7 UNDERRATED Horror Stories you may have missed in 2023

Episode Transcript
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(00:02):
It was my best friend Luke's ideato form our own detective agency, inspired
by the shows we loved watching together. We lived on Brook Street in a
small town in Oregon, so wecalled ourselves the brook Street Sleuths. We
advertised our services on the community boardin Elmer's Market, which usually cost twenty

(00:24):
five cents a week, but misterElmer kindly allowed it for free. We
worked on various cases in the spaceof a month or so over one summer.
Who's been taking the blackberries from MissJacob's brambles? Solved almost everyone who
passed by? And lots of chipmunks? What made the small hole in Lowry's

(00:46):
front yard solved a chipmunk? Yeah, we had an abundance of chipmunks in
town, but not all the mysteriesinvolved the little critters. They were clearly
not miss to the adults who hideus. But the best thing about living
in that kind of community was thewillingness of our neighbors to contribute to our

(01:08):
idea of fun. Luke and Iwere rewarded with many sodas and candy bars
for our slothing skills. Despite oursuccess rate, the brook Street Sleuths was
a short lived agency. Our lastever case began with a very real mystery,

(01:29):
where is mister Page's dog? FrankPage was a retired widower then happened
to be my next door neighbor.His dog, Milo, a Yorkie,
was what Frank referred to as apain in the proverbial. Milo was an
expert escape artist. He was alwaysgetting out of the yard and causing mischief

(01:51):
in town, but would usually comeback home with his tail wagging after an
hour or two. One evening,we could hear from calling for Milo from
the doorstep. He had escaped asperr, but it had been several hours
and he still hadn't returned. Mydad offered to drive around the neighborhood to
look for him, but had nolock. The next morning, I helped

(02:16):
Frank make a missing poster. Westuck a photograph of Milow on a sheet
of paper using a glue stick,and I neatly wrote the details underneath in
black marker, as dictated by Frank. Then we went to Elmer's Market to
use the photocopier and made ten copies. It should have cost us a dollar,

(02:38):
but mister Elmer said there was nocharge and wished us luck in finding
him. Frank bought me a Cohleras a thank you. You're a good
kid, Ricky, he said,patting my back. I could hear he
was upset. We'll find him,mister Page, I said, The brook
Street sleuths are on the case.He chuckled. He's a piece of work,

(03:05):
but I'd be lost without him.I'll go knock for Luke just as
soon as we've put up these posters. We left one on the board in
Elmer's, then stuck the remaining posterson telegraph poles earned the two bus shelters
in town. I asked Frank ifI could keep hold of the original photograph
of Milo. That way I couldshow it to the local residents during our

(03:28):
investigation. Before I knocked for Luke, I went back home to tell my
parents. Don't wonder too far,Ricky said, Mom, and stay out
of the woods. I don't likethe thought of you boys in there alone.
There was a woodland area that linedthe back of town. I absolutely

(03:50):
planned on looking in there. Itold my mom I wouldn't though, of
course. I grabbed my bike androde to Luke's to fill him in on
the details. We rode around townand knocked on doors, asking if they'd
seen Milow. It was mostly unsuccessful, but one lady had some potentially useful

(04:11):
information now that I think about it, she said on a doorstep, I
did see a little dog snifing aroundthe brambles and Maple Road yesterday. Thank
you, ma'am, said Luke.We discussed it as we retrieved our bikes
from the end of the driveway.There are two houses on Maple Road with

(04:32):
brambles in the yard, he said, Miss Jacobs, I said, and
the Deans. Why did it haveto be the Deans. The Dean family
were not known for their warm communityspirit, especially the oldest son, Tommy.
He was a senior and notorious troublemaker who had caused Luke and I

(04:55):
a lot of grief. The familyalso had a much bigger, meaner dog
that would probably treat Marlowe as asnack. We'll go to miss Jacob's house
first, said Luke. If we'relucky, we won't have to go to
the Deans at all. We leftour bikes on the sidewalk and knocked on
Miss Jacob's door. Well, shesaid, warmly, if it isn't the

(05:21):
Brook Street sleuths, Hello, MissJacobs. We said in unison, what
can I do for you? Boys? We're looking for my neighbor, mister
Page's dog, I said, showingother photo. He went missing yesterday afternoon.
Oh no, she said, I'mfamiliar. I sometimes see him in

(05:45):
the yard by the brambles, butI haven't seen him for days. Thank
you anyway, Miss Jacobs said,Luke, of course, she said,
I'll keep my eye out. Ohand help yourselves the blackberries. As we
walked down Miss Jacob's pathway, welooked at each other with concern, knowing

(06:05):
we now had to visit the Deans. We took the opportunity to eat a
few of the ripened berries before bravingit, then wheeling our bikes to their
house. The yard wasn't as kempas the others in the neighborhood. It
was overgrown and there were scraps ofmetal from various vehicles darted around like a

(06:27):
junk yard. We slowly walked upthe path. As soon as we knocked
on the door, there came loudbarking from inside that made us jump,
followed by shouting. The door flewopen and mister Dean was standing there holding
back their monster of a dog bythe collar. We just barking at us

(06:47):
like crazy. Shut the hell up, he yelled down at it. It
quietened down but growled under its breath. What do you want, oh,
sir, I stuttered. We're askingaround to see if anyone has seen my
neighbor's dog. I took out thephoto he went missing yesterday. But what

(07:11):
makes you think I had anything todo with it? He snapped. It's
not like that, Sir, saidLuke. We're just asking if you've seen
him, that's all. He sometimeswanders around the neighborhood. Who do you
think you are, he said,Columbo or something. Luke and I turned
to each other like it had beena bad idea. I'm sorry to have

(07:33):
bothered you, Sir, I said, turning to leave. Believe me,
he said, if that rat hadbeen anywhere near here, Cain would have
sorted it out. The dog startedbarking again, and we hurried back down
the path. I don't want tosee you boys on my property again,

(07:53):
he yelled after us. I won'thold him back next time, he laughed
loudly. As we quit rode away, my heart beating hard. We stopped
around the corner to catch our breath. Then we started to laugh uncomfortably.
God, I hate that family,said Luke. We heard the roar of

(08:15):
an engine, and a ross bucketof a car came hurtling around the corner,
its tires screeching on the road.It was Tommy Dean behind the wheel.
When he noticed Luke and I,he gave us the finger and sped
away out of sight. So suspicious, I said, but maybe too obvious?

(08:39):
Luke shrugged. They're assholes. ButI think we need to investigate more
first, When it felt like we'dexhausted all avenues in town, I suggested
we look in the woods. Lukewas apprehensive, as like me, he
was forbidden from the woods without anadult. But it seemed logical that a

(09:01):
dog would be drawn to the woods, especially with all the chipmunks the chase.
If we do find Milo there,I said, we'll just pretend we
found him some place that won't getus in trouble. We looked round for
an hour or so, shouting Milo'sname from time to time. He got
to the point where we figured ifMilo was somewhere he could hear us,

(09:24):
he would have made himself known bynow. Before we left, we both
confessed to kneading the bathroom badly,so we went in opposite directions to find
a secluded spot to pe. Ricky. I heard Luke scream. After a
few minutes, I quickly finished andretrieved my bike. Where are you,

(09:48):
I yelled, my nerves on edgeover here, I saw him standing in
a small clearing and rushed over.What is it? I asked, out
of breath. He didn't answer.Luke had found what look like the sight
of a sacrificial ritual. There werestrange symbols drawn onto several tree trunks,

(10:11):
and what appeared to be blood.In the center was a slab of stone
with a chalk drawing of three triangles, all pointing the same way but overlapping
each other. In the center ofthat was a severed animal paw. It
had the same auburn colored fur asMilo's. Oh my god, I said

(10:35):
quietly. I really want to leavenow, said Luke in enormous whisper.
I nodded, YEA, come on. As I went to pick up my
bike, I saw a small satchelsitting by a log I walked over to
it. Luke, spotting it too, leave it, Ricky, He said,

(11:00):
it's evidence. I said, aboutto pick it up, but then
I remembered not to contaminate it.I used the stick to lift the flap
open and peek inside. There wasa pack of cigarettes and some school textbooks
seenior biology and math student. Isaid. I found a large leaf and

(11:22):
used it to cover my fingertips,opening the first page of the biology book
written in pencil in the top rightcorner Tommy Dean. A shiver went through
me, as I told Luke,we got on our bikes and rode like
the wind, heading straight to theSheriff's office. We burst in and both

(11:43):
started yelling whoa fellas, said DeputyCampbell from behind his desk. Calm yourselves,
now, what seems to be theproblem. We explained everything. Luke
and I were escorted back to thewoods to show the deputy what we had

(12:03):
found. Sweet Mother of Jesus,he said, calling it in. It
was a search conducted at the Dean'shouse. Inside Tommy's bedroom, they not
only found an ancient book of theoccult containing the very symbols found at the
scene, but also Milo's Carla.Apparently, he protested his innocence as they

(12:28):
took him in for questioning. Iheard all of this through the walls as
My parents talked about it that night, having been banished to my room.
Poor mister Page was devastated. Thedisturbing nature of it rocked our sleepy community.
But Luke and I were commended forour help in the investigation. We

(12:50):
both received honorary badges from the Sheriff'sdepartment, making us feel like real investigators.
After a couple of days, MissJacobs required our services again. My
mom was reluctant for me to carryon playing detective, as she called it,
but my dad talked to her.Around Luke and I went to visit

(13:11):
Miss Jacob's late afternoon and were greetedby a wonderful smell. Take a seat,
boys, she said, I beggedyou a BlackBerry pie cal let her.
Thank you for your services to thecommunity. Thanks, Miss Jacobs,
we both said together, excitedly,sitting in the dining table, where a

(13:35):
warm pie sat in the center.She cut two slices and plated them up,
handing us one each by an appetite, She smiled, taking a seat
as we started talking into the deliciouspie. Well done on your investigation.
That must have been quite a shockdiscovering such a gruesome scene. Luke nodded,

(14:01):
it was scary. It wasn't itricky? Yeah, I agreed,
but we handled it like professionals.She chuckled. I'm sure you did.
I always knew that Tommy Dean wasa rotten apple. I can't help but
wonder what it was all for,though I sacrifice that little dog. We

(14:24):
looked at each other and shrugged withmouthfuls of pie. And those symbols,
what did they mean? My dadsaid it was devil worship, said Luke.
I'm sure he's right, She said, to think I'd only seen that
poor dog a few hours before Tommytook him. I can't help but think

(14:45):
I could have done something to help. You couldn't have known, miss Jacobs,
I said, it's not your fault. She patted my hand. Thank
goodness, you heroes found those schoolbox of his had the scene. Imagine
what else he could have done ifit weren't for you, I tried to
think. Luke and I looked ateach other and smiled with pride. Excuse

(15:11):
me a moment, she said,I'll be right back. We're heroes,
I chuggled. When she'd left theroom. We found the villain and saved
the day, Luke giggled. Aswe kept tucking in, I couldn't help
but feel like something wasn't quite right. Then it hit me, Wait,

(15:33):
didn't Miss Jacob say she hadn't seenMilo for a few days when we were
investigating. He shrugged, Yeah so, but she just said she saw him
a few hours before Tommy took him. His brow furrowed. Oh yeah,
she's an old lady, though,Ricky, my grandma is very forgetful.

(15:58):
I contemplated it, but it stilldidn't feel right. My eyes widened.
The Sheriff's department didn't release the evidence, I said, quietly, how does
she know about the books? Luke'seyes widened to match mine. As Miss
Jacobs came back into the room,Will you look at that? She said,

(16:23):
you've almost finished your pie. Letme cut you another slice. No,
I said, clearing my throat.It was delicious, but very filling,
very well, she smiled, letme take this dish away. Then
when she lifted the pie dish,Luke and I both stared in horror.

(16:45):
Scratched in the wooden table with threetriangles overlapping each other. Oh yes,
she said, there was a mysteryfor you to solve, A mystery ingredient.
I wonder if you've got the detectiveskills to work it out. Luke

(17:06):
looked at me like he was aboutto cry, and I felt exactly the
same. He coughed a little andput his fingers to his mouth, pulling
something out. What is it,Luke, she said. He covered his
mouth like he was about to pukehair clue number one, she said,

(17:30):
and you ricky, I shook myhead. We'd like to leave now,
Miss Jacobs, nonsense, she said. She took my plate away and put
the pie dish in front of me. Go on, have a look.
I looked at Luke, who wasclearly terrified. My hands were shaking as

(17:53):
I picked up the fork and pulledpieces of pastry away. As I searched
the thick, dark purple filling myfork made a clink sound. I picked
it out with my fingers. Icould instantly feel what it was, a
long canine tooth. I threw itacross the table and pushed myself back,

(18:17):
grabbing Luke's arm. As you madea run for the door. It slam
shot, and the light that hadbeen coming through the windows dimmed. The
symbol on the table began to glowas if it was drawn in embers.
Luke and I had her arms aroundeach other as we sniveled, not being
able to comprehend what was happening.Miss Jacob smiled from across the room,

(18:41):
her hair flowing as if caught ina breeze. What are your findings,
she asked. The brook Street sleuthsmust be able to figure it out.
You killed mylow, I shouted,and the thought of it made me sick.

(19:03):
Bravo, she clapped, Make thesacrifice, feed the innocent. But
why, screamed Luke. I amfar older than any human should be.
She cackled, that takes a bitof dark magic to maintain. She grabbed
Luke and I tried to pull himaway from her, but with a flick

(19:26):
of her hand, I was forcedagainst the wall. She threw him down
onto the symbol, and he screamedout as smoke began to rise around him.
It burns, he screamed in pain. Leave him alone, I cried,
but she turned to me. Thefeatures that made her Miss Jacobs faded,

(19:47):
revealing something ancient and decayed. Blueskin hung from visible bones, empty
sockets, wispy strands of hair,teeth surrounded by split, leathery gums.
Your next ricky. She yelled deepand demonic. Her mouth opened wide,
and she took Luke's whole head inside. His arms and legs began to kick

(20:11):
about as I could hear muffled groanscoming from inside her. There were snapping
sounds as part of her dislocated likea snake to swallow him whole. Before
long, his shoulders could no longerbe seen. She made greedy, guturnal
noises as she forced his body downher throat. I was paralyzed against the

(20:33):
wall, forced to watch as mybest friend was eaten alive. I could
feel my mind snapping like her ancientbones. Luke's legs were still kicking as
she reached his knees, and herlong bony fingers gripped around his ankles to
push the last bit of him inside. There came a loud bang, something

(20:59):
that startled her as well as me. The doors of the dining room flew
open, and three officers burst intothe room, led by Deputy Campbell Jesus.
He yelled, taking aim at whatwas once Miss Jacobs. She wretched
and Luke's whole body slipped out ofher, collapsing on the table in a

(21:19):
cocoon of translucent goo. I fellfrom the wall and hit the floor hard
as the officers opened fire on her, forcing her back with a multi layered
scream. The window shattered and naturallight poured in, making a scream even
louder as if burnt by the rays. I ran to Luke and pulled him

(21:41):
from the table, relieved when hewas still breathing. The glowing symbol was
fading, and with a final shriek, the former Miss Jacobs became a cloud
of smoke that was seemingly sucked intothe symbol. Then everything when deathly silent
for a few seconds. As ithappened, Tommy Dean had managed to convince

(22:06):
the sheriff to investigate Miss Jacobs.He insisted that he had seen her on
his property and that is satchel couldn'tbe found afterwards. Thank god he did,
because Luke and I would not behere today if it wasn't for him.
We carry the mental scars, butwe live. Suffice to say,

(22:30):
the brook Street Sleuths were no moreafter that day. I never grew out
of my cartoon phase. From anearly age, I was drawn into the

(22:52):
colorful characters and upbeat voices. Thisis what led me to deep dive into
the creative process behind them in myteenage years and pursue it as a career
as an adult. When I landedmy first animation job, it was a
dream come true. I knew thehours were long, the time was thankless
compared to the more public names thatdo the voices and direction, but this

(23:17):
is what I wanted to do.However, as my time went on with
a fresh start up, I startedto notice something strange about my co workers.
For starters, the team was small. You would think this would be
a bottleneck for output, but theteam was efficient. They'd work late in
the night and be there for daysthat they weren't scheduled. I never knew

(23:42):
how early they showed up. AllI knew was that it was earlier than
me, no matter what time Istarted. This is often seen as a
negative in the animation industry. Overworkedand underpaid is a common sentiment. However,
this wasn't some strong arm move bymanagement. It was completely voluntary.

(24:07):
Whenever I asked any of them whatthey were working on, they'd be vague
and quickly changed the subject. Thiskind of evasive behavior was from the whole
team. But the strangest one ofall was the company's founder, a man
named mister Jones, who was alwaysin his personal office, door permanently closed

(24:29):
besides his goings in and out workingon some exclusive project. No one was
allowed to see, and it seemedit was only me that was curious.
He was a cold and calculating man, dead eyes, but he held himself
in a strong manner. No matterhow much I tried to justify this as
him just carrying himself the way aleader should, I always got a strange

(24:52):
feeling about him. As I continuedto work with the other members, I
quickly picked up on how talented theywere. It was how we got away
with such a small team despite theheavy amount of projects we took on.
They were multi specialists too, coloristsdoing shading, the sound team picking up

(25:14):
for the animation, tween us pitchingin for direction. There was never a
dropped beat in the flow of work, which made me feel pale in comparison,
having only specialized in animation. Despitetheir chemistry, everyone seemed distant,
almost robotic communication was just one stepaway from nonverbal. The startup was advertised

(25:38):
as new, but they acted likethey'd been working together for a lifetime.
The moment things began to unravel waswhen I had a meeting with the elusive
mister Jones. I was summoned tohis office to discuss a project I was
working on. As I entered,I couldn't help but feel a sense of
a knease. I felt this wasall of a sad to discuss my lack

(26:03):
of chemistry with the team. Thiswas the first time I'd seen any one
besides mister Jones enter what was deemedhis space, and it was me that
had the honor of crossing the threshold. Mister Jones sat behind his desk,
his eyes cold and calculating as helooked me up and down. He didn't

(26:25):
say a word for several moments,and the silent beats were almost suffocating if
this was some kind of CEO scattactic he was working. Finally, he
spoke, I've been watching your progresson your project and I must say that

(26:45):
I'm impressed, he said, hisvoice barely above a whisper. Your work
is truly exceptional, and I thinkyou have the potential to be one of
our top animators. I can't helpbut feel a sense of pride at his
words. All the extra time theothers put in yet I was the one

(27:06):
that stood out. It was aboost to my ego, to say the
least. Maybe the others were spreadtoo thin, covering for each other,
and I managed to stand out inmy one true field. But I couldn't
shake the feeling that he was hidingsomething from me. Thank you, mister
Jones, I said, trying tokeep my voice steady yet polite. I'm

(27:29):
glad you're pleased with my work.Oh I'm more than pleased, he replied,
his eyes narrowing. In fact,I think that you're ready to take
on a special project for me,a project that will take your skills to
the next level and truly showcase yourtalent. I was about to ask him
more about the project, but beforehe could speak, he stood up from

(27:53):
his desk and walked over to me. He placed his hand on my shoulder
and I could his cold clammy fingersgripping me tightly. You will work on
this project, and you will notspeak of it to anyone outside this company,
he said, his voice low andmenacing. Do you understand, I

(28:17):
nodded, feeling a sense of fearcoursing through my veins. I didn't know
what he was planning, and hegave no hints to what was about to
come. Mister Jones didn't make mesign any NDA's but I still felt the
pressure of legal come down if Iwere to breach this verbal agreement. As

(28:37):
I worked on the special project formister Jones, I couldn't help but notice
that there was something strange about theentire situation. For one, I was
never allowed to see any other finalanimations that were created by my new personal
team. Whenever I asked about them, I was met with yet more vague
answers and quickly read a eggs itto another task. I tried to brush

(29:02):
it off as just the way thingswere done at the company, but as
time went on, I couldn't shakethe feeling that there was something more sinister
at play. I started to noticethat the other members outside my team were
acting strange as well. They wereeven more secretive than usual, and they
always seemed to be on edge aroundme. I tried to talk to some

(29:26):
of my coworkers about it, butthey all shut me down. They told
me that I just needed to focuson my work in a manner that was
the closest human from any of myinteractions. I couldn't shake the feeling that
something was off. I knew thatI needed to find out what was really

(29:48):
going on, but I didn't knowhow. I was already making myself a
target with my questions. I wasstuck working on these special projects for mister
Jones, and I was afraid ofwhat would happen if I tried to dig
too deep. Something I picked upafter a few projects was that I never
knew who the clients were that commissionedthe animations or where they were going once

(30:12):
they were finished. Whenever I asked, I was yet again met with more
avoidance. I added it to yetmore things I'll never get to know,
But I couldn't shake the growing curiositybehind this company. The questions that true
to the forefront of my thoughts waswhat were these animations being used for?

(30:36):
One day, while working on aproject, I stumbled across a stack of
papers on mister Jones's desk. Itwas a rare time I was permitted to
enter a space since there were somemachines in there that had niche uses,
and was tasked to get one.The papers were all in voices and receipts,
and they were addressed to various governmentagencies from around the world. I

(31:02):
was stunned. I knew the clientsmust have been high profile for the boss
to make us churn them out withsuch urgency, but I didn't know he
went this deep. With this snippetof an answer, A flood of more
questions rushed at me, and itgot to w Renchel. When I looked
closer, the specific agencies listed werefrom branches i'd never heard of, acronyms

(31:26):
that weren't the obvious culprits to commononline conspiracy theories, names that sounded like
something from a sci fi movie.I quickly left with the equipment I needed
and hushed up about it, havinglearned to stop asking questions at the workplace.
When I got home, I searchedall the names I could remember online,

(31:48):
but nothing showed. I tried pairingit with the respective countries, and
it still came up blank. Iknew they must be real, because the
animations had to be going somewhere,so I tried the most direct answer I
could think of. I made sureto remember a specific branch, one based

(32:10):
in my own country. My planwas to call the public government number and
asked to be put through to thespecific branch. I dialed the number,
my heart pounding in my chest.I was nervous as the phone rang,
I waited anxiously for someone to answer. When someone picked up, it was

(32:32):
a polite woman asking how she couldhelp me, and I nervously asked to
be put through. Without a response, I was met with a strange clicking
sound and a high pitched tone.I was terrified, in a panic,
I hung up the phone immediately.I didn't know what was going on,

(32:54):
but I knew that I needed tobe careful. I didn't want to put
myself in any real danger. Itried to think of more ideas and left
it for the night. The nextday, as soon as I showed up
for work, mister Jones called meinto his office. He straightway let me

(33:15):
know that I was fired. Hegave some vague reasons about my performance not
being up to par, which Ifelt couldn't be true. I'd been praised
not too long ago about my outstandingperformance, and my workflow hadn't declined since
working the new position. In fact, it might have improved. I immediately

(33:37):
knew it was connected to the phonecall i'd made. I was angry and
upset at having lost my first animationjob. But I knew there was nothing
I could do. I bagged upmy things and left the office, feeling
a sense of dread. As Ileft, I was watched by the others
in a cold silence, their emotionlessstairs piercing through me, though not with

(34:02):
inflictions of embarrassment, but rather asense of malice. After being let go,
I continued to look for a newjob, but I struggled. I
tried to use the old company asa reference, but quickly learned that it
was impossible. When I called thecompany for a referral, the calls never

(34:24):
went through. I went back tothe office, but he was vacated.
Not even a drop of ink wasleft. I searched online for more information,
but the sites were now blank.It was as if the team never
existed. I didn't know what wasgoing on, so I tried to dig

(34:44):
deeper and look for the clients thatI remembered from the papers, but it
was impossible. I tried to doresearch about my old animation company, trying
to uncover what was really going on, but the more I looked, the
more frustrated I became. They coveredtheir tracks well if I couldn't find anything

(35:05):
out. While working there being thisdistant made everything much harder. Meanwhile,
I was still on the hunt fora new job. I struggled to explain
the gap in my work history betweennow and my education. Whenever I mentioned
the company, potential employers would lookat me with confusion. I started to

(35:25):
feel like I was going crazy.However, one day, while I was
being interviewed for another fresh animation team, I mentioned them again. The interviewer
looked at me with skepticism and toldme he hadn't heard of them before.
I was getting frustrated. I wasabout to explain further when a worker who

(35:47):
was passing by overheard our conversation andnodded his head. I went on to
bond the interview as usual and leftwhen outside worker quickly rushed over to me
and handed me a slip of paperwith his contact information. Please you have
to reach me, the worker saidurgently. I used to work there too,

(36:12):
was all he said, as herushed back inside. Leave me standing
there with the slip of paper inmy hand. When I got home,
I stared at the slipper paper thatwas given to me. It was obvious
he did it all in a rush. As the paper was hastily ripped from
one of the work documents he wascarrying, and the penmanship had holes from
how it was written, most likelyon the palm of his hand. I

(36:37):
didn't know if I could trust him, but if I wanted to investigate further,
I knew I had to take theplunge, so I decided to take
the risk and contact him. Isent him an email and waited anxiously for
a response. A few hours later, I got an answer. All it

(37:00):
contained was a link to a smallwebsite that documented one of the animations I
had briefly worked on. The websitewas some small conspiracal site that looked like
it was made with the most basictemplates, but what I read was wild.
It tried to correlate the animation releasesto a major political event and one

(37:22):
off is a coincidence, But everyexample given was so specific to each country
an event. I now knew more, but I had no idea where to
go from here. My curiosity wasalways thirsty, and this did nothing to
quench it. I was craving more. After this, though, my attempts

(37:45):
to contact the worker failed. Istarted to get worried, so I decided
to try to call the company wherethe worker was from, hoping to find
some new contact information, But whenI died the number, I was met
with a strange clicking sound and ahigh pitched tone. I lugged them up
and they too disappeared. After myattempts to contact the worker failed, things

(38:13):
started getting weirder. My friends andfamily seemed to be avoiding me. Whenever
I ran into them in town,they would walk away from me, as
if they didn't want to be seenwith me. It was as if I'd
somehow become a pariah, and thethought made me feel isolated and alone.
Even when I went to the storeto buy groceries, the cashiers would barely

(38:36):
acknowledge me. They would wordlessly serveme and take my money, but they
wouldn't make eye contact or engage inconversation. It was as if I was
poisonous air breath held until I wassafely away, and the thought made me
feel like I was losing my mind. And after everything, I was still

(38:57):
unable to find any solid information onmy own until one night I was flipping
through the channels or watching TV,and I came across an advertisement for a
worldwide premiere of a new cartoon.The cartoon was going to be translated into
multiple languages and broadcast around the world, and as I watched the advertisement,

(39:22):
I recognized some of the countries listed. They were the same countries that were
listed on the papers I had foundon mister Jones's desk. My eyes widened.
I don't know what's going to happen, but I can't shake the feeling
that something terrible is going to happen. The worldwide premiere of the new cartoon

(39:45):
is fast approaching. I don't knowwhat kind of effect this cartoon is going
to have on its viewers, butit's going to be something that's going to
happen on a grander scale than anythingwe had done before. I can't help
but worry about the future. We'dall heard the urban legends, heeded the

(40:20):
warnings, followed the rules to at. Well, most of us there
is Christian and I weren't like normalkids. We were always getting into trouble,
from playing hockey to shoplifting to goingon joy rides. We did it
all. We were, without adoubt, the most despised preteens in town.

(40:45):
Little do we know all that mischiefwould inevitably lead us to the worst
day of our lives. God,I wish I could take it back.
People in my town were always verysuperstitious. Not like, oh, you
spill the salt, throw a pincherover your left shoulder superstitious. No,

(41:09):
something happened here a long time ago, something sinister, something that still bears
its burden, and the townsfolk halfa century later. You see, back
in the seventies, kids started goingmissing, with disappearances always occurred at night,

(41:30):
always, and always in the samefashion. Parents would lock their homes
down tighter than Fort Knox, onlyto find the front door hanging wide open
the following morning. The kidnappings werebeginning to pile up. At the same
time that nightly reports of an icecream truck circling neighbourhoods began to flood into

(41:52):
the police station. Every time theauthorities were called, the truck would be
gone when they arrived, no matterthe response time. The strange thing was,
we didn't have an ice cream truckin the seventies. Hell, we
still don't. This has always beenthe kinder place where everyone knows everyone,

(42:16):
and none other families in town haveever owned an ice cream truck. Naturally,
people began to associate the truck withtheir disappearances. Obviously, people tried
to catch the mysterious abductor behind thewheel. That when the adults started going
missing, no one whoever confronted thedriver was ever seen again. The fear

(42:43):
was beginning to reach a boiling point. People panicked, families with children started
packing their things. Even some peoplewithout families at all were looking at relocating.
And then, just when nearly halfthe population was about to split,
it stopped the almost nightly kidnappings,the sightings of the ice cream truck,

(43:09):
all of it. The townsfolk nevertruly recovered. I mean, how could
they After that, Most families ofthe victims moved away, eventually losing any
hope of ever seeing their loved onesagain. Can't say have blamed them.

(43:30):
I wouldn't have stuck around after thateither. The ones who did stay grew
paranoid, so they did everything intheir power to ensure that nothing similar would
ever happen again. That, unfortunately, manifested into an extremely strict set of
rules. Girls aren't allowed to walkanywhere alone. The doors and windows that

(43:53):
every house must remain locked at alltimes, and of course, no one
a loud outside after dark for anyreason. The town shuts down well before
sundown as a not so subtle areminder. Growing up, I always thought
the stories when nonsense. I thoughthe was just another lazy excuse for parents

(44:16):
to keep a close eye in theirchildren to prevent us from causing mayhem.
I should have listened, Sarah forthe last time. I'm not sneaking out
with you tonight. You know therules. Christin whispered, tapping the eraser
on his pencil against his notebook absentmindedly. Come on, this is the

(44:40):
one rule we haven't broken yet.You spray painted off as a Dawkins police
cruiser, and this is what you'reafraid of. I'm not scared. This
is different. It's something sacred.You've lived here for just as long as
I have. You should know thathe hissed, pretending the dial into Missus
Huckabee's my numbing lecture on mitosis.Aren't you at least a little curious?

(45:06):
You can't seriously tell me you'd neverwondered about going out at night. There's
got to be something more than they'reletting on. Sarah. I'm not going
with you. If you want torisk your life by going out after dark.
Go right ahead, but leave meout of it, Christian said,
with a stern finality in his tone. I never seen him so serious about

(45:29):
anything before, and that frightened me. Remodeled to the remainder of the class
in silence. Christian gave me thecold shoulder. All day. I was
beginning to wonder if I'd overstepped.I'll give you some time to blow over.

(45:50):
I had just finished cramming my textboxinto my locker when Christian approached me.
I jumped, nearly dropping my backpack. I hadn't expect to see him
again that day. What's up,dude, thought you're going to make me
walk home alone? He locked eyeswith me, sending a chill creeping up
my spine. A bit of determinationwas scrawled across his visage. I'll go

(46:16):
with you. I was taken aback. It'd been so adamant earlier. What
changed? Are you sure? Imean, I don't want to go if
you're not comfortable with it, I'msure I have to know, he said,
averting his gaze. Okay, we'llmeet at your house at midnight.

(46:38):
Sound good? Yeah? Christian sheepishlyglanced up at me. And you didn't
seriously think i'd let you walk homeby yourself, did you, I giggled,
flashing him a grin. No,I guess I didn't. Christian was
seemingly back to his old self andthe way from school. I listened intently

(47:02):
as he babbled on about his latestrevenge scheme. He was planning on setting
off a fart bomb in Becky Nelson'slocker for snitching on him. I didn't
care if I was being suckered intoanother one of his devious pranks. I
was just happy that things were backto normal between us. I'm gonna make
a pay christianist smashing his fist intohis palm. Can't wait to see the

(47:28):
lock on her ugly assed face.Anyway, I'll see you tonight, I
said, as I trudged up mydriveway. You bet. We waved goodbye
to each other, and I watchedas Christian continued down the sidewalk. Midnight
couldn't come quickly enough. I giddlyawaited nightfall. I felt as though my

(47:52):
heart would burst from my chest atany given moment. My adrenaline always spiked
before one of our little misadventures.I was watching the time like a hawk.
My parents had already turned in forthe night, so I was left
to my own devices. That wasa dangerous game. My eyes were glued

(48:16):
to the numbers of my phone screen. Eleven fifty eight pm. It was
so close, and that's when Iheard it clunk. Something hard pelted my
window. My eyes grew wide,and a smile inched across my lips.

(48:39):
As I raised to the sauce.Christian was standing outside, his arms cocked
like a quarterback. Oh there youare, hey, he said, dropping
the rock in his hand. Dude, you skip the hell out of me.
Weren't we supposed to meet your place? And why didn't you just text
me like a normal person. Sorry, I got restless, he muttered,

(49:02):
staring at his feet. My parentstook my phone last week. Remember.
Oh yeah, I'm not sure I'veforgot Coming down, I said, cautiously,
climbing out and steadying myself on thestep ladder that I strategically placed below
my window. I hopped down fromthe last step, landing in the grass

(49:23):
with a soft thumb. Ready,I said, eager to set off.
Yeah, let's go, Christian said, taking my hand. I blushed,
and he quickly recoiled. Even inthe dim yellow light provided by the street
lamps. I could tell that hisface was bright red. Ah Um,

(49:46):
I'm sorry. I didn't mean todo that. I just want to get
going, is all. No,No, you could, I get it.
There was a long, awkward pausebefore Christian spoke off, So where
are we going? Aha? Idon't know. I hadn't thought this fire

(50:07):
ahead. Where'd you want to go? How about the park might be kind
of fun with no kids around thepark. It is lead the way,
I said, dramatically, extending myarm. A big goofy grin plastered itself
on Christian's face as he willingly obliged. We walked in silence, drinking in

(50:29):
the scene around us. We passedby dozens of houses, their looming presents
lending and unsettling air to the stillnessof the night. The faint light cast
an eerie glow that glinted off theirwindows, making my blood run cold.
Another strange thing I noticed was thatit was deathly quiet. The only sounds

(50:53):
we heard were our own light footfallsagainst the pavement and the blood rushing in
our ears. There were no noisesfrom creatures of the night, no bugs,
no frogs, nothing. We couldn'teven hear any crickets chirping, and
that sent a chill down my spine. I was sweating bullets by the time

(51:16):
we arrived at the playground. Christianlooked and fazed, but I highly suspected
that he was putting on a front. Don't get me wrong, Christian was
one tough cookie, but truth betold, I was the braver of the
two of us. Usually, ifI was feeling on edge, he'd be

(51:38):
ten times worse off. We ploppeddown and adjacent swings. I cringed as
the rusted metal swing set creaked andgroaned under our weight. Even though we
were alone, I couldn't shake thefeeling that we were being watched, like
something sinister knew we were there.I shuddered at the thought that something evil

(52:01):
might be lurking in the darkness,waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
I told myself that I was freakingout over nothing, but I couldn't stop
intermittently peeking into the shadow veiled treesbehind us. I was seriously beginning to
regret leaving the safety of my home. So, Sarah, is it just

(52:27):
me or is this place, thistown? Does it feel like there's a
presence, you know, like we'renot the only ones out here. He
kept his voice hushed, like hewas afraid that someone else would hear him.
Yeah, I feel it too.It's really creepy, I said,

(52:50):
sensing the oppressive way of that feelingslightly lift from my shoulders. It was
nice to know a Christian felt ittoo. Christians stared off into the mulch
at our feet. He looked lostand thought as if his body was there,
but his mind was in some faroff dimension. You know, I

(53:13):
wasn't originally planning to come with you. There's a reason I chose to come
out to night, he sighed,a very ambition written across his features.
There was something who was hiding fromme, but I good sense that he
was slowly mustering up the courage totell me what it was. So,

(53:35):
I know you've all heard the storiesabout the ice cream truck that went around
abducting kids in the seventies, andI know that you think it's all a
pile of steaming nonsense, But it'snot, he paused, searching my face
for a reaction. How can yoube so sure? We went a life

(53:55):
back then. So my uncle wasone of the two who were kidnapped.
My heart plummeted into my gut,not for the fact that Christian was related
to someone who was taken, butthat the stories were true. Christian,

(54:15):
I'm so sorry. I didn't know. It's okay, he said, interrupting
me again. He was three whenit happened. It's been decades, but
I don't think Dad ever really forgavehimself. He was only five at the
time, but he feels like heshould have done more. He won't tell
me that, but I know Ican see it in his eyes. It

(54:39):
still tears him up even now.The tear began to trickle down Christian's cheek,
but he quickly swiped it away.I know it's stupid of me,
but I just had to know ifit was true, if that thing was
still around. I was honestly sohoping that it would be. I know

(55:01):
I don't stand much of a chanceof killing whoever's behind it, but this
might help a bit, right,He gragged a smile and flashed the sharp
black switchblade. Yeah, I thinkthat would help your chances a bit,
I juggled. You know, Iwouldn't let you fight alone either. Hate

(55:22):
the bursty bubble, though I don'tthink it will run into that thing tonight.
Yeah, you're probably right, Christiansaid, standing from his swing.
Let's go home works for me.I've seen enough. I joined him and
we began to make our way backtowards our houses. We'd only made it

(55:46):
to the street when I heard it, a jingle. The sound sliced through
the silence like a rusty knife.It was slow, but something about it
was wrong. Christian and I glancedat each other, eyes wide as saucers.

(56:12):
My heart thumped furiously against my chest. As it grew closer. It
blared, the tune of London bridgesfalling down, intertwined with the sound of
a jack in the box cranking up, sending waves of panic rippling through me
at every interval. And then itslowly rolled into view. A white truck

(56:35):
rounded the corner to the street wewere standing on. A comically large pink
ice cream cone was perched to thetop it, facing the sky like a
rocket ready for lift off. Thewindows were tinted to the point that I
couldn't see who or what was behindthe wheel. I wanted to run,
to scream, to hide anything,but I was paralyzed with fear. The

(57:04):
truck crept closer and closer, dreadseeped into my bones. I didn't know
what to do. Eventually it passed. I gawked at it, drinking in
all the different selections pasted on theside, and then it stopped directly in

(57:25):
front of us. The music cutout, bathing the night, and then
all encompassing silence. My breath hitchedin my throat, waiting for something to
happen. Without warning, the backdoors of the ice cream truck swung open.
I looked at Christian. His horrifiedexpression had melted into one of curiosity.

(57:52):
He began to make his way towardthe open truck. His legs moved
like they had a mind of theroan, dragging himself closer and closer.
To this day, I don't knowwhy, but I didn't even try to
stop him. Now I joined him. I can't explain it, but there

(58:16):
was something alluring about that truck,something that effortlessly took hold of me and
pulled me in, and I waspowerless to stop it. We both tentatively
walked closer, coming to a haltdirectly behind it. I paid inside my
mouth agape. It was spotless,a sparkling white interior with rows upon rows

(58:43):
of freezers shined inside, you boastedevery flavor of ice cream you could imagine.
At that moment, I wanted nothingmore than to step into the back
of that truck and try every variationof ice cream had add to Nothing bad
would happen. It was just anice cream truck, after all. Christian

(59:07):
stepped in before I could react.He turned back to me, out stretching
a hand to hoist me up.I didn't even have a chance to take
it. The doors suddenly slam shut, locking Christian inside. I'll never forget

(59:28):
the look of abject fear on hisface. In that split second before the
doors closed, I was ripped frommy stupor as the ice cream truck flowed
it down the road. Its tiressquealed as it went, leaving me standing
alone under a street lamp. Ibroke down, fat tears streaming down my

(59:50):
cheeks as I bolted home. Icouldn't lose Christian. He was the only
real friend I'd ever had. Iburst through my front door, or spooning
nonsense to my parents as I crumbledto the ground of their feet. I
didn't care if I'd get in troubleanymore. I just wanted to find a
way to bring my friend back.The police were called, Christian's parents were

(01:00:15):
notified, and a search party wasassembled. I don't think I need to
tell you that they didn't find him. Christian is still missing to this day.
I was never the same after that. It didn't matter how much time

(01:00:35):
passed, how many therapy sessions Iattended, how hard I tried to forget.
That image of Christian's terrified face isstill burned into my memory. But
there's something that chills me even morethan that look of pure dread scrawled across
my best friend's countenance, something thatI still can't can't comprehend. When I

(01:01:02):
peered into the back of that icecream truck, there was no one behind
the wheel. So why am Itelling you this? Why? Now?
Well, my son went missing lastnight. I awoke with a start next

(01:01:25):
to my snoring husband. A sinkingpit of dread sank into my stomach when
that horrible tune met my ears,London Bridge is falling down. I raced
to the front door, who waswide open. I watched helplessly as my

(01:01:46):
baby boy climbed into the back ofthat truck. I couldn't even scream.
I was rooted in fear, justlike I had been on that night two
decades ago. A surge of paniccoursed through my veins like venom, because
as the ice cream truck sped awaywith my child, I noticed that the

(01:02:10):
window was rolled down, and Iswear for a split second I saw Christian
wink at me from the driver's seat. I'm never quite sure if I was

(01:02:36):
just stupid when I missed the signs, or if I'm just a normal person.
Sarah I was very sweet on thesurface. She ticked all the boxes,
even if she was a bit awkward, But so what people are awkward?
I tried to look past the littlethings. I mean, we can

(01:02:57):
all be a bit weird, can'twe, especially when we get nervous.
But Sarah was odd in a waythat, in hindsight, maybe I should
have taken more seriously on their own. All the little signs seemed quite innocuous
at the start. She was veryhands on during dates, pinching and grabbing

(01:03:19):
and winking. She'd make these hilariousinnuendos and constantly towed the line of what
was and wasn't appropriate. I likea woman with a dark sense of humor,
and she had that in spades,but she pulled away if I tried
to reciprocate. And I realized earlyon that intimacy wouldn't be on the cards

(01:03:43):
for a long time, and Iwas fine with that. I wasn't in
a hurry. And yet she continuedto send mixed signals. She'd ask for
photos almost every night. Girls don'tnormally ask for full length. It was
weird, and taking a good picturewasn't as easy as I thought it would

(01:04:05):
be. I always thought I lookedweird in that kind of full body vertical
picture, but she was always happywith what I sent. She had a
lot of requests. One was tosee me lying on the floor, eyes
closed, arms to either side ofmy back. She liked that. One

(01:04:27):
one time she made me do astrip tease with a white sheet, slowly
pulling it down in one picture afterthe other. This went on for the
first month. I'd say I senther pictures, she sent me some.
We talked a lot about what weeach wanted. It was kind of fun
and kinky, like we were takingturns being each other's long distance model.

(01:04:50):
And as a guy, I don'tusually get to enjoy the feeling of being
a promiscuous object. I normally feellike my sexiness is tied to some kind
of perform moments. It was noveland exciting to be valued as just a
physical being. We never really figuredI had an exhibition at Streak, or

(01:05:10):
that that was something that women wantedmuch of, But she did and I
didn't dislike it. Sharing all this, we continued to meet up once or
twice a week for food. Itseemed like we had a little thing going
that might one day become something real. We never did spend the night together.

(01:05:33):
First time I thought it was goingto happen was after I sent a
photo of me lying on my kitchenfloor. The white towels freezed my ass
the whole time. An hour afterI sent the photo, she appeared on
my doorstep without warning, hair soaking, wet and smelling of booze. As
soon as she saw me, shegrabbed me, guided me to the sofa,

(01:05:55):
then climbed on top and started kissingme hard. She was handsy,
but it never went past over theclothes stuff, just hot, heavy,
and well, not all that good. Do you ever wonder if some people
are bad at intimacy stuff because noone tells them the truth. It was

(01:06:19):
like she was trying to suck theair out of my lungs. I've had
better kisses off my dog. Shegot a lot of points for enthusiasm.
Don't get me wrong, I've neverhad anyone grote me and touch me with
such raw passion before. But wheneverI tried to match her energy, it
got the sense she didn't really carefor it. She never reacted or moaned

(01:06:44):
or gave off nonverbal cues to belike do that more. It was all
about her touching me, never viceversa. After maybe twenty minutes of this
over the clothes fumbling, she askedme to lie down on the floor or
I had no idea where this wasgoing, so I did. Can you

(01:07:05):
hold your breath, she asked asshe looked down at me. All of
a sudden, I felt very small, and there were lots of thoughts going
through my head. I'm pretty surethere was nothing I wouldn't have done for
it in that moment, although notnecessarily because I wanted to. It was

(01:07:25):
just an intensity to ustare and shrunkme down until I was the size of
an ant. So I held mybreath. I held it so long my
lungs burned and my head swam untilI couldn't do it any longer. When
I opened my eyes, she waslooking down at me with so much hunger

(01:07:46):
in her eyes. I actually gota little scared. Admittedly, I sort
of liked it. She paused fora moment, drinking me in, and
then said she had better get going, she had work in the morning.
We kissed at the door, andher hand roamed all over my back.

(01:08:11):
I was called by that point,and her hands felt so warm I swore
something was about to happen, butshe simply left me standing there. It
was confusing and frustrating, so muchso I almost didn't call her back.
But she had a kind of commandingenergy about her, a deep awareness of

(01:08:34):
what she did and didn't want.That It was just enough for me to
keep replying to her text After thatnight. I always laid on my kitchen
floor when she asked for a photo, but it never really had the same
effect of getting her to my doorstep. Still, she became a regular

(01:08:54):
fixture in my life, and prettysoon I hoped we might get close to
something a bit more serious. Ilooked for signs that she thought the same
thing, but the going was damnslow. By the time winter rolled around.
We'd been on and off for sixmonths, and just about the only
thing that actually changed was the wayshe kept holding my hand. She'd take

(01:09:17):
my cold hands between her own andhold them against her cheek and neck,
maybe even a chest at times.It was quite nice. It took a
while, but I managed to swingher around into another home visit. You
can guess what I was hoping for, but she actually made us spend most

(01:09:39):
of our time out on the balconywatching the stars, cuddling together in the
freezing cold. She made me giveher my jacket as well, even when
I offered to get a one frominside, it had to be the one
I was wearing, and she wouldn'tlet me replace it. By the time
we went back in, I feltlike I was close to getting pneumonia,

(01:10:02):
and the shock of the warm airleft me feeling dizzy. Lie down,
she begged me, Lie in thefloor. I have an idea. I
was shaking by this point, thetips of my fingers ice blue. When
she came back over, she hada glass of red wine. She stood

(01:10:23):
over me, warming the glass inher hands before giving me clear instruction.
Sip some, she said, andkeep it in your mouth. Close your
eyes, don't open them, anddon't swallow the wine. I don't even
like wine, and I was prettyirritated by the whole thing. But there

(01:10:44):
was a tension in the air,something about her electric anticipation that infected me.
I didn't know what was happening,and in the past, when I
felt that way, it sometimes ledto me having new and exciting experiences out
of nowhere. She kissed me,pushing her tongue into the lukewarm wine until

(01:11:08):
it dribbled messily out of the cornersof my lips. At the same time,
and in one swift motion, shepressed the heel of her hand into
my diaphragm and pushed so hard thatthe wine gushed out of my mouth and
into hers. I started coughing.She did too. My immediate reaction was

(01:11:29):
that kind of irritation you can't hide. It actually ticked me off. It
was surprising in all the wrong ways, and given what I may be hoped
to was coming, it just meantall the disappointment turned into outright frustration.
All I'd wanted was a normal kiss, some sign of basic normal affection.

(01:11:54):
Did she even realize how terrible Ifelt? Have to freeze my ass off
on the balcony so she could feellike some gentle I was given her my
jacket. I pushed her off megently but firm. Let's not do that
again, I said, choking atthe words. What were you trying to
do? Nothing? She cried,It was nothing, just something different.

(01:12:17):
She seemed sincerely, regretful and sorry. But I was half naked, horny,
irritated, and freezing cold. Ididn't ask her to leave, but
she clearly sensed the changing atmosphere andmade some excuse. I wiped myself down
while she went to the toilet,and when she emerged, I greeted her

(01:12:40):
with her handbag and keys. Ididn't even walk her to the door.
Instead, as she looked at mewith a sort of sad pow from the
door, I simply ignored her andbegan to mop the kitchen floor. Looks
like a damn murder scene, Igrumbled. She may have said something before

(01:13:01):
she left, but I didn't lookup until I heard the door close.
After that, we didn't speak fora while. Now, this is a
very typical thing for me to do, but over the next few days I
did a little retrospective on our datesand realized I'd beden the one putting in

(01:13:23):
all the work. It was alwaysme escalating, asking for dates, phone
calls, trying to move things betweenus forward. I figured if there was
any chance of a real relationship,then she'd have to just come back and
apologize and explain her behavior and bethe one to reach out for once.

(01:13:44):
Of course, at the exact sametime, I couldn't get her out of
my head. Maybe she'd just beenclumsy. I thought, maybe she was
nervous. I couldn't get my headaround the wine thing. It seems so
random. I'm more familiar with theusual BDSM stuff people like. If I
could have pinned her actions down tosome specific kink, I could have more

(01:14:08):
confidently figured if we were compatible ornot. But without more information, I
was just well and truly confused.I wanted to like her, but if
there was no chance of us workingout, if we were just incompatible,
then I wanted closure. As itwas, I didn't have a clue what

(01:14:30):
we were, but what the hellwe've been doing either way? When she
finally text asking if I'd like topick her up after work, I agreed.
I wanted closure, and maybe Iimagined it, but something about her
tone seemed a little contrite. Herfeeling was reinforced when I met her in

(01:14:53):
the parking lot of the hospital whereshe worked, and I found her sitting
on the hood of her car ina breath taking red dress. As soon
as I was out of the car, she took my hand and told me
she'd set up a little date forus, something special, and that she'd
finally make it all up to me. The way she kissed me, the

(01:15:15):
way she guided my hand along awaist, there was something so utterly different
about it, so committed that Iimmediately knew she wanted to go the whole
way. I could just tell she'dfinally made a decision, a threshold had
been crossed, and I wanted togo see where this would lead. She

(01:15:36):
didn't work at the hospital itself,but rather took me off to a building
on the same ground. It wasa quiet, little red brick thing,
just two floors from the outside,and I wondered what it was exactly that
she did. Inside. There wasa chemical smell I was pretty overwhelming,

(01:15:56):
but at first glance it seemed likea simple GP office. There was a
little reception area with one or twochairs, a small countertop with some computers
and a bunch of back offices.This was after ours, so no one
else was there, only a fewdim lights in the reception area. Everywhere
else was dark. She quickly disappearedupstairs, telling me she was going to

(01:16:21):
slip into something more comfortable, andI settled down for a short wait.
At least she locked the door behindus so no one else could come in.
I took that as a good sign, but I still felt pretty uncertain.
Where were we and why the helldid she pick this place for our

(01:16:42):
date. I tried to sit down, but it felt too strange, like
waiting for the dentist, so Istood and shoveled around a bit instead,
listening to the muffled dumps of whateverthe hell she was doing upstairs. Outside,
it was starting to get dark,Fewer and fewer cars were going past,

(01:17:03):
and it was raining heavily, allof which made that little room feel
even like a lonely little corner ofthe world, well hidden and out of
the way, even though the hospitalwas clearly visible, with heavy traffic not
far behind it. There wasn't muchelse to do except snoop, and I

(01:17:26):
quickly noticed the door had been leftslightly Ajar like someone had forgotten to shut
it. It was the only doorI could reach without climbing over something,
so my curiosity got the better ofme. I approached it and got maybe
two feet away before I realized itwas the source of that damn chemical smell.

(01:17:49):
Once I realized that I had totake a look inside, just so
I could know for sure what thehell it was, I tried pushing it
up open an inch or two andpeeking inside, but it was pitch black
in there. So I pushed itopen a little further, and using my
phone light, I saw that therewere a set of stairs going down into

(01:18:13):
a basement. More thumps from upstairstold me she wasn't going to come down
anytime soon. I had time tocheck, so I went down a step
and tried seeing if that helped,but there was nothing. So I went
down another and then another, untilsuddenly a set of automatic lights came on,

(01:18:36):
with a loud thung and the risingwhine of fluorescence coming to life.
I'm not sure what I expected forwhat I saw. At first, it
left me dumb struck, but thenI don't know. It was a sterile

(01:18:57):
room with white speckled tiles. Afew countertops running along the walls covered in
silver instruments. I didn't recognize onewall covered in a regular grid of metal
cupboard doors and three steel slabs inthe center of the room. One of
them was occupied a vaguely human shapecovered by a white shroud a lone foot

(01:19:21):
of a man sticking out of thebottom. Something about the strange coloring and
texture of the skin immediately let meknow he wasn't having a nap. That
and the toe tag was a prettyobvious clue. It was a morgue.
She worked in the morgue, andit was here, of all places she'd

(01:19:45):
decided to set our final date.My initial reaction was to want to go
upstairs and confront her, get angry, let it out, and just leave
after making her unlock the door.But something stopped me. I can't say
for shore what. As quickly asit came, the anger left me,

(01:20:09):
and I was left with a kindof horrified curiosity, an idea I couldn't
even put to words in the privacyof my own head. Instead of turning
around and leaving, I waited afew seconds to make sure she wasn't coming
down right behind me, and Ibegan to descend the rest of the way.

(01:20:31):
The walk to the body felt likea ten mile hike. Every step
was too loud, every breath anervous shivering exhulation. The elecant might burst
into a gasp at any moment.I was terrified. I couldn't help but
imagine that faceless shape turning to lookat me, or sitting upright in one

(01:20:54):
smooth motion. I quickly realized whyghosts I stereotypically portrayed as walking sheet.
Someone must have had the same thought. I had the imagined scene of a
shroud covered body moving swiftly towards youin the dark. Hell of a time
for my brain to play those kindsof games with me, But that curiosity

(01:21:16):
drove me on. I couldn't walkaway, not now. Before I knew
it, I was stood by thebody, and with a shaking hand,
I pulled back the sheet. Helooked like me vaguely. I think we

(01:21:38):
would have probably been a close matchbefore the bloating same hair, collar,
same face, shape, same ethnicity, age, so on. For a
moment, I considered the idea thatmaybe Sarah was just a very weird woman.
People get desensitized to this kind ofstuff all the time, and to

(01:21:59):
her the building were in might justbe a nice empty place to bring a
date. But that body on thatslab, I don't know how to describe
it, but it set something offin me, a kind of slow rising
dread. I'm not sure why Idid what I did next, but I

(01:22:19):
couldn't stop thinking of that strange nightwhen she pushed against my chest and sent
wine dribbling out my mouth, soutterly bizarre. But maybe I placed my
hand against the man's cold flesh,heeled to the diaphragm and applied pressure.

(01:22:42):
He animated like a puppet, abrief gasp of air, followed by curdled
blood flowing out of his mouth.Black and yellow and red halletts, platelets,
and plasmas separated with time into athick soup. When the smell hit
me, I couldn't help but besick, and as I hunched over the

(01:23:03):
nearby drain and emptied my body ofall my vomit and bile, images of
my time with Sarah flashed through mymind. The photos of me nude lying
on the white tile floor, theuse of the blanket to cover my chest,
her vexation, and my cold handsA night spent freezing in my balcony,

(01:23:24):
filling my mouth with wine and forcingit back out with a shove to
the chest. I lugged at thebody and quickly understood how and why she
discovered what happens when you apply pressureto the chest. The image was crystal
clear in my mind. The mentalimage of her slender frame straddling the bloated

(01:23:45):
men before me was as unpleasant andinescapable as nails and a chalkboard. Unable
to shake it, I hunched overonce more and was sick again, this
time until my eyes watered and therewas nothing left but saliva and bile.
I felt violated. I wanted toleave. I no longer felt angry or

(01:24:13):
confused. Instead, every moment ofthe last six months fell into place,
and a pattern emerged that terrified me. She wasn't meandering or clueless. Everything
she'd done had been moving towards thisone night, with me here, locked
in this place, with no oneto call for help. I'd blundered into

(01:24:33):
what might just be the most dangeroussituation of my life. And now I
was too deep into the trap tojust blindly panic on the ground and inner
room with only one exit, Ihad to be careful. She was up
there somewhere, maybe clueless about whatI'd realized, maybe not. She seemed

(01:24:58):
small enough, but a through glancedat some of the glinting blades on the
nearby work surface told me she didn'thave to be a bodybuilder to hurt me.
Any one of those razor sharp instrumentscould work its way into the meat
of my neck with very little effort. Sooner or later she'd realize where I
was. Sooner or later, thisplan of hers had to have an endgame.

(01:25:25):
I looked up the stairs. Ifshe came down from the top floor,
she'd see the lights from this room, and it would be obvious to
anyone where I'd gone. I wastorn. Do I go up and pretend
I saw nothing? I thought abouthaving to go up there and lie my
way through some aw good encounter.Oh, I'm feeling a little unwell.

(01:25:48):
I have to skip polite smile,nod. Could I stomach even that brief
exchange? And that's if she boughtit, and it required that the next
step of a planet involved me consciousor alive. I thought of her attacking
me out of nowhere with a scalpel, silently dragging it across my throat,

(01:26:10):
letting that surgical blade bite into cartilage. She was small, but so what.
I had no idea what she wasplanning or where she was lurking.
Walking into an ambush and toughing itout didn't seem like the best of plans.
What I wanted was distant. Ijust needed a door or a window.

(01:26:33):
I just had to avoid her.My first instinct had been to get
out of the basement, and Iwanted to go with it, but the
strange sounds coming from upstairs made methink she might have finally come to find
reception empty. Terrified, I lookedaround, desperate for some way out or

(01:26:55):
maybe even a good hiding spot.Just about every bad idea you can I
think of went through my head,including swapping myself out for the corpse.
I nearly laughed at the stupidity ofit, but my attention had been pulled
to the mog drawers, and witha sinking feeling in my gut, I
slowly realized there was nowhere else inthat room large enough to hide a person.

(01:27:20):
Michael. The voice was muffled anddistant, but I could tell she
was finally looking for me. Thiswas really fast becoming a now and never
moment. With a deep breath,I pulled at the first drawer I saw,
and felt bittersweet relief that it wasempty. I wasn't sure I could

(01:27:43):
go through with this, but atleast it hadn't been already occupied with a
rising gorge. I climbed inside feetfirst, slid myself back into the darkness,
try my best not to think ofa pair of cold hands snatching my
ankles, and then quickly pulled thedoor shut. I'd barely heard a click
when there came the sound of footstepsdown the stairs. They stopped halfway,

(01:28:10):
and I clearly heard a hiss damnunder her breath before turning back around and
returning upstairs. She must have figuredI'd seen the bodies and run off somewhere
else. Wherever that might take her, it had at least brought me time.
I opened the door using the internallatch, while pushing aside more bed

(01:28:31):
questions of why that feature was evennecessary, and stepped out as quietly as
I could onto the tile steps.After that, I scaled the stairs as
silently as I could manage, andmade my way to the door at the
top of the basement. She hadthankfully left it a char once again,
bit of a habit of hers,I assumed, and peeped through into the

(01:28:56):
darkness beyond. In the time Im had been in the basement, the
sun had fully set, and nowthere were only the lights of passing cars
to illuminate reception. Bright and berlight with hard edges swept across the room,
one after the other with strange irregularity. They made for an unpredictable insight

(01:29:19):
into the room's components, a chair, a computer, a countertop. I
had to squint and wait patiently fora few of them to go by before
I realized one of the back office'sdoors were open, and there was the
sound of frustrated footsteps coming from within. She was distracted, and this was

(01:29:42):
my best chance of getting out.I tiptoed out of the basement and listened
carefully. She occasionally hissed an angryrefrain to herself, opening what sounded like
cabinet doors. Why you doing this, Michael, she whined, and I
was surprised that she sounded not malevolent, but sad and pitiful, like an

(01:30:08):
upset teenager. She was genuinely confusedby my reaction. For a brief moment,
I dared to wonder if my imaginationhad gotten the better of me.
Right there on the counter was abottle of wine and two glasses. Maybe
she really was just intending for anormal date, and I'd made connections that

(01:30:30):
were never really there. But inmy mind I saw that corpse bloated and
bloody once again, and ultimately decidedI was better safe than sorry. A
quick check at the front door showedwho was still locked, and so with
nowhere else to go, I wentup another floor, careful to stop every

(01:30:54):
step or two and listen for signsshe had changed course. Thankfully, I
was at the top step by thetime I heard her leave the office and
enter another Come on, she cried, why are you being like this?
I wasn't sure what my game planwas. I figured my best chance was

(01:31:15):
a window. I was already tryingto start tearing the top floor apart when
I was stopped dead in my tracksby what I saw. There were a
few rooms on the top floor,but only one of them had an open
door and the lights turned on.What I saw inside hit me so hard
I stopped dead in my tracks andled out a gasp. It was covered

(01:31:41):
in plastic crap. Top to bottomfloors, walls, and ceiling. The
small white table had been set upin one corner, and on it lay
three open pill bottles, a hacksaw, and several scalpels. Seeing all
that stuff, getting such an upfrontsight into what she had planned, it

(01:32:01):
all made my damn skin crawl.That and the bottle of lotion made me
want to be sick. Suppressing theurge to gag, I decided none of
that really mattered, because and thiswasn't a great surprise. She had picked
a room with a large and easyto open window. I pushed the side

(01:32:23):
of the plastic sheeting and opened itto find the drop below was in anywhere
near as bad as the thought ofspending another second in that damn room.
I began to climb out, gotone leg through, carefully balancing so that
if I fell, I'd minimize injury. When I heard a sound by the

(01:32:43):
door, the crinkling of plastic,the gentle glide over door, I turned
and saw her standing in the darkhallway beyond. It was hard to see,
but she wasn't grinning like a maniacor waiting with a knife. More
than anything, she just looked disappointed, maybe even frustrated. In hindsight,

(01:33:11):
it made sense she'd spent a longtime setting this up, not just the
room with a plastic sheeting, butthe entire relationship had been built carefully around
that night. I expected her tocrack break, come at me, screaming
and slashing with some hidden blade,but she only shook her head and quietly

(01:33:31):
mewed, it's not my fault.I considered her reply, but found none
to be fitting. I jumped andlanded safely below with a bit of a
knee shaking thumb, nowhere near asbad as the shin splintering worst case scenario
I kept imagining. Then, witha deep breath, relishing with the smell

(01:33:56):
of fresh air, I ran asquickly as I could towards the hospital and
the lot where my car waited.You know, you might not be too
surprised to learn this, but therewasn't actually much I could prove when it
was all over. By the timethe police visited the morgue, it was
apparently back to normal. Her sideof the story was that I'd insisted on

(01:34:21):
visiting the morgue out of curiosity andgot upset when she didn't want to stick
around. It was kind of hardto prove anything else. I had no
injuries, no evidence of intent oranything else other than a suspicion of some
pretty mess behavior. In the end, the best the police were willing to

(01:34:42):
do was hook me up with alawyer who dealt with restraining orders, and
he told me I need some evidenceof actual harassment. Well that, and
the main gist of his advice wasactually for me to stay away from her,
because, if anything, it wouldbe a hell of It's a lot
easier for her to convince people Iwas the problem and not the other way

(01:35:03):
around. I didn't have much choicein the end except to move on,
and all told, I was justhappy to have made it out alive,
even if the thought of her outthere made me deeply anxious. I had
to assume she'd go looking for anothertarget since I'd wised up, although I

(01:35:26):
hoped that maybe the close encounter withme would stop her from trying again.
As for me, I deleted myTinder profile, having decided that internet dating
would never be a thing for meagain. But the nightmares persist, and
I often think of her standing therein the doorway. She didn't look half

(01:35:50):
as upset as I might have thought. The whole thing was like I'd been
a bit naughty. There she wasaspiring murder, moments away from executing a
plan that had been months in themaking, and she'd stood there like it
was all nothing but a miner setback. It just didn't make sense,

(01:36:14):
and like everything with Sarah, Istruggled to move on from this peculiar behavior
until I got an answer. Wellto day, I finally got it when
I woke up and felt something strangeby my feet. I pulled back the
sheets and saw something that made myheart sink and a cold sweat form on

(01:36:40):
the back of my neck. Iwas wearing a toe tag. I think
I might have underestimated her patience,and I am starting to appreciate just why
she found that night in the morgueto be a little more than a set
back on attack itself. My nameis scrawled on one line, and on

(01:37:05):
the date of death below she hadsimply written. In just a few days,
I got a job in San Diegonot too long after the pandemic settled.

(01:37:29):
It was in exciting time, butI was also anxious about finding a
place to live. I didn't havethat much saved up, so I had
to find somewhere a bit more lenientto newcomers. I signed up to all
kinds of lists and tenant groups,but most leads were dead in the water.

(01:37:50):
The only places within my price rangehad in no pets policy, and
I couldn't bring myself to re homemy cat, Marmalade. Poor thing was
just a year old and a completemama's girl. After weeks of searching,
I stumbled upon a landlord with avacant spot. He hadn't even got the

(01:38:12):
time to list it. All I'dseen was a post about a cheap apartment.
I messaged him spontaneously and asked aboutit. Turns out the previous tenant
had passed away. It was onthe fourth floor, not too far off
Main Street, and surprisingly cheap catfriendly too. He offered me a deal.

(01:38:36):
If I paid for the clean upcrew, the place was mine.
I couldn't say no. Once theplace was cleaned up, I met up
with my new landlord and got thekeys handed to me. My new place
was on the top floor of thisbeautiful old building made somewhere back in the

(01:38:57):
fifties. Cools stone, tarred floors, spacious ceiling, and plenty of sunlight
coming in from the body sized windows. There was a sort of French balcony
with a little space to smoke ora mini garden. There was a large
living room area, a tiny kitchenette, and a cramped little bedroom on the

(01:39:18):
sunny side. It wasn't much,but I could see myself growing attached to
it. You could tell it wasold, though. There were all kinds
of little quirks, a lock thatyou had to jiggle, pipes that rumbled
a little whenever you took a shower, and you could immediately tell if one

(01:39:41):
of your neighbors was smoking because ofthe terrible ventilation. It was far from
perfect, but for that price,at that location, I couldn't ask for
a better deal. The one thingthat dated it more than anything else,
however, was the strange seventies wallpaper. This intricate floral pattern covered most of

(01:40:06):
the living room, along with thewestern wall of the bedroom, a dark
gray bass collar with lines of whiterose, tulips, sunflowers, all in
variations of silver and blue. Itwas beautiful in a sort of primitive Art
Deco kind of way, but youcould tell it was old. I promised

(01:40:30):
myself to get it replaced if Iwere to live there long term. It
didn't take long to move in.I didn't have much in the way of
furniture, and I didn't really havethe money to bring in something new.
I figured I'd settle for what littleI had for the time being, instead
of focusing on getting used to mynew job. I was working as a

(01:40:55):
full time consultant for a telecom company, mostly focusing on process management. In
evaluation might not sound that interesting,but you get a lot of wiggle room
to really switch things up for thebetter. Postpandemic. We were on a
routine of a single weekly meeting andthe rest could and would be done from

(01:41:17):
our home office. It felt kindof done to force people to come in
once a week just because, Butif I wanted the job, that was
the deal. Marmalade got settled inthat place long before I did. She
found a sunny spot next to oneof the big windows. I set up

(01:41:39):
a cozy basket for her to snuggleinto. I, on the other hand,
was having trouble sleeping those first fewnights. I lay awake at night
staring at the ceiling. I'd losemyself in that view, sort of like
when you're looking down into dark waters. You can't really see where it is.

(01:42:00):
It is just this perpetual nothing,and you can imagine it continuing forever.
That first week went by in aflash. I had my first meeting
and got my first assignment process assessmentat one of the branch offices in Pittsburgh
long distance, with an in personevaluation at the end of a two month

(01:42:25):
cycle. Nothing I couldn't handle,but said office had a sort of reputation
for being unmanageable. It was thekind of assignment you throw at someone to
see if they got the chops forit long term. That first day was
mostly meet and greets, with atiny after work at one of the Shek

(01:42:46):
downtown bars. It was mostly anexcuse the crack a few cold ones,
and on Monday, my colleagues werea few decibels louder than I was used
to, so I ended up sittingmostly in the background, learning to appreciate
a small label dark punkin ale.The next day, I was in full

(01:43:09):
work mode. I set up mylaptop with a view of my awful wallpaper
to make it look a bit moreoffice like. Marmalade wasn't moving from a
new favorite spot by the window,so there were no fluffy tales in the
way of my webcam. I hada long talk with the branch manager,
along with a few technicians, tojust sort of dip my toe in the

(01:43:32):
water. They were all courteous enough, but I could tell they'd been put
through the ringer a couple of times. This wasn't their first assignment, and
it wouldn't be their last. Bythe end of the day, I was
talking with one of the salesmen,a woman named Deirdre. At that point

(01:43:56):
I'd been in constant zoom calls forover four hours and my voice was giving
out. Deirdre could tell I wasexhausted, and we just ended up talking
about other things instead, my apartment, my job, my cat. I
had to bother Marmalade a bit justto show off. Deirdre showed off her

(01:44:17):
feline companion, a three year oldrag doll named Popeye. Ironically, that
call ended up being my longest,but it went by the fastest. Deirdre
was a gem. I spent mostof my time setting up questionnaires and mapping
out the overall structure, bouncing emailsall the way down the supply chain,

(01:44:43):
trying to get a clear picture ofthe main issues. It was the same
old story that I'd heard a hundredtimes before, management blaming the salesman,
the salesman blaming the warehouse, andthe warehouse blaming the technicians. There were
little hitches all the way down theroad, ranging from dated inventory systems to

(01:45:05):
useless red tape. After the firstfew days, I started getting into a
routine pingponging between meetings and Excel spreadsheets. Marmalade and I made their apartment into
a proper home. Chinese taco boxesstarted lining the kitchenette, and earned a

(01:45:25):
few extra talks with Deirdre just topass the slow hours. I started getting
used to that place, even theawful wallpaper. I stopped hearing the rumbling
pipes after a while, and thecigarette smoke from the neighbor slowly blended into
the background smells. I stopped wakingfrom cars passing on the street below,

(01:45:47):
and my first paycheck went into makingthe living room walk like something that could
actually be lived in. I rememberone night when I was working over time,
I got a late email about submittinga progress report, so I had
to stay up making a presentation.I found myself by the opinion that this

(01:46:12):
was looking more and more like amanagement issue. Who the hell sends this
kind of email at four fifty pmon a Thursday, expecting it to be
done before lunch the next day.Unbelievable. I was done by about ten
pm. When I shambled away frommy laptop. I picked up a can
of cat food for Marmalade and walkedover to a favorite window. Only she

(01:46:40):
wasn't there. Her bed was stillthere, but Marmalade had moved to another
window, still sleeping soundly, butshe found a new favorite spot. It
felt strange in a way, likethe entire apartment had shifted a little.
Looking up of the wallpaper, Icould have sworn the patterns had moved.

(01:47:04):
It looked identical, just a bitoff. I could have sworn it was
different despite looking exactly the same.It was a strange feeling. Everything felt
familiar with that one little twist madeit feel like a new room. Or

(01:47:26):
starting to doubt myself. When lookingat Marmalade out of a basket, however,
it was clear that something was differentin some way. The next few
days I started to notice this shiftin new ways. The walls would look
different at night, where at onepoint I'd see a sunflower, I'd see

(01:47:50):
a rose the next day. Thenagain, I wasn't ever really sure,
and I chalked it up to mejust not paying attention. Marmalade would move
from spot to spot, never reallysure what her favorite ever was. One
night, she couldn't settle in atall, instead moving from one window to

(01:48:13):
the next, meawing at me anxiously. That night, as I lay awake,
out my eyes firmly fixed on thewall, I could imagine the patterns
moving on their own, the manyflowers gently swaying to an invisible wind.
It was just that kind of unrealsurrealist thought you catch just before you fall

(01:48:35):
asleep. But in that moment Icould have sworn it was real living.
Even as I closed my eyes,I imagined the dark gray background color to
be as deep as an ocean,a darkness stretching into a distant nothing.

(01:48:59):
The next day, and as Iwas making my morning coffee, I noticed
something peculiar. I stepped on adry blue petal. I couldn't explain where
it came from. I had noflowers in my apartment, and the ventilation
was so bad that it could barelyrotate. Air Flower petals were out of

(01:49:20):
the question. Marmalade played with itfor a while, and I convinced myself
that it was just something I draggedin. Still, it reminded me of
a flower petal from the Blue Roseand the wallpaper. He made me anxious,
but I couldn't figure out why.What was I even worried about.

(01:49:45):
I couldn't let that thought go forthe rest of the day that I was
missing something obvious, or maybe thatthere really was something to my strange paranoia.
So at the end of the day, when I talked to Deirdre,
I brought it up. I explainedthat there was just something inherently creepy about
living there, like an uncomfortable thoughttickling your neck when you're not looking.

(01:50:12):
Deirdre tried to reassure me a chucklecoming through my headphones. It takes time,
love, she said, you justgot here. Besides, everything looks
strange in the dark. Yeah.I just can't shake the feeling, you
know, I explained, like there'ssomething more to it, like what.

(01:50:36):
I didn't know what to answer.As I stepped into the living room,
I noticed marmalade rolling on the livingroom carpet, casually playing with another blue
petal. Turning on the lights,I could see more of them, over
a dozen dry blue petals lining theedge of the wall. Finally I could

(01:50:59):
tell I wasn't going crazy, Thiswasn't a one time deal. That was
real. Marmalade didn't seem to mind, though. I'm going to have to
get back to you, I toldDeirdre. Something came up as the call
ended. I started scooping up thepetals by hand. The moment my knees

(01:51:24):
hit the floor, there was apower surge. It was all so quick.
A flash of black Marmalade hissed.Looking straight past me. I could
hear a rustling noise, like alarge animal moving through a brush. As
quick as it had come, itwent, leaving only a startled cat and

(01:51:46):
my elevated pulse behind. The lightswere slapped back on with a click,
blinding me. Marmalade retreated to behindthe couch while I picked up the rest
of the petals. For a moment, I just stood there, staring at
the many patterns petals in hand.I could imagine the gray sinking deeper and

(01:52:12):
deeper, showing me something past theobvious, like one of those images you
have to look at cross eye tosee the truth. I had the same
sensation like I was missing something obvious. I can imagine hearing things deep in
an imagined forest. I could hearbranches snapping. I could imagine the blue

(01:52:34):
flowers swaying in the wind, andsomewhere in that depthless dark, something roamed,
something looking for an exit. Atsome point I snapped to attention.
There was a loud electronic noise andalarm. It was already morning. For

(01:53:00):
some alien reason, I'd been stuckthere for hours, just staring at the
hypnotizing patterns, an entire night's restgone. It wasn't until I stepped away
that I realized just how exhausted Ireally was. My legs had locked in
place, keeling me over straight tothe stone tiled living room floor. Marmalade

(01:53:25):
rushed over, worried about this suddendevelopment. I spent a few minutes just
sitting there, calming myself down.The ringing from my cell phone was going
strong, trying to give me enoughtime to shower before my first morning meetings.
And yet I just sat there,slowly petting my cat, my eyes

(01:53:47):
bobbing in and out of sleep,my body deprived. Where had I been
all night? What had I seen? Barely made it through that day,
having a forty five minute nap overlunch. By the time I finished my
last interview, I was a shellof my old self, barely conscious.

(01:54:13):
I filled Marmalade's food and water bowland crawled into bed with all my clothes
still on the moment my eyes closed, I could hear something in the distance.
In the half world between sleeping andwaking, I heard breaking branches,
owls taking flight, and something largeapproaching. And despite knowing I was well

(01:54:39):
and truly alone, my body screamedat me to wake, to have one
more loock, just in case Idid. I forced my eyes open.
Something sharp scratched against the stone tiledfloor, something retreating in haste, a

(01:55:00):
trail of dry petals leading right upto the side of my bed. After
a night of dreamers sleep, Iwoke up to choking on something. It
took me almost a full minute tocough up a blue petal, several of
which had been sprinkled throughout my bed. I could have sworn. The wallpaper

(01:55:24):
looked a bit lighter, as ifseveral flowers were looking sparse. The whole
wall looked a bit darker. Thatmorning, I'd had enough. I called
in sick and brought up my toolbox. I started scraping off the wallpaper,
piece by piece across the entire apartment. I made a day of it,

(01:55:49):
listening to music as Marmalade looked atme curiously. Every illustrated petal and
stem dropped to the floor, cutby cut, like trimming a paper garden.
By the end of the day,my wall was laid bare, revealing
nothing but black lead painted concrete underneath. That night, after a long shower,

(01:56:15):
I went to sleep with wall paperremains still lining the edge of the
room. Finally I could focus,I could look past the hypnotizing patterns.
It was done, gone over,except it wasn't. As I went to

(01:56:38):
sleep, my eyes drifted to thebarren walls, a black, eternal night,
now unhindered by what little paper thinbarrier had been erected. Just looking
at it gave me that feeling inmy stomach. My I was falling forward.
Even closing my eyes felt brighter thanstaring into it, like it was

(01:57:00):
more than a color a place.At some point in the night, I
heard this loud yell. Looking up, I could see Marmalade sitting at the
edge of my bed, staring straightat the wall, hissing and raising a
hackle's Looking straight ahead, I sawsomething there, deep in the dark of

(01:57:26):
the bare wall. Something moved.I swooped up Marmalade, who clung to
my shoulder like a parrot. Ithrew on my pants shirt and got my
bag. I'd had enough. Iwasn't about to stick around to find out
the depths of what was either myown sanity or something unnatural. Entirely I

(01:57:48):
didn't want to know. As Ientered the living room, I stopped dead
in my tracks. Every single wallhad turned and midnight black. The windows
had fogged up from the inside,blocking the moonlight from peeking in. I
ran my hand along the wall,looking for the door. Something cold bumped

(01:58:14):
against the palm of my hand herfinger. I recoiled, almost dropping Marmalade
in surprise. I couldn't see mydoor. As I looked around, trying
to find my bearings. I slowlycame to the realization that nothing was quite
as it should. The kitchenette wasfurther away, the windows were further apart.

(01:58:41):
The proportions of the room were offand seemingly shifting every time I blinked.
It was as if everything in thatdarkness was untrue, malleable, suddenly
shifting as soon as I looked away, and so was I. Looking down
at my hands, they seemed differentwith every blink of my eye. They

(01:59:06):
could be older, younger, scarred, masculine. It was impossible to tell.
It was just affuse, enough foran anxious mind to fill in the
blanks. But it felt like morethan that. It wasn't just the fear
of the dark. It was thedark changing me. Finally, I fumbled

(01:59:28):
my way to the front door.I pulled it open and there was nothing,
just a solid black nothing. Theapartment was getting darker, Even the
windows were turning black. The kitchensink was running, pushing forth dark nondescript
globes, all of which had thispeculiar chemical smell like ammonia. Marmalade was

(01:59:56):
freaking out. She clung to me, digging her claws into my shirt,
hissing at something in the dark.Whenever I turned around, the room would
look different, swallowed further and furtherby the night. I could see vague
silhouette hands reaching forward, some small, some impossibly large. I can imagine

(02:00:17):
creatures the size of sky scrapers,towering forward, impish, little beasts nipping
at my heels. I curled intoa ball on the floor, clutching Marmalade
close to my chest. Together westared down anything and everything creeping closer.
But I was losing My light wasdying. It was all going dark.

(02:00:45):
Then I felt a rumble. I'dforgotten my phone was still in my pants,
bringing it out. I had anew message from Deirdre, the little
screen lighting up a little bubble aroundme. I wasn't even on the floor
anymore. I was sitting on apile of dry grass and blue petals,

(02:01:05):
and I could see the edge ofa dead field stretching out around me in
all directions. A wind cut throughme like cold glass, and there really
were things moving out there, somebig, some small, all vague and
horrifying, waiting for me to lookaway long enough to take shape. Hey,

(02:01:28):
Ann, I heard you were feelingunder the weather, so I just
wanted to check in. Get plentyof rest. We'll talk soon. It
played again and again. I filledmy head with a voice, and my
eyes with that little light the phonestruggled to provide. I could feel Marmalade's
pulls beating against my neck. Somethingwould brush against me a light kick against

(02:01:54):
my foot, footsteps rushing past.I saw nothing, but there were there
hidden in the dark. We'll talksoon, Deirdre's message repeated for the tenth
time. I don't know how longI sat there, just waiting for the

(02:02:14):
dark to pass, but nothing cameof it. The battery was dying as
it reached the final few percentages ofpower. There was little left for me
to do. The light was shrinking. I couldn't hear Deirdre's message anymore.
Marmalade was yelling like crazy, hissingand striking at something unseen. As the

(02:02:41):
screen died, I felt the chillof the world descend on me. In
the silence, I could feel somethingapproaching, something careful and calculated. I
couldn't see it, but I couldfeel it smiling at me, leering eager.

(02:03:01):
I was panicking. My skin felllike ice, and I couldn't feel
my fingers. I held Marmalade closeto me, and in a last ditch
effort, I flung my phone intothe dark. Glass shattered. I'd thrown
it through the window next to thelittle French balcony. A beam of morning

(02:03:25):
light broke through. I turned roundto an empty apartment the layout exactly as
I'd remembered it, the kitchenette stillrunning, torn down wallpaper lining the edges
of the room, Marmalade's favorite bedstill by the window, and the many

(02:03:45):
Chinese takeout boxes still left unattended,just as it should be, except every
inch of the room was covered indry blue flower petals. Needless to say,
I didn't stick around for long.I moved out to the branch office

(02:04:06):
where Deirdre worked and ended up stayingthere. We're still best friends to this
day. I haven't been able totalk to a lot of people about what
happened that night. I get thesense that whatever lived in that dark space
was just waiting for someone to teardown that barrier, that hedge of flowers

(02:04:28):
and patterns, something waiting to pullme into a dark place, never to
return. Poor Marmalade hasn't been thesame since. Her fur has turned a
matted orange, and she's a lotclingier than before. She's okay, though,
she's a happy cat, but it'dbe a lie to say she hasn't

(02:04:51):
changed. The same can be saidabout me. It isn't a single obvious
thing, but I feel like thereare things about me that aren't the same.
My eyes looked darker, my fingerslonger, my teeth sharper and whiter,

(02:05:11):
just enough for me to notice andremember. In my new place,
my sleep, with the lights on, I try not to look too closely
at the wall paper, just incase. When Jake told me he had

(02:05:40):
something to show me, I wascurious, but also a little worried.
It'd been my best friend since juniorhigh, and I loved and trusted him
like a brother. But I alsocouldn't forget that three months earlier he'd been
in an institution instead of living acrosstown. The story of that had ended

(02:06:01):
up with him being diagnosed with schizophreniformdisorder and sent for impatient treatment. But
it started by Jake freaking out ina college algebra class. I wasn't there,
but supposedly he was screaming in somelanguage no one understood and attacked his
professor, and in the days thatfollowed he told the doctors that it had

(02:06:25):
been dreaming for weeks about living inanother part of the world, though he
wasn't sure where. According to hisparents, he didn't remember screaming and biting
his math professor at all. Withtherapy and meds he got better over time,
and if you asked him if anyof that stuff had been real other

(02:06:46):
than the biting, of course,he'd look embarrassed and shake his head,
tell you that it had all beencrossed wise in his head, and that
he was better now. And Ithink most people believed him. But I
knew Jake well, maybe better thananyone, and I could see it in

(02:07:08):
his eyes when he looked my way. He was lying, or at least
holding something back. We started hangingout again, fairly regularly as life allowed,
but I still felt tints around him, not because I thought he was
dangerous, but because I wanted himto be okay, and I felt responsible

(02:07:30):
for watching him closely for any signthat he still needed help. But when
he showed up at my apartment twentyminutes later, I could see he was
excited, and it actually made merelax a little. The meds made him
calmer and flatter in some ways,and while that was probably a good thing,

(02:07:51):
it also made him seem different.This was more like the old Jake,
full of energy and ready to tellyou. I'll show you something funny
or awesome. He'd referenced the videoon the phone, and when he came
in. I saw he had hislaptop under one arm. I raised an
eye, brought him what we couldn'tlook it up on YouTube or something.

(02:08:16):
He grinned as he said, thelaptop on the kitchen counter and opened it
up. Nope, not this,it's special. On his screen was a
website showing what looked like video froma camera perched high up on a pole
or building and pointed out over amulti lane freeway and part of some city

(02:08:37):
on the far side. There,the sun was bright and you could see
steady streams of cars going in bothdirections, and in the upper left part
of the camera's view you could seea long pedestrian bridge with people passing to
and fro. Oblivious to our scrutiny, I glanced at him, this live

(02:09:01):
or a video? Jay grinned,it's live. It's Kuala Lumpa, Malaysia.
I glanced back at the video.That made sense. It was after
ten at night where we were,but it was probably the next morning there.
But still, I mean, that'sneat and all. But I've seen

(02:09:26):
city cameras before, lots of placeslivestream. Now, is there some shut
up here? She comes? Ifollowed where his finger was emphatically jabbing at
the screen. Coming towards the cameraalong the footbridge was a squat woman with
black and gray hair that looked tobe in her late fifties. The image,

(02:09:48):
while good quality, wasn't clear enoughto show a face in any real
detail, but a movement was stiffand strange, as though she were aching
with every step on maybe had slippedwalked the entire way there. I looked
back over at Jake. Who isthat? He gave a small laugh.

(02:10:11):
I don't know a name. Itdoesn't matter, but I know her.
She's the one I've been dreaming aboutfor months. My stomach began to curl
in on itself. Jake, haveyou taken your meds today? He didn't
look at me, but I sawhis jaw clench and jump before he spoke.

(02:10:33):
I did. But it doesn't makea difference. I'm not crazy,
I never was. Just shut upand listen to me. He tapped the
screen where the woman had come toa stop in the middle of the bridge.
This woman, I knew she wasgoing to come to the bridge because
I made her do it. Ispent half the afternoon picturing it until I

(02:10:54):
knew it had set in was raisingwith what I should do next? Do
I call someone, try to gethim to go to the doctor. What
if he got weirder or even violent? Maybe I should just hear him out
and then go from there. Idon't really understand what you're talking about.

(02:11:18):
Still looking at the screen, helet out a long breath. Yeah,
I know it sounds crazy. That'swhy I want to show you. Give
me just the second I have toconcentrate. Jake let his arms hang down
by his sides as he stared intentlyat the video feed. After over a

(02:11:41):
minute of awkward silence, he startedto raise his right hand, first to
his head, then above it,stretched up and straight, like he wanted
to answer a question in class.I was about to ask what he was
doing when I saw it. Thewoman on the bridge was raising her hand

(02:12:03):
to heart pounding. I looked betweenthe video and Jake. He was raising
his other arm in the same way, and about three or four seconds behind,
the woman was doing the same thing. He turned to beam at me,
and to my horror, I sawthe woman turning to smile in our

(02:12:26):
direction as well. What the hellis this some kind of internet trick?
He snorted, No trick, I'llshow you ask me to do something,
something simple. I don't have goodcontrol yet. I started shaking my head.
Look, I don't know what thisis, but it's freaking me out.

(02:12:50):
Jake scowled at me. Don't bea wass. Tell me to do
something, Simon says, taking hisstay back. I rolled my eyes in
irritation to hide my growing fear.Fine, jump up and down, giggling.
He nodded and began jumping up anddown or keeping both arms up.

(02:13:15):
After a brief delay, the womanstarted doing the same thing, and when
he stopped a few moments later,so did she Okay, so how are
you doing it? No, Ican tell you still think it's fake.
Pick something else, something harder.Look, I really don't want to.

(02:13:37):
His face darkened into a scowl.Just do it, okay, gritting my
teeth, I nodded, Fine,slap yourself in the face hard. I
thought this would call his bluff.Either the video woman wouldn't have done that,

(02:13:58):
or if this was some elaborate hoaxwhere he paid some stranger to mimic
him through a hidden camera he broughtwith him, or something she'd hesitate to
hurt herself one way or another,it might stop whatever weird nonsense he was
trying to pull, But no,he just smiled wider as he took a

(02:14:20):
step back and placed a hand onthe counter for support. Now that's more
like it. The first lap acrosshis face sounded loud as a gunshot in
the small kitchen, and he letout a gasp of pain as the right
side of his face immediately started toredden I was so focused on him that

(02:14:41):
it took me a moment to realizeI was seeing her mimic him in my
peripheral vision, same spot, justas hard. Jeez what. He hit
himself a second time, even harder. She did the same, and this
time they were both bleeding from thenose when they straightened back up. Stop,

(02:15:03):
just stop. He gave a softlaugh, and then struck himself a
third time, hard enough that heseemed unsteady on his feet. When I
looked at the woman, she washolding onto the bridge railing like it was
the only thing keeping her upright,I turned back to Jake and grabbed his
arm. Stop that right now,you're hurting yourself and her. When he

(02:15:30):
grinned at me this time, Icould see a film of blood on his
teeth, so you believe me now, shuddering, and I gave a nod.
I guess so, I mean,yes, I do stop hitting her
and you, I just how Andthen he told me I started having strange

(02:15:56):
streams a year ago. It waslike falling asleep as myself and waking up
as another person. I've had dreamslike that before, but not this long
and detailed and real. I couldmove around for several hours sometimes and I
remembered all of it. I'd goout into the city I figured out,

(02:16:16):
and it was Kuala Limpo, andwhen I was there, I could read
and understand the language, even thoughI don't know any of that stuff when
I'm awake. But the weirdest thingwas I was always the same person when
I was over there, this womanon the bridge. It was like we
were swapping. Now, I'm notcrazy, And for a time I just

(02:16:41):
assumed it was some kind of likelucid dreaming or something. I was dreaming
versions of the same dream and justfooling myself into thinking it was real.
This went on for months, andthen one day I dozed off in algebra
class. I really don't remember whathappened, because I wasn't there. I

(02:17:03):
don't know if this woman is normallyasleep in my mind when I'm awake in
hers, but this time she's surethe hell knews something was going on and
freaked out. Thanks to her,I wound up in the looney bin,
and now I have everyone looking atme like I'm Jeffrey Dahmer, even you.

(02:17:24):
Nah, don't deny it. It'sokay, I don't blame you,
but I hate it too. SoI decided I needed to figure out what
this was and try to either getrid of it or control it. I
started trying different things in the hospital, reading books on meditation and self hypnosis,

(02:17:45):
even astral projection. Most of itis hippy nonsense, but I got
a few ideas that helped me tofocus. I started feeling like I could
feel her a little even when Iwas awake, and over time I started
thinking I could maybe make her dosomething if I could concentrate on it hard

(02:18:05):
enough. The first few tries,well, it's hard to say. It's
not just in your imagination, right, I mean, how the hell am
I going to know if some ladyin Malaysia picks up a pencil because I
wanted her to. One night whenI was inside her In my dream.
I went walking through the city.It was early afternoon there, and I

(02:18:28):
remember walking for miles until I gotto this freeway and this bridge, and
it was then that I saw thecamera up above. I asked the teenager
that was passing what kind of camerathat was, and that's when he said
the magic words. It's a streamingwebcam. He gestured at the woman on

(02:18:52):
the bridge again as she started towander off. I've been practicing this for
weeks now. It's only the thirdtime I've gotten her to the bridge,
But once she's there, I cansee that it works. And when I'm
done, I just kind of letgo and she wanders on back home.

(02:19:15):
I just stared at him. Jeez, man, that's a person, even
if this works, like you're saying, that's messed up to just take someone
over and hurt them and stuff.Jake grimaced at me. First off,
saving moral judgments. You're the onethat said slap in the face, not

(02:19:35):
me. I've never heard her before. Oh really, what the hell do
you think she thinks when she wakesup halfway across the city and doesn't know
how she got there. He lookeduncomfortable at that, but gave a shrug.
I don't know, and yeah,I have thought about that, but
I don't know her, and Idon't know that she's not responsible for this

(02:19:58):
in the first place. Whatever itis. What I do know is that
I'm not having people think I'm anutter butter for the rest of my life.
And if I don't know how toturn it off, I'm going to
figure out how to prove to peoplethat it's real. I let out a
sigh. Damn, I get that. Not that I think you're crazy,

(02:20:18):
not really. I just thought youhad like a breakdown or something, you
know, But this, I don'tknow that it's even safe to tell people
about it. He founded that,what do you mean, Well, even
if you get people to believe you, does that really help you. How

(02:20:39):
do you know somebody won't just snatchyou up to experiment on you or something.
Shake's eyes widened. I hadn't reallythought of that. I nodded,
Yeah, I mean, it soundslike a movie. But what part of
this doesn't sound like some horror moviesci fi non sense? I reached out

(02:21:03):
and gripped his shoulder. Maybe justleave it alone. I know you want
to like vindicate yourself or whatever,but I know it now, and in
time other people will forget and treatyou normal. When he started to shake
his head, I gripped his shoulderharder. And if they don't, screw

(02:21:24):
them. But you don't know whatthis is you're messing with, and you're
messing with the stranger who either doesn'tdeserve it or is maybe causing it.
Just close the door and see ifit goes away over time. Tears in
his eyes, he began to nodas he leaned forward and gave me a

(02:21:46):
quick hug. Thanks, man,you're probably right. When we parted,
I kept the smile on my face, despite the dark thoughts churning in my
head where the Jake I knew woudnever hurt someone else, even to prove
the point he was trying to make, and that when I looked over his

(02:22:07):
shoulder at the webcam feed, thelast time the woman had stopped wandering away.
She was standing further down the bridge, looking at the camera, staring
right at me. Two more weekswent by, and while I didn't see

(02:22:30):
Jake, we taxted most days andhe seemed to be doing better. Said
the dreams were still there, buthe could usually get out of them after
just an hour or two. Wemade plans to go hiking next weekend.
But then two nights ago, hewas banging my door in the middle of
the night. When I opened up, he came rushing in, covered in

(02:22:54):
sweat and clearly terrified someone's after me. Man I shut and locked the door
behind him, before turning to followhim into the living room. What are
you talking about? Who's following you? He shrugged. I don't know for
sure. I haven't seen them goodenough. But it's the same red car

(02:23:18):
for the last two days, withheavy tint on the windows. Well,
why don't you call the cops,Jake shook his head. They'd find out
I just got locked up and thinkI'm being paranoid. You're the only one
who knows I'm not crazy. Inodded, okay, Well, did they
follow you here? I think so. I tried to lose them, but

(02:23:41):
I don't know if I did.Moving past him, I went to the
sliding doors leading out to the balcony, opening them, I stepped out and
looked down into the Orange Liate parkinglot below. My heart sank as I
saw a red car parked next tomy own, its windows too dark to

(02:24:03):
see inside. Damn, Oh,damn, damn. I looked over at
him, even as his face grewtight with fear. Oh God, HiT's
her, She's here. He wasright. I'd been focused on the car

(02:24:24):
at first, but directly underneath uswas a short, older woman with black
and gray hair that well. I'dnever seen her clearly, but I'd seen
enough to know this looked like her. What was she doing all the way
over? She found me? Ineed to go. I don't know what

(02:24:45):
she can do, what she's capableof. It's not safe too, his
legs kicking and his chest shuddering.I leaned over to help, but quickly
realized I didn't know what to do. My first thought was the corn nine
one one, but then I realizedhow stupid I was being. This was
all her fault, wasn't it.It was an a coincidence that she came

(02:25:09):
all this way and then he startedhaving a seizure or whatever. This was.
Anger burning in my chest. Istood up, ready to shout down
at her for her to stop it, to get lost, and to leave
him alone, but the words diedin my throat as I saw her down
there, staring up at me.Tears streaming down her cheeks. She looked

(02:25:33):
tight with tension as she murmured outjust a handful of words. No,
please, don't, I'm sorry.Then I saw the flash of a box
cutter as she raised it to herthroat and slashed it wet and wide.

(02:25:56):
Even as she was falling over,I saw Jake sat up and turning to
look at me, his face splitinto a smile. Thanks for having me
over. I think I'm okay now. I reached out to help him mop,
but when he met my eyes,I recoiled. I'm sure, I

(02:26:22):
am. We need to call thepolice. She she's dead. He nodded
as he rose to his feet.Yeah, sure, we can call the
authorities. They should be made aware. Another glanced my way. Are you
okay too? I nodded and movedquickly off the balcony to get my phone,

(02:26:50):
Grabbing it up, I stepped outof the apartment to make the call
and waited in the breezeway until theyarrived. Jake came out when the ambulance
police pulled up, and after weboth told them several times that a strange
woman we didn't know had hurt herselfoutside, they eventually left again with a
body. I guess I should begetting home too. He smiled at me.

(02:27:16):
Thanks again for your help. Hesounded like I helped him with his
car or something. See you againsoon. I forced myself to meet her
eyes for a moment. No,no, I don't think you will.
I think it's better for both ofus if you don't. A smile widened

(02:27:41):
then No, perhaps not. Stillmy thanks, have a good night.
I shut the door then and boltedit, and even after I watched Jake's
car drive away, I couldn't goto sleep. I didn't go outside again

(02:28:01):
until today. But then I didn'thave a choice. I was the only
one there, a shabby funeral foran unknown foreigner that had inexplicably flown halfway
around the world to die in frontof a couple of strangers. Even the
government paid chaplain that did the eulogycould only speak in vague platitudes about the

(02:28:26):
mysterious life and things unseen. Hecame over after to offer his condolences,
and after an awkward pause, heasked me how I knew the departed,
tears in my eyes. I luggedup and told him he was my best
friend. It began with a blackbag over my head. Six or seven

(02:29:01):
men seizing me off the street onmy way home from work, Holding me
at gunpoint in the back of avan. They explained in detail what would
happen to my family if I didn'tlisten to them. Until that moment,
torture was just a word. I'dnever given it much thought. I wasn't
prepared to hear some of the thingsthey told me. By the time they

(02:29:24):
were loading me onto a helicopter,I would have done anything they asked.
I arrived at the Black site,kicked out of the chopper, where my
feet hit the hard packed, wetmud with a splash. Black hood torn
off so hard it hurt the skinon the tip of my nose, and

(02:29:45):
then I got my first look atthe place. Can't say if it met
my expectations or not. I didn'thave any idea where I was going or
what it was supposed to look likewhen I got the Still it managed to
leave me feeling surprised. An abandonedvillage nestled in the jungle, mostly one

(02:30:09):
room hovels, lots of corrugated iron. Here and there lay burned allotments,
dyeing pepper plants left untended, theirfruits stamped into the earth by the passage
of soldiers dressed in all black,Rotten fences and troughs to feed long dead
pigs and goats lay smashed to pieces, and then lurking on a hill like

(02:30:35):
some architectural jump scare was a threestory hospital made of glass and steel,
stated the art, built in aplace where tarmac was just a rumor.
Officially, it had been put thereby a charitable nonprofit wanting to research novel
diseases and potential cures deep in thejungle. Unofficially, it had always belonged

(02:30:58):
to the CIA, a useful placeto test strange things with pots in the
name, and when the time came, a useful place to dissect the impossible.
Imagine my surprise when I was escortedby armed men to an office with

(02:31:20):
my name on the door and discoveredthat I was to be in charge of
its latest major project, head ofResearch. Printed on the glass, real
official looking big black letters like I'dalways worked there. First thing, I
thought, how long do they intendto keep me here? But that didn't

(02:31:43):
last long. The hospital became myhome and has been ever since. Less
than twenty four hours after my arrivaland I hid my feet up on the
desk, barking orders at lab technicians. I slipped into the role easier than
I'd like to add. You see, where they got me was on scientific

(02:32:03):
curiosity. That's how they ensured Iwas on board with the project. That's
why they never pointed a gun atme after day one. They didn't have
to. The second I saw thatthing inside the Messiah's chest cavity, I
was a willing asset. No moreme, only the project, the discovery,

(02:32:28):
and the revelations. Lying on thatslab nestled in the flesh of an
otherwise normal looking man was a whitehot piece of divinity, a pinprick in
the fabric of reality. I don'tknow how else to describe it. It
was like I'd spend my whole lifeseeing two dimensional shadows, and then I

(02:32:52):
suddenly got a glimpse of the threedimensional shapes casting them. I haven't seen
my children since they took me.Couldn't tell you their names. I was
never the same after the first autopsy. No one in that place was sane.
After the scalpel first bit into hisflesh, Attrition amongst the research staff

(02:33:15):
was incredibly high. Every day,another nurse seized by stigmata, or a
once faithless lab technician struck by thecall to write the Third Testament. The
guards dealt with the unwilling members ofthe team, Traumatized scientists and clinicians lined
up one by one against an exposedbrick wall in the jungle heat and shot.

(02:33:41):
I remember smoking in the cafeteria inbetween surgeries, nervously shaking as I
tried to ignore the pop pop popof some of my more stubborn colleagues being
executed. And then back to work, where I suppressed the feeling that I
was the worst kind of traitor.Next day there'd be new faces scrubbing up

(02:34:05):
and asking for orders, another pairof hands shipped in from God knows where.
Back to cataloging divinity. At timesI imagine joining the objectors, the
people who found religion in a sterile, black ops lab. But that thing
we pulled out of him, thatbaffling enigma that burned my eyes and consumed

(02:34:31):
the project. Everything we learned aboutit felt like a quantum leap in our
understanding of microbiology. We tested everythingwe could get our hands on, plants,
animals, humans. I tried notto look any of them in the
eye, quiet people taken from somequiet part of the earth where they wouldn't

(02:34:52):
be missed, all of them scared, did they know, I mean really
no, the suffering they were infor definitely not. They expected to be
shot, I imagine, not towake up with the roof of their mouth
fined with eyeballs. I'm ashamed tosay, but those kinds of results invigorated

(02:35:16):
me, excited me even when itall fell apart and I missed the evacuation.
I got to finally rifle through allthose classified documents where I discovered I
hadn't been selected because I was somegenius of microbiology, but rather because my
psychological profile made it clear I'd doanything if you dangled a big enough mystery

(02:35:43):
in front of me. That andthe fact that I was actually quite good
at managing projects. Geniuses usually aren'tgrad at sending out memos or keeping track
of performance numbers. Thankfully, I'mno genius who was humbling at times working

(02:36:03):
with some of the guys down below, being senior to them, even I
mean, doctor Coates was probably thesmartest man I'd ever met, no real
academic career. Because he had ahabit of hyper fixating on things that either
couldn't be solved or which no onegave a damn about. But it was

(02:36:24):
pretty clear this was a guy whocould have turned his brain to just about
anything and made a name for himselfif he was just a little more on
the ball. He was a NodDand basically gave lectures. Barefoot would respond
to last minute marking deadlines by givingevery student to be through a stabler at

(02:36:46):
the head of his department. Thatkind of thing. Intelligent, but not
particularly sensible. The project broke him, broke his worldview, broke his mind,
and, towards the end, evenhis body. You might think the

(02:37:07):
problem was asking a hyper rational manto process the divine, but if anything,
he processed it a little too well. He was the first person to
read the Third Testament without going insaneimmediately insane, i should say, or
maybe he was always nuts to beginwith. Either way, he managed to

(02:37:33):
take all the random scribbles and bitsof verse that we'd collected from the personal
effects of the deceased and actually putit together into a single document. Then
he read it and came out lookinglike nothing special had happened. The next
guy after him not so lucky,but doctor Coates he carried on working for

(02:37:58):
a few days after that, tookmeasurements of this, made records of that
slipped into the background, out ofmy notice while I focused on trying to
figure out some way of getting theThird Testament scanned into a computer without it
causing havoc a lot like the peoplewho read it, machines liked to give

(02:38:20):
out halfway through reading the Third Testament. Not Coats, though he seemed just
fine. I should have known better. The first clue that something wasn't quite
right was when I went to hisoffice, a cramped space with metal walls
and floors, no windows given itwas below ground, and a countertop full

(02:38:46):
of equipment. It was always amess in there, and usually a bit
smelly too, but it was usuallyjust that unwashed scientist smell. But one
day when I went to call onhim, he opened the door and I
got the whiff of something that wasjust wrong. Smelled a little like death,

(02:39:09):
only not quite just different, moldyalmost. Course, he was entitled
to do some experimentations on his owntime, and that's what I figured it
was. At the time I wroteit off, had other things on my
mind. Only the smell got worsewith time. Turned up day after day,

(02:39:37):
and each time it stung my nosea little more, hung around my
sinuses a little longer, and coats. He looked a little worse for wear
each time too. Again, nothingserious, the kind of thing that's actually
quite normal for a man like him. I'm used to seeing scientists fixate on

(02:39:58):
a problem, something quiet they won'tshare with anyone else until they know for
sure what they've got. That's whathe was like, and I figured when
he was ready, he'd either showme something that would blow my socks off,
or it'll be something stupid, likea gourdiss microwave to evenly heat up

(02:40:20):
his lunch by taking it apart andrewiring its inside. Sometimes I wonder,
if I caught it earlier, couldI have done something about it. Someone
smarter might have picked up the oddchemical mixtures on his shelf, or recognized
the peculiar smells. Not me,though, all I can say in hindsight

(02:40:43):
is thank god my office was aboveground. By the time his little project
had finished working its way through thefloor he was on, he'd killed thirty
six people with his homemade nerve gas. Thankfully, the facility was prepared for
that kind of attack, and theautomated security systems had the entire level locked

(02:41:05):
down very quickly, so that thedamage wasn't that bad. Could have been
a lot worse. But what wasweird was the venting system wasn't working.
Should have cleared it out and undera day, but four hours later and
the gas levels were the same.The investigation, at least at first,

(02:41:28):
had to happen remotely. CCTV fromhis lab was spotty. Something was corroding
the cameras, but based on someof his material requests, we guessed he'd
been culturing some unusual fungus to createthe bioweapon. Whatever it was, it

(02:41:48):
was potent, and we were helplessto do anything about it. We had
to wait and hope to God whateverawful thing he'd concocted would wear out on
its own. What little the CCTVcould capture made for a grueling sight.
Eight scientists dead at their desks,slumped over, blood pouring out of their

(02:42:13):
mouths. The fluid looked black onthe grainy black and white monitor. But
what upset me more were the assistants, dozens of young men and women who
didn't really belong in that place.Too much to live for and all of
them so scared of what was goingto happen to them, And they were

(02:42:33):
just lying there in the middle ofwhatever it was they were doing in the
labs themselves, smashed beakers and machinesin disarray. In their rooms. Some
of them lay peacefully sleeping, othersheld each other in secret, little trysts
they thought no one knew about.All over the level, bodies lay in

(02:42:56):
the floor in strange positions, andagain the black fluid leaking from every orifice,
staining the floor, their faces andtheir clothes, soaking their chests and
groins. I remember sitting there andjust watching them twitch and foam of their
mouths, waiting for death to finallycome. Even then the hours ticked on

(02:43:20):
as we waited for the systems topurge the gas twelve twenty four forty eight,
nothing happened. It was like everythingin there was frozen in time.
And then somehow the lights on thatlevel went out. Emergency lighting came on,

(02:43:43):
bathing everything in red, but combinedwith the low quality cameras, it
was like gazing at an old videogame, grainy, fuzzy, low resolution.
We figured that Coats must have riggedup a remote timer on the electronics,
which wasn't a good guess since hisspeciality was biochemistry and the security systems

(02:44:07):
were of the highest tier. Butwhat else could it be. Wasn't like
someone could have hit the circuit breaker. We knew eventually we'd have to go
in there sixty hours, have toshut down. We just had to.
There was too much high value materialto leave behind. And there are reports

(02:44:30):
of strange noises down there. Guardsposted to the door heard faint sounds on
the other side, footsteps They reckoned. Course, I wrote that off.
Not a nonsense, I told myselfand them, And yet we still went
in armed, because well, ifCoates were smart enough to rig this whole

(02:44:52):
nightmare, who's to say he didn'tmake a little gas mask to keep himself
safe. You'd think I'd be usedto working in hazmat suits, and I
sort of vam were going into thatseiled floor was something else. The visor
felt restrictive, the squeak of therubber suit was deafening, My breath was

(02:45:16):
too loud, and every time theinsuit radio came to life with one of
the soldier's barks, I damn nearjumped out of my skin. And then
the door actually opened. Nothing couldhave prepared me for that. The air
was thick with mist, which litup harshly with the emergency lighting's red hue.

(02:45:39):
Old metal grates, vents, opendoorways, all of it either blood
red or completely dark. There arefar too many shadows for it to feel
safe. It didn't help some ofthe bulbs with strobe lighting, rotating sirens
that lit the place up in periodicflashes of crimson light. God. Even

(02:46:03):
the four soldiers next to me looknervous. We passed more than a few
bodies on our way to Coats's lab. All of them lay where they'd been
on the CCTV, at least asfar as I could tell. Sounds stupid,
but I stared at a few ofthem closely, just to make sure.

(02:46:24):
All those reports of footsteps had startedto worm their way into my brain.
Couldn't shake the idea we weren't alonedown there. When we finally opened
the door to Coats, what Isaw left me frozen to the spot.
The soldiers focused on the strange growthafter the corner of the room, which

(02:46:46):
registered to me only as a dimsort of collection of thick fungal petals crawling
up the wall veins pulsing like capillariesin the eye. But to me what
really hit home was the empty desk. Last time they had reliable footage of

(02:47:07):
that room, Coats had been lyingthere dead as a dodo, blood leaking
from his still open eyes, pullingon the desk and dripping onto the floor.
And that stain was still very muchthere. There was even the faint
outline of where his head had beenlaying, but the man himself was gone.

(02:47:33):
This, even more than the grotesquething that took up one wall,
terrified me. That quivering mass offungus was pomping out enough toxic gas to
kill half the base, but itwas stationary. At least in another circumstance,
I might have even found it fascinating. But Coats, he had clearly

(02:47:54):
gone off the deep end. Hadhe lain perfectly still for days and end
to trick us, that didn't seemright again, I thought the bodies we
passed the way, they looked sostill, but not lifeless, like a
porcelain doll. There was that slightsuggestion of something working behind the eyes.

(02:48:16):
What do we do with this?One of the men asked, take samples,
burn the rest. I replied,if gas levels don't go down.
In a week, we'll have topurge the whole floor with phosphor us.
The whole time, I had myeyes and the space around us under the
desk on top of the cupboards.If Coats wasn't at his desk, where

(02:48:41):
was he? Where the hell didthis thing come from? The same soldier
muttered as he laid a series ofthermal charges on the fleshiest parts of the
mold. It seemed to flinch inresponse to his touch, but otherwise benign.
Ah. He probably took some ofthe subject's tissues. We know it
propagates unusual levels of growth in plantsand animal tissue. Explains why the cast

(02:49:05):
levels don't go down. What'sn't metabolizing? I gave the soldier an odd luck
what he said, you are theonly ones within education? Fair enough,
I replied, with a quick shakeof the head. It isn't metabolizing anything
except his tissue. It's a well, bluntly, I mean, I think

(02:49:31):
of the fish and the bread,right. It's something we've known about his
tissue samples for a while now,spontaneous creation of matter and energy out of
nothing. But to give Coat's credit, this is a pretty novel application.
He's created an infinite bioweapon. Why, I was about to reply, I

(02:49:54):
haven't. The slightest clue and aloud bang draw attention to the doorway.
Outside lay a darkness broken only bythe strobing of a red light. Flashing
on and off. It revealed,for just this single instant, the outline
of a man standing in the hallway. The soldiers swore nervously as they raised

(02:50:18):
the rifles. By the time thelight came back, the figure was gone.
Who the hell was that, onebarked, must be Coats. Another
replied, job's done, I criedwad, gesturing to the charges les.
Get the hell out of There areno miracles left for you. You have

(02:50:39):
made your own miracles. The wordswere growled, so loud and deep they
seemed to vibrate my very bones.The soldiers snapped to attention, but me,
I took a little longer to turnback to the corner of the room.

(02:51:00):
I knew what I was going tosee, but God, I didn't
want to see it. There areother gardens, but not for you.
Do not spoil the other readings.Coats emerged from the thing in the wall,
pulling himself free with a wet squelch. He stood not naked, but

(02:51:24):
clearly naked. As his skin beganto absorb his clothes, he looked like
a burned victim coated in algae.He loves you in spite of everything.
He loves you, and there isa place in Heaven for you all.
But it is time to I can'tblame the soldier who pulled the trigger.

(02:51:50):
It wasn't just the fact that Coachwas speaking with a mouth that had grown
grotesquely across his abdomen, but ratherthat the words were drilling straight into our
heads like some prushing off. Itmade my eyes cross, my ears ache,
and my nose bleed. Two othermen had vomited, splatching the inside

(02:52:11):
of their visors with thick fluid.They were the first to go. They
didn't see what hit them, andI'm somewhat glad. Coats, angered by
the gunshot, moved with the eleganceof a dancer. I stumbled out into
the corridor as he tore them apart, his arms seemingly flowing right through their

(02:52:35):
biohazard suit. The remaining soldier,the trigger happy one, was beside me
as I fled. It wasn't farto the exit. I hoped would make
it the rest of the way withoutincident, and in just a few short
hours I might be able to putthe few images I had of coats pulling
flesh and fabric apart like it wastissue deep, into some recess of my

(02:52:58):
mind and just move on. Butit was only a few short steps into
the dark before the remaining soldier beganto fire blindly at the corridor behind us.
It was a mistake for him toturn around in the fraction of a
second where his eyes had been turnedaway, he missed one of the bodies

(02:53:20):
lying on the ground. I jumped, He didn't. I was dimly aware
of there being no one beside me, only when the gunshots grew fainter and
fainter. As I left him behind, one of the shots dinged off a
panel by my head, and tothis day I suspect it was not a

(02:53:41):
ricochet, but a deliberate attempt toget revenge from me abandoning him. Still,
I didn't look back until I reachedthe secure door. I thulmb the
keypad, frantically, terrified as myears registered the sound of approaching footsteps muffled
by the buy a hazard suit god. I couldn't stop myself. I looked.

(02:54:07):
I had nothing else to do exceptwait for the security to clear me
and open the door, and therewas no guarantee they'd even do that.
I might be waiting forever, staringat nothing as Coats came closer and closer.
Without even realizing what I was doing, I turned and saw the soldier

(02:54:30):
with a gun. Jeez. Coat'soffice was out of sight, so I
had no idea if he repeated thiswith the other two. With the man
I saw, he was in piecesyellow and red in ragged strips, the
coat of the ceiling as much asthe floor, and barreling toward me on

(02:54:50):
all fours, legs and arms toolong for a normal man. Came Coats,
eyes wide, jawdie then did chunksout of his head still missing,
but his mouth it silently spoke thesame few words, almost in time with
his loping gallop, over and overand over. It would take days for

(02:55:16):
me to even realize what it washe was saying. Thankfully, before he'd
managed to reach me, the doorsopened and a hail of gunfire filled the
corridor ahead. Coats, fast aslightning, disappeared into some dark crevice,
and I was dragged to safety beforethe worst might happen. As soon as

(02:55:39):
I was on the other side,I told security to flood the place with
phosphorus, and everything was purged white, hot, fire and demand. By
the time it was over, onlymetal remained, and even then a lot
of it had melted and cooled instrange shapes on the floor. I also

(02:56:01):
went out of my way to killany attempts at reclaiming the lost workplace.
Higher ups were mad or that squarefootage lost, but I said the risk
of contamination was too great. Ofcourse, I left out the part where
I returned one quiet night a fewdays later and placed my ear against the

(02:56:22):
thick steel wall that I knew ranclose to one of the vents on that
level. It was faint, butI heard Coates whispering. Only then did
I get the final clue to whatCoates had been saying as he came towards
me in the flashing red of thatdarkened corridor. We love you, We

(02:56:46):
love you, We love you,we love you, we love you.
Even now, the cameras showed thatlevel to be a sterile, hollow space.
But I cannot escape the feeling thatif I were to open it I
would see Coats come slithering out ofsome long forgotten vent, perhaps worse for

(02:57:09):
wear given all the time that hassince passed. But Coats, nonetheless terrifying
and misshapen, were desperate to spreadthe very Testament that twisted his mind and
body, that caused him to tryand breed something that might well have ended
the entire world. And the worstthing of all, what he'd been saying

(02:57:31):
to me in that corridor. Whatif it was true? What if he
hadn't done it out of hate butlove? And the time I assumed the
force we were dealing with was hostile, But what if it wasn't Everyone who

(02:57:56):
goes near the Third Testament kills themselves, And until Coates, I thought it
some kind of twisted revenge. Butwhat if that wasn't the case? What
if he wasn't doing it out ofspite or hostility? What would that mean
for me? Forgiveness? If so? That terrified me, because after everything

(02:58:20):
I'd been through, I doubted I'dhave the strength to resist that kind of
offer. For weeks, I layawake at night wondering just what the hell
might be in those words that couldcompel people like Coats to do what they
did, and yet despite everything,I still haven't read the Third Testament.

(02:58:46):
Coats was a genius, and hestill gave in. I know that I
did some pretty messed up stuff inthe name of scientific curiosity, but well,
I guess I'm not ashamed to sayI'm also a coward. I'm afraid
of dying. Curiosity can only getyou so far, and after seeing everything

(02:59:07):
that happened to the people who readthat thing, I couldn't bring myself to
risk it. Whatever the Third Testamentis, hearing it seems pretty bad for
your health. I don't think Ieven deserve to be forgiven if that is
what he's offering. It was poeticjustice that out of all the people who

(02:59:31):
managed to make the evacuation, Iwasn't one of them. Leaving on foot
is hardly an option for me.I mean, even if I had the
strength to hike through hundreds of milesof rainforest, I need to reach the
outer fence first. And strange thingshave fested in the chemical pits where they
disposed of the bodies, soft moundsof ash and bone that sing from time

(02:59:54):
to time, exciting the birds inthe canopy to take off, make strange
patterns in the sky. If theycan sing, they must have mouths,
right, And if they have mouths, what else? I think about coats?
About what kind of hands would reachout to drag me into those rotten

(03:00:16):
pits of long dead flesh and drownme in filth? And I shudder.
I could try and sneak past,but it really isn't safe outside the hospital.
It isn't safe inside, to befair, But what choice do I
have. At least there's still power, internet, food to last me over

(03:00:39):
a century, and security doors.I keep everything below sub level one firmly
locked away. While out there well, I see things sometimes moving quickly between
the old buildings. The trees shakeand stir and wear. Jungle now grows

(03:01:00):
thick and heavy against one of theglass walls of the hospital. The vines
twist and turn and spell out oddmessages. I shut my eyes firmly whenever
I have to pass them. Andyet even blind I can hear the tidening
fibrous coils as the clawing flora scratchesagainst the glass. They want me hungering

(03:01:28):
all those corpses we buried out there, rotting, breaking down, contaminated with
divinity. What strange waters flow throughthe soil in this place. Nothing could
make me risk opening the doors andtry walking through that vegetation. He might

(03:01:48):
forgive, but I don't think myformer test subjects have. And as for
down below, you know, Inever met him while I was alive.
Don't know where they got him from, or even why. My bet he

(03:02:09):
ticked off the wrong people, gotshot and got back up. Maybe they
shot him again and he got upagain. Maybe they did it five times,
ten times. I don't know.Somewhere along the lines, someone worked
out they had an anomaly on theirhands. Maybe I wasn't the first person

(03:02:31):
to even try cutting him open.It's just weird. No one ever told
us who he was. We justknew It'd be years before I wondered who
mothered him, loved him, raisedhim. I often wonder if this was
the way it was meant to go, or was it just an accident that

(03:02:54):
he bumped into the wrong people atthe wrong time. Sire came and the
first thing we did was cut himoff. No wonder we failed. Things
in the projects started to go reallybad about six months after the first incision.
I turnover amongst researchers was one thing, but well, it turns out

(03:03:20):
a lot of the soldiers had religiousinclination. Wasn't just us dealing with visions
and voices. At some point theyworked out what they were part of.
The agency likes compartmentalization, but itcan only go so far. After the
religious element became clear to the guyson the ground, things started to break

(03:03:41):
down. It was one thing tocontrol the scientists. The guards were armed.
When they broke, they broke hard. Most of his remains are stored
in the lowest level. Wrote It'seasiest to keep things cool outside. There's

(03:04:03):
this long corridor leading to the centralchamber, huge, wide enough to drive
four or five cards side by side. And that was where the first card
hanged himself. Simple enough, theydragged him away and cleaned it up.
It wasn't long after coats. Infact, it was one of the men

(03:04:24):
who saved me at the door.Were pretty soon another two guys went down
there and hanged themselves, and thenfive, and then eight, and then
top side. Some people started blowingtheir brains out in their barracks in the
canteens, standing watch at the doors, looking out on the jungle. Cigarette

(03:04:46):
hanging loose on one lip seemed almostrandom, except there was a clear pattern
of escalation when those guys started killingtheir friends, that when it reached the
point where they couldn't ship new guysin fast enough to replace losses. Once
that happened, orders started getting lost, jobs started being left and done.

(03:05:11):
One lab got written off because atest subject's body was left to fester over
a weekend, and by the timethey got the door open there was flesh
growing up the walls, not enoughmanpower to deal with it, so they
left it for another day and movedon. Only they forgot to tell the
researcher who worked there, So comeMonday, he went in and had a

(03:05:35):
hell of a surprise. Must havebeen like stepping into a wall of sour
dough. I can only hope hesuffocated and it was quick, but who
knows. Not like our stuff ashard and fast rules. For all I
know, he's still in there screamingfor air. Meanwhile, that tunnel people

(03:06:00):
just kept going down there and hangingthemselves. I mean, every day I'd
wake up and I'd be down afew researchers and a couple more guards would
be missing. Took a shockingly shortamount of time for most of the six
hundred people on site to just disappear. God knows when security stopped taking the

(03:06:20):
bodies down, just another job thatgot lost in the grown panic. By
the time evacuation orders came, wewere down to a hundred people. I
esked themate that around four hundred endedthemselves in that tunnel. I've only visited
him once since the project shut down, only had the guts to go look

(03:06:45):
once, barely made it out alive. I felt compelled to try and face
up to him, acknowledged the roleI played. Only that meant actually getting
to the door at the end ofthe tunnel, which was by this point
pitch black except for my torch,and blocked almost entirely with hanging bodies,

(03:07:09):
so many pressed together, so closethat I had no hope of making my
way through without bumping into one.Reminded me of the jungle, funnily enough,
of a thick, claustrophobic forest madeof dried skin and brittle ligaments,
different colors and shapes, and ofcourse different levels of decomp Some had lost

(03:07:35):
their noses, lips, and eyes. Others were a little bloated but still
recognizable. Not friends, really,I don't think I actually made one solitary
friend on that project. But colleagues, people who were under my charge,

(03:07:56):
they looked sad. All of themlooked sad. They should have been buried
at home with their families, butinstead they were locked all the way in
the ass end of nowhere. Ofcourse, you can bet your ass the
agency will make sure no one everknows the truth. You know, I

(03:08:18):
still love contact with them. AnythingI post gets screened, arrogant assholes.
No that, no one's going totake me seriously a record of this project
anywhere? All those people just ghostsin a system too big for any one
person to keep track of it all. You know how many people go missing

(03:08:39):
in the United States in a year? What about Europe? Well, the
whole damn world. God, thisproject was just a drop in the ocean.
I wanted to put it to bedto see if I could get some
kind of answer from him. Itwas that idea, trying to get some

(03:09:01):
resolution to this nightmare. I gaveme the strength to push past the first
dead body and go deeper into thattunnel. It reminded me of trying to
make your way to the front ofa gig, only deathly silent, and
the people you barged past one gentlyback and forth, the sound of makeshift
nooses tightening in the dark. Ithink the worst part was the limited vision.

(03:09:28):
My light was just a lone disk, and God, it was pitch
black in that place, like caving, only the floor is slick and you
don't have to worry about a ravine. Made me think about being in the
bottom of the ocean with all thecorps's visibility was never more than a few
foot ahead. I remember panicking atthe realization I could easily get turned around,

(03:09:52):
And well, if all those lostsouls didn't let me go, what
if I wound up in circles forhours, days, even on end,
just round and round. The nearestwall could be right there and I wouldn't
know it. Just bones and teethand ribs and hanging in trails, all

(03:10:16):
of them called to the touch,freezing. Obviously, that's why we'd put
him down there. The place wascalled my own breath, visible in the
air, but the bodies were likethe meat you grab out of the fridge
in a supermarket. It was justawful. I found the fresh ones the

(03:10:39):
hardest. The stomach, A reallyrotten body looks almost like a prop It
isn't don't get me wrong. Youlook at it and your brain tells you,
damn well, it ain't a prop. But it's a hell of a
lot easier to convince yourself. It'sjust the thing when it hasn't got eyes
or skin. But the fresh onessometimes they still had expressions like anger or

(03:11:05):
sadness on their faces. They mademe feel watched. And the fact they
were cold and slick with condensation.Every time I bumped into one, it
took everything I had not to letout a whimper. And they moved.
They didn't move, not like that. But there were no drafts down there.

(03:11:30):
It was perfectly still. They hadbeen perfectly still for months after the
project shut down, and then Icame along and disturbed them, and it
was like a giant Newton's cradle.The static system that I put energy into
it began to sway and twist andbomp. I'd knock one, and a

(03:11:50):
fraction of a second later it wouldknock me back, jostling against my cheek
or my arm as inertia rocked itback and forth. Ten minutes in too
far to turn back. That waswhen the nightmare began started small I lost

(03:12:11):
my ability to track what body waswhere and which ones were sent swinging by
my own clumsy movements, and thenfingers combed my hair. I cried out,
Another said touched my beard, myface. I forced myself onwards and
started making eye contact with one.Too many dead men for it to simply

(03:12:31):
be an accident. Their expressions changedfrom sullen and listless to angry and cool,
leering smiles and curled lips. Thencame the unmistakable sensation of someone deliberately
grabbing for my arm. I hadto shake it loose, too afraid to

(03:12:54):
look back and face the possibility thatI'd see one of them moving and scared,
I pushed on constantly, having toshake cold fingers off my elbow or
my collar. They groped incessantly,looking for anything to hold on to.
Firm grips pinched my belly, fat, my shoulders, my chest, and

(03:13:16):
then they started reaching for my eyes. At one point I made the mistake
of crying out, and a freezingcold finger with a slightly furried texture slid
into my mouth. The only reliefcame when I dropped to my hands and
knees and crawled. The entire timemy mind raised with a terrible possibility that

(03:13:39):
I really was just being sent incircles over and over and over, and
they were never going to let meleave. I would die down there in
the dark, smothered by their rottinghands. God damn, I came close
to giving up. When my torchfinally alighted upon an open space. I

(03:14:05):
cried out, a heaving, wetsob made of relief and joy, and
my muscles given new life, workedover time to get me out of that
horrible nightmare and into freedom. Ididn't stop until I bumped my head against
the steel wall with a dull clang, and looked up to see the vault's
door, at last, the placewe'd frozen him. I got up,

(03:14:33):
with what little dignity I had left, brushed down my clothes, and risked
only the briefest of glances back.The bodies looked inert now, just like
they had before I entered. Icould have tricked myself into thinking it was
my imagination. Only half my shirtwas now in tatters on the floor,

(03:14:56):
and I could still see strips ofit still clenched in a few of their
hands. I did my best tocompose myself, and I entered the vault.
We hadn't left him in a verynice state. The plan was the

(03:15:18):
catalog everything. Yeah, we excitedthe most striking biological anomalies, but the
remaining flesh. I mean, wewanted to know everything, every last capillary,
every last cell. We wanted itrecorded. So we had this special
machine flown in. It works bytaking a piece of flesh and slicing into

(03:15:43):
a layer that's barely a micrometer thick, and depositing it into a slide.
That slide is digested and then storedin specialized cold refrigeration units. Is usually
used on a sample not much biggerthan a potato, but for him we
had something specially made, frozen stoodvertigal. We put him on the machine

(03:16:09):
where it worked, creating about oneslice every three hours. Only at the
end. Well, first, noone came to take the slides away,
so they had gathered on the floorbelow in a terrible mess. And second,
no one had bothered to check ifhe was still dead. Stupid of

(03:16:31):
us, really, of course hecame back to life, only this time
he didn't get to leave the cave. I often wonder if he had anything
left to say, but by thenthe machine had reached his nose, just
his eyes at the top of hishead looking right at me, following me.

(03:16:58):
God, we made a mess ofthings, didn't We made the Romans
look gentle in comparison. I fellto my knees and begged for forgiveness,
and the worst part he gave it. Obviously not verbally, but it shouldn't
surprise you to know he had otherways of putting thought to my head.

(03:17:22):
I was so angry at myself.I was positive I'd find some kind of
punishment waiting for me. When Ididn't, he forgave me, told me
I was loved after everything I'd done. I mean, God, that hurt
the most. I didn't deserve it, still don't. And then he gave

(03:17:48):
me the Third Testament, or ratherthe cliff notes. Not enough to drive
me nuts, but the gist ofit, so to speak, did a
numb me. Anyway. By thetime I was done sobbing on the floor,
I lugged up and he was gone. Nothing remained, just broken glass

(03:18:13):
in a machine cutting empty air.Going back through the tunnel was no easier
than going in, but I hardlyremember it. I lost a couple of
weeks after that little trip down below, but eventually I came to in my
office. Now I stay above ground. I've asked for rescue, but the

(03:18:37):
agency feels I best serve my countryby staying where I am, making sure
nothing else leagues out. It's messedup, but I think, for once
they might be right. I've consideredsharing what he gave me, considered even
putting it in bits of writing here. Might even go get the full Testament

(03:19:01):
and upload it, but that wouldinvolve reading it, and like I said,
I'm a coward and I don't wantto die. Everyone who reads it
dies by their own hand. Iguess all I can say is the Third
Testament. It's something of a warning, an outline of what's coming our way,

(03:19:31):
so bad that he came just tooffer us a way out, a
promise that there's somewhere else, andan acknowledgment that we're going to need.
It makes me think of Coats,smartest man I ever met, whose first
reaction to knowing what was on theway was to try and engineer something to

(03:19:54):
wipe humanity all out. Given towhat we did to him, I wonder
if we don't deserve it

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