just hang on if she announces her, intentions the bathroom
door finally gives up the fight and slams, open bent and,
ugly but not so much as the woman who stands

(01:40:09):
in the opening and Flashes megan her awful. Smile chapter, Ten.

Speaker 2 (01:40:25):
Car.

Speaker 1 (01:40:25):
Thirteen Respond Officer Chase perry's cruiser is parked on the
side of the road at the intersection Of detroit In
west twenty eighth Between Linda's market And North High. Brewing
he's got the rear view mirror adjusted so he can
see his. Face his fingers aggressively working at a ZiT
on his. Chin when the call comes over the, motorola

(01:40:47):
his left hand drops to the remote microphone clip to his,
chest squeezing the button on. It his right stays with
the angry red. Bump this Is car, thirteen he, Says, Hey,
chase the voice of Dispatcher Tim moore is a welcome
one to interrupt the otherwise boring. Night only kind of Night, chase,
ever seems to get keep him busy out. There, no he.

(01:41:11):
Isn't it's his third month on the job and he's
yet to see any real. Action part of him supposes
he would count himself lucky for, that but His Clint
eastwood fantasies are going woefully. Unfulfilled brought up on the
stories his father would bring. Home the Senior, perry also a,
cop he's been itchin to kick ass and take names
since he graduated the. Academy hasn't happened, Yet, NonStop you

(01:41:37):
actually just caught me on the heel of thwarting a bank, Robbery,
tim he, says it's like an action movie out. HERE
i tell, you, WELL i hope you can fit this
into your. Schedule then got uh two calls both from
that place On Frankfort, Avenue Wings. Endings you know the
place Mail strip. Club, yeah don't you go? There a
lot hor, horror funny. Guy first caller didn't say, anything

(01:42:00):
but the second said she was being attacked By let
me check, here SO i get this, Right, yeah right,
HERE i jotted it down. Monsters sounds like you're getting
crank called my. Dude sounds like, that don't. IT i
figure it's either that or a possible ten to. Nine
you got, Narcan, yeah somewhere in here might need. THAT

(01:42:22):
i don't. Know check it out in radio, back will?
You only because you asked so? Nicely what's the? Address
tim feeds it to him And chase punches it into THE,
gps then releases the microphone and sighs. Loudly he twists
the mirror back into, place puts the cruiser into, drive
and pulls away from the. Curb this fucking zid is

(01:42:43):
going to drive him, insane that, is if the boredom
doesn't do the job. First he takes the right up,
ahead veering onto the ramp for The Cleveland Memorial. Shoreway
it connects the west bank to the east bank of the.
Flats he punches. It no siren doesn't see why he need.
It the speedometer climbs fifty sixty, seventy keeps. Going he

(01:43:06):
switches lanes to pass a slower, car moves back without.
Signaling the city passes by him on the, right a
blur of brick and concrete and, steel but mostly. Decay
Lake erie on the, left unbothered and, unmoved just sitting there.
Stinking it isn't like he thought he would be kicking
down the door of drug dens and cleaning up the

(01:43:27):
streets with good old fashioned. Steel, okay maybe that is
what he. Thought chase's FAVORITE tv show Is The. Shield
he could be a, younger more Handsome Michael. Chicklis he's
still holding out hope. Anyway it's early in his. Career
he's got the smell of the academy on, him that's.
All once he's a bit more, experienced has a few

(01:43:48):
notches in his, belt the brass will be putting him
on all the big dick. Jobs the local gangbangers will
find out that he's one bad ombre be nice if
his complexion could clear up before. Then chase can't think
of a single badass with. Acne he goes from the
passing lane to the exit ramp and one fell, swoop
cresting down Toward Lakeside avenue before turning left Onto west.

(01:44:11):
Sixth he blows through the intersection With Saint Clair, avenue
and then it's just a little bit further before HIS
gps is telling him to turn right on To. Frankfort
maybe when he's done with this bogus, call he'll pick
up a late lunch and a tube of clearasil for
this goddamn. ZiT he's still squeezing it with his right
hand when he spots the blonde running out from the

(01:44:33):
side of wings endings and directly into the. Avenue chase
doesn't have time to, stop but he tries. Anyway he
slams on the brakes a lot of good it does.
Him he's going fifty and the cruiser. Skids all he
sees is her hair lit up in the, beams her
wide dough eyed. Expression then he feels the sudden jolt

(01:44:55):
as the front end connects with her body and he's thrust,
forward headbutting the steering. Wheel everything goes. Black chapter. Eleven

(01:45:17):
Both joan And troy cry out in horror when they
see the state of the Cook, scottie strewn across the
prep table like so much meat and clearly. Dead his
throat is torn open and blood soaks his apron not
to mention the clothes beneath, it realizing that they might
share his fate soon enough if the. Idle, though both

(01:45:38):
the bartender and the dancer managed to get over their
shock and press on, wordlessly assuring one another that the
only thing they can think about right now is getting
the hell out of wings and. Dings they push the
freezer in front of the kitchen, door both needing to
work together to move the thing despite it being on.
Wheels it probably won't help them in the long, run

(01:45:58):
but it might buy them so, time and that's a
precious commodity right. Now, afterward taking a moment to, Breathe
troy Inspects joan's. Wounds normally she might take a fence
to a guy oggling her, chest but this one time
she isn't going to raise a stink over. It he
reaches out and peels shredded fabric. Away every little touch.

(01:46:20):
Stings there are exactly four gashes that have been drawn
into her, flesh stretching from the top left of her
rib cage up over her right, tit stopping just short
of her. Shoulder they don't seem to be bleeding anymore at,
least but they're going to leave wicked. Scars that's. Okay
she can live with. Scars do you feel? Okay do?

(01:46:46):
You joan manages a bark of laughter that turns into
a half. Sob she has to keep reminding herself not
to break down into. Tears, No jesus, Fucked. Joan what
the fuck is wrong with their? TEETH i don't, KNOW
i don't. Know and their fucking. Eyes Man harry shot.
THEM i saw him shoot. Them he shot that lady

(01:47:08):
like six fucking. Times joan's hands physically grasp its straws
while she, speaks trying desperately to find any sense in
what's going on. Here it seems. Impossible they've left the
realm of real and accepted fact in the rear. View
they are in the land of. Nightmares now we gotta get,

(01:47:29):
out get, Help, yes they. Do, nodding snorting snot back
into her, Nose joan pushes herself up from where she's
been leaning against the wall as the adrenaline of the
previous fight With nosring begins the pain in her chest
becomes more and more. Apparent she tries to push it
out of her mind for, now but the throbbing ache

(01:47:50):
isn't making it. Easy the back door of the bar
is located in the far right corner by the walk
In their path takes them past where they've moved the.
Freezer As troy passes in front of, it it launches,
forward clipping the dancer and sending him. Sprawling he tries
to catch himself on a, table but, fails ends up
hitting his knees with the air knocked out of. Him

(01:48:12):
the freezer connects with the opposite wall so hard That
joan is. Shocked it doesn't go right through. It it bounces,
back rolling a foot or so before coming to a.
Stop it's the. Man he holds the kitchen door, open
letting the noise of the club behind spill in for
a moment before he steps forward and it swings. Closed

(01:48:34):
she sees, him but more, pressing he sees. Her there's
rage in those black voids he has in place of.
Eyes it's etched into his face. Too he, moves and in,
turn so does she cat meat. Mouse his stride brings
him forward at an impossible speed And joan only narrowly

(01:48:55):
avoids him by diving to the. Left the freezer's in
the middle of the floor or blocking any easy, escape
so thinking, fast she clambers up and onto the flat top,
grill thankful the club never uses the, thing and crawls.
Forward she makes it to the end before he snatches
her by the ankle one quick, tug causing her to

(01:49:16):
land flat on her gut and her head to dangle
over the deep. Frier the sizzle pop of three hundred
and fifty degree oil just feet below her. Face the
metal guard that lines the, flattop meant to keep grease
from splashing, out cuts into her neck causes her to.
Choke she grabs hold of it as she's, pulled but

(01:49:36):
it doesn't. Help it bends as she holds on for dear.
Life then her fingers begins slipping the side of the
guard that faces the deep friar slick with residual. Grease
she Curses scottie and his shoddy cleanup job right before
she loses her grip. Entirely she Hears troy yell call

(01:49:57):
the man a. Motherfucker the hand on her ankle lets
up with the almost simultaneous sound of a. Scuffle joan
doesn't look back to see what the dancer is done
to earn her her. Freedom she just claws her way
forward and then off the grill and on to her,
Feet thinking, fast her heart beating a mile a, minute
she grabs a pot from a shelf and thrusts it

(01:50:19):
into the deep fryer just in time. Too troy flies
by behind her. Throne as she. Turns the man is,
there barely a few feet separating. Them joan swings the
pot up and out of the deep, fryer filled with,
oil and douses the left side of the man's face with.
It he doesn't, scream he, roars stumbling back with both

(01:50:43):
hands reaching for where his pale skin is now turning
pink and. Red ugly blisters already begin to. Form the
bartender could press her, luck but chooses not. To the
pot clatters to the, floor and she turns and sprints
toward the back, door ripping it. Open only then does
she look For troy and finds him struggling to his

(01:51:04):
feet by the walk. In come on that seems to
do the. Trick he pushes himself off the, wall practically
throwing himself toward the. Door he isn't fast. Enough. Though
something hits the other side of the. Door joan can
only assume it's the. Man whatever it, is it's heavy
enough to throw the bartender out and into the. Alley

(01:51:26):
the door slams loudly shut behind. Her she stumbles over
her own feet ends up landing flat on her Ass.
Troy she screams it voice. Horse it's too, Late though
the rational part of her brain knows that for a,
fact even if she went back in, there it only
served to get them both. Killed there's still a piece

(01:51:49):
of her that wants to try and save the, dancer
though there just wouldn't be anything left to. Save back
on her, Feet joan begins to. Run it's all she
can do at this. Point chunky boots thud heavily against
the ground as she rounds the side of the club
and makes her way toward the. Street there's a car,
there she, sees parked in the middle of the. Avenue

(01:52:12):
only as she draws a little closer does she see
that it's a police. Cruiser the light bar on the,
top not on the front, end is dented. Inward a
blonde crumpled on the ground in front of. It the
presumed owner of the. CAR a cop is sat on the.
Curb joan doesn't stop running until she's in front of.
Him he's, younger younger than, her even there are tears

(01:52:37):
running down his cheeks and a deep cut across his.
FOREHEAD i didn't see, her he, says voice a wet.
Mumble he gestures. Hopelessly it isn't my.

Speaker 2 (01:52:49):
FAULT i didn't see.

Speaker 1 (01:52:50):
Her we need to, go she. Says the scene is
shockingly normal compared to what's coming for. Them it barely
even catches her off guard the way she sees. It
they can worry about vehicular, homicide accidental or not later
when there aren't monsters around trying to kill. THEM i
didn't see, her the cop, repeats wiping his nose on

(01:53:13):
the back of his, arm leaving a streak of snot shut,
up shut. Up we have to go. Now he isn't.
Moving something is. Though she catches it in her vision
and looks up the. Man he's strolling down the side
of the, building now coming right toward. Them there's nothing

(01:53:34):
to do for the, cop she. Decides she leaves him
to sit on the curb and half, walks half runs
to the open driver's side door of his. Cruiser the
keys in the ignition the engine still. On the air
bag isn't, deployed and for that she's at least. Grateful
despite all the computers and radios and, shit she's fairly

(01:53:54):
certain it drives just like a normal. Car she slams
the door shut just in time to cut out the
surprise scream of the cop as he's jerked in one
fluid motion from where he'd been sat on the curb
and into the, air feet dangling off the, ground foot
on the. Brake joan throws it out of park and into,
reverse slams on the gas once she, has and begins

(01:54:16):
flying backward from the. Scene she backs right up into
a car parked on the other side of the, avenue
gives herself a, jolt but is no worse for, wear
at least she doesn't think. So in the beams of the,
headlights she sees the dead blonde curled up on the,
asphalt the cop feet kicking, hopelessly the man face buried

(01:54:39):
in his. Throat the thought to hit the attacker with
the car crosses her, mind but she isn't confident it
would do anything other than leave her without an escape,
vehicle so when she puts the cruiser in, drive she
turns the, wheel avoiding the scene entirely as she guns
it for the end of the. Avenue she doesn't know
where she'll, go knows that anywhere is better than. Here

(01:55:04):
she barely slows down as she veers right Onto west,
ninth the tires squealing. Loudly joan almost loses control of the,
vehicle but manages to keep it in. Check she's done.
It she thinks she's made it. Out excitement explodes up
from deep inside, her and she begins slamming her hand
against the steering wheel while screaming. Expletives That's, joan a.

(01:55:27):
Survivor she makes it as far as the intersection With
Saint clair when there's a heavy thud on the roof
of the, vehicle like the car has been struck with a.
Meteor the surprise catches her to, panic and she twists the,
wheel almost hits another park, car but manages to straighten
out her trajectory in time to avoid the. Collision she's

(01:55:48):
heading Down Saint, clair now Toward west. Tenth denial sets
in tries to, anyway it quickly makes itself scarce when
a fist comes from nowhere and smacks into the. Windshield
the first hit doesn't, shatter it just makes a round
break in the center of her, vision from which a
hundred little cracks spiderweb out From the second, hit, though

(01:56:10):
comes right through fingers topped with thick. Nails no claws
reach for, her and she has to lean all the
way back to avoid their. Grasp, Screaming joan does the
only thing she can think to, do which is step on.
It the speedometer climbs as she makes short work of the.
Avenue at the bend Where Saint clair Becomes Old River,

(01:56:31):
road she slams on the, brakes tires squealing loudly as
they're forced to come to an unexpected. Halt the man
on the roof goes flying, forward hits the pole with
a loud snapping sound That joan can not only hear
but feel deep in her. Skeleton he lands in a
heap on the, ground. Motionless she's breathing. Hard tears are

(01:56:54):
streaming down her. Face come, on she, says do it fuck?
Her as if on. Cue the man begins to. Stir
it's a, slow sluggish. Movement he stumbles to his, feet
one arm bent completely. Backward at the elbow so that
it points in the opposite. Direction one leg is violently

(01:57:14):
turned inward toward the. Other joan takes her foot off
the brake and floors the gas. Pedal before the man can,
react she's plowing into, him narrowly avoiding pinning him to
the pole and instead driving him down the incline toward
The Cioga. River he stares at her through the, windshield
pitch black, eyes spelling out all the awful things he

(01:57:36):
wants to do to, her but she doesn't. Relent you fucking,
bitch she hears him scream, it then drives her foot
down hard on the brake for the last. Time there's
a wrought iron fence lining the walkway that straddles The
kyoga to keep people from falling, in and beyond that

(01:57:56):
a muddy embankment toward the murky. Water as she, stops
the man again is launched, forward this time hitting the
fence and tearing it clean from the. Ground she doesn't
know if the decorative spikes that top it stab, him
but she only hopes they. Do he keeps flying until
he hits the, water landing with a. Splash she doesn't

(01:58:18):
know how. Long she just sits there and looks on
foot on the, brake waiting for him to come crawling
out of the water like the monster he. Is she
isn't sure she breathed the entire time she. Does the
crackle of the radio is what brings her out of,
it giving her a. Start cart thirteen Respond joan doesn't

(01:58:40):
know what she's doing with all the bits and bobs
at the. Console she presses button after button to no,
avail each time saying hello but getting nothing, back her
voice steadily becoming more and more cracked and broken as she. Proceeds,
finally after much trial and, error her hello is. Answered

(01:59:01):
who is? This i'm the bartender for Wings, Endings she
manages to, SAY i we need. Help. Epilogue three months

(01:59:22):
on from the, Incident joanes still has trouble. Sleeping who.
Wouldn't every time she closes her, eyes those people are,
there waiting like they've carved their likeness into the back
of her. Eyelids, no not, people. Monsters people don't have
needle like teeth and pitch black eyes and claws where

(01:59:44):
fingernails should. Be she thinks of the cop who had
been sat on the, curb the one who hit that
poor blonde who almost almost got. Away she thinks about
how when the man had, him he was tearing into his.
Throat same story For. Scottie his throat had been absolutely
destroyed when she And troy found. Him what does that

(02:00:07):
they never found the guy she flung into The Cioga.
River could be he drifted out deeper Into Lake. Erie
the police say they never found the woman she, killed,
either the woman with the nose. Ring joan isn't sure
if the lady with the mohawks stole her away or what.
Happened maybe these monsters dissolve after. Death maybe they didn't really.

(02:00:30):
Die there's a scary, thought one that's occurred to her
time and time. Again in the little hours of the,
night the club is. Closed hard to come back from
something like, This she. Figures the stack of overdue bills
threatening imminent cancelation of crucial services probably didn't help. Her

(02:00:52):
aunt will, survive, though like her, Niece, diane is a.
Survivor joan hears she's going to franchise as a burger.
King she moves quietly through her studio. Apartment the clock
on the stove reads two. Am her pot of coffee
is only half, drunk though and it seems like it'd
be a waste to leave. It she pours herself another

(02:01:15):
cup from the kitchen. Counter she crosses the, floor passes
by a television Showing night of The Living, dead and
stops at the window that overlooks the. Street her reflection
is a stark reminder of that. Night, topless it's her
apartment sewer means she can see the four scars running

(02:01:37):
horizontally across her. Chest she fingers, one an unconscious action
while taking a sip of the bitter. Coffee in, Therapy
joan often offers up theories of maybe if she had
done this or, that things could have turned out. Differently
maybe not For brad or For, harvey definitely not For,

(02:02:00):
scottie but certainly For. Troy she could have saved the.
Dancer it isn't your, Fault joan comes the canned. Response, yeah,
well she pays the person to say, that doesn't She
it's a weekly visit to make herself feel. Better it isn't.
Working survivor's guilt is a bitch like. That outside the,

(02:02:23):
window her eyes Scan Elm. Street her apartment is located
in a building that looks like it had been a,
warehouse at some, point probably was across the. STREET a
similar building houses the cafe she now works. At good
thing about cafes they close before. Dark they seldom get
attacked by monsters. Too from what she, Hears joan doesn't

(02:02:47):
know what she's looking for when she inspects her little
slice Of. Cleveland that isn't. True she does, Know she
just wishes she. Didn't in the wake of what she's been,
through every detail becomes. Suspect she doesn't recognize that, impala for,
instance parked half in and half out of the beam

(02:03:09):
of the street. Light she's sure she would know if
she'd seen it. Before it's an older, vehicle a. Classic
both in front and behind it are much, cheaper more economic,
models less. Descript, rationally she knows it's probably someone visiting another,
tenant or someone got a new, ride or. Whatever but

(02:03:30):
that isn't how her brain decides to file things away.
Anymore from her, perch she continues her watching or, Spying
it depends on how one wants to look at. It
when something catches her eye a Flame given the, distance it's,
tiny but it still stands. Out there's someone standing near the,

(02:03:56):
Impala joan realizes in the shadows a darker silhouette on
a dark. Background the flame is nothing more than a.
Lighter it's just someone having a, smoke she, realizes but
it still sends a chill down her. Spine the person
lights their cigarette and the flame goes, away replaced by

(02:04:20):
a burning orange. Ember using the lit end of the
cigarette as a, Guide joan can tell where the person is.
Looking they're staring up at her, window at Her The

(02:04:43):
Final yes By Charles. Campbell i'm two hundred and twenty
seven years, old relatively young for my, kind but still old.
Enough winter is my favorite time of year because the
night's longer and the air outside suits the coldness of my.

(02:05:04):
Flesh i've turned a few people in my. Life the
catch is there are rules to turning people to, vampire
and the first of which is they have to agree
to be. Turned in other, words the tournee has to say.
Yes let me back up for just a moment before

(02:05:27):
you get to the, YES i guess the first thing
is targeting the next, vampire preferably young and with no
immediate family to speak. Of although this criterion isn't set in,
stone there is the occasional notable. Exception my notable exception
is seventy three year Old molly. McBride i can't say

(02:05:50):
THAT i Found molly because the truth of the matter
is that my progeny led me to. Her after learning
Of molly's story and HOW i factor into, IT i
am compelled to sit here on her front porch until
the sun. Rises From, MOLLIE i received my final. Yes

(02:06:12):
the following chronicles what happened here and what has led
me to witness my first sunrise in over two, Centuries
fall twenty, twelve seven point thirty two. Am, hello, sweetheart
are you? Hungry Freddie rogers asked the, skinny bow legged

(02:06:36):
girl sitting at the bus. Stop eight year Old Lisa.
Frausto Gave freddie a cautious look and nodded her. Head,
yes here you. Go freddie removed a package of cheese
crackers from his jacket pocket and held it out To.
Lisa her gloved hand wavered slightly as she reached out

(02:06:56):
to grab the. Food LISA i saw voice. Began who
is your? Friend molly asked from the screened in. Porch
lisa turned in her grandmother's, direction with her eyebrows, raised
giving a clear view of her light brown. Eyes she
opened her mouth to speak When freddie, Interjected i'm, sorry,

(02:07:18):
miss don't matter WHO i. Am, mister what are you
doing talking to my? Granddaughter molly's own light brown eyes
were trained on the new. Stranger, hey don't take. OFFENSE
i was just walking by and she looked. Hungry freddie,
ANSWERED i feed her just, fine. Stranger molly fired. BACK

(02:07:40):
i asked her if she was, hungry and she said she,
was didn't, you? Sweetheart freddie turned his gaze back On.
Lisa GRAN i did tell HIM i was, Hungry lisa,
said now standing closer to the edge of the. Sidewalk
the bus would be there at any. Moment you, know
oh What i've told you about talking to and worse,

(02:08:02):
yet taking things from. Strangers, look, Miss freddie, started, mister
this ain't none of your, affair so shush. It the
bus hissed to a, stop right beside the little auburn
haired girl standing in her usual morning. Spot we'll discuss
this more when you get, home young. Lady, Yes, Graham

(02:08:25):
lisa muttered as she stepped into the big yellow. Bus i'm,
Sorry i'll be on my, Way freddie, said as he
started back down the sidewalk with the bus pulling, away
leaving behind a trail of black. Smoke the maintenance budget
must have taken a hit for the new school. Year
what's your, name? Stranger freddie stopped mid step and turned

(02:08:49):
to Face molly once. Again the Name's Freddie rogers and
who are? You my name Is molly. McBride, well Mister,
rogers where where you? Headed i'm headed to. WORK i
work at the finance company. DOWNTOWN i kind of gathered
it with some type of office. Work by the way you're,

(02:09:09):
Dressed molly noted the neatly pressed dress slacks and button
up shirt with tie underneath his light blue. Jacket i'm
sorry about that with your. Granddaughter no harm. MEANT i.
PROMISE i know who you are, now Mister, rogers AND
i know where you. Work molly smiled As freddy waved
back at her and continued his trek to the office

(02:09:32):
Of Fraser. Financial three point thirty three, pm the screen
door slammed shut and the sound of little feet filled the.
Hallway Gran, Mom i'm, Upstairs molly yelled through her open bedroom.
Door she was working on ironing that day's. Wash her

(02:09:53):
Daughter karen hadn't made it home from work. Yet she
was usually home Before, lisa but not that. Day Grand
Grand lisa took the steps two at a time and
sported a wide ear to ear grin when she stopped
in the. Doorway what is, it? Dear molly set the
iron down on the back of the ironing board and

(02:10:13):
moved Toward. Lisa where's mom still at? Work what's got
you grinning like? That? GRIN i gotta wait on, mom.
Kay lisa's freckled face had a small smudge of dirt
on her right cheek and the faintest line of sweat
had formed on her. Forehead that's, fine we'll still have
to discuss what we do when a stranger speaks to.

(02:10:35):
You i'm, Sorry, GRAN i didn't mean, To. Dear there
are bad people out. There they can pretend to be,
good and some of them may even be. Good but
you should never speak to strangers and you should never
ever take anything from. Them do you, Understand? Lisa, Yes,

(02:10:55):
GRAN i Understand. Lisa sometimes when little girls or boys
talk to, strangers they get taken away and they never come.
Home molly's eyes locked Onto lisa's and they conveyed personal
experience on this. Topic i'm, Sorry, GRAHAM i PROMISE i
won't talk to. Strangers good, Girl let's go wait on your.

(02:11:19):
MOTHER i have a roast in the. Oven how's that?
Sound molly grabbed her wide eyed granddaughter by the. HAND
i smelt it WHEN i walked. IN i could eat
the whole. Thing, well according to what you, told Mister,
ROGERS i don't feed. You who's Mister. Rogers he's the
stranger that you talked to this. MORNING i found out

(02:11:40):
who he. WAS i thought you wasn't supposed to talk to,
Him lisa, said. Puzzled that's. Right but because he talked to,
YOU i had to find out who he was and
if he was good or, Bad molly, said as they
entered the kitchen and unclasped. Hands well is he good or?
Bad lee, asked as she peered through the glass on

(02:12:02):
the oven. DOOR i don't know, yet but he Seems,
okay reach over there and get me the mixer and
the big bowl over the. Sink you can help me
mash the. Potatoes we can use the gravy from the. Roast,
kay gran it smells so. Good they both heard the
front door close and keys hit the coffee. Table, mom

(02:12:24):
come in the. KITCHEN i gotta tell you. Something the
sound Of Karen frausto's high heels click clacked as she
stepped into the, kitchen and Skinny lisa sprang into her.
Arms tell me all about, it, Sweetie karen smiled at her.
DAUGHTER a late night at work had turned into an

(02:12:46):
early morning For Freddie. Rogers the end of the month
was here and the books had to be reconciled before
the division manager arrived at eight am later that. Morning
he was on the brink of a mental collapse when
he logged off his. Computer freddie was the only employee
left in the. Office the other three full timers had
left at eight p. M the previous evening after logging

(02:13:08):
in twelve. Hours NOW i WISH i had a, car
or even a, Bicycle freddy mumbled to himself as he
grabbed the light blue jacket from the coat hanger beside
the office. Entrance freddie stared at the illuminated keypad for
a few, seconds trying to remember the correct alarm. Coat
before tapping the numbers, seven, two nine, five the word

(02:13:30):
armed flashed in bold. Letters freddy had twenty eight seconds
to let himself out and lock the door behind. Him
oh it's quite, Nippy freddy said aloud as he stepped
into the colder than average fall. Night Downtown, Langley South
carolina was empty save for a gimpy white and brown
cat accompanied by a small black Mud they were both

(02:13:52):
staring at, him hoping for a handout from. BEHIND a
couple of garbage cans put out in front Of LANGLEY,
rx no doubt for an early trash. PICKUP a low
lying fog hovered over, downtown covering the street, lamps making
them look like blurry circles of light hidden inside of a.
Cloud freddie pulled up the collar of his jacket and

(02:14:14):
began to walk the sidewalk back. Home his loafers felt,
heavy and he kept his eyes trained on the sidewalk
in front of. Him freddie was just beginning to fall
into a walking version of highway hypnosis when he heard
a whisper hello over. Here freddie stopped his march and

(02:14:34):
stared into the fog for a good five seconds before,
replying who's. There i'm, hungry. Mister the whisper, Returned are
you the little GIRL i saw? Yesterday what are you
doing out here at this? Hour freddie placed his right
hand out in front of his forehead as if he
was shielding his vision from the. Sun he was trying

(02:14:57):
to make out the demure figure stand just behind the street.
Lamp i'm, hungry, mister the whisper. Repeated your grandma is
going to kick both our. Tails let me get you.
Home freddie stepped closer to the street lamp and the
figure receded into. Darkness, yepp what the? Hell the little

(02:15:18):
black mutt was right Behind, freddy nipping at the backs
of his ankles and pulling on his left pant. Leg
the cat stayed put behind the garbage. Cans he would
win no man's best friend. Award freddie turned and knelt
to remove the little stray from his. Ankle he grabbed
the dog with both hands by his. Midsection the little

(02:15:38):
fella growled but didn't relinquish his grip on the hem
Of freddy's. Slacks come on, Now freddy, started right before
a sixth sense kicked. In goose pimples broke out on both,
arms and the hair on the back of his neck
stood at. Attention i'm, hungry. Mister from, behind sharpened nails

(02:15:59):
sunk deep Through freddie's jacket into the meat of both,
arms and two tiny legs rapped tightly around his. Middle,
yepep the little black dog backed away From freddie and
kept barking at the long haired girl attached To freddie's.
Back her face buried deep into the nape of his.
Neck freddie pounded on the top of her head with

(02:16:21):
both fists as hard as he. Could the sounds of
sucking and slurping filled the, air along with the constant
yep of the. Dog the cat had seen enough and
split with each. Slurp freddie, weakened and it wasn't long
before he was face down on the. Sidewalk the little
vampire was in a feeding frenzy and couldn't stop even

(02:16:42):
if she wanted. To freddie's final thoughts before he lost
consciousness for good were never talk to. STRANGERS i hope
that little girl and her grandma are. Okay you look
like you're about to, burst. Sweetheart tell me what it,
Is karen said as she placed her finger Under lisa's.

(02:17:03):
Chin lisa wriggled her nose a little and, Replied, MOM
i got a special letter from Missus wilkes. Today where is?
It what did it? Say molly asked Gran, Mom it's
said THAT i am gifted and, talented and they want
me to be a part of the gifted and talented.
Program lisa pulled a neatly quarter folded piece of paper

(02:17:26):
from her back jean pocket and handed it To. KAREN
i don't need a piece of paper to tell me
you are gifted and, Talented. Poodle i've always known. That with,
That lisa wrapped her arms around her mother's. Waist karen
winked at her own mother with, pride And molly smiled
back at. Her there were three gifted and talented women

(02:17:48):
in this household strong. Too Karen fraustow was a thirty
four year old, widow which made her one of two
widows in the. House her, Father, milton had passed away
six years. Before her Husband, jeffrey was killed in a
seven car pile up ON i twenty two years ago
When lisa was just six years. Old he was on

(02:18:11):
his way back from The Atlanta airport when an elderly
woman driving an older Model thunderbird crossed through the median
just past The Appling georgia exit and plowed head on
into a Silver, jetta setting off a tragic chain of
misery starting with her Husband seabring plowing into the back
of the already Demolished jetta at over seventy miles an,

(02:18:32):
hour and so on and so, on with the five
vehicles behind. Him fast forward a couple of, years And
molly was firmly entrenched as caretaker for her two. Girls
karen had shown no interest in other men Since jeffrey passed.
Away her focus was on providing For. Lisa karen's official

(02:18:54):
title Was Advertising Sales, executive a fancy name for a
salesperson working for the Local fox, affiliate and she worked
late on this particular day closing a deal with The
Ford Auto group renewing and up selling their current television.
PACKAGE a nice commission would be coming To karen and her.
Family i'm so proud of, you. Sweetie your daddy's smiling

(02:19:18):
at you right. NOW i can feel. It, OH i
know he, is and your grandfather is right there with,
Him molly said as she moved a chair from under
the kitchen, table patting the, seat Inviting lisa to PLoP
down for. Supper mom that smells so, Good karen smacked her.
Lips you sit down right there And i'll fix both

(02:19:40):
of my girls a. Plate molly lived to take care
of her. Girls if it weren't for, them she'd probably
be pushing up, daisies, milkweed or something up from the.
Ground the three strong women ate supper and talked about
how gifted and talented Little lisa. Was FIVE A. M

(02:20:02):
i know you're. Hungry please don't remind me, again the
skinny man with ashy skin and no hair on his
head said to his little, COMPANION i need to. EAT
i have to. Eat the dark haired girl with oil
black eyes. Replied the fog was beginning to settle, in

(02:20:22):
and they stood outside of The frausto residence under the
street lamp At lisa's bus. Stop we beat the others.
Here you go down that way and find a dog
or cat or something to tide you. Over the bony
finger pointed down the sidewalk that headed into. Town i'll
move across the way and see WHAT i can. Find

(02:20:42):
i'll meet you back here in this spot in an,
hour you. Understand the little vampire nodded her. Head her
long black hair had no shine and no. Bounce it
was the hair of the. Dead the hunger pangs knifed
into her and put her in a single. Mindset would she?

Speaker 2 (02:21:00):
Die?

Speaker 1 (02:21:01):
No she was a, vampire and the hunger would gnaw
at her and torture her for, relief but she would not.
Die only the brief pain of a wooden steak or
a burst from the yellow sun would do that. Trick
the pain of hunger was so bad that she wished
for either of those. Options as she shuffled down the,
sidewalk listening for anything she could grab that would gush,

(02:21:25):
blood giving her. Relief the hungry little vampire walked well
past the hour deadline set by her companion until she
heard a, yep. Yep there were two little tender morsels
in the forms of a little black mut and a
white and brown, cat parked behind some garbage. Cans shannon

(02:21:46):
rolled her tongue across her fangs and took a thirsty
gulp as she started out from under the street. Lamp
she stopped her approach when she heard the jingling of
keys and eased back into the. Shadows the footsteps moved steadily,
closer and she could make out the man looking across
the street at the yapping, dog and the you stay

(02:22:08):
over there And i'll stay over, here. Kat the nails
on the little Vampire shannon's fingers expanded outward into razors sharp.
Points her fangs were dripping with, cold thick. Saliva as
she called out hello over. Here the man, paused looked

(02:22:29):
in her, direction and yelled out to, Her i'm, hungry
Mister shannon licked her lips As freddie took his final.
Steps karen Escorted lisa to the sidewalk in front of
their home and waited with her for the smoky bus to.

(02:22:50):
Arrive this was a rare treat for them both Because
karen was usually, up dressed and on her way to
the station by six thirty am most. Mornings she figured
that she deserved a morning to make her daughter and
mother breakfast and See lisa to the bus. Stop she
closed a big up cell the day, before so she

(02:23:11):
deserved this morning send. Off. Mom what Was dad's favorite?
Color lisa. Asked her shoulder length auburn hair was pulled
into tight braids on both sides of her. Head the
same light brown eyes that belonged to her mom and
Her graham were wide when she asked the. Question lisa
remembered her father for, sure but she was only six

(02:23:33):
when he, died and she didn't get to know her
father very. Well in that short span of. Life his favorite,
color the movies he liked to. Watch was he a
football or a baseball? Dad those types of. Things his
favorite color was the exact color of your. Eyes he
stared into them for hours on end when you were a.
Baby karen, replied trying not to well. Up these questions weren't,

(02:23:59):
sad so she fought through her instinctive reaction to release the. Tears,
mom what color were his eyes in the picture in my?
Room they looked sort of? Green were they? Green, yes,
sweetie they were emerald, green and they were. Beautiful he
adored you so. Much that did, It and a single

(02:24:22):
tear was released from the bottom corner Of karen's left. Eye, Oh,
mom don't, Cry i'm. Sorry lisa dropped her pink tin
lunch box along with Her Neon lime book bag on
the sidewalk and gave her mother a tight. Hug in mid,
hug the smoky yellow bus stopped right in front of
them with its all too familiar squeal and smoke. Cloud

(02:24:45):
you go on to school, now misgifted and. TALENTED i love.
You karen Handed lisa her lunchbox and gave the back
of her head a quick stroke as she turned toward the. Bus, Bye,
MOM i love you, Too lisa hollered As molly watched
from the front. Porch, bye, dear love. You we're having

(02:25:07):
chicken and dumplings for. Supper karen watched with hands on
hips as the bus pulled away in a smoky, cloud
and then walked back toward the, house stopping briefly to
remove the morning paper from the paper. Box in the
age of iPads and, Smartphones mollie still subscribed to The Achin.
Standard she was from the old school and liked getting

(02:25:29):
newsprints smudged on her fingers every. Morning, MOM i miss,
Him karen, SAID i know you, Do, SWEETIE i know you.
Do ONE, o TWO A. M. Shannon the others are,
Here victor said as he opened the back door to
the up until recently vacant mobile. Home it was a

(02:25:53):
double wide that had seen better, days but it was
sturdy enough For victor and his progeny to take. Refuge
they shared the back bedroom during the daylight. Hours the
windows were covered in sun blocking film That victor kept.
Handy oh the life of a, Vampire. Victor it's so

(02:26:13):
good to see you and You, shannon my, dear you
are more beautiful every TIME i set my eyes on.
You veronica trained her black pools on the little blood
sucker At victor's. Side, veronica you are too. Kind tell
me Where's ivan And? Sandra are they with? You victor

(02:26:35):
held out a pasty. Hand you Mean neil And. Sandra,
VICTOR i know you do that on. Purpose, oh they
are out hunting for hoboes or some unfortunate kitty cat
or stray. Pooch they'll be here. Soon veronica was, stunning
the kind of vampire that is imagined in, movies, novels

(02:26:56):
and the occasional cable. Series she had waste, length cloud
white hair that wisped when there was a breeze and
lent itself to be touched when you got. Close Unlike
shannon's black, Dresses veronica's did seem to have some sort of.
Life her body hugging black dress accentuated her natural, curves

(02:27:16):
and she had no problems getting. Food she drained her
last meal the previous, night right after he came for
the last. Time veronica was the, walking talking embodiment of
a beautiful. Death the heavy cranberry lipstick set against her
pale face and flawless, skin along with pearly white fangs

(02:27:38):
made her one of the most beautiful creatures on the.
Planet veronica was the queen of this, hive And, Langley
South carolina was supposed to be a brief. Stop only
it didn't quite work out that. Way, Downtown, yep, yep,

(02:27:58):
Yeer neil over, HERE i got. One sandra held the
little black mut out at arm's length as she kicked
and wriggled in the air trying to break. Free sandra
had her claws sunk into both sides of the struggling.
Dog hold him. STILL i got something. Too neil stepped
from behind the pharmacy building holding the hand of a,

(02:28:19):
skinny run down crack. Addict Simon fargoni had lost his
soul In. Vietnam what remained was a drug rattled body
that operated on the most primal of. Levels feed the,
hunger check out of this world for a, while rinse and.
Repeat his needle ridden arms were all tracked up on both.

(02:28:40):
Sides sandra shook her head in utter. Revulsion you eat
that And i'll Have fido over. HERE i know we're,
vampires But i'm afraid i'd catch something IF i drank from.
That sandra turned her eyes back to the black. Mud
he had stopped wriggling and was breathing rapidly with his
tongue flopped out the left side of his. Mouth, well

(02:29:02):
you drink the dog dry And i'll finish this gross
looking thing. Off neil placed the black nail from his
index finger on the backside Of simon's neck and flicked
aside a lice filled mound of. Hair oh this is fucking,
disgusting BUT i gotta. Eat neil sank his sharp canines in,

(02:29:23):
deep And simon didn't make a move or a. Sound
his eyes were already rolled into the back of his
head Before neil even opened his. Mouth this would be
a sweet release For. Simon sweet and. Oblivious. Ah the
dog let out a tortured howl When sandra's fangs punctured

(02:29:45):
through the black fur and released the flow of. Blood
sandra didn't like the sensation of sucking the blood over
the top of the heavy coat of, fur but she
hated the hunger pangs even. More neil And sandra were,
very very young, vampires turned just over three years. Ago
both turned By veronica on a night after some heavy

(02:30:08):
drinking and deviancy with The. Queen neil And sandra were
a couple that had an insane obsession with vampires and
the romanticized vision of their, lifestyle a vision that was
certainly in question as he watched the lice scurry around
in the head of his current meal and she gagged
on the matted fur of. Hers neil was close to

(02:30:31):
six feet tall with a crew cut and light brown.
Hair sandra was almost as tall As, neil's sporting shoulder
length sandy blonde. Hair they, both as all, vampires had black.
Eyes sandra released the drained mud and it sounded like
a wet bath towel hitting. Cement neil was finishing off

(02:30:52):
the last drops From simon When sandra, Said, neil it's
time to. Go veronica will be looking for us. Soon
neil looked up At sandra with the Cold simon laying
on his side underneath him on the. Concrete i'm satiated.
You i'm still a little, hungry BUT i had. Enough come,

(02:31:13):
on we must leave. Now sandra was curt in her
reply and turned her back To. Neil he began to
walk down the sidewalk leading out of. Downtown the fog
was back and the air held some. Moisture i'm. Coming
neil Dropped simon into THE rx dumpster and jogged lightly
to catch up With, sandra holding his hand out to.

(02:31:35):
Her she glanced down at her side, quickly but didn't
take his. Hand she continued to walk at a rapid.
Pace nine minutes, Later what took you to so, Long
veronica asked the approaching. Pair took while to find a?
Vagrant neil, replied and, You veronica, asked looking In sandra's.

(02:31:58):
DIRECTION a, dog and it was, bad but not as
bad as the Man neil. Drained sandra twirled the ivory
bracelet around her. Wrist was he a little black? DOG
a quiet voice, asked just above a Whisper, shannon that.
You sandra moved Toward, victor who had been silent since

(02:32:19):
they walked. Up shannon stepped from behind. Him, yes it's.
Me was it a little black, dog she asked, again
without looking, Up yes it, Was sandra. Answered is it a?
Problem neil, asked with aggression in his. Tone, no it's
not a, Problem victor interjected as he stepped back in

(02:32:41):
front Of shannon and kept his full focus On. Neil
let's all go inside for a talk and we'll figure
out where we're. Going. Next sound like a, Plan veronica,
asked trying to lighten the. Tension, victor MAY i go
for a? Walk shannon. Asked victor was the only one she.
Trusted he turned her and he cared for the others

(02:33:06):
just frightened. Her victor gave a cursory look To, veronica
and she gave him a slight head. Nod, sure my,
dear just stay close by and be back in an.
HOUR i don't want anything to happen to. You victor
ran the back of his hand down the side Of shannon's.
CHEEK i, will she, answered and walked away into the.

(02:33:29):
Night lisa couldn't go back to. Sleep she was awakened
by a barking, dog and her body wouldn't let her
drift back To La La, land so she decided to.
Draw lisa pulled the rolling chair from her art desk

(02:33:51):
and flipped on the. Lamp she opened the front drawer
and removed an assortment of colored pencils and placed them
in a pink plastic. Cup sitting atop her, Deck lisa
started with the top piece of blank, paper beginning with
a light blue pencil for the. Sky lisa was working
on blending in the white paper with the blue pencil
to form a pretty set of. Clouds when she heard hello,

(02:34:15):
there it was barely above a, whisper but it was.
Distinct lisa placed the blue pencil flat on the paper
and it rolled to the edge of the, desk a
metal lip keeping it from hitting the. Floor her first
instinct was to go wake up her mother or Gran
she ignored it and, Listened hello, there the quiet voice.

(02:34:40):
Repeated lisa pushed slowly away from the desk and stood.
Up she leaned over the front of the desk and
peered through the. Window the fog was, back but she
could make out the street. Lamp just below the street
lamp right where she awaits the oil belching bus every,
day was a girl with very dark. Hair the strange

(02:35:02):
girl raised her right hand and began a slow moving.
Wave lisa smiled through the window and waved. Back she
used both hands to pull on the metal lip on
the front of her desk that kept her pencils from
hitting the. Floor with a little, effort the desk moved
a few inches away from the, window just enough For

(02:35:24):
lisa to step behind. It she opened the lock on
the window and raised it about a. Foot Hi lisa
said in a hoarse voice that was supposed to be
a loud. Whisper, Hello shannon said to the squinting. Girl
lisa was trying to see her clearly through the. Fog

(02:35:47):
what's your, Name lisa Asked. Shannon that's a good. NAME
i like that, Name. Shannon where's your, Mom lisa. Continued
she's not, Around shannon, said as she stepped through the
yard and looked up at the second story, window Giving
lisa a better. View CAN i come? IN i gotta

(02:36:12):
get my. MOM i can't open the door for. Strangers
i'll go get her. Now lisa quickly turned away from
the window and ran toward her bedroom. Door she turned
the knob Ha lisa, screamed what is the matter with, you young.
Lady it's almost three o'clock in the. Morning mollie was

(02:36:32):
coming to see what all the yelling was. About there's
a little girl out, There, gran she's outside and. Alone
we need to let her. In lisa pulled On molly's
hand to come to the. Window, okay, dear let me
get over. There molly crossed the room and Helped lisa
pull the desk out a little more so she could

(02:36:52):
view out the. WINDOW i don't see, Anyone, Lisa. Gran
she was right under my. Window her name Is. Shannon,
Shannon lisa hollered through the open. Window shush, it, child
you'll wake the. Neighborhood let's go to the front. Porch
lisa started to dart. Away lisa with. Me molly motioned

(02:37:13):
to her with her. Hands get back, here, Yes. Gran
lisa followed her grandmother down the, stairs creaking with every.
Step molly flipped the wall switch and the lights in
the living room came to. Life you stay right, There
molly Ordered lisa as she removed the black golf umbrella
from the coat rack beside the. Door her name Is.

(02:37:35):
Shannon she was right under my. Window, okay shush. It
molly glanced out the window before slowly opening the front.
Door she was greeted by a, slow cool breeze and
the haze of fog it cut through the screened in.
Porch hello out, there little, Girl, shannon you out. There

(02:37:58):
molly looked around and wished she had bothered to slip
on her bedroom shoes because the concrete was. Cold lisa
poked her head out the. Door, Gran is she out? There?
Shannon you? There lisa parroted her, grandmother and they were
both met with the sounds of rustling leaves and a
brief whistle of. Wind there's nobody out, here at least not.

(02:38:22):
Now molly pulled the flaps of her housecoat close together
and motioned For lisa to go back into the. House
lisa ignored the gesture and moved past her, grandmother opening
the screen. Door, lisa get your butt back in, Here
molly sternly, Shouted, shannon it's, okay it's just My. Graham
she'll help. You CAN i come? In the voice whispered

(02:38:46):
where Only lisa could. Hear, yes you can come. In lisa,
replied get in here. Now molly Had lisa by her,
wrist pulling her back toward the. DOOR i heard. Her
she's out, There. Gran molly tugged hard on her granddaughter's.
Wrist Ouch, gran, Okay i'm. Coming lisa backed into the,

(02:39:10):
house looking back towards the street with every. Step, lisa
go to. Bed the bust'll be here in a couple of.
Hours you need to get some kind of. Sleep molly
pointed the tip of the umbrella toward the. Stairs she was, There, Gran,
okay she was, there but now she's, Gone so go to.
Bed molly had grown tired of this argument and all

(02:39:33):
her patience was. Gone lisa sensed this and finally gave In,
okay gran good, night and thank you for. LOOKING i love.
YOU i love you, too. Sweetheart molly replied and walked
toward the kitchen to get a glass of. Water lisa
marched up the, steps wondering where the mystery girl disappeared.

(02:39:55):
To she walked through her open bedroom door and quickly
closed it as soon as she got. Inside she didn't
want anyone to. Hear Vampire shannon was sitting in the
corner Of lisa's, bed with her legs crossed and her
hair covering her black. Eyes index finger held to her
lips to indicate. Silence once the door was, closed she

(02:40:20):
lowered her hand and, Said, lisa please to meet. You
how did you get in? Here victor stood in the
center of the what passed for a living room in
the double, wide with a hand on each, temple nails
protruding digging into his cold, flesh producing a small trickle

(02:40:41):
of blood on each side of his. Face veronica and
her brood watched As victor whispered, Quietly, shannon it's time
to return your creator commands you to come. Back victor
relaxed his hands and waited by the trailer. Door the
first sign of an orange hue were beginning at the

(02:41:02):
base of the. Skyline dawn was upon, them and for
the first time, Ever shannon didn't respond To. Victor veronica
leaned close To, victor stuck out her pink, tongue and
licked a line straight up the right side of his
blood trailed, cheek stopping at his ear with a frosty,

(02:41:22):
smile and, WHISPERED i Guess shannon found something. Better victor
turned his head to meet her, gaze their noses almost.
Touching dawn is, Here, veronica we must sleep back. Here
he led the three of them to the sun blocked.
Bedroom veronica immediately took the bed and Invited victor to

(02:41:46):
lie beside. Her he took his position on the floor
While sandra And neil joined their. Queen she'll be back, Tonight.
Victor don't, Worry veronica. Reassured or maybe she, won't or
maybe she's really dead, now who, knows Said neil as
he looked down on the floor at the older. Vampire stop, It.

(02:42:08):
Neil sandra Grabbed neil from behind by both shoulders and
pulled him out Of victor's, sight which was just as.
Well neil was one more comment away from becoming goo
on the Mattress lisa's bedroom three hours earlier through the.

(02:42:29):
Window you left it open AND i jumped, Up shannon,
replied you can't jump that. High how did you really get?
In Did grahan leave the back door? Unlocked she does that,
sometimes Said. Lisa the only light in the room was
from the desk, lamp And shannon's hair sheltered her face
just enough to conceal her. Eyes, LISA i like, you

(02:42:54):
And i'm a little, hungry BUT i PROMISE i won't hurt.
YOU i can get you something to. Eat we have plenty.
DOWNSTAIRS i just have to be careful not to wake.
No shannon cut her off mid. SENTENCE i don't eat
what's in your. KITCHEN i eat a different kind of.
Food what do you, Eat lisa, asked, curiously still not

(02:43:17):
getting a clear view Of shannon's. Eyes let's talk about that.
Later tell me more about, You. LISA i want to
be your. Friend you're much nicer than the COMPANY i usually,
Keep shannon, said, purposely keeping her eyes. Obstructed, WELL i
live with gran AND i know you saw her just
a little while. Ago and my. Mom her Name's. Karen

(02:43:40):
my dad got killed a couple years ago in a car.
WRECK i remember, him BUT i don't if you can understand.
That lisa twirled her hair as she tried to get
a closer look At shannon's. FACE i can understand. THAT
i remember my, daddy BUT i don't remember him. Too
dad's gone. Too lisa crossed the room from her rolling

(02:44:03):
chair to the edge of the. Bed shannon just stared
down between her crossed. Legs, Yes, lisa my daddy's gone.
Too it was so long, ago but sometimes it doesn't
seem that long. Ago shannon lifted her head to Meet lisa's.
Gaze lisa reached forward with both hands and parted the

(02:44:25):
hair From shannon's. Eyes oh, My lisa reacted first to
the frigid white, skin then what looked like two black
marbles set against the whites of her. Eyes it's, Okay
please don't. SCREAM i just need a. FRIEND i don't
want to go back right, Now shannon, said her face remained.

(02:44:48):
EXPRESSIONLESS i, Won't lisa, Started are you a? Vampire i've
seen pictures in? Books are you like the ones ON. Tv,
YES i am a, Vampire, lisa and, No i'm not
anything like the pictures in your books or the ones ON.
TV i don't want to be a vampire any. MORE

(02:45:09):
i just want to go back to my time and
live a normal life your, Time lisa, asked positioning herself
on the bed right in front Of. Shannon they both
Sat indian, style facing each. OTHER i was born in
nineteen thirty. Nine have you ever Watched The wizard Of,
Oz shannon. Asked lisa nodded her head, yes And shannon, Continued,

(02:45:33):
well that was the year that movie came. OUT i
remember my mother talking about it over and over as a,
child and one DAY i got to see it with
her at The Nickel movie On Broad. Street it was.
Glorious the world was black and, White dorothy was taken
to a far away land and the world burst into full. Color, Well,

(02:45:54):
lisa my journey has been quite the. OPPOSITE i lived
in a world vibrant and full of color UNTIL i
became WHAT i am to. Day Now i'm living in
a world devoid of, color devoid of. Life what happened to, You?
SHANNON i want to? Know in mere, Minutes lisa's best

(02:46:18):
friend was a vampire Named, shannon and vice. Versa my
daddy was a. Laborer he worked jobs as they, came
and he worked. HARD i was an only, child which
was a blessing because of the hard times back. Then
daddy had taken a shot to his privates by a
mule one. Day he was hired to help one of

(02:46:40):
the farmers finish plowing for the, season And daddy wasn't
well versed in the finer arts of plowing a, field
from WHAT i Remember mom telling me WHEN i asked
WHY i was the only, one she said that he
was inflicting some kind of punishment on the poor, beast
and the beast exacted immediate and baby killing. Revenge that

(02:47:00):
was it for brothers and. SISTERS i was eleven years
old when my mom gave her permission to come. Inside
that was the day my parents died AND i was
Turned november, third nineteen fifty, ten forty two p. M

(02:47:22):
there was a loud pounding on the front, door And
Jelia crayton sat straight up in her. Bed shannon was
standing in the doorway to her, bedroom casting a giant
shadow against the. Wall, Mom i'm afraid some one's about
to knock the door. Down shannon was trembling in her
bare feet and. Nightgown but it wasn't from the cold. Air, Jeez, Louise,

(02:47:47):
shannon it's your. Father three sheets to the wind, again
And julia removed her robe from the bedpost and slipped
her arms into the, sleeves leaving the front. Loose his
are probably in his. Pocket come. On shannon followed her
mother out of the bedroom and down the. Hallway as
the banging. Continued angelia turned on the front porch light

(02:48:12):
and peeked out the. Window gerald was, there all. Right
he was hunched over with his WHITE t shirt untucked
from his unbuckled work. Pants his left arm was draped
over the neck of a white haired. Woman she was
rapping on the door with her left, hand her right
firmly Around gerald's. Hip, hello he says he lives. Here

(02:48:34):
the woman from the other side of the front door,
yelled And jelia stood in front of the door with
her hand on the brass. Knob don't open, it, mom
something's not. Right shannon stayed just in the shadow of the.
Hallway it's, okay, dear it's your. Father he's passed. Out
go on back to. Bed And julia smiled at her
daughter and nodded her. Head, miss he says he lives.

(02:48:59):
Here he was lying on the. Road are you going
to open the? Door And jelia did just. That gerald's
head was flopped straight, down so all she could see
at first glance was the top of his. Head CAN
i bring him? In Miss? Why of, Course angela. Answered
veronica immediately snapped her head, up Holding gerald up only

(02:49:22):
by her right. Arm she grabbed the top of his
hair sprayed mop and pulled his face and the front
of his blood soaked t shirt into. View the gash
in the front of his neck looked like a black,
hole and his face was devoid of, color devoid of.
Life he crumpled to the, ground And veronica pushed through the,
door Throwing angelia on the. Hardwood the back of her

(02:49:42):
head bounced off the. Maple angelia was, gurgling trying to
Call shannon's. Name blood was welling up in her, eyes
and she felt the tickle of white hair brush against her,
nose And jelia blinked rapidly as she felt the pull
on the back of her dark brown hair and the
arch in her neck as it was pushed. Up angelia

(02:50:04):
coughed up a little, blood and she could feel it
running down the corner of her, mouth immediately followed by
an ice cold sensation trailing it back up to her.
Lips veronica's tongue lapped the blood back up To angelia's
mouth and gave her a final cold, kiss And jelia

(02:50:24):
was on the edge of consciousness and she could make
out Little shannon's feet standing at the corner of the,
hallway just ten feet from the front. Door she was
frozen in. Fear shannon couldn't look, away, speak or scream
As veronica drained her mother right in front of. Her

(02:50:45):
when she was, done she turned to the trembling. Girl, hey.
Sweetie veronica's cranberry lips parted in a wide, grin revealing
her crimson covered. Fangs you don't want to be, next do?
You shannon shook her head quickly from side to. Side.
GOOD i got a proposition for. YOU i got SOMEBODY

(02:51:08):
i want you to. Meet he's a nice. Guy you'll like.
Him he used to have a daughter about your. Age you.
Interested out of, Fear shannon nodded her head up and.
Down Lisa victor's calling, ME i must go, Now shannon

(02:51:31):
rose from the bed and started to the. Window, no don't,
go it's almost. Daylight you won't make it in. Time
you can stay here UNTIL i get. Home lisa Grabbed
shannon by the hand and pulled her to the walking.
Closet there's a big blanket right there on the top.
Shelf lisa shoved shoes and boxes from the closet, floor

(02:51:55):
making room for her. GUEST i have to. Go, No,
shannon and you don't have. Time you can go. Tonight
just stay in here and be. Quiet don't Let graham
hear you get under. Here lisa held up the peach
color flower pattern full size blanket And shannon reluctantly curled
up on the. Floor lisa gently placed the flower pattern

(02:52:17):
blanket on top of her. Friend shannon whispered thank. You
lisa closed the. Door, lisa you awaken, There molly swung
the door. Open lisa was sitting on the edge of her,
bed fully dressed in blue, jeans a light BLUE t,
shirt and a pair of light pink. Nikes her hair

(02:52:39):
was combed out and her light brown eyes were. Fresh
you look all bright eyed and bushy tailed this. Morning
considering how late you were up last. Night did you
get up and drink a pot of. Coffee, No, GRAN
i don't. Know i'm just not, Tired lisa, answered with
a quick glance at her closet. Door it didn't go,
unnoticed But molly didn't let. On, well come, on, now

(02:53:01):
your mother's already downstairs and she's about done with her.
Toast come on so you can tell her By lisa
couldn't help. Herself she took one more glance at the
closet door before following her grandmother out of the, room
and again it didn't go. Unnoticed love, you. Mom lisa
stepped in front Of karen as she exited the, kitchen

(02:53:22):
laptop bag in. Hand hey, poodle you're up. Early karen
leaned in and Gave lisa a quick smooch on the.
Cheek i'll see you after, Work miss gifted and talented
that Guy karen a kiss on the cheek in. Return come, On,
lisa your eggs are, done and you don't eat cold scrambled.
Eggs molly scraped the fluffy yellow goodness onto a. Plate

(02:53:44):
in the, Background News channel six was beginning their early morning.

Speaker 2 (02:53:48):
Broadcast in early, news the body of a local homeless
man was found in Downtown, langley this morning by The
Langley Landfill. Service identification is pending notification of the next of.
Ken an early report from a confidential source in the
police department states the death is of a bizarre. Nature
News channel six will provide updates as more information becomes

(02:54:09):
available on this breaking. Story now on to today's.

Speaker 1 (02:54:12):
Weather i'll bet That's, Simon molly, Said you mean that
old guy that rides his rusty bike on the. Sidewalk lisa,
asked wondering if her new friend knew anything About simon's.
Demise the answer would be, yes she knew What neil had.
Done shannon was much more discreet in her victim's. Disposal

(02:54:34):
nobody ever found a trace of Poor. Freddy his would
go down as an unsolved missing person's. Case karen was
at work And lisa was on her way to. School
molly was In lisa's room with one hand on the
knob of the closet. Door something inside of her, Said,
molly don't turn that. Knob just go back downstairs and

(02:54:56):
get the breakfast dishes washed. Up then go Watch Judge.
Judy don't turn the. Knob it's, Nothing it's really, Nothing
molly said to. Herself she released the doorknob and did
an about face to Make lisa's. Bed molly started at the,
base tugging on the sunshine patterned bedspread so that she

(02:55:16):
could get to the bed sheets. Underneath there was a
large spot in the center of the. Bedspread it was
dark and, faded like something had pulled the color out
of it just by sitting on. It it certainly wasn't
the work of the washing, machine and there was an.
Odor molly leaned in close with her nose and it
was a sweet, smell with something rotten just. Underneath it

(02:55:40):
was pleasant and sickening at the same. Time my, god
what is that? Smell molly asked out loud as she
tugged at the bedspread with both hands until it lay
in a clump at the foot of the. Bed molly
pushed her hair up off her forehead with the palm
of her hand and stepped back to the closet. Door

(02:56:02):
need a new, blanket SO i got to open, it
she reasoned with the inner voice that had just talked
her out of turning the knob moments. Before this time
she turned the. Knob she immediately saw the peach colored
blanket covering something on the closet. Floor don't pick up that, Blanket, molly,
girl you ain't gonna like what you. See the inner voice.

(02:56:23):
Returned molly ignored it and lifted the blanket from the.
Floor shannon was lying there with her eyes, closed dreaming
the same dream as. Always molly released the blanket as
she gazed upon the sweet smell of. DEATH i know
what you, Are molly whispered and closed the closet. Door

(02:56:47):
shannon turned, over her nails extended in her. Sleep this
was her, dream this was her. PAST i have someone
to introduce. You tonica stepped into the master bedroom Holding shannon's. Hand,
veronica please don't tell me you killed that little girl's. Family,

(02:57:08):
please please don't tell me that's what you. Did victor
looked At shannon with a heartbroken. Gaze, Okay, VICTOR i
won't tell you THAT i killed her. FAMILY i just
found her. Outside isn't that, right. Sweetie shannon was still
firmly in fierce grip and would have shaken her head
yes If veronica had asked her if elephants were lavender

(02:57:30):
or if the moon was really a big rubber. Ball
Veronica victor slammed both hands on top of the oak
dresser sending splinters of wood flying as it buckled in the.
Center why, vagrants vagabonds and, animals that was what you agreed.
To victor wanted to fly across the room and rip

(02:57:51):
her throat, out but logic quickly set in before he
could act on that. Urge victor was old and, strong
But veronica was, older and she was the queen you
call for your little girl in your, Sleep. VICTOR i
thought you'd be HAPPY i got you a new. One
you are one ungrateful, Beast. Victor i'm still up for a.

(02:58:15):
Snack Guess i'll empty her. Too that registered With, shannon
and she tried to pull her hand From veronica's icy.
Grip veronica reached with her other hand and pulled hard
on the back Of shannon's long. Hair no, Please shannon
screamed as she finally found her. Voice victor sprang across the,

(02:58:36):
room Grabbing veronica by the top of her white, hair
pulling her face back away from the screaming. Prey. Victor
now we're getting, Somewhere veronica. Smiled the faint trails of
dried blood looked as if they were painted down the
corners of her. Lips veronica released her grip On. Shannon

(02:58:56):
there was no escape from the, room absolutely no way
she could make it to the. Door shannon's survival instinct kicked,
in and she scrambled on her hands and knees until
she was under the bigger than king sized. Bed the
bed was enormous and had almost three feet of clearance
underneath Well Victor veronica started as she Peeled victor's hand

(02:59:20):
from around her. Neck SHOULD i go under there and get?
Her or are you all three of us know she's
not leaving this room. ALIVE i hate, You. VERONICA i
hate you for doing this to me and to. Her
what did she do to deserve, This victor, asked knowing
the unfair, choice he was going to present the frightened.

(02:59:41):
Child blame her drunken. Daddy he was the one that
could barely walk. Home he presented the easy meal and
showed me where he lived to. BOOT i didn't even
know he had a. Child she was a. Bonus oh
AND i know you don't hate, Me. Victor veronica moved
toward the. Bed just, Stop you've done. Enough leave the.

(03:00:03):
Room you KNOW i can't let her just walk, out
so please. Leave victor rubbed the top of his bald.
Head he was dressed in an elegant black suit with
black leather shoes that were surprisingly quiet when he, stapped
as you, Wish, victor just call out if you need my.
Help veronica power walked out of the room with both

(03:00:26):
hands on her hips and glanced back over At victor
before she closed the. Door victor knelt down with his
hands draped over his. Knees. Hello first THING i want
to say Is i'm so sorry about your mom and.
DAD i know you're very frightened, child AND i WISH

(03:00:46):
i could truthfully say That i'm not going to hurt.
You BUT i can't say. THAT i know you Heard
veronica say, it But I'm. Victor what's your, name Dear?
SHANNON a whisper came from under the. Bed, SHANNON i

(03:01:06):
must ask you a, question but you must understand that either,
way you will not leave this room. Alive victor lightly
tapped the floor with his. Nails, MISTER i don't want to,
Die please don't kill. Me shannon's voice was breaking and

(03:01:27):
she cried as she. Spoke victor looked down at the,
floor so ashamed of What veronica had done and of
what he would have to, do but he was going
to Let shannon decide which way it was going to. Be,
shannon either, way you are going to die. Tonight but
you can rise up and become a vampire like myself And,

(03:01:50):
veronica or you can be put in the. GROUND i
know this isn't an easy. Choice if you decide to rise,
again you will have my. Protend if, not you may
or may not go to a better, place maybe a
place you heard about sitting in your church On, sunday
but you won't be of this. World you have to

(03:02:12):
tell me now Before veronica comes. Back If veronica comes,
back she'll make the decision for, you and she's not
as compassionate AS i. Am but you know that, already don't.
You shannon slowly crawled from her hiding place with tears
streaming down her. Face the tops of her knees were
skinned up from the, floor and her nightgown had pulled

(03:02:34):
free from her right. Shoulder the eleven year Old shannon,
SPOKE i don't want to be put in the. Ground
i'll stay with, you So i'll ask, You, shannon do
you want to be turned to? Vampire victor locked eyes
on to, Her, Yes shannon. Replied shannon spent the next

(03:03:00):
fifty plus years regretting this. Decision if it were hers
to make, again she would have a headstone right beside
her mother and, father and she would be in the.
Ground it was almost time for the bus And karen
had just pulled into the. Driveway mollie was sitting on

(03:03:20):
the front porch waiting for her. Daughter karen stepped out
of her old but paid for Burgundy Ford. Taurus her
dark brownish red hair was a little tussled and out of.
Sorts she had her laptop bag under one arm and
a huge stack of papers under the. Other mollie propped
open the screen door and held out a. Hand, Here,

(03:03:44):
karen give me that. Bag mollie grabbed the. Laptop, oh thank, you.
Mom karen brushed By mollie and the screen door clang
shut behind them. Both how was your, day, Dear molly, Asked,
oh it was fair To. MIDLAND i had double booked
a meeting with two clients this morning and had to
move one to the afternoon and had another in the

(03:04:06):
middle of the, day SO i didn't get to eat
the lunch you, packed SO i am, Starving karen, said
with a big. Smile the grin Took molly back to
when her daughter was a little, girl back when she
smiled at her that, way with her pretty brown eyes
all lit. Up the simple things still excite, her like
the prospect of mom's. Cooking, well, dear you are in

(03:04:28):
all kinds of luck, today because there's a fresh pot
of chili simmerin in the crockpot and an entire package
Of Oscar meyer hot dogs in the, refrigerator just waiting
to be thrown on the, Griddle molly. Said karen kissed
her on the cheek in. DELIGHT i Think i'll have
the chili minus the. Dogs do we have any? Saltines karen.

(03:04:49):
Asked her method of choice for consuming homemade chili was
to have crumbled up saltine crackers in the bottom of
the bowl before drowning them in the slightly sweet and
mi utterly spicy. Chili the secret to the sweetness was
That mollie used baked beans for the base of the
hot chili instead of your standard gray chili. Beans, Yes,

(03:05:11):
karen they're in the top left cabinet above the. Stove
why don't you go ahead and get your shower Before
lisa gets home and we can all sit down together for,
supper But i'm so, Hungry karen whined like she did
when she was a little, girl trying to Get milton
to Convince mollie to let her have an early. Taste
molly dipped into the pot with a tablespoon and rounded

(03:05:32):
her lips as she blew onto the spoonful of hot
chili before shoveling it Into karen's. Mouth they both heard
the hiss and squeal of the. Bus now go on
and get your. Shower we'll eat. Directly mollie made a
showing motion with her. Hand, yes, Ma'am karen. Said as
she turned toward the. Stairs there was the noise of

(03:05:52):
the screen, door a book bag hitting the, floor and
the familiar footsteps running by the kitchen for the. Stairs,
lisa wait a, minute young, Lady molly yelled out to her.
Granddaughter dang, It lisa mumbled under her breath as she
turned around and stepped into the. Kitchen we have something to,
discuss and we need to talk about it. Quickly your mother's,

(03:06:14):
upstairs AND i would rather not get her involved if
we don't have. To you know What i'm referring, to don't.
You molly's brown eyes were looking directly Into Lisa's there
was no point in trying to feign. Ignorance the jig
was up And lisa knew. It, yes, ma'am That's, shannon
The shannon we were looking for last. Night she just

(03:06:35):
needed a. Friend. Gran lisa finally broke the staring contest
with her. GRANDMOTHER i know what she, Is, lisa AND
i know there are others like her that'll be looking for.
Her i've had a run in with their kind. Before
as soon as it turns, DARK i want her out
of this. House do we understand each? OTHER i Understand,
gran but the people she's with aren't. Nice they're not,

(03:06:58):
people And i'm not nice, Either dear not when it
comes to protecting you and your. Mother i'll put a
piece of woodener right. Now is that what you? Want, No,
gran please don't do. That she'll leave when the sun goes.
DOWN i promise she. Will lisa's voice had a twinge
of panic in. It she could hear her mother walking
down the. Stairs the taste of the chili induced a

(03:07:19):
three minute. Shower, okay then not a word to your
mother and let's be done with. It six eighteen pm.
Sunset you gonna give it another Go, victor old, Boy neil,
asked with a hint of perverse, delight you would be

(03:07:42):
best served not to speak with me UNTIL i Find.
Shannon your mere presence is an, Irritant victor, said calmly
as he once again planted his nails into both sides
of his. Head, neil you better let it, Be veronica.
Started i've seen him ripped throats out of vampires, before
and on a couple of occasions it was almost. Me,

(03:08:05):
oh you'll heal, eventually but you won't be able to
eat until you, do and you know there's nothing like
that pain of, hunger So i'd advise you as politely
AS i can to shut the fuck. Up sandra Slapped
neil on his ass and grabbed him by the. Hand
let's get out of here before you start something that's

(03:08:25):
going to hurt us. Both neil tried to Give victor
an intimidating stare as he was led out of the,
room And veronica let out a. Giggle just, go, you young,
Fool veronica, said and perched back on the bed as
she Watched victor go through his. Incantations If shannon were,
near she would not be able to resist these, commands

(03:08:48):
she would have to come just outside the mobile. Home,
Sandra i'm going to stake him one of these. DAYS
i hate that. Guy neil pulled the fresh t shirt
over his. Head just don't antagonize. Him, Okay veronica can
kick his, ass but If veronica's not, around he can

(03:09:09):
hurt us pretty. Bad he might hurt us bad even
If veronica is. There sandra said, Calmly i'm not scared of.
Him neil defiantly, replied you should. Be you really should.
Be sandra Returned lisa's. Room, shannon it's time for you to.

(03:09:30):
Go lisa was teary eyed as she gazed into the
lifeless black eyes of her new. FRIEND i Know victor's
calling me right, now and it's taking all of my
focus to stay here for even another. Minute shannon held
out her hand And lisa grabbed. It it was a cold,
sensation and her black nails were sharply tipped but. Retracted

(03:09:56):
will you come? Back you're always welcome as long As
graham doesn't see. You lisa gave a little. Wink, NO
i don't THINK i shall, Return. LISA i want to
thank you for. Listening it's been a while since i've
talked to someone like, you like. That shannon relinquished the
hold On lisa's hand and pushed up the window sill

(03:10:18):
that she entered the night. Before she pounced up onto
the sill like a sneaky. Cat her MAROON t shirt
fluttered a little in the cold. Breeze it's, Freezing, Shannon
do you need a? Cup lisa stopped. HERSELF i guess you. Don't,
NO i GUESS i, Don't shannon replied with a, SMILE

(03:10:38):
a real smile at a real, GIRL a real smile
that was all hers to. Cherish it was a memory
in a mind overflowing with, them but a good memory
none the. Less the bad memories still had the most,
weight but this good one was now locked, in and it,
helped if only for a, Moment shannon remembered who she

(03:11:00):
used to be before she became this. Monster, Goodbye. Lisa
shannon flipped backward out of the, window her shirt fluttering
in the wind and jeans rubbing together as she brought
her legs above and around her head in a backward,
somersault with her white sneakers crunching the leaves underneath her
as she. Landed, Goodbye, Shannon lisa's eyes released the. Tears

(03:11:27):
shannon was at the edge of The frausto's lawn when
she heard a voice that she had rather not. Encountered,
shannon where you've, been you little? Vamp your butthole creator
is looking for, You neil, said smiling with fangs on.
Display i'm going to him. Now shannon glanced At neil
and then back at her. Feet were you in that?

(03:11:50):
House someone whispered from behind into her. Ear shannon turned
And sandra was there with an, evil threatening. Grin shannon,
lied So sandra started looking over At neil for. Approval
you MEAN i didn't see you do a nice three
sixty out that? Window you know the window that little

(03:12:13):
girl is staring out of right? Now you leave her,
Alone shannon. Screamed i'll Tell victor and he'll rip both
of your heads. OFF i swear he. Will Easy. Now
neil held out his right, hand extending and retracting his.
Nails we're not gonna hurt. Her who else is in?
There victor is calling AND i have to go to him.

(03:12:35):
Now shannon started her march back to the. Trailer neil
And sandra followed close behind the echo of their steps
rang In shannon's, ears and their conversation tormented. Her so
do you think we can turn the girl and have
her join our little Perverted adams, Family neil, STARTED i don't.

(03:12:56):
Know Maybe i'm wondering what sort of grocery are living
with the young. Lass sandra, Answered, OH i don't. Know
neil kept. Going they were both almost brushing Against shannon
as they followed so close. BEHIND i think we need
to go back and case it. Out shannon came to

(03:13:16):
a hard, stop her nails on both hands fully, extended
pivoted around quickly on her left, foot as if she
were doing an about. FACE a very important detail that
Both sandra And neil forgot was That shannon was older
and stronger than both of them. Combined they mistook her
size and her tendency to hide Behind victor for frailty and.

(03:13:40):
Weakness shannon's fangs dripped as she ripped across both of
their bellies in a crisscross. Pattern neil immediately howled in blinding.
Pain A sandra's fangs dug into her lower lip as
she placed her hand over the hole That shannon had just.
Made she stared at in amazement As shannon turned around

(03:14:02):
and continued her walk To. Victor you leave them, alone
Or i'll kill both of. You shannon disappeared down the.
Sidewalk When neil was certain she was out of, earshot
he chirped out an unenthusiastic fuck. You oh aren't you
the brave? One sandra said as she helped him to his. Feet,

(03:14:26):
Oh i'm not done. Yet neil smiled and turned back
toward The frausto home.

Speaker 2 (03:14:38):
The.

Speaker 1 (03:14:38):
Trailer victor was standing there with fists clenched at his,
side his fangs piercing his lower gums inside of his.
Lips his black dry fit shirt clung to his cold.
Skin it had the look of Lycra veronica's white hair
whisked in the light. Breeze she was dressed in her,

(03:14:58):
classic hip hugging black, mini wearing the same crimson lip
color that she always. Did they were both transfixed On
shannon's steady march toward. Them something was different in her.
Walk there was, Anger. SHANNON i take it you have
a good, Explanation victor. Began she stopped right in front of,

(03:15:20):
him slowly raising her stare to meet his. Eyes veronica
snickered behind, him And shannon's eyes darted to. Her what's,
wrong sweetie, cat got your? Tongue veronica licked her lips and,
Continued you didn't see my fruit bats out? There did?
YOU i saw? Them shannon, answered what is wrong with?

Speaker 2 (03:15:44):
You?

Speaker 1 (03:15:44):
Shannon did something? Happen victor placed both of his hands
on her. Shoulders, yes something, Happened shannon, said with her
eyes still trained On. Veronica, Well i'm having all sorts
of fun, guesses but why don't you just go ahead
and spit it. Out veronica's smile disappeared and turned just

(03:16:07):
like that into a wicked, sneer an all too familiar
sneer that used to Scare shannon and probably still SHOULD
i left them back. THERE i hurt, them but not too.
Bad shannon moved her eyes back To, victor and she
hesitated slightly before she, continued it didn't really matter Because

(03:16:28):
sandra And neil certainly weren't going to keep their traps
shut when they got back to The Queen. BEE i
met a little girl last, night that's WHERE i, Was.
Victor we talked all night AND i felt. Human, ha
you felt what did you? Say? Human? Really with your

(03:16:49):
fangs all out and dripping all over the. Place, Please
veronica burst into. Laughter shut, Up. Veronica victor raised a
hand over his head with A. Cla you heard me call?
You victor, ASKED i. Did shannon, returned don't do that,
again Said. VICTOR i. Won't shannon, replied enough of this.

(03:17:14):
Shit why did you hurt my? Babies veronica stormed Through,
victor shoving him to the, ground and dug her claws
Into shannon's. Shoulders shannon didn't flinch As veronica locked eyes with.
Her they threatened to kill, her AND i hurt. THEM
i told them if they hurt her or her, Kin
i'd kill. Them AND i meant WHAT i. Said veronica

(03:17:36):
felt a twinge of was it? Pride, well my Little?
SHANNON a fresh grin spread Across veronica's face as she
retracted her claws and Rubbed shannon's, arms painting them in.
Blood i've never seen this sight of. YOU i like.
It shannon stepped around the white haired vamp and Assisted

(03:17:57):
victor back to his. FEET A veronica blindside wasn't easy
to get up from. Quickly victor had been the victim
of his. Share, well you said you didn't hurt them
all that, bad so where are? They veronica? Started down the.
Sidewalk If shannon's heart had a, beat it would have
went into high gear with that. Question she had turned

(03:18:20):
her back on. Them she should never have turned her
back on. Them mollie was watching through the slightly cracked
bedroom door when the little black haired vampire back flipped
out Of lisa's. Window lisa was sobbing as soon as
she stepped. Inside sit, Down, LISA i gotta share something with.
You she grabbed her granddaughter by the hand and led

(03:18:43):
her to the, bed where they both took a. Seat
mollie kept a hold of her hand as she, CONTINUED
i know you liked that little, girl And i'm sure
she liked, you but she's not. HUMAN i, Know gran
she told me. THINGS i know she, did BUT i
need to tell you things. Now your mother's lying. Down

(03:19:05):
the late hours are catching up to, her so it's
just you and me right. Now there's something that your
mother doesn't. Know and because you met up with this,
GIRL i think you need to hear. This you're scaring.
Me Grand, good that's what it's meant to, do And
molly began her crystal clear recollection of. DEATH i was

(03:19:27):
thirty nine years old when we were blessed with the
birth of your. Mother back, then that was considered very
old to have a, child not like. Today Missus baker
had Little gerald last year and she was forty. Two
there's something that your mother never, knew and its knowledge
that died with Both milton and my parents years before
your mother was. Born you, SEE i got pregnant shortly

(03:19:51):
After milton AND i got. MARRIED i was barely seventeen
and we lived two towns. Over your grandfather was a
traveling salesman when we got, married not the bank manager
that you knew him as he traveled up and down the,
southeast selling anything from new fangled electronic toothbrushes To hoover vacuum.
Cleaners he had a catalog he sold, from and his

(03:20:13):
car was always loaded with demonstration. Models it was hard
work and it kept him from home a lot in
the beginning of our. Marriage Jason fitzgerald McBride was born
in the summer of nineteen hundred and fifty, seven and
by the end of winter in nineteen hundred and fifty,
seven my baby was. Gone it was dead of, night

(03:20:33):
AND i remember the wind howling like wolves at the,
moon and it was very. Cold oh so. COLD i
kept the woodburn and stove, going So jason AND i
made residence in the living area close to the warmth
of the. FIRE i recall everything about that night except the.
TIME i don't know what time it was when the scratching.
Started Little jason was wrapped securely in his basket right

(03:20:56):
beside the SOFA i was sleeping, on and we were
about five or six feet away from the. STOVE i
remember THAT i had my hand draped over the, side
and his little pink fingers were coiled around my index.
Finger the noises woke. Me it came from the tall
window in the living, room the sound of nails on.
Glass it was a god awful noise That i'll never.

(03:21:19):
FORGET i pulled my finger From jason's tiny grip and
stepped across the ice cold. Floor the scratching got louder
AS i approached the, curtains AND i could make out
the figure of a woman BEFORE i reached up to
pull the curtains. Apart she was standing there with her
dark eyes scratching at my, window smiling with just her red,
lips not showing as much as one. TOOTH i thought

(03:21:42):
she was lost and. Disoriented she was wearing a tight
black dress and a matching choker with some sort of
circled symbol hanging from its. Center jason started to whimper
a little AS i stared at the most beautiful Woman
i'd ever. SEEN i ignored. Him, NOW i think you
trying to warn me not to open the. Door there

(03:22:02):
was nobody around, her and she looked as young AS i,
was maybe. YOUNGER i couldn't leave her out, there AND
i opened the front. Door she was standing, there just
staring at, me just a couple of feet right in
front of, me AND i held out my hand to
her and asked her to come in from the. Cold,
then Dear, lisa my world went. Dark WHEN i, awoke

(03:22:28):
the front door was wide, open AND i could see
the vapor from the AIR i was. BREATHING i was
face down on the cold, floor staring up at the baby.
Basket then there was the blood trail that started a
few feet away from the. Basket there was some on
the back of my night. Shirt the vampire bitch had
stepped over me as she fed on Little, jason leaving

(03:22:51):
a trail behind her as she walked. Out to this,
DAY i don't know why she spared me and only
took my. Baby she had to Know milton wasn't at.
Home she must have been watching me for days leading
up to killing my. Baby of, COURSE i reported it
to the, authorities and with all of the, blood it
went from a missing person's case to a murder, case

(03:23:12):
to an unsolved cold case and a police file somewhere
collecting dust in a record's. Room milton AND i, Grieved
we buried our, child and it took UNTIL i was
thirty eight years old to gain the courage to have.
Another i'll never forget the face of that, beautiful white haired. Woman, Now,

(03:23:33):
lisa you know something that nobody else, knows not even your.
Mother it's our. Secret my first instinct was to kill
that little creature in your, closet AND i probably should.
Have if she comes, back there is no doubt THAT i.
WILL i hope you now understand. Why Grand i'm so.

(03:23:56):
Sorry i'm so. Sorry lisa Hugged molly type around her,
neck hot tears rolling down her. Cheeks you should tell
mom she had a. BROTHER i can't tell, Her. LISA
i only told you because of the visitor you, Had
BUT i can't tell. Her after all this, time you
can tell her After i'm. Gone molly Stroked lisa's auburn.

(03:24:19):
HAIR i don't want you to, Go, GRAN i love
you more than. Anything lisa released her hug and Kissed
molly on the. Cheek we all have to go, sometime,
Dear molly. Replied the door To lisa's room creaked. Open
well isn't that, Precious neil, asked while Pulling karen by

(03:24:41):
the back of her hair and pushing her in front
of him into the. Bedroom Mom lisa, shouted it's so, Precious.
Neil sandra replied and held up her right hand to
give an extended claw finger wave To. Lisa let her,
go Said, Molly oh, no not, yet old. Lady playtime

(03:25:02):
has just, Started neil, replied with his fangs on. Display
with blinding, Speed shannon Passed veronica on the, street just
off the left edge of the. Sidewalk the stars were
out and the moon was. Full there would be no
fog on this. Night i'm right behind, you, Sweetie veronica,

(03:25:25):
said as she picked up her. Pace victor followed closely behind.
Them shannon had one. Purpose she didn't care About veronica
Or victor in that. Moment all she cared about was
getting back To. Lisa her listless hair lay flat down
the back of her neck as she pushed hard to get,
there to get to that lawn and back into that,

(03:25:47):
house inside the frousto. HOME i, said let her, Go
molly calmly repeated, herself AND i, said, no you will
wait a. MINUTE i, Said, bat get. IT i, said
you old, Bat neil, said as he looked down Into

(03:26:08):
karen's brown. Eyes, look just take. Me karen rasped out the.
Words the sharp pain Of neil's claws had now turned
into a throbbing. Numbness just moments, before While molly And
lisa were having their special, Talk karen was in the
kitchen getting a glass of water when she saw the
injured kid hunched over on the steps of the screened in.

(03:26:30):
Porch his shirt was ripped in the center and soaked dark.
Red without, hesitation she let the kid and his girlfriend
into the. House as soon as she, did black claws
were pushing into the front of her throat enough to draw.
Blood karen's head was snapped, back and she was led
upstairs by another set of claws digging into her. Back

(03:26:51):
on the front of her, nightgown a black trail formed
from the blood running down her neck and under the,
fabric there was another black trail that soaked lower, back
some of it finding its way through the back of her.
Panties let's just go, Okay i'll go wherever you. WANT
i won't. Scream just leave them. Alone karen tried her
best to, negotiate but she had nothing to barter. With,

(03:27:15):
no Said, molly without a hint of. Fear you're not
taking another one from, me another. One she's got that
old timer's. Disease she doesn't know what she's. Saying sandra
giggled like a. Psychodemon oh fuck. This neil jerked hard
On karen's, neck and his stomach turning crack filled the.

(03:27:37):
Air he sunk his fangs into the front of her. Neckline,
No molly's seventy three year old body moved like a
woman half her. Age she Released lisa's hand and sprang
like a coiled rattlesnake from the edge of the, bed
plowing herself into the front of her, daughter knocking her
and kneel to the. Ground karen was limp when she
hit the, floor blood spurting from her carotid art or

(03:28:00):
in rhythm with the beat of her slowing, heart a
disturbing gurgling noise emanating from her slashed. Throat blood filled her.
Mouth Mom, oh my, god. Mom. No lisa scrambled on
her hands and, knees grabbing a shirt she had thrown
on the floor not more than an hour. Before lisa
pressed the shirt on top of the blood. Fountain karen

(03:28:23):
was speaking To lisa with her eyes because her mouth
no longer. Worked they, said it's, okay. Sweetie we'll all
be with your daddy. Soon we'll See grandpa And gran'll be.
There we'll all be together. Again it'll all be. Okay, No,
mom please. Don't lisa didn't get the last word out

(03:28:46):
before she was sent flying through the. Air her back
slammed hard against the closet, door splintering the, top caving
it in. Slightly lisa hit the floor with almost as
much Force sandra planted her fangs Into Karen fine her
trip to. Darkness mollie was pushing herself off Of, neil
trying to reach her. Daughter, No, karen my, Baby, karen

(03:29:10):
not like your. Brother blood Covered molly's face and the
top half of her favorite night. Shirt it was a
gift From lisa On molly's last. Birthday it was her favorite,
color pastel. Green neil was slow to get up because
of the still fresh gash in his mid. Section courtesy Of,
Shannon sandra's right hand covered her own stomach as her

(03:29:31):
face buried In karen's. Neck molly was on her feet
and the right one was surely. Broken she could feel
the pain of a million, needles and her ankle was
swelling very, rapidly but she walked on. It mollie grimaced
as she held out her blood soaked, hands reaching for
the back Of sandra's sandy blonde hair with the clothes
of a. Fist she had clenched one handful of, hair

(03:29:54):
But sandra kept. Going she was lost in her. Appetite
neil struggled to his. Feet as he, rose he slipped
on the large pool of blood and stumbled clumsily, forward Grabbing,
molly sending them both crashing back to the. Floor mollie
ripped out a chunk of hair on her way, down
But sandra didn't flinch as she was ravenously devouring the

(03:30:16):
rest Of karen's. Lifeblood molly was face down And neil
clawed up on and straddled her. Back molly was in
excruciating pain When neil leaned in close to her right,
Ear i'm gonna turn your, granddaughter you old. Bitch she's
gonna be one of. Us then he sank his fangs

(03:30:36):
deep into the back of her. Neck shannon was the
first to the, home and she barreled through the screen
door and flung the front door wide. Open her invitation
was standing so she could enter without. Delay she moved
with the speed of a, cobra tearing up the, stairs
hesitating for just a millisecond in front Of lisa's door

(03:30:57):
before sending it flying back into the little Girl's lisa
was lying still on the floor in front of the,
closet And sandra And neil were both furiously. Feeding shannon
moved with a deadly. Elegance it was so, fast but
to her it was all in slow. Motion she almost
glided to the right side of the. Room the pink

(03:31:18):
cup was still sitting right there on the top Of lisa's,
desk with freshly sharpened wooden colored pencils poking out of the.
Top shannon's mouth was wide open as she, moved and the,
thick cold saliva dripped heavy like a leaky. Faucet she
was getting worked up into her own frenzy as she
pulled four sharpened pencils from the, cup a red, one

(03:31:40):
a blue, one a black, one and a green. One
shannon gripped two in each hand and leaped high into the.
Air As sandra Dropped karen's, cold dead body onto the,
floor it was too late for. Her when she turned
toward the determined little. Vampire shannon let out a cry
as she came down. Hard the sharpened tips of the

(03:32:02):
red and blue pencils pierced just Below sandra's left, breast
and with the speed of a, Bullet shannon pressed them
all the way in with her right. Palm oh, no
Were sandra's last. Words she began to shake. Violently her
body was trembling all, over and blood filled her eyes
before they, burst sending a crimson spray all over the.

(03:32:24):
Walls sandra's chest sunk in and the skin on her
body started to. Boil after a few, seconds it, settled
and there was nothing but a pile Of sandra's clothes
and an ivory bracelet lying in a nasty black soup
on the. Floor shannon was focused and didn't spend another
thought on the dead. Vampire sandra had barely gotten the

(03:32:46):
words oh no out When shannon Hit neil with the
black and green sharpened pencils just under his left shoulder.
Blade neil pulled up From molly and arched his back
in pain as he screamed to the, sky ah, no,
oh you. Can't neil collapsed and flailed about for a
couple of seconds before he was boiled. Away the scream

(03:33:09):
came from Outside, SHANNON.

Speaker 2 (03:33:11):
I know what you.

Speaker 1 (03:33:12):
Did you killed my. Babies veronica was. Furious victor was
standing just behind, her but neither one of them could
come in because they weren't. Invited lisa still wasn't moving
And molly was bleeding. Out molly, whispered they can come,
In they can come. In, No shannon, began but it

(03:33:37):
was too. Late veronica was immediately in the, room With
victor right. Behind shannon was already in front Of, lisa
standing over. Her oh you little blood sucking. Bitch i'm
going to kill that little. Girl you don't know what you.
Did veronica's claws were completely extended and she started Towards.
Shannon the bulrush wasn't going to work Because shannon was

(03:34:00):
planted and prepared stop At veronica right. Now victor Grabbed
veronica by the back of her left. Hand veronica came
back across with her right and left four razor sharp
lines across his right. Cheek she followed that up with
a hard kick to the groin that doubled him. Over
shannon reacted While veronica was, occupied and dropped to her

(03:34:21):
knees and raked her own claws across the back Of
veronica's left calf. Ah veronica screamed, out and with quickness
faster Than shannon Or victor had ever, Witnessed veronica had
her talons buried into the front Of shannon's. Throat she
Rose shannon up off her feet and into the air
with her hands flailing and. Clawing her feet were kicking.

(03:34:43):
Violently veronica quickly Pulled shannon nose to nose and said nighty,
night before launching her back across the room through the
window that she had flipped out of earlier that. Evening
there was the splintering of wood and the shattering of,
glass followed by a f blood of cold air entering the.
Room victor was still writhing on the, floor only beginning

(03:35:05):
to recover When veronica was on top of the little Unconscious.
Lisa veronica was briefly taken with her auburn colored hair
and fair. Skin YOU i know. You mollie was. Standing
blood was pouring out of the back of her, neck
and her legs were shaking, severely threatening to buckle at any,

(03:35:26):
moment but she was. Standing veronica slowly, turned gazed back
At molly and, REPLIED i know you. Too your appearance
has changed quite a, bit BUT i remember. YOU i
watched you in that tender morsel for a good week
BEFORE i scratched at your. Window veronica's attention was turned

(03:35:47):
from Little lisa to the old lady staring her. Down
his name Was, jason my baby that you. Killed his
name Was. Jason molly began to. Cry her legs continued to,
tremble but her hands were steady behind her back as
she held the black and green pencils she lifted from the.
Floor veronica stood, up now fully engaged with the Weakening.

(03:36:12):
Molly she took a brief glance out of the crater
in the wall that used to be a window and
Saw shannon lying crumpled in a heap under the street
light of the bus. Stop she could Hear victor shuffling
on the, floor but didn't look. Back, Okay Jason, Mason
no girl's he'll be Chasin who gives a? Fuck veronica

(03:36:33):
walked Through sandra's puddled mess and stopped in front Of.
Molly victor was up and slowly walking toward the. Women
he made it just around the corner of the bed
when he bent down and scraped something from the. Floor
what are you doing back, There, Victor veronica, asked keeping
her eyes fixed On. Molly i'm getting the, Girl victor.

(03:36:54):
Said molly saw what was happening Behind veronica and, whispered
please just finish, it make it quick for me and my.
Granddaughter victor slowly stepped toward. Them molly leaned in And
veronica pulled her close around her. Waist they were locked
in a deadly, embrace And veronica opened up two new.
Holes these were in the front Of molly's neck and

(03:37:16):
she had hit the main. Pipeline molly returned the embrace
with the blue and black pencils gripped in her right.
Hand veronica was in her frenzy And victor was right behind.
Her the life was Leaving molly's eyes and both of
her hands began to. Tremble she let go of the
pencils and they hit the, floor stuck in the. Blood

(03:37:37):
veronica's eyes widened And molly's eyes. Closed When veronica felt the,
quick sharp pain pushed through the back of her skin
tight black, dress they both fell to the floor. Together
victor was holding one end of the broken corner of
the window. Sill the, other, sharp jagged end was buried

(03:37:57):
deeply Into. Veronica he felt the slightest twinge of guilt
as he let go of the other. End veronica slumped
to the floor on her, back with her face, up
looking At. Victor you killed, Me, Victor now you're getting.
Somewhere veronica smiled one last time as her skin began to,

(03:38:21):
boil and just Like neil And, sandra she was a
pile of black. Goo, Goodbye. Veronica victor quickly turned his
attention To. Molly she was just hanging on to. Consciousness
victor was on his knees and he looked Into molly's.
Eyes i'm very sorry for what happened. Here do you

(03:38:44):
want me to end this for you right? Now molly
shook her head and gave a tired. Whisper, No, LISA
i can't Leave. Lisa victor felt her eyes upon. Him
lisa was now standing and Watching victor hover over her.
GRANDMOTHER i can turn her AND i can protect, Her victor, Offered,

(03:39:08):
no you can turn me AND i can protect. Her
molly returned her vision was coming and going. Soon it
was going to be like turning off an old picture.
Tube everything was turning, black and she was almost to
the point where the tiny little light was going to
finally go black the way they did in old. TELEVISIONS

(03:39:30):
i don't. KNOW i think it's too, late Said. Victor
shannon's voice, answered it's not too. Late turn, Her, Victor
lisa's mother is. Dead turn her. Now victor turned his
sight upon the black haired death, angel and if he was,
capable he would have. Cried leave the, room Said. Victor

(03:39:52):
shannon Grabbed lisa by the hand and they walked out.
Together your name Is molly mc. Bride my, Creator veronica
killed both of your, children and in, TURN i killed. Her,
molly is it your desire to be? Turned victor stroked
her gray hair as he asked the. Question, yes then

(03:40:17):
keep your eyes. Closed he will die and will rise
again at. NIGHTFALL i will not be. Here take care
of both of. Them, molly you have lost so, much
AND i shoulder a good share of that. Blame victor
gashed his own wrist and dripped his blood Into molly's.
Mouth she accepted his, gift And victor turned. Her victor

(03:40:45):
had cleaned up the mess on the front, lawn secured
a king sized blanket over the enormous hole in the
wall In lisa's, bedroom throwing the splintered wood and glass
out onto the. Lawn before doing, So lisa sat in
the kitchen staring at the clock on the. Oven it
flashed four o EIGHT. A. M shannon Helped victor. Clean

(03:41:07):
they were experts in the art of cleaning up crime,
scenes although none were quite this. Large the rooms were,
spotless organized and smelled of pine. Cleaner karen was cleaned
and wrapped in a. Bedspread there couldn't be. Questions When
victor was no longer. There he had to tie up
the loose ends as best he. Could he stepped into the,

(03:41:27):
kitchen Cradling karen's lifeless. Body. Child lisa turned her, head
her light brown eyes filled with anger and. Sorrow your
grandmother is going to rise, tonight and when she, does
you'll need to help. Her if those in authority come
around asking questions that you can't, answer she can and

(03:41:48):
will be taken. Away do you. Understand shannon held out
her hand And lisa took it as she, Answered, VICTOR
i understand THAT i hate. YOU i hate, YOU i hate.
You put my mom, down put her, down put hurt.
Down lisa sobbed. Uncontrollably shannon pulled her close and motioned

(03:42:11):
For victor to leave the. Room victor walked out of
the front, door still Holding. Karen he walked and, walked
with the moon shining so. Bright he walked until he
was deep in a wooded area just outside the edge of.
Town there was a line of flat planks nailed together
lying atop the soft soil leaves that almost covered the top.

(03:42:34):
Entirely victor carefully Lay karen on the ground and lifted
the corner of the. Planks he pushed them along about
seven or eight feet before he rested them back on the.
Ground he tapped his foot on the top of the
mound of soft, dirt and with his hands he. Dug
victor dug quickly until he finally felt a, hand then

(03:42:56):
a torso and. Legs he widened out the area Around
Freddie roger's corpse and returned To. Karen he gingerly lifted
her body and eased her into position Beside. Freddie he
Draped karen's still limber arm Around freddie's stiff. Waist they were,
strangers buried together in a spoon. Position karen And freddie's

(03:43:19):
final thoughts were in essence the, same both thinking Of
lisa And molly's well. Being karen would first be a missing, person,
then Like, freddie another cold case file in a records room.
Somewhere shannon was on the porch awaiting him when he. Returned,

(03:43:44):
victor she's upstairs with her. GRANDMA i made her. Understand
she has to stay with us. Now, No, shannon not.
Us you have to stay with. Them victor eased himself
into the rocking. Chair, victor you can't leave. ME i
have to follow. You you you made. Me shannon was

(03:44:08):
in a. Panic oh it's true THAT i turned you
into what you are, now BUT i didn't make. You
somewhere in, you you maintained your. Humanity TONIGHT i found mine.
Again i'm going to sit right here and see the
first Sunrise i've seen in over two hundred. Years victor

(03:44:29):
smiled and rocked steadily in the. Chair But, VICTOR i,
Can't shannon, Began oh you, Can, shannon my dear, child you,
can and you. Will you have to show them you're the.
Oldest mollie will certainly sit on this porch one day
and do What i'm. Doing she's doing this out of

(03:44:51):
the love of her. Grandchild there is an education In lisa's,
future a marriage. Children Once molly is finished raising, her
she'll be right here in this, chair and who, knows
you may be sitting right beside, her holding her, hand
watching the. Sunrise i've never told you, This, shannon BUT

(03:45:17):
i love. YOU i love you As i've loved my own.
Daughter you've made this old vampire very. Proud now go
upstairs and tend to. Them without saying another, Word shannon
put her arms Around victor's neck and hugged him. Tightly

(03:45:41):
the screen door closed behind. Her victor rocked until, dawn
blood and snow By Rob fields prolog, Perspective Veronica GRANDE

(03:46:08):
i managed to escape From Ridgeway heights and was feeling
relief at having escaped the. KILLER i kept replaying the
events in my head that had happened prior to escaping
From Grande, estate my new, HOME i REMEMBERED i had
finished having sex with my boyfriend before the shit went.

(03:46:30):
DOWN i had to hide him quickly before throwing my
few scraps of clothes on and making my. Escape even
in my present, SITUATION i was still amazed HOW, i
of all, people had Inherited Oliver grande's entire. Fortune remembering
even further, BACK i recalled how my mother had raised

(03:46:52):
me since giving. Birth mom was a maid who worked
hard to keep a roof over our heads and food
on the. Table WHEN i was finally old enough to work,
MYSELF i went out and got an after school job
to help contribute to paying our. Bills and, then on
that one fateful day it was a fairy tale that just.

(03:47:14):
HAPPENED i answered the door to see two middle aged
men wearing what appeared to be expensive. Suits my, mother
whose Name Isabella, sableson was scared that these men were
there to kill both of. Us those fears were quickly
put to rest when one of the men Gave mom
the Big manila. Envelope as she read the, contents the

(03:47:36):
men explained they were lawyers on retainer From Oliver. Grande
one of the richest men in the. Country i'd say
his wealth and power was quite comparable to The mirons
who live over In. Strickfield on that, DAY i learned
That Oliver grande And mom had had an affair when

(03:47:57):
she worked for him as a maid At Grande. Estate
When abella Told oliver that she was pregnant with his,
child the two of them had a huge fight that
ended with her leaving the. Mansion, Devastated mom was left
on her own to raise the child growing within her.
Womb the lawyers explained to us That oliver had come

(03:48:19):
to regret ever Sending abella. Away he had desired her
and wanted to marry, her but he had let the
mantle of prestige get the better of, him so much
so that he could never see what he truly had With.
Mom the gasp and the bewildered look On mom's face
only confirmed what the lawyers told her and what was

(03:48:42):
on the. Papers Oliver grande had passed away and left
his entire fortune to. Me for, YEARS i KNEW i
Was Veronica, grande BUT i never knew the real reason
why my last name was different From. Mom's the men
explained That oliver my father left his entire fortune to,

(03:49:03):
me to atone for the great wrong he had done
in Sending mom away all those years, ago and for
not being a father to me. HIMSELF i couldn't believe
it myself When mom let me read the. Documents to be,
HONEST i was used to my lot in. LIFE i
wasn't the most popular girl At Ridgewood Heights South High,

(03:49:24):
school BUT i had a nice circle of. Friends me
And mom were just getting, by but at least we
had each. Other it still hasn't sunk in yet THAT
i was now wealthy beyond my wildest. Dreams no sooner
Had mom AND i moved Into grande, ESTATE i would
quickly learn that there were Other grande family members who

(03:49:46):
FELT i had absolutely no right to any of my
father's fortune. Whatsoever there was no way to contest the. Will,
However the envelope also contained a copy of A dna
test that was taken on. Me unbeknownst to Either mom or.
Me the test proved THAT i, was in Fact Oliver

(03:50:06):
grande's biological daughter and his youngest. Child now the entire
fortune was mine and mine. Alone of, COURSE i was
going to share it With. MOM i, mean why WOULDN'T.
I i hadn't even been living In Grande estate a
full week when someone dressed in all black kicked in
my bedroom. DOOR i had only managed to put on

(03:50:27):
shorts and A t shirt before the killer started shooting at.
ME i managed to. Duck THEN i shoved the killer
down and. FLED i screamed For, mom BUT i was
never able to find. Her AS i dodged gunshot after,
GUNSHOT i REALIZED i had no other choice but to
Flee Grande. ESTATE i did feel comfort in knowing that

(03:50:48):
the killer hadn't found my. Boyfriend at the same, TIME
i was very worried About. MOM i ran to the
garage and grabbed a key fob to one of the new. Vehicles,
THERE i found the correct car by pressing the horn.
Button AS i got into the, CAR i just missed
getting shot in the. HEAD i managed to make it
out of the garage and out onto the. Road it

(03:51:10):
wasn't long before another vehicle was pursuing. ME i was
panicking SINCE i never drove an advanced sports car. Before
EVENTUALLY i calmed down and told myself to drive it
like a normal. Car fortunately for, me the sports car
had an automatic. Transmission, EVENTUALLY i lost my pursuer and

(03:51:30):
continued to speed down the. Road AS i was trying
to determine who could possibly want to kill, ME i
saw it was starting to. Snow nothing to worry about
at the. Moment AS i kept driving faster and, faster
the snow started to blow and come down. Hard THEN
i REMEMBERED i was getting closer to The strickfield, area

(03:51:53):
and remembered hearing how that village almost always seemed to
be the one place where winter liked to settle. Down
every year they got hit with a blizzard or, two maybe.
MORE i started to FEEL i was sliding a little
and saw the roads had quickly become. WHITE i couldn't
believe how fast winter could truly happen Around strickfield or

(03:52:15):
in much Of Feltner. COUNTY i really didn't want to
have to slow. Down IF i, DID i knew it
would only be a matter of time before the killer
would catch up to me. Again WHEN i started to slide,
AGAIN i KNEW i had no choice but to slow.
DOWN i turned on to a main highway and crossed
Into Feldner. COUNTY i could hear the gusting winds AS

(03:52:36):
i continued to struggle to stay on the. ROAD i
even had the windshield wipers going fast and the defroster on.
FULL i gasped and felt my heart sink WHEN i
saw familiar headlights behind me and knew that the killer
had finally caught up with. Me even Though i'd turned,

(03:52:56):
OFF i could see the vehicle chasing me was the
HUMMER i passed in the garage on the way to this.
Car that hummer could easily handle the snowy. Conditions my
sports car. COULDN'T i shrieked when the hummer rear ended.
Me leave me, ALONE i yelled over my. Shoulder the

(03:53:17):
hummer rear ended me. AGAIN i cried out and felt
my heart Pounding when the car started to. SLIDE i
fought to maintain control and straighten the. Car REALIZING i
could either let the hummer keep striking me or take
a chance with the speed of my, VEHICLE i slammed
the accelerator. Down no sooner WAS i leaving The hummer.

(03:53:38):
BEHIND i started to spin. Fast this TIME i had
no way of controlling the. VEHICLE i continued to spin
UNTIL i finally went off the. Road the car slid
down a small hill until the driver's side slammed into a.
Tree the engine died almost. Immediately Oh, jesus, please, NO i.

(03:54:00):
Groaned it was then WHEN i looked and saw the
hummer's lights out the passenger. Side. NO i quickly moved
to the passenger side door and started to push it.
Open the winds were making it harder for me to
push open enough just to get. Outside WHEN i finally,
did the door slam shut hard and. FAST i shrieked

(03:54:21):
when the windshield glass suddenly, shattered and knew the killer
had fired a gun at. ME i screamed again AS
i ran into the. Woods as fast AS i was,
RUNNING i could feel how freezing cold it really. WAS
i never had the time to put on anything suitable
for this raging. BLIZZARD i managed to snag a, jacket

(03:54:43):
but it was only made for. AUTUMN i KNEW i
had to keep going in spite of the freezing temperatures
and how damp and numb my bare feet. WERE i
shrieked again when the bullet narrowly missed me and hit
a tree AS i. Passed forced myself to keep, running
but KNEW i couldn't run for much. Longer the frigid

(03:55:05):
cold was really starting to get to. ME i knew
it would only be a matter of time Before i'd
likely drop. Over AS i came to a small, CREEK
i groaned and KNEW i didn't have a. CHOICE i
cried out at the frigidness of the water on my bare.
FEET i managed to make it to the other, side
only to feel the immediate heat of the bullet that

(03:55:28):
had hit me in the back of my right. SHOULDER
i screamed and fell on to my. Side the pain
hurt so much THAT i began to. CRY i could
already feel the tears freezing on my. Face just the,
SAME i forced myself to get back on my feet
and keep moving to preserve my. LIFE i could feel

(03:55:49):
my blood pouring out from my. WOUND i was also
feeling quite. Soaked. Now the snow and winds continued to
blast me in spite of the FACT i was in a.
FOREST i groaned at my injury and how bitterly cold
my feet. WERE i was wondering if they were frostbitten by,
now even in the, DARKNESS i could see they were

(03:56:11):
still flesh. Colored but for how much? LONGER i KNEW
i couldn't stay out. HERE i had to keep running
and find. Shelter THEN i heard the gun shot and
felt the searing pain in my lower left. Back, AGAIN
i staggered and. Fell my blood was making the gathering

(03:56:35):
snow around me. Red AS i forced myself to get,
UP i took one more gun shot on my right.
SIDE i screamed my loudest WHEN i felt the bullet
had gone into my. STOMACH i knew NOW i was
as good as. Dead how far WAS i from the nearest,
Town how far Was? Strickfield for that, Matter even IF

(03:56:57):
i could get to a house and call for, HELP
i knew no emergency services would reach me in, time
especially with a blizzard going. On, STILL i wasn't going
to make things easy for the. KILLER i forced myself
to get back to my feet and keep. Running just, Die,
Veronica the killer yelled behind. Me you have no right

(03:57:18):
to any Of oliver's, money no. Right the mask the
killer was wearing was muffling the. VOICE i called on
every last ounce of STRENGTH i had left and sprinted
through the. WOODS i dodged one more bullet AS i kept.
Running for a brief, MOMENT i could actually feel my
body heat warming Me AS i kept running and. Running

(03:57:40):
after several, minutes fatigue and blood loss were finally catching
up to. ME i moved and hid behind a big.
TREE i could see the shape of the, killer BUT
i couldn't tell if it was a man or a.
WOMAN i knew there would be no way to determine
the killer's identity BEFORE i would finally, die and that

(03:58:00):
was if the killer would catch me and actually give
me the satisfaction of unmasking before shooting me for the final.
TIME i remained WHERE i was and continued to hope
the killer wouldn't find. Me it was then WHEN i
looked and saw the big river, there and it showed
no signs of. FREEZING i wasn't sure IF i was delusional,

(03:58:24):
now BUT i could swear there was a, faint reddish
green glow coming from the water. Itself funny thing the
water was actually warming. Me THEN i shook my head
and knew this couldn't be. Possible my pain now became
too much for, me AND i began to cry. AGAIN

(03:58:47):
i was mortally, wounded improbably to the point WHERE i
was about to finish bleeding. OUT i cried more WHEN
i KNEW i was being hunted like an animal and for.
Money ALL i ever wanted was a better life for
me And. Mom and then when we finally got, IT
i lowered myself and sat against my big. Tree IF

(03:59:09):
i was going to, DIE i would die with the
warmth of this water beside. Me and THEN i felt
my eyes rolling up into my skull AS i finally,
died or SO i. THOUGHT i wasn't sure how LONG

(03:59:29):
i was, dead BUT i would later determine that a
huge gust of wind had blown my body right into
that warm. RIVER i THINK i may have floated out
into the seemingly glowing yet murky waters BEFORE i finally
sank below the surface and remained motionless for several. Minutes,

(03:59:49):
unfortunately neither the killer NOR i had any knowledge of
this part Of Feldner. County maybe if we'd, known we
might have made it a point to avoid this very
air that came to be known as the backwoods Of.
Strickfield Most, unfortunately neither of us knew of the horrors
that awaited us in, here and there was certainly no

(04:00:13):
way of knowing that years, ago toxic waste had emptied
from a corroded barrel that was dropped here and had
rolled into this very. River the toxic waste had mixed
with the water and contaminated it to a point where
those who lived in the backwoods here never went anywhere
near it for any. Reason as the, warm murky bath

(04:00:38):
continued to soak my body for several, minutes who would
know for sure exactly what kind of mutations would come
as a. Result and THEN i finally felt myself starting to.
Twitch then again and, AGAIN i opened my eyes and

(04:00:59):
felt the water warm embrace all around. ME i soon
lifted my arms and felt my hand break the. SURFACE
i made a tight fist and knew something had. HAPPENED
i knew somehow.

Speaker 2 (04:01:14):
THAT i was.

Speaker 1 (04:01:15):
Changed WHEN i emerged from the waters that became my.
COCOON i knew it was time to get revenge on
the fucker who murdered. Me the killer growled and roared in.
Frustration how COULD i have possibly gotten? Away? RIGHT i,
mean the killer Knew i'd taken three lethal shots from

(04:01:39):
the high powered rifle. Used the killer had seen plenty
of my blood and KNEW i was seriously, Hurt YET
i managed to get. Away the blizzard continued its raging,
fury even though the killer was warmly. DRESSED i could
only guess there was no returning To Ridgeway heights until

(04:01:59):
there was a hundred percent certainty THAT i was confirmed.
Dead that meant a POSITIVE. Id it was a short
time later when the killer heard the sounds of my.
Laughter the killer stopped and raised the. Rifle who is?
That then my laughter was heard. AGAIN i must have

(04:02:21):
sounded like an innocent, Girl, Veronica the killer, growled show,
yourself let me put you out of your goddamn. Misery
the killer heard my innocent laughter again and saw my
dark shape in the. Trees the killer took quick aim
and fired missed. ME i sang in a voice you'd

(04:02:43):
hear in scary, movies and laughed. Innocently. Again you Think
i'm playing games, Here, Veronica the killer. Roared you had no,
right you goddamn, bitch no right to any Of oliver's.
Wealth but the killer could only hear my innocent laughter
one more. Time when the killer saw my dark shape
again in the, trees it only resulted in another wasted.

(04:03:06):
Bullet the killer heard my innocent laughter yet again and
turned to. Run when my innocent laughter came the loudest,
yet the killer groaned upon tripping and falling. Forward god damn.
It the killer muttered and reached for the. Rifle only
now the killer saw one of my bare legs and

(04:03:28):
feet right next to. It the killer looked up and saw. Me,
NOW i was still wearing the shorts AND t SHIRT
i had put on after having sex with my, boyfriend
AND i didn't appear to be the least bit. Cold even,
more my entire, body including my, hair was as white as.

(04:03:50):
Snow my, nails, fingers and toes or solid. Black for the,
record none of my nails were. POLISHED i would later
learn that my toxic eyes were a bluish gray with green.
Irises the killer could see the gunshot wounds on my,
body but THAT i was no longer, bleeding nor WAS

(04:04:14):
i feeling any. Pain the killer quickly grabbed the rifle
and stood. UP i just stood there as the killer
aimed at me and pulled the. Trigger. Click THEN i
smiled sweetly and laughed innocently. Again Aw suddenly my cute
face turned into one of utter rage AS i rushed

(04:04:37):
at my. MURDERER i easily jumped on my, prey and
we were soon wrestling in the. Snow get off, me you,
bitch the killer, yelled BUT i was in no. Mood
for small. TALK i wanted to tear the mask right
off my killer and see who it. Was, HOWEVER i
hadn't counted on the killer having a second, weapon a.
HANDGUN i cried. Out WHEN i took a bully right

(04:05:00):
in the, HEAD i fell and landed on my. BACK
i must have laid there for several. Minutes the killer
managed to reload the rifle while not taking their eyes
off of. Me, SUDDENLY i sat up sharply and. Screamed
even though the killer screamed in, RESPONSE i still couldn't
tell if it was a man or a woman with

(04:05:22):
the mask covering their. Mouth, however the killer did point
the rifle at me and, shoot AND i was flat
on my back. Again the killer again moved away from,
me the rifle. READY i still wasn't feeling like taking
my death lying down and sat up. AGAIN i got

(04:05:42):
back to my feet and glared the killer. Down but
the killer wasn't going to just let me come for
my revenge and emptied the rest of the rifle into.
ME i pointed right at the. Killer now you can't kill.
ME i tightened my. Fists i'm already. Dead the killer

(04:06:04):
finally got the MESSAGE i, MEAN i was only shot
several times and had inky blue blood all over. Me
when the killer turned and ran, AWAY i howled with.
Rage now my hunter had become the. HUNTED i chased
the killer all the way back to the. Hummer unfortunately for,

(04:06:24):
me the killer made it back inside and locked the.
Doors ALL i managed to do was shatter the driver's
side window out before the killer managed to get. Away
feeling mad as, HELL i tightened my fists and howled
so loudly THAT i was sure anybody who was dumb
enough to be out and about in these woods had

(04:06:45):
to have heard. Me ah these, WOODS i knew right
then and there THAT i could never return To Ridgeway heights.
Again the backwoods Of strickfield would forever be my new.
Home one year, Later perspective A Bella. Sableson it was

(04:07:11):
a little over a year ago that my daughter's car
was found out in the backwoods area Of. Strickfield veronica
managed to get more than one hundred miles away the
night she fled From Grande. Estate she was eventually found
by her. Pursuer when the police searched for her after
the blizzard was. Over they managed to find the fall

(04:07:31):
jacket she was wearing partially buried under some. Snow there
were no signs Of veronica. Herself, however the police reports
and newspapers said that my daughter was never found and
may still be out in Those strickfield backwoods. Somewhere she
never returned To Grande, estate AND i never got so
much as a phone call or a text from. Her

(04:07:55):
now it's finally come down to. This i'm sitting in
an suv with four us who are going to help
me Find. VERONICA i never got close to any of, them,
however WHEN i told THEM i was planning to come
To strickfield to look For, veronica and why they agreed
to come with. Me you know what this means to Find,

(04:08:16):
VERONICA i tell. Them the Driver Amos, kulp glanced at
me in the rear view. Mirror we'll find. HER i.
KNOW i want to Find veronica just as badly as you.
Do but you didn't have to rent a cabin for us.
TOO i start to, say don't worry about. It amos.
Interrupts turns out the trapper owns the cabin owed me a,

(04:08:37):
favor So i'm just calling it. In, besides it's better
than paying for a motel or hotel and having to
keep driving back out this way From strickfield Or pendleton
with this. Cabin we're only a few miles away from those.
Backwoods veronica disappeared In We're All, Good Abella trina had
her arms folded in front of her and didn't speak
much during the. TRIP i Wish veronica would have called

(04:08:59):
the house or left let us know somehow that she's all.
RIGHT i don't get. It she inherited all Of grande
A state and all that, money not even a week
later she disappears out. Here that's why we're going to
investigate those backwoods just outside Of, STRICKFIELD i, say putting
a hand on her. Shoulder why didn't the state police
thoroughly investigate that area when they Found veronica's, Car tristan,

(04:09:22):
asked sitting on the other side of. ME i, MEAN
i get it was during a blizzard in, all but
just saying that's just, It morgan, says riding. Shotgun it
was during a. Blizzard it would have been hard to
try and look for somebody during a bad blizzard like,
that especially in a heavily wooded area like those. Backwoods

(04:09:43):
persistence may be paying. OFF i, Say i've been spreading
the word around on social. Media i've even taken some
trips To strickfield. Myself then that phone call finally came
last week from someone that said they saw my daughter
somewhere in that same wooded area where her car was
found over a year. AGO i, GROAN i will not

(04:10:04):
rest UNTIL i Find. Veronica it's important THAT i find her.
Well we want to know what happened To veronica, Too trina,
replies not much further to the, Cabin amos. Says it's
not long after we cross The Feldner county. Line amos
turns off onto a dirt road and drives a short

(04:10:25):
distance before we turn up the drive that goes to the.
Cabin When amos, stops we get out of the suv
and bring our bags. Inside we keep our backpacks with
our gear in the. Car as soon as we're all,
inside we get startled when someone else is coming in
the back, door an older man appearing to be in
his early. Fifties can we help, you, SIR i. Ask

(04:10:48):
amos puts a gentle hand on my. Shoulder It's, okayabella
this Is Tom, barlow the trapper who's letting us have the.
Cabin the man. SMILES i just want to make sure
y'all got here BEFORE i took. Off then he looks
us all. Over so what brings y'all this? Way some
hunting and? Fishing probably some, Hunting amos tells. Him in

(04:11:11):
those woods just off the main. Highway he points in
the direction that. Way tom's face suddenly. Drops tell, me
y'all ain't. Serious he points in the same. Direction ain't
nobody told you none about them woods Outside? Strickfield what about?
Them trina, Asks they're just normal, woods. Right tom looks

(04:11:34):
at all of. Us, now IF i didn't know, Better
i'd say he's probably thinking we're not right or. Something
ain't none of you ever been To. Strickfield there's all
kinds of stories that go on in them back woods
outside Of. Strickfield those that have been in there and
live to tell about, it, well even they'll tell you
all the things they seen in them. Woods like What morgan,

(04:11:57):
Asks like What tom repeats with some, surprise young. Lady
there are stories about things ranging from acts of cannibalism
to strange. Creatures there have even been talks about some
little children walking around in, there ones that came back
from the. Dead we listen As tom tells us a

(04:12:18):
story he heard about a little backwoods boy Named billy
McCracken and how he was killed and came back to.
Life also how he turned some other kids living in
the backwoods into things like. HIM i don't know none
what brought him back to, life but there was a
man who saw him and almost didn't make it out of. There,

(04:12:39):
Yeah Mike cruise was his. Name Then tom gets. Agitated,
LOOK i ain't making this shit. Up i'm telling y'all right,
now you do not want to go in them. Woods
the rest of us are looking at each. Other THEN
i talked To. Tom, LISTEN i know you mean, well
but my daughter disappeared into those woods over a year,

(04:13:01):
ago AND i got a tip saying she was seen
in those same woods just. Recently we're just here to find.
Her tom studies us for a. Second, Look, MAN i
can understand where you're coming. FROM i. DO i got
two boys on my. OWN i suppose i'd want to
look for him too if they turned up. Missing but

(04:13:21):
you're talking about them backwoods over. There. NOW i can't
stop y'all from going into them. Woods but if y'all
go in, THERE i ain't promising. You you're gonna come
back out the. Same some people become, changed and many
people they just don't come back out. Again, Ever tom
turns and opens the back. Door he motions for us

(04:13:42):
to come to. Him we go out onto the back. Porch,
also take a good look at that. Sky there's a
blizzard coming, soon pretty mean one from the looks of,
it probably gonna reach here in the next. Hour you
go into them, woods especially in that, shit don't plan on.
It anybody coming for. Y'all Then morgan speaks, Up come,

(04:14:04):
on it can't be all that. BAD i Read strickfield's
own mayor lives out in those. Woods you don't hear
anything About Mayor Patrick gunter going. Missing tom just looks
at us. Now LIKE i, SAID i can't stop, y'all
but Remember i'll warned. You nobody says anything for a little.
Bit When tom sees we're not moved by what he,

(04:14:26):
said he groans and shakes his head a. Little then
he Hands amos the. Keys if you'd have told me
about this BEFORE i agreed to let you use the,
cabin i'd have said. No BUT i owe you for
helping me when my truck broke down a few months.
Ago we talked To tom for a little bit, longer

(04:14:47):
then he, leaves telling us he wants to get back
To strickfield before the blizzard. Hits we watch him get
into his truck that he had parked out back and take.
Off now it's just. Us was he really expecting us
to believe all that shit about about what he just told?
Us tristan, ASKED i, GROAN i don't give a flying

(04:15:10):
fuck if there's a maniac with a hockey mask walking
around in those, woods one way or. Another i'm going
to Find veronica WHEN i finally see, her alive or,
dead then and only then WILL i give up searching for.
Her if all of you were still coming with, me
then we're going. In if, not we didn't come over

(04:15:30):
a hundred miles with you just to leave you here
and head back. Home tristan tells, me like you, said
we gotta Find. VERONICA i look at all of them
and see they have every intention of sticking with. Me,
okay get everything, unpacked then we'll leave here and head
into those. Woods what was this tip you, Got trina asks.

(04:15:52):
ME i got a phone call from a man who
says he Saw veronica back in the. WOODS i. ANSWER
i dig into my purse and pull a few things.
Out this is a picture Of VERONICA i posted on
social media and on missing POSTERS i tacked. Up THEN
i raise a small piece of notebook. Paper the man

(04:16:13):
who called me gave me this. Address he lives in
those backwoods there. Somewhere we need to get to this
place and talk to. HIM i, Groan why DIDN'T i
think to ask for? Directions the others don't question me any.
Further the truth, WAS i already knew a blizzard was
coming this, way BUT i refuse to wait one more

(04:16:34):
moment AFTER i got that phone. Call as soon as everybody's,
ready we leave the. Cabin we get back into the
suv and head towards the backwoods Of. Strickfield, Perspective, Trina
it sure got dark fast Once amos drove us into the.

(04:16:56):
WOODS i can't help looking behind us and seeing those
nasty looking clouds moving really, fast almost as if they're
sealing the way out of. HERE i can't help thinking
about What Tom barlow told. US i don't, know he
didn't seem like he was fucked in the head or on.
SOMETHING i, MEAN i THINK i did smell a little

(04:17:19):
pot on, him but a couple of us do. Pot in,
Fact morgan AND i both shared a smoke before we
left the, cabin just the. Same neither of us go
on talking about things like, walking dead kids and. STUFF
i look out the window and see the trees waving
as the winds are picking up more and. More, yeah

(04:17:41):
it's definitely going to be a bad. STORM i look up.
Front anything on THE, gps. Amos i'm using THE gps
that came with the. Car he. REPLIES i even tried
a FEW gps programs on my. Phone none of them
have anything on the roads back. Here you'd think there'd
be at least some. Thing there's nobody walking around out,

(04:18:02):
here or we could ask somebody for. Directions tristan, Mutters
i'm even trying to use my own. PHONE i, SAY
i punched in the Address abella told, us but nothing's showing.

Speaker 2 (04:18:14):
Up.

Speaker 1 (04:18:15):
SHIT i got no, bars now me, Either morgan, groans damn.
It everybody else confirms they've got no bars on their.
Smartphones i'm about to Ask abella how she got the phone,
call but THEN i see wires on the poles and
know the people living out here are probably using. Landlines

(04:18:35):
abella sighs. Hard Now i'm not going back one way or.
Another i'm finding this address and getting some. Answers we
tell her we're with, her and then it starts. Snowing
it's not going to be long before everything gets white.
Fast we soon stop at an. INTERSECTION i can't read

(04:18:56):
that road, Sign tristan. Says then he gets out and
goes to look at it up. Close he comes back
and gets. IN i think that Says Skeeter. Road we
need to find Old dutch. Road abella reminds. Us guess
we'll just have to keep driving around and here until
we find, it or unless we find. Somebody amos, says.

(04:19:17):
Glad we pulled off for gas before we hit the.
Cabin we got a full, tank so we should be.
Good if we get, low we can always leave here
and head Into. Strickfield we take a vote in our
unanimous and heading Down Skeeter. Road amos turns and takes
us further into the. BACKWOODS i look out the window
and see it's really dark, now the snow is really coming,

(04:19:40):
down and the wind is picking. UP i have a
very bad feeling about. This we've been driving down one
road after. Another we can read some of the road.
Signs the ones we can't we have to get out
and read them under the car's. Headlights this time it's
my turn to get out and read the next. Sign
it's hard to open my door with the wind blowing

(04:20:01):
hard against. It WHEN i do get it open and get,
OUT i slip and fall flat on my. ASS i
get back on my feet again and look at the.
Sign it's not Old dutch. ROAD i get back in
the car and we continue. On we come by a
few more roads and still don't find the right. One
we still don't see anybody out. Here we've passed a

(04:20:24):
few houses and, cabins even some, trailers but they all look.
Dark you'd think there'd be somebody home in these. PLACES i,
mean it's not like it's late at night or. Something
with that, blizzard it almost makes it seem like it's
night back. HERE i look at my watch and see
it's just after four. O'clock thinking about. Slipping amos has

(04:20:46):
four wheel drive on on the. SUV i can't believe
how slippery it is. NOW i can hear the wind
blowing fierce as the snow keeps coming. Down amos also
has the windshield wipers going looking at the, roads, Though
i'm thinking it's only a matter of time before they're
too snow covered and we won't be able to keep
driving on. Them i'd be lying IF i said these

(04:21:09):
woods didn't look. SCARY i don't know how many miles
these woods, are but it seems like we've been in
here a long. Time as big as these woods, are
we might as well be looking for a needle in a.
Haystack tristan mutters when he Hears abella. Sigh he quickly
looks her. Way, sorry you still want to keep, Going,

(04:21:30):
Abella amos, Asks this weather's only getting worse and the
roads are getting real. Bad abella clinches her. Fist veronica
is my, daughter and we will find. Her god damn. It,
yeah her mind's definitely made. Up guess that would explain
why she packed provisions in her backpack and had us
do the. Same another road coming, Up morgan, says the

(04:21:54):
sign's got snow on. It i'll have to get out
and brush it. Off amos slows down and. Stops Then
morgan gets out and has to stand on the front
bumper to reach the. Sign she brushes it. Off what's
the name of that road, Again, Abella she calls, out
Old dutch. Road abella calls, back this is. It we

(04:22:14):
hear her cheer Old dutch. Road she gets back down
and comes back. In now we just need to pick a.
Direction we'll go left and see what the house numbers.
Are amos, says we need to look for twenty one
Old dutch. Road abella tells. Us amos turns left and
starts driving. Again it takes a few minutes before we

(04:22:35):
finally come up to the first house looks more like a.
Hut amos, stops since it's on my. SIDE i get
out and try to look at the. Mailbox there's no
number on. IT i open the, box no. MAIL i
walk up to the. HOUSE i have to do some,
looking BUT i eventually find the rusted out numbers next
to the. DOOR i turn and go back to the. Car,

(04:22:58):
FIFTEEN i tell all WHEN i get back, in we'll
have to go to the next place to see if
we're going in the right direction for sure or not on.
It amos replies and gets us going. Again we go
further down the. Road that snow's just coming down so.
Fast amos is even taking his. Time it's then when

(04:23:19):
the headlights reveal the next house directly. Ahead what the
headlights couldn't have shown us was that the road ahead was.
Curved we would end up finding out the hard way
when we'd suddenly feel the car dip. Fast what the?
Hell amos. Scrumbles he shifts into, reverse but we're quickly

(04:23:40):
finding out we're. Stuck. Shit, Morgan tristan AND i get
out and take a. LOOK i quickly look back At
amos when he rolls his window. DOWN i tell him small.
Ditch there was so much snow we couldn't see. It
we don't Hear amos, groaning but we can see the
front tie spinning in the, car not moving to put it.

(04:24:03):
Mildly where? Fucked When amos turns the motor, off we
all get out and head to the back to get our.
Backpacks there's no mailbox out here at the, road BUT
i head up to the house to check the. Address
WHEN i reach the front, PORCH i look for any
kind of a. NUMBER i even brush off the sides
at the. Door there's no mailbox here. EITHER i even

(04:24:27):
try knocking on the door a few, times with no.
SUCCESS i shriek when somebody puts a hand on my.
Shoulder it's a. BELLA i can't find any house. NUMBER
i tell, HER i don't think anybody lives. Here A
bella motions for me to move. Aside then she turns
the knob and opens the. Door we go inside and

(04:24:49):
confirm that nobody lives. Here the furniture looks broken and.
Battered the place looks like it hasn't been cleaned in.
Years at least it's a good place to get in
out of the snow and talk about what we're going
to do. Next god damn, It amos. Growls nothing we
can do about, it. Buddy tristan tells him the best

(04:25:10):
we can do is walk till we get out of
here and maybe make it To. Strickfield we don't even
know Where strickfield, Is amos, REPLIES i point in the.
DIRECTION i think it's that. WAY i saw the compass
on your, Dashboard. Amos abella gets us to try looking
around for anything that might have this address on. It

(04:25:31):
after looking in all the, rooms there's nothing to be,
found not even a. Bill tristan, mutters assuming they even
get bills out, Here what are we doing? Now morgan,
asks we don't have a. Choice abella, says we have
to find twenty. One she looks at us now you know,

(04:25:51):
what you people don't have to come with. Me just
stay in here and keep out of the. Blizzard amos
puts his hand On abella's. Should i'm going with, you me,
TOO i, SAY i guess we're heading back. Out morgan.
Mutters as a plan is being, DISCUSSED i can't help
looking out at what was probably the kitchen. Window just

(04:26:14):
out of, CURIOSITY i turn one of the faucet. Taps
much to my, surprise water actually trickles. Out the people
that live out in the country use well, water meaning
they're not hooked up to the city and paying water.
Bills AFTER i shut the water back, off my eyes
are suddenly wide. Open something's moving behind the trees by

(04:26:36):
what looks like a firewood pile. Outside when the others
turn to, ME i tell them WHAT i. Discovered, yeah
there is something, Moving morgan, Says is that a? Person
and then the figure comes out enough for us to
see that it is a. Person if we didn't know,

(04:26:58):
better we'd swear was a girl wearing just shorts and
A t. Shirt is that.

Speaker 2 (04:27:08):
Is?

Speaker 1 (04:27:08):
That? Veronica abella. Stammers we don't waste any time and
have to exit through the front door since there's no back.
One we trudge through the snow and head out. Back
the person isn't there. Now when we get to where
we thought we saw, Her amos quickly points to them.
Footprints he quickly, says looks like whoever it is is walking.

(04:27:30):
BAREFOOT i turn and. Move, well let's follow. Them as
we move and follow the, Footprints abella calls, Out, Veronica,
veronica it's. Mom we came out here to find. You
we continue to follow the tracks through some more of the.
Forest eventually we come to another. House this one makes

(04:27:51):
me think of the Story console And. Gretel it's not
a candy house with a witch living, inside but this
place is definitely not on any path or. Road the
footprints lead right to the. House when we reach, it
we can see the front window is broken. Out there's
no glass. Around looking, inside this place looks like the

(04:28:13):
last house we were. In whoever it. Is when in,
Here morgan, says we footprints. Here we all climb in
through the front. Window it's then when we hear some.
RUCKUS i move away from the others and head to
the back of the. House the others are right behind.
Me when we get, there we see that the back
doors wide. Open she's back. OUTSIDE a belly yells. GO

(04:28:38):
i sprint out of the house ahead of. Everybody NOW
i can see the person. RUNNING i got, THIS i
yell over my. SHOULDER i can see the long white,
hair AND i know for sure it's a. Woman IF
i didn't know, better i'd swear she's got white. SKIN
i don't mean what society calls white. SKIN i mean

(04:28:59):
she's just as white as the. Snow, Stop, veronica is
that you? STOP i, yell whoever this is can really,
run even in bare feet and in the. Snow i'm
a track star at my high, school but she's making
me look. Bad i'm still ahead of the, others. THOUGH
i follow the girl through some thicker woods now and

(04:29:20):
THEN i hear some laughing sounds like a young girl
who's happy as can. BE i see the footprints again
and pick up the. Trail i'm surprised this girl can
walk out here, barefoot let, alone in the clothes she's.
Wearing wait a, Minute abella said that was what she
was wearing when she fled From Grande estate that night

(04:29:42):
and ended up getting lost in. Here, veronica, PLEASE i call.
Out if it's, you just. Stop your mom's been really
worried about you all this. Time she hasn't given up on. You.
PLEASE i hear the happy laughter again AS i keep
following the. Footprints it's getting frustrating since it's really. Dark

(04:30:03):
it's gotta be sunset by. Now. SHIT i quickly take
off my backpack and go for the flashlight. INSIDE i
turn it on and see the footprints. AGAIN i hear
the happy laughter one more. Time WHEN i turn, AROUND
i finally see her and. Gasp her skin and hair

(04:30:24):
are snowy. White her eyes look so. Evil where her
eyes should have been, white they were like a grayish.
Color her eyes themselves were sickening. Green her nails are completely,
black fingers and. Toes it's Definitely, veronica, Though oh my,

(04:30:46):
god what happened to? You veronica just looks at. Me
now Tree, now she whispers. Eerily BEFORE i can call
out to the, Others veronica leaps at me and takes me,
down making me drop the. FLASHLIGHT i groan and struggle
to get her off of, me But veronica quickly overpowers

(04:31:06):
me and pins my wrists. Down oh, fuck my wrists
suddenly burn with the cold from her. HANDS i continue
to struggle against, her BUT i can't believe how incredibly
strong she. Is get off of, ME i, shriek help help.
Me veronica looks at me. Softly, trina she whispers. Again

(04:31:30):
we look at each other for several. Seconds then she looks, sad.
Hungry her hands are so cold they really burn my
wrists to where they feel like they're. Frostbitten and Then
i'm feeling even more. Pain When veronica lowers her head
and bites right into my, THROAT i can't even scream

(04:31:54):
to try and call for help. Again as soon AS
i feel the flesh on my throat torn, AWAY i
stop struggling against whatever this thing that once Was veronica
is and feel my life slipping. AWAY i lose more
and more control over my, body and then everything gets

(04:32:18):
dark forever perspective a miss. Culp it's really hard trying
to keep up With, trina even in hiking. Boots i'm
surprised she can run in the snow like she. Does
guess that's what comes with being on the track. Team
At Ridgewood Heights South High it's also dark to where

(04:32:40):
we have to use our. Flashlights now we keep calling
out For. Trina abella keeps calling out For. Veronica Now i'm,
Confused if that girl we saw Was, veronica then why
the hell didn't she ever try to get in touch
with anyone? Instead veronica's really living here in these woods

(04:33:02):
for a whole. Year if that is, her then how she's?
SURVIVING i Know veronica has never been much of a.
Hunter she didn't even like WHEN i talked about. Hunting
we keep following the tracks made by Both trina and
the barefoot. Girl we finally reach a point where there's
blood in the. Snow there's also a broken. Flashlight we

(04:33:24):
don't see anyone, here not a. Soul but THEN i
notice something out of the. Ordinary you, guys see How
trina's tracks end, HERE i point, Out but look the
ones of the bare feet they're the only ones that
keep going from. Here tristan gets a little. Scared, now

(04:33:45):
you don't suppose whatever that girl was Got, trina do?
YOU i really don't know for, SURE i tell Him.
Trina tristan calls. Out morgan And abella also call out For.
Trina bella continues to call out For, veronica but nobody answers.
Back trina's gotta be able to hear. US i, mean

(04:34:07):
she couldn't have gone that far. Away still seeing the
blood and broken flashlight here makes me. Wonder after a little,
bit we stop calling out For. Trina, ah she's, dead,
Man tristan, says shaking his head. Quickly she's got to be.
Dead she ain't calling back to. US i think that

(04:34:28):
girl must have gotten. Her she shouldn't have gone off by.
HERSELF i raise my, Hand, tristan don't. Okay we can't
afford to be losing our, shit not out. Here we
have to keep, Going abella tells, us But. Trina morgan
tries to, say BUT i put my hand On morgan's.
Shoulder we'll look for. Her she can't have gone. Far

(04:34:50):
BUT i Think morgan was Believing. TRISTAN i don't like.
THIS i think something did happen To. Trina there's no
way she wouldn't answer back. Again A bella tells us
we can go back and get out of the. BLIZZARD
i didn't think things would happen like. This, no we
gotta stick together. NOW i, say we don't know what's

(04:35:11):
going on out here With trina. Missing the others are
quick to agree with. Me, Still i'm beginning to Think tristan's.
Right something either Attacked trina or possibly killed. Her i'm
almost afraid of what we'll find. Out we move and
follow the single set of. Footprints at times we do

(04:35:31):
see some drops of. Blood then the trail gets. Cold
when the footprints and the blood drops end at a small,
river we have no idea which way to. Go it's
dark and the snow and winds keep. Blowing what's more
is that we're stuck in these woods with the car
not being able to go, anywhere and on top of,

(04:35:51):
that we Lost. Trina what do you guys want to?
DO i, ask WAY i see. It we can go
about this two. Ways one we can split up in
two's and pick a, direction or two we stick together
safety in. NUMBERS i have to know if That's. Veronica abella,
Snaps i'm going this. Way i'll go with, You morgan,

(04:36:15):
says following. Her Then tristan bumps my. Arm we better
go the other. Way we can cover more. GROUND i
groan and Follow. Tristan i'm telling, YOU i got a
very bad feeling about. THIS i, SAY i think we
should follow the. Women but what if we all end
up going the wrong? Way tristan. Asks then it hits,

(04:36:38):
me you, know what if this girl's hunting? Us if
that's the, case it probably won't matter what direction we
end up. Going tristan gives me a funny. Look why
would that girl be hunting? Us what do we got
that she? WANTS i, GROAN i don't. Know something just

(04:36:58):
feels wrong about all of. This we gotta try and Find.
Veronica tristan reminds me we've come this. Far once we Find,
veronica a bella gets what she's been, wanting and everything
will be good for. Everybody we just gotta Find. Veronica
you know, THAT i. KNOW i snapped. Back you don't

(04:37:20):
have to keep reminding me we should have come looking
for when it's not a. Blizzard we both keep arguing
about being here during the blizzard and. Waiting one thing About,
tristan he's about his headstrong as a damn. Woman veronica
was pretty headstrong. Too ain't no wonder she ended up
getting all the way out here that. Night we keep

(04:37:42):
following the river without our. Phones we don't know where
the hell we. Are there's no sun or. Moon it's
dark as shit out, here and the snow keeps blowing and.
DRIFTING i look up at the sky and can't see
jack or. Shit, OKAY i can see those dark clouds up,
there that's bringing this blizzard down all Over Feltner. County

(04:38:02):
why this county gets the shit end of that deal every?
Winter i'll never. Know i'm gonna go across the, Water tristan.
Says maybe we'll do better finding tracks if we each
take a. Side, WHATEVER i. Grumble tristan quickly moves across the.
Water it ain't frozen, yet BUT i can see it's
freezing along the top at the. Ends tristan AND i

(04:38:23):
use our flashlights to keep lighting our. Way amos over,
Here tristan calls. OUT i turn and move across the
water to get to. HIM i shine my light where
his is and see those footprints hes found made by bare.
Feet let's, GO i, say before the snow covers them.
Up we move and follow the. TRACKS i shine my light.

(04:38:46):
Ahead no sign of the. Girl we keep following the
fresh tracks as far as they'll take. Us can't believe
that girl can move so fast in the. Shit tristan.
Mutters these backwoods people can probably do a lot of shit.
HERE i, say, hell they're probably making their own gas
to power their houses and. Trailers these are probably the

(04:39:07):
kind of people that live in a world all their,
own not going into civilization unless they absolutely have to
like The. Amish tristan, asks kind, of except you don't
want to be planned in a day around this place
like you would In amish. Country we keep following the.
Tracks it takes, many many, minutes but the tracks end

(04:39:27):
at a, large two story. House like the house we
were at, earlier this one looks like it hasn't been
lived in for god knows how. Long makes me wonder
how many people actually do live here in these. WOODS
i say this is the third place we've been at that's.
Abandoned we both know we gotta check it. Out we
find the front door easily. Opens once we're, INSIDE i

(04:39:49):
gotta Help tristan push the door shut since that wind
keeps raging with the. Snow we finally get the door.
Closed at least the windows are still good, here so
we have a little shot from the. Storm i'll head.
Upstairs tristan, SAYS i think we should stick. TOGETHER i
Say i'll be. Okay then he picks up a. Board

(04:40:10):
got this with. Me my gut tells ME i should
go up with, him but he's already nearly up the.
Stairs ah, SHIT i. MUTTER i grab my own two
by four and keep it ready AS i look around,
downstairs and THEN i see wet, footprints bare. Feet that
girl's gotta be in this house. SOMEWHERE i stand just

(04:40:33):
outside a door and quickly fling it, open just an empty.
Closet THEN i Remember tristan being upstairs and hall ass up.
THERE i quickly find him in one of the. BEDROOMS
i told, You i'll be. Okay tristan snaps that girl's
in this house, SOMEWHERE i. Say THEN i tell him
about the wet FOOTPRINTS i. Found tristan nods once. Okay

(04:40:56):
we stick. Together then we move across the upstairs and
check the. Rooms they have furniture in them and enough
dust on it to make you want to. Choke even
the blankets on the beds have dust on. Them we
check the closets, Too they're either empty or don't have
much of anything in. Them we're about to leave the
room When tristan gets my attention AND i turn around

(04:41:19):
and See. Veronica is that? YOU i? Gasp ready to piss?
MYSELF i, Say i'm ready to piss myself because she
looks like something right out of one of those scary.
Movies veronica's hair and skin's white enough to be. Chalk
her nails are all, black and her eyes are just oh,

(04:41:41):
man she's just scaring the But jesus out of me right.
Now she's still wet and dripping from being out in the.
Snow just the way she's looking at us right. NOW
i ain't no, doctor But i'd be willing to bet
my cabin back. Home she ain't herself. ANYMORE i remember
her wearing that outfit she's wearing right, now from that
night a year. Ago only thing that almost makes me

(04:42:04):
lose control of my waterworks is seeing that blood on
her face and t. Shirt aw. Man tristan drops his
flashlight and raises his board to Hit, veronica but she
can actually move. Fast she knocks the board out of
his hands and grabs his. Wrists he shrieks and cries
out like a. Girl now your hands are so, Cold he,

(04:42:26):
yells let go of, me you. Bitch BEFORE i can
move to Help, Tristan veronica points right at, me making
me drop my. Board her voice is this raspy kind of.
Whisper you stay right. There then she Slams tristan up
against the wall and bites right into his. Throat he

(04:42:46):
screams so loud you'd think you could actually hear him
through that blizzard. Outside blood squirts, everywhere especially When veronica
pulls back and has a chunk Of tristan's throat in her.
Mouth oh oh, MAN i scream and quickly bolt out
of the. Door Now i'm Hearing veronica screaming like a.
Banshee i'm about to reach the stairs WHEN i see oh, man,

(04:43:11):
NO i. Groan trina's right there on the stairway, now
and she looks just Like, veronica with that white, skin white,
hair black, nails and those strange, eyes and her throat's
been ripped. Out veronica got her, too. Hungry trina utters

(04:43:36):
in that same choked Whisper veronica has. YESS i Hear
veronica groan as she's almost to. US i quickly shake
my head and put my hands up in front of. Me,
VERONICA i don't know what happened to, you BUT i
tried to save you that. NIGHT i really. Tried you

(04:43:56):
gotta believe. That veronica how at. Me Then trina grabs my,
arm making me drop my. FLASHLIGHT i scream and Shove
trina down the, stairs my backpack falling. Off THEN i
follow behind her and eventually step over. Her AS i
get to the bottom and get the hell out of that,
house come back, Here. AMOS i Hear veronica shrieking behind,

(04:44:21):
me right through the. WINDS i look and see she's
really running after, me even through the blowing. SNOW i
can hear her howling at. Me Oh Jesus, GOD i
knew it would only be a matter of time Before
veronica would finally catch up to. ME i ain't never
been a fast. RUNNER i, MEAN i can, run BUT

(04:44:42):
i just ain't. FAST i, Know i'm definitely slower with
these boots, on BUT i wasn't expecting to be out
here in these woods running for my life like. This
you will, Stop. Amos veronica's voice sounds like a real
high pitched. Shriek now you will not escape. Me and, then,
okay you can call me, crazy you can even call

(04:45:04):
me a. SISSY i quickly pick up some snow in my.
HANDS i make a snowball AND i heave it right At.
Veronica the snowball crashes right into her chest and makes her.
STAGGER i make another snowball and heave it to hit
her smack in the face and knock her on her,
ASS i turn and start running. AGAIN i manage to

(04:45:25):
lose her and hide behind a big. Tree amous.

Speaker 2 (04:45:32):
Ah.

Speaker 1 (04:45:32):
Man i've Heard veronica howl with rage before when she
was really pissed, Off but now now that she's dead and,
walking hearing her talk like that just oh, MAN i
mutter WHEN i Feel i'm a little warmer in my.
Jeans veronica really did make me lose control of my.

(04:45:53):
Waterworks can't worry about that. NOW i gotta get the
fuck away from here and go Find morgan And, abella
Assuming veronica didn't already find them first before Finding tristan
and me Perspective. Morgan after having no luck Finding, Veronica

(04:46:19):
abella AND i double back to see if we could
Find amos And. Tristan abella doesn't say much of, anything
BUT i understand what she's. Feeling she just wants to
find her daughter and make things good for everybody.

Speaker 2 (04:46:31):
Here.

Speaker 1 (04:46:32):
Veronica abella calls out, again where are You? VERONICA i
call out louder Than, Abella, Amos, Tristan. Trina when we
don't hear, Anything abella reaches over and takes my. Wrist
are you sure it was a good idea to Bring amos?
Along amos is a good hunter and, TRACKER i remind.

(04:46:56):
Her abella just looks at me with. Doubt i'm telling, You,
abella he should be able to find, HER i, say
and pull my wrist. Away, eventually we come up to
some tracks that are almost covered by the blowing. Snow
if we follow, these we should catch up With tristan And.
Amos the two of us use our flashlights to follow the.

(04:47:18):
Tracks when they split, Up abella goes across the small
river to follow that. SET i stick with my set
UNTIL i see it also eventually crosses the. WATER i
meet back up With abella for us to follow their.
Tracks after some, minutes we come up to another. HOUSE

(04:47:39):
i don't know About, abella but something about that place
sure scares me just looking at. It, suddenly a huge
gust of wind blows and knocks me on my. Ass
abella comes to me and helps me. Up, okay she, Asks,

(04:48:02):
YEAH i, REPLY i just wasn't expecting that this blizzard's
getting worse and. Worse we might have to take. SHELTER
i am not stopping UNTIL i Find. Veronica abella, yells
she's my. Daughter i'm not stopping UNTIL i know for
a fact that she's. Dead you really don't understand how
important this. Is do. You i've been looking far too

(04:48:24):
long for her to just give. Up you, know damn,
WELL i can't afford to give this. Up, now you know.
That abella AND i just look at each other for
a long. Moment THEN i. Nod believe. ME i do.
Know we should at least check the, house, though and
we're going, to she assures. Me the two of us

(04:48:45):
walk to the house and can easily go. Inside in,
fact the front door is wide. OPEN i point down
to the porch. Boards, abella it looks like people were here.
Already then we're going the same, way she. Replies NOW
i see this weird look on her face before she
quickly grabs my arm and pulls me to. Her she

(04:49:07):
turns me around SO i Can, TRINA i choke. Out.
Yeah this thing that's standing in front of the doorway
looks Like trina and is wearing her. Clothes but it's
got these weird colored, eyes and its skin and hair
or chalk, white and it has black. Fingernails i'm ready
to throw up WHEN i see the bone that's sticking

(04:49:29):
out of its. Neck it has blood all over the
front of its. Jacket i'm so, Hungry trina says in
this choked. Whisper, Suddenly trina reaches out and grabs my.
HAND i cry out as she pulls me right to
her with a STRENGTH i never even knew she, had
making me drop my. FLASHLIGHT i Knew trina was a

(04:49:51):
top athlete at our high. School she goes out running
most every. Day she applies herself in the weight. Room
she even watches her. Diet but there's no way in
hell that she can be this goddamn. Strong THEN i
really start screaming WHEN i feel how incredibly cold her
hand is on. Mine it. Burns abella is trying to

(04:50:11):
help pull me away From, trina but this fucking thing
is just so incredibly strong and incredibly. Cold abella finally
manages to get me. FREE i cry out WHEN i
see my hand looks black and feels. Numb it's completely.
Frostbitten come, On, Morgan abella, yells. RUN i turn and

(04:50:32):
start running with. Her you don't get far Before i'm
tackled from. Behind Now trina's right on top of. Me
i'm so, Hungry, Morgan trina. Utters abella tries reaching out
to Push trina off. Me when she Sees trina's bare,
hands she quickly remembers how my hand got frostbitten just
by her touching bare skin to. Mine trina hisses At

(04:50:56):
abella and makes her back. Off you damned all of,
us you. Bitch trina returns her attention to me and
gives me that demented look of hunger that only a
thing like her can. Show, Hungry trina rasps. AGAIN i
try fighting her, off but Now i'm the one who

(04:51:16):
forgot About trina's exposed. Skin she takes hold of my
wrists and makes me close my eyes and scream at
the top of my. Lungs trina's cold skin is so, Painful,
god it. Burns WHEN i open my, EYES i can
see a bellow left me here to. DIE i am

(04:51:37):
so totally. Fucked trina easily slams my arm to the snowy.
Ground THEN i manage out one, loud, long last. Scream
When trina lowers her face and sinks her teeth right
into my, neck my scream is louder WHEN i feel
the skin at my neck being torn away the rest

(04:52:00):
of my. BODY i can see my blood squirting. UPWARD
i can also see my torn flesh In trina's. Mouth
WHEN i can't scream, Anymore i'm actually a bit surprised
That i'm not dead. YET i can feel the life
leaving my body As trina munches on the flesh she's
taken from. Me as my eyes start shaking, CLOSED i

(04:52:23):
have this this FEELING i just, know just just, know
know that THAT i feel myself. TWITCHING i slowly open my.

(04:52:46):
Eyes it's still snowing. HARD i twitch some more and
feel really wet on my upper. BODY i sit up
slowly and see my jacket is, gone my shirt and
braw were torn. Open my chest is fully, exposed AND
i mean it's fully, exposed as IN i have no skin.

(04:53:07):
Whatsoever trina is right there looking at me and eating
more flesh she took off of my. Body by all,
RIGHTS i should be royally pissed off at her doing
this horrible thing to. ME i Know i'm exactly like her.
NOW i also know That i'm getting fairy hungry and
need to do to somebody What trina was doing to.

(04:53:29):
Me but that's just, it isn't. IT i can't attack
and feed On, trina CAN? I? SOMEHOW i know deep
down that it just doesn't work like. That we can't
and don't eat each. OTHER i slowly move and stand
on my own. FEET i can see my hands are

(04:53:49):
white with black. NAILS i feel so comfortably cold deep,
inside and the frigid winds aren't bothering me at. All
also feel so incredibly. Strong trina finishes eating and points
in the direction we need to. Go we Get abella.
NOW i nod once.

Speaker 2 (04:54:12):
A.

Speaker 1 (04:54:12):
Bella the voice comes out in the same, cold dead
tone As, trina's almost like a choked. Whisper trina AND
i only have to follow the footprints That abella's. Left
we can see in the dark clearly now and don't need.
Flashlights what's bad For abella is that we can still
walk and run as normal living people. Can trina AND

(04:54:36):
i only want A bella. Now one way or, another
we are going to kill. Her ass perspective amus. CULP
i keep moving through the. WOODS i swear this blizzard
just keeps getting. Worse you'd think them damn clouds decided

(04:54:59):
to stop right where they they. ARE i can stay
warm in my winter. Clothes BUT i lost my backpack
back at the house Where veronica And trina. Were it
had my food in. It assuming it really Was veronica And,
trina amu oh, Man veronica's getting closer. Now she probably

(04:55:20):
found my trail and is hot after. Me you, know
there was a time WHEN i was Glad Veronica grande
was the kind of person who liked coming after. Me
that girl. Was she was really sweet on. ME i
KNOW i was sweet on her right, back maybe even
a little too. Much in, fact that's where all this

(04:55:41):
goddamn trouble started that. Night SUDDENLY i see something just
ahead past some. Trees, yes there's a cabin just, ahead
lights on. Inside that means somebody's. HOME i quickly haul.
ASS i Know i'm supposed to be a, man but
trust me WHEN i say say, that all that shit

(04:56:01):
goes right out the window when you deal with What
i'm dealing. With tell me what a real man you
are when those things are eating you. ALIVE i finally
make it to the door and pound on. It help,
me let me, In please open. Up those things are
right behind.

Speaker 2 (04:56:16):
Me oh.

Speaker 1 (04:56:17):
Man after a little more, pounding the door finally. Opens
there's this man looking to be in his sixties standing.
There he's got gray hair and a, beard and is
wearing a dark blue shirt and bib. OVERALLS i quickly
brush right past him and into the. HOUSE i slam
the door shut and lock. It you mind telling me

(04:56:37):
what intarnation is going on? Here the man, asks there's
these things? OUTSIDE i quickly tell. Him THEN i explain
to the old man what those things. Are the old
man just looks at. Me didn't think them dead folks
would be out here in the middle of. WINTER i
just look right at. Him you know about them, things

(04:57:00):
he nods. ONCE i sure, do, son all kinds of
bad things in these here. Woods these. Days never used
to be like, that at least not WHEN i was
a young boy like. Yourself now we got all kinds
of things walking, around and hear things like, ghouls, cannibals,
monsters and even dead. Folks usually dead folks are down

(04:57:20):
during the frigid winters we get round these. Parts he
raises an. Eyelid you, done sure you saw dead folks
walking around out. THERE i don't know what them fucking things.
ARE i snap white, skin white, hair black, nails and
they eat. PEOPLE i seen them things for. MYSELF i
saw one who was my girlfriend kill and eat a

(04:57:41):
man right in front of. Me she's gonna probably find
me and kill my ass. Too the old man just
looks at me for a, second then he moves to
his fireplace and takes his shotgun down off from above.
It you better help me secure this, place. Son turns
out he's one of those people who keeps his house
prepared against those things that walk around out. Here he

(04:58:04):
shows me how to secure the windows with. Contraptions he
can just slide across the windows and. Lock. MAN i
still Think i'm in some kind of goddamn nightmare and
waiting to wake. Up but, NO i Know i'm feeling
pretty hurt deep down at seeing My veronica like. That
THEN i Hear veronica is howling shrieking voice off in the.

(04:58:24):
DISTANCE a. Must both the old man and me look
at each. Other then he points to the front. Door
we just have to fortify that. Door now help. Me
we already secured the back. Door now we move to
the front one and start to apply another contraption to
keep the door. Solid that's when we hear someone knocking

(04:58:46):
hard and, screaming help let me, in help me. Please
the old man quickly opens the door and Lets abella.
In she turns her flashlight off and looks at. US
A bella's damn sure surprised to see me. Here she
tries to come hug, me BUT i point right at
her and shake my. Head come, on, son help me
finish with this. Door the old man quickly tells me.

(04:59:09):
YEAH i respond and help him with getting that contraption
across the. Door as soon as the house is finished being,
FORTIFIED i turn to the old. Man you sure know
what you're doing out? Here you sure all this is
gonna keep them things. Out the old man tightens his
jaw a. Little you said them dead folks outside are,
strong didn't? You how strong we talking?

Speaker 2 (04:59:32):
Here?

Speaker 1 (04:59:32):
Son? STRONG i, imply with a little more force in my.
Voice THEN i, SIGH i honestly don't think these contraptions
will keep him out for. Long THEN i Notice abella's
scared as, hell just the. Same she's looking. Around then
she points to the old, Man Jethrow. Carnes you're the

(04:59:52):
MAN i talked to on the. Phone this is twenty
One Old Dutch. Road she raises a letter envelope that
has the address On Jethrow carnes nods, once, yes, ma'am
you must be that WOMAN i called regarding her little
girl saw the missing poster on a. Pole didn't think
much of. IT i just know it was mighty cold.

(05:00:13):
Outside he moves to the fireplace and throws a log
onto the. Fire then he faces us. AGAIN i saw
someone walking around out there WHEN i went out to
bring in some more. FIREWOOD i SWEAR i saw her
as plain as the nose on my, face except she
looked like what you just told. Me. Son never saw
snow white dead folks walking around in these woods till that.

(05:00:37):
Day so what? HAPPENED a belly. YELLS i grabbed my
firewood and got back in. Here jethro tells her already
had the windows and doors taken care, of just had
to secure the front, door had my, gun but she
never tried coming in. Here he points in a. DIRECTION
i remembered that missing poster and gave you a. Call

(05:00:57):
figured it was the right thing to. Do he looks.
Sad now had two kids, myself now they're. Gone one's
a ghoul and the other ones one of them dead
folks that walk around during the warmer. Weather he sighs,
now we got to deal with dead folks walking in
the winter. Too LIKE i, said things didn't used to

(05:01:21):
be this way out here WHEN i was a. Boy
Now jethrow points in another. DIRECTION i think it's all
because of that. River just a few miles from. Here
used to make for damn good. Fishing then some foul
stuff got in that river and changed, it killed all
the fish in the. Water hell wasn't too long. AGO
i saw that looney silas blanket ship went back in

(05:01:44):
there and dropped some dead kid in that. River saw
it was Little billy. McCracken had to come back here
and try and get some stuff to get him. Out
problem there. Was he was gone WHEN i got. BACK
i should, know BECAUSE i was a part of the
posse that done killed all them dead, kids Little billy.
McCracken mate never found little McCracken, himself Though jethro looked sad, again,

(05:02:10):
Ma'am i'm thinking your baby girl ended up in that
foul river somehow changed her into a different kind of dead,
folk one that walks around in the middle of. Winter
it was quiet again for a little. Bit you could
hear the snow hitting the cabin and the windows. Howling
and then, amos oh, MAN i, Groan veronica's almost. Here

(05:02:37):
what the hell happened To? VERONICA a bella, shrieks, slam, bang, thud, crash,
boom oh MAN i, Groan veronica is, here for, Sure
she's right at the front. Door, AMOS i hear you in.

(05:02:58):
THERE i Hear veronica rasp come. Out veronica is still
pounding at the front. Door then we hear something else
pounding at one of the. Windows are you in, There,
abella you? Bitch ah? MAN i point in that. Direction
there's another one of those things. There sounds Like. TRINA

(05:03:20):
i look At. JETHRO i saw What veronica did To.
Trina she can turn people into those things like. Her
and then another one pounds at the other, door hungry,
shit That's. Tristan one more of them starts pounding on another.
Window let us, In. Amos, Oh Lord Jesus, christ Not morgan.

(05:03:42):
TOO i look At abella And. Jethro looks Like veronica's
made herself an. Army abella, groans my, god what happened To?
VERONICA i point right at. Her why don't you tell
us what happened To? Veronica abella looks at, me all pissed.
Off what the hell does that? MEAN i tighten my.

(05:04:03):
FISTS i was there At Grande estate that, night In veronica's.
BEDROOM i know what you did a year. AGO i
know it was you who came to Kill veronica that.
NIGHT A bella's really pissed at. Me now you've got some,
nerve amos culp, you son of a. BITCH i grin At,

(05:04:25):
Abella now, YEAH i, do. DON'T i problem here is
my nerve and yours are two completely different, things you.
See jethro looks worried the way them dead folks are.
Pounded you might be right about my, fortification. SON i,
reckon they'll be in here before too. Long he nods

(05:04:45):
to a closet. Door there's another gun and shells in.
There better move. IT i quickly get to the closet
and open the. DOOR i find the shotgun in, there
in a box of ammo beside. IT i load the
gun and come to stand With. Jethro jethro looks at A, Bella,
SORRY i ain't got no gun for, you young. Lady
Then abella shows she's full of. Surprises she unzips her

(05:05:08):
jacket and pulls a handgun. Out before Either jethro or
me knows what to do, Next abella shoots the old
man right in the head and blows his brains. Everywhere
his body falls to the floor. Fast then she quickly
turns her gun on me and shoots me. TOO i
spin fast and fall, over losing my. SHOTGUN i ain't dead.

(05:05:29):
Yet she just got me in the. Shoulder then she
comes and presses her knee right on me and points
her gun in my. FACE i don't know how you found, Out.
Amos abella, says you're. RIGHT i wanted my daughter killed
that night a year. Ago Oliver grande's money was. Mine
veronica had no right to it. Whatsoever too, bad you're

(05:05:51):
not going to live long enough to tell anyone the whole. Truth.
Perspective A bella. SABLESON i put my handgun In amos's.
Face you say you KNOW i Killed. VERONICA i know
it was, you you fucking. Bitch amos, SHOUTS i was

(05:06:14):
under her bed that. Night you didn't know, it But
veronica AND i were in. Love we'd just finished being
real sweet on each. Other When veronica saw some people
out in the yard all wearing. Black she knew those
people were coming to kill her and told me to
get under the. Bed wasn't long before you showed. Up
Maybe veronica didn't catch, it BUT i knew it was

(05:06:36):
you SINCE i could smell that same cheap perfume you're wearing.
Now he shakes his head. SLOWLY i can't believe what
a cold heartless. Bitch you really are a bella. Surprise
what did you really? THINK i came all the way
out here in this shit storm to Find veronica to
bring her back home. Safely veronica had no right to olive.

(05:07:00):
Fortune that fortune was mine and mine. Alone oliver promised me, that,
yes you know That oliver had an affair with. Me
you KNOW i was just a maid That oliver really
took a liking. To Knowing oliver wanted to be with,
ME i simply played his heart. Strings what was my? Motive?
Money of, Course oliver had billions upon billions of. DOLLARS

(05:07:24):
i was just a maid who had to work just
to get thrown a few scraps to. SURVIVE i knew
IF i played my cards, RIGHT i could Become oliver's
new wife and have access to all that. Money of,
course you already knew there was a bit of a
problem with my. Plan my birth control didn't work when
it needed, to which resulted in my getting. Pregnant just the,

(05:07:46):
SAME i FIGURED i could use my pregnancy to my.
Advantage the, problem, however was That Oliver grande came from
a proper bloodline to where he would mingle with women
from other proper bloodlines for the purposes of having children
to carry on those proper. Bloodlines ONCE i revealed my
pregnancy To, oliver showing him the hospital results and telling

(05:08:07):
him that he was the only MAN i had slept,
with he told me he couldn't marry. Me oliver AND
i had a very heated argument about. It then he
calls me, out SAYING i only wanted to be with
him for his. Money, however he wasn't going to just
cast me. Off he told me THAT i would have
to raise our daughter and that he would provide for
both of. Us, HOWEVER i could never come back To

(05:08:31):
Grande estate. Again oliver's offer was. This he told me
that IF i SHOWED i could love and support our,
child if he saw THAT i was the best mother
to our CHILD i could, be then he would leave
both our child and me his entire. Fortune SO i
Carried veronica to. TERM i even had to Give Veronica oliver's.

(05:08:51):
Name another. Condition she was Officially Veronica, grande Not Veronica.
Sableson oliver would send me money THAT i would use
to care For. VERONICA i did everything in my power
to make sure that little spawn from hell got everything
she needed or. WANTED i had Given veronica the best
years of my, life making her THINK i loved her so.

(05:09:14):
Much as For oliver, himself he stayed on at grande
estate with his proper wife and all his proper children
that he made with, her none of which he loved
in the Slightest fast forward to a little over a year,
Ago oliver had finally died of old, age exactly six
months after his proper wife. Died his will had already been.

(05:09:36):
Made you'd Think oliver would have kept his promise to
me and left his fortune all to me And. Veronica
he left his entire fortune To veronica. Alone not only
WAS i upset about, THIS i don't mind telling, You
oliver's children from his proper marriage also flew into a.
RAGE i was there at the reading of the will

(05:09:58):
and saw. Them they were none too thrilled at learning
That veronica was their half. Sibling as far as they were,
Concerned veronica was not a pure blooded proper grande and
wasn't entitled to any of their father's. Money, however there
was a stipulation in the will that, stated Upon veronica's,
death the entire fortune would become mine and mine. Alone at,

(05:10:23):
first the children from this pure blood marriage wanted to
turn on. Me, HOWEVER i made them an offer they couldn't.
REFUSE i would split the fortune with them equally if
they would just help me Kill. Veronica they all readily.
Agreed that's. Right everybody who was here with me in the. Backwoods,

(05:10:44):
now aside From, amos They're oliver's proper children from his proper.
Wife we dressed up in all black on the Night
veronica ran. Away oliver taught me how to hunt when
we were seeing each, other SO i knew how to
fire the. Rifle, Unfortunately veronica was wide awake and managed
to move BEFORE i could shoot. Her amos just told me.

(05:11:06):
Why thanks to that fucking, Idiot veronica ended up getting
away taking a sports. CAR i grabbed the hummer and
pursued my daughter to these woods outside Of. Strickfield you'd
Think veronica would have just fucking died AFTER i shot
her three. Times she, did, apparently but it seems she
didn't stay. DEAD i even shot her again and again

(05:11:28):
when she came for. ME i barely managed to get
away From. Veronica WHEN i ran out of, BULLETS i
KNEW i had to come back for her and finish
WHAT i. Started in order for me to claim all
Of oliver's, money it has to be known That veronica
is quite. Dead her being whatever spawn of hell she

(05:11:48):
is now won't cut. It that's WHY i Convinced oliver's
pure blooded kids to come back in these woods with.
Me we needed to Kill veronica to be sure she stayed.
Dead only then CAN i claim what's rightfully. Mine as For,
amos we needed a good. Tracker he was a handyman

(05:12:10):
and groundskeeper Around Grande estate who knew how to. Hunt
morgan suggested, him of, course and Now i'm going to kill, You.
AMOS i growl you Let veronica get away that, night
But amos roars and manages to grab my. Wrist he
brings me down to the. Floor even though he's bleeding,

(05:12:30):
out he's still fighting me for my. Gun let go of,
me goddamn, YOU i. Yell it's then when one of
the window fortifications gives. Way then the back door comes flying.
Open it's not long before those those things are all.
INSIDE i Punch amos in the face hard and maintain my.
HANDGUN i quickly get to my. Feet oh my Fucking,

(05:12:55):
christ there're so goddamn many of. Them, Veronica, Trina, Tristan.
Morgan they all look so. Disgusting aside From, veronica they've
all got parts of their body eaten. Off morgan really looks,
disgusting with her entire rib cage fully, exposed her internal
organs still. Inside veronica points right at. Me it really

(05:13:20):
hurts knowing you never cared about. Me then she, screams
you murdered. Me you've made me into. This veronica looks
down At, AMOS i can see this thing clearly still loves.
Him then she looks back at. Me, sorry, mom but
you still can't have my. MONEY i Hate veronica so

(05:13:43):
much THAT i raise the. Handgun i'll finish WHAT i
started with you a year ago in these. Woods THEN
i scream and Shoot veronica right between the eyes as
those other things come right at. Me epilogue one year,
later Perspective Amus. CULP i walked into this place Called Denoyer's.

(05:14:09):
GRILL i was surprised it was even open during that damn. Blizzard,
HELL i was SURPRISED i was still alive and smelling great.
FOOD i don't mind telling, YOU i was still hurting,
it having been shot by a bella like. THAT i
think it's safe to, SAY i was definitely the freak
in the. Room WHEN i walked into that, diner the
man standing behind the counter asked me IF i was.

(05:14:30):
OKAY i shook my head and told HIM i really
didn't know for. Sure WHEN i told the MAN i
just got out of those, backwoods him and many of
the other customers just looked right at. Me the, Man David,
denoyer the owner of the, place quickly got on the
phone and called for an ambulance for. Me then he
told me to sit down and gave me some hot.

(05:14:52):
Coffee denoyer didn't even try asking me what happened out
in them. Backwoods if you were out in those, backwoods
then ALL i gotta say is you're damn lucky to
be sitting here and. Alive denoyer tells. Me very few
people go into those woods and come back out with
a story to, tell unless you're a, mayor that. IS

(05:15:13):
i just kept shaking my head slowly remembering what happened
in those. WOODS i tried Telling denoyer and anyone else who'd.
LISTEN i told them everything that happened With Veronica, grande
all that happened a year. Ago As i'm telling you
this even, today it still, hurts Knowing i'll never see
My veronica. Again you gotta Know abella did not survive those.

(05:15:39):
Things abella ended up emptying her, handgun trying to shoot.
Them all she did was make them bleed this blue.
Blood then they all grabbed a hold Of abella and
just tore her. Apart abella's screams stopped just that. Quick
not that it would have mattered, Later i'd come to

(05:16:01):
learn that the one thing regarding the backwoods Of strickfield
is no one will ever hear you. SCREAM i ended
up watching as those things just sat on the floor
and ate whatever pieces of a bella they had in their.
HANDS i was so SCARED i didn't even try to.
RUN i almost puked Seeing morgan's exposed belly getting. FULL

(05:16:24):
i figured If veronica could find me at that old man's,
cabin those things would have found me WHEREVER i tried running.
To when they finished With, abella all that was left
were her. Bones then those things all looked at. ME
i THINK i lost control of my waterworks, again knowing

(05:16:44):
they were gonna eat. Me, Tristan, trina And morgan wanted,
to But veronica told them. No veronica knelt down beside,
me she wanted to take my, hand but stopped when
she remembered she'd freeze it right. Off go away from,
here my, love she, rasped you're. FREE i know you

(05:17:08):
truly loved. ME i shook my head. SLOWLY i still love, You.
Veronica veronica bowed her. HEAD i think it really hurt,
her saying what she felt she needed to say to.
Me never return here ever. Again live your, life, amos

(05:17:30):
know That i'll always love. You then she lifted her
head and, pointed go that. Way then those things. LEFT
i made myself get up and walked back out in that.
BLIZZARD i saw the four sets of footprints where those
things went off TO i Trusted veronica and walked the
way she told. Me WHEN i came out of the,

(05:17:51):
WOODS i only had to walk a few miles BEFORE
i came To denoyer's. Grill i've since Bought Tom barlow's.
Cabin some college students are. Here they just listen to
me tell them why it's not a good idea to
go into those. Backwoods, yeah you just know they ain't gonna.
Listen much like when we were all here at this

(05:18:12):
cabin last, Year, today like a year, ago has a
blizzard about to come down on. Us just can't catch
a break during the winter In Feltner. COUNTY i point
in the direction of the. Backwoods i'm telling you people right,
now you go back in, there especially during this. Blizzard
all lay, odds none of you are gonna make it out.

(05:18:33):
Alive those things are in. There they'll trap and eat
you when you least expect. It that, is if no
ghouls get a hold of you. FIRST i know they
want to call me. Crazy they just say goodbye and
tell me they're heading in to look for. GAME i
shake my head slowly and watch them. LEAVE i try

(05:18:56):
telling them one last, time but they ain't. LISTENING i
watch as they pull out of my driveway and head
towards the backwoods Of. STRICKFIELD i go back in the
cabin and look at a picture of happier times Of
Veronica grande and me. Together THEN i look towards the
backwoods and know those idiots are going to run Into

(05:19:17):
veronica and are half. Siblings ALL i can do is
pray they make it out and live to tell the
tale the same WAY i barely. DID i put the
picture of me And veronica down and go put another
log on the. Fire as the blizzard, starts and, that

(05:19:43):
my Dear, spookies is another night sealed in, darkness three
tales of, blood, love and the terrible beauty of, revenge
all wrapped up in time For halloween's final. Approach this
is not the, end not even, close because here At

(05:20:05):
Weekly spooky we have something, haunting, chilling or downright monstrous
waiting for you every single day Of, october because one
night of horror is never. Enough so make sure you're
subscribed on your favorite podcasting apps because there's so much
more fear for your. Ears and we do this all year,

(05:20:29):
long not just In spooky, Season so Keep halloween alive
even Beyond october by. Subscribing so until, tomorrow keep that pumpkin,
lit keep your earbuds, close and join me again when
the next, scream whisper or nightmare arrives right on. Schedule until,

(05:20:53):
then sleep, Light dream, dark and of course stay, spooky,
hey

All Episodes

Spooky Halloween Horror Stories — Vampires, Revenge & Winter Frights

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know

Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang

Dateline NBC

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Spooky Halloween Horror Stories — Vampires, Revenge & Winter Frights