1 00:00:01,960 --> 00:00:07,480 Gregg was an adventurer despite everything he had been through. He took to the 2 00:00:07,559 --> 00:00:12,119 hill behind his home with firm footsteps, marching up the mile long road like 3 00:00:12,199 --> 00:00:16,920 it was a path to great treasure. Even as his sister and I plodded 4 00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:22,120 behind him, sweat pouring down us in the stifling August heat. He turned 5 00:00:22,199 --> 00:00:26,800 and cried for us to keep up. How he was so animated, I 6 00:00:26,879 --> 00:00:32,159 didn't know. Not even grasshoppers chirruped under the midday sun, and the tall 7 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:37,200 grass, usually so green, had turned to yellow straw as summer reached this 8 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:43,280 peak. Come on, he cried, as he reached a seemingly arbitrary spot 9 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:47,799 on the road. I saw it this way, he pointed into the grass, 10 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:54,520 a thin footpath barely visible between wavering fronts. What did you see? 11 00:00:55,000 --> 00:01:00,039 Samantha shouted. She was usually so calm and responsible, but I could tell 12 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:06,239 she was close to blown that cool head of hers. Not long ago, 13 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:11,239 Gregg and Samantha had been a trio. The loss of their older brother, 14 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:15,239 gone two years by this point, had broken their parents in an unusual way. 15 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:21,840 It was not uncommon to lose children in my hometown. It felt like 16 00:01:21,959 --> 00:01:26,640 every year the class register grew shorter by at least two names. But where 17 00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:34,159 most parents became overprotective, Gregg's had gone the other way. They grew listless 18 00:01:34,159 --> 00:01:40,319 and morose, withdrawing not only from the world but their remaining children. Three 19 00:01:40,359 --> 00:01:44,359 times a week, Gregg and Samantha came to my house and ate food with 20 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:49,640 us. The rest of the time, Samantha cooked for a family, just 21 00:01:49,799 --> 00:01:53,400 as you, packed at Greg's lunches, and washed his clothes, and did 22 00:01:53,439 --> 00:01:57,840 anything else that a parent usually did. If she'd been older, she would 23 00:01:57,840 --> 00:02:05,400 have probably forbidden Greg's expeditions entirely. But she was young and exhausted, and 24 00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:08,319 every time Greg set out to explore the wilderness at the edge of town, 25 00:02:08,919 --> 00:02:13,960 his face lit up so bright it must have been impossible to say no. 26 00:02:15,919 --> 00:02:20,520 Today, he dragged us both to see something. He'd found, something that 27 00:02:20,639 --> 00:02:27,240 he claimed was incredible. You have to see it for yourself, he said. 28 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:30,680 When we caught up with him. Samantha and I were breathless, but 29 00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:36,840 Greg was practically jumping on the spot with excitement. I need a break. 30 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:43,479 I wind a good idea Stephen, Samantha replied, between heavy breaths. Let's 31 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:51,960 just enjoy the view. We turned to face home on our left was the 32 00:02:52,039 --> 00:02:57,360 forest. On our right open space, and below us, built on the 33 00:02:57,400 --> 00:03:01,439 sloping side of the mountain, was our hometown. Looking at it from so 34 00:03:01,479 --> 00:03:07,960 far, it appeared plain and small and normal. But in the corner of 35 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:12,680 our eyes, drifting from the spaces between the trees of the forest, we 36 00:03:12,759 --> 00:03:19,360 could see the red twine. Hundreds, maybe thousands of strands floated over open 37 00:03:19,439 --> 00:03:23,759 air down the slope. We just climbed and entered the town miles below, 38 00:03:23,039 --> 00:03:29,680 where it formed a complex, an ever changing web. Each string had small 39 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:35,000 golden bells attached at every meter, and you'd think that with a string strung 40 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:39,280 so far between such distant points that every gust of wind would create a chorus 41 00:03:39,319 --> 00:03:46,560 of ringing. They were silent, and they would remain so unless someone was 42 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:53,400 careless enough to touch one of the snares. It's actually kind of beautiful, 43 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:59,960 some anthem mused quietly, and I found myself agreeing. You've checked for snare 44 00:04:00,159 --> 00:04:04,000 on this route, she asked her brother. I checked yesterday, he cried, 45 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:09,280 turning to the path like a dog straining on a leash. It's not 46 00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:14,199 far, it's right there. The twine could have moved since then, she 47 00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:17,160 said, I don't like this. I don't think we should be doing this. 48 00:04:17,639 --> 00:04:21,360 It's dangerous. Think about the golden rule. I know the golden rule. 49 00:04:21,639 --> 00:04:28,560 Gregg suddenly screamed, don't touch the thread. Greg kept shouting the phrase 50 00:04:28,759 --> 00:04:32,319 over and over until his face turned pink. Did it help Jonathan, he 51 00:04:32,399 --> 00:04:36,279 finally shrieked as he lost energy. No, he was the most careful of 52 00:04:36,279 --> 00:04:42,319 all, and it's still got him. So what's the point. Samantha's gasp 53 00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:46,839 was so loud it stopped Greg's tantrum dead in his tracks for a second. 54 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:50,399 Her hand twitched, and I thought she was going to hit her younger brother. 55 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:56,800 But it was only the slightest of movements, right, she said, 56 00:04:57,040 --> 00:05:01,000 as stern as any headmistress. That's it. Back we go, Stephen. 57 00:05:01,160 --> 00:05:06,040 I'm sorry Greg had to ruin this by being a potty mouth. Greg's face 58 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:10,759 soured into regret and despair. No, no, no, no, no, 59 00:05:10,759 --> 00:05:15,480 no, you have to believe me. You have to see it. 60 00:05:15,519 --> 00:05:19,800 Samantha took a deep breath and knelt down to Greg's level. Do you know 61 00:05:19,879 --> 00:05:26,040 what the most important rule really is? Don't touch the thread? Greg sobbed. 62 00:05:26,879 --> 00:05:30,519 No, Samantha shook her head. The most important rule, the one 63 00:05:30,639 --> 00:05:35,000 that your one day appreciate is the hardest of them all, is the one 64 00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:42,519 that says you never ever help someone who's touched a snare. I know that 65 00:05:43,439 --> 00:05:47,560 his words were choked out between heaving breaths. No you don't. I mean 66 00:05:48,040 --> 00:05:54,040 you do, but you don't really know what it means. What it actually 67 00:05:54,079 --> 00:05:58,879 means is leaving someone you love behind, even if they scream, even if 68 00:05:58,920 --> 00:06:01,920 they cry, and when it comes to take them, you walk away, 69 00:06:02,439 --> 00:06:08,199 run if you can, and you don't look back. Could you do that 70 00:06:08,240 --> 00:06:11,879 for me? Greg? If I was lying there crying for you to help 71 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:19,519 me, could you just run away? I don't know. If I had 72 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:24,560 to do that, I think it would kill me. My heart would never 73 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:28,759 be whole again. Do you want to leave me for dead if something goes 74 00:06:28,839 --> 00:06:33,800 wrong? Greg shook his head to signal no, that's why we should turn 75 00:06:33,879 --> 00:06:40,879 back. Samantha continued. It's too risky, you're too excited. Do you 76 00:06:40,959 --> 00:06:43,759 know what it would do to me if you run over one? Do you? 77 00:06:45,319 --> 00:06:49,560 Samantha swallowed and wiped her teary eyes with a cardigan sleeve. We're going 78 00:06:49,639 --> 00:06:56,879 home. That's final. She turned towards me and went to speak, but 79 00:06:57,240 --> 00:07:00,480 in a few seconds where a back was to Greg, his face crunched up 80 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:05,639 and all his anger returned. I thought he was going to leap at her 81 00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:14,920 and start kicking and punching, but he did something much worse. He ran 82 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:23,079 into the tall grass. Samantha didn't even have time to turn around and call 83 00:07:23,199 --> 00:07:28,360 his name before he saw the crass disturbed and heard a loud thump, followed 84 00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:34,560 by a twang and the ringing of a bell. The snare wherever it was 85 00:07:35,040 --> 00:07:42,079 must have been perfectly placed to catch him. There were a few agonizing seconds 86 00:07:42,399 --> 00:07:46,480 before Gregg started crying. I could tell from his voice that my friend had 87 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:56,279 seriously hurt himself, but neither Samantha nor I moved. The bell kept ringing. 88 00:07:56,879 --> 00:08:01,680 It would not stop. It was an unnatural sound, and one by 89 00:08:01,720 --> 00:08:07,800 one the red twine in the distance began to shiver sympathetically, and a thousand 90 00:08:07,839 --> 00:08:13,319 other bells joined in. The haunting sound lit up not only the mountainside but 91 00:08:13,480 --> 00:08:18,959 the town below us, and I knew that already my family would be terrified 92 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:24,720 to find me and know that I was safe. I wanted to run back 93 00:08:24,759 --> 00:08:30,079 to them, to flee the rising alarm that ceased not only my thoughts, 94 00:08:30,279 --> 00:08:33,960 for the very air around me, as miles and miles of webb thrummed with 95 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:43,320 anticipation. But before I could turn, Greg appeared out of the grass and 96 00:08:43,480 --> 00:08:50,840 stared at us. He was, in spite of everything silent. He must 97 00:08:50,879 --> 00:08:56,039 have been shocked. He certainly looked like he was surprised to find several meters 98 00:08:56,080 --> 00:09:01,919 of ordinary looking twine used to the skin on his arms and face in coiling 99 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:09,919 bunches. No blood, just swollen flesh, slowly turning pink, as if 100 00:09:09,279 --> 00:09:15,320 it too was shocked to find its own boundaries violated and was now having a 101 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:22,360 delayed reaction. Quick invader shut it down, But this was no microbe or 102 00:09:22,399 --> 00:09:26,960 allergen. Several strands of the stuff had fused to his hair and face and 103 00:09:28,120 --> 00:09:33,000 arms, and in places like his cheeks and ears. It had even punched 104 00:09:33,039 --> 00:09:37,960 through the flesh entirely and emerged on the other side with a firm grip. 105 00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:43,960 It was slowly but surely beginning to pull him back into the woods. That 106 00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:50,399 force would only increase with every passing second until there was simply no resisting. 107 00:09:52,080 --> 00:09:58,879 But Greg fought on. He pushed against them and staggered towards us, reaching 108 00:09:58,919 --> 00:10:05,039 out a hand redded with twine. Samantha didn't move, which he did raise 109 00:10:05,080 --> 00:10:09,759 a hand as if to embrace him. The sound of me crying out and 110 00:10:09,919 --> 00:10:15,879 falling backwards made a look away from a brother who finally began to wail and 111 00:10:16,039 --> 00:10:22,720 sob. She fixed me with teary eyes, and in that moment I watched 112 00:10:22,840 --> 00:10:31,120 Samantha's heartbreak before she turned from a weeping brother, grabbed my hand and ran. 113 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:39,480 Greg followed. Neither of us knew in detail what happened when the snare 114 00:10:39,519 --> 00:10:45,840 catches you, But as Greig continued to stumble after us, his cries and 115 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:52,200 please grew increasingly furious. I darkly found myself wishing it had just hurry up 116 00:10:52,200 --> 00:10:56,080 and be over with. Looking back, I'm surprised at the ten year old 117 00:10:56,159 --> 00:11:01,279 imaginative vocabulary. But he was faced death, and I think his mind dug 118 00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:07,919 deep. God, he hated us in those moments. I'm sure of that. 119 00:11:09,080 --> 00:11:13,360 He was scared and hurting, and the only people close to him were 120 00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:18,480 abandoning him. He told us we'd go to hell. He told us we 121 00:11:18,600 --> 00:11:24,639 deserve to die. He told us a lot, not stopping until halfway down 122 00:11:24,720 --> 00:11:31,879 the hill when he finally fell. I turned, not meaning or wanting to 123 00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:37,600 and saw him push himself up with his hands, gravel embedded in the puffy, 124 00:11:37,720 --> 00:11:43,360 bleeding skin of his face, and he glared at me with burning hatred. 125 00:11:45,840 --> 00:11:48,840 He tried to pull out the snares embedded in his forearms, but his 126 00:11:48,919 --> 00:11:54,480 hands bonded to the twine immediately, and it only left him too tangled to 127 00:11:54,559 --> 00:12:01,799 resist any further. The twine pulled harder and he fell backwards, and with 128 00:12:01,919 --> 00:12:07,919 kicking feet, he was dragged slowly out of sight. I was so afraid 129 00:12:07,919 --> 00:12:13,919 of what I'd seen. I swored myself and my vision blurred. My legs 130 00:12:13,960 --> 00:12:18,960 grew faint, and Samantha, barely slowing, picked me up and carried me 131 00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:22,840 the rest of the way. When we reached the town, my parents were 132 00:12:22,840 --> 00:12:28,639 waiting for us. They held me so tight that it hurt my little ribs, 133 00:12:30,120 --> 00:12:35,559 but I didn't care. I sobbed into my mother's arms and paid only 134 00:12:35,600 --> 00:12:43,200 a moment's notice to the weak, hysterical Samantha, whose own parents were nowhere 135 00:12:43,960 --> 00:12:54,320 to be seen. I can't believe you bought it. I can't believe they 136 00:12:54,360 --> 00:12:58,960 sold it, I replied, as the helicopter banked over the town below. 137 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:03,879 From this high up, the snares resembled something blood red and fleshy, the 138 00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:11,440 floating celia of a strange jellyfish tangled in an artificial reef. The town, 139 00:13:11,840 --> 00:13:16,200 a litter of miniatures that grew from the mountainside like coral, was clearly abandoned. 140 00:13:18,720 --> 00:13:22,679 It had never been well looked after, not even when we lived there, 141 00:13:22,759 --> 00:13:28,960 but over the last few years it had begun to look apocalyptic. Did 142 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:35,720 the government tell you any more about what they found? Samantha rasked. I 143 00:13:35,799 --> 00:13:39,480 looked across at the woman beside me. She looked older than her age, 144 00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:45,559 but there still remained a ghost of the teenage girl who saved my life. 145 00:13:46,519 --> 00:13:50,759 And if I looked further, still a hint of resemblance to her brother. 146 00:13:52,440 --> 00:13:56,000 Does it hurt for her to look in the mirror? I wondered, does 147 00:13:56,039 --> 00:14:01,720 that familiar resemblance sting? So many ghosts lingered around her, not just Gregg's 148 00:14:03,039 --> 00:14:09,200 two brothers, two parents. No one was around to witness the latter's abduction, 149 00:14:09,960 --> 00:14:15,840 but their disappearance was no mystery. How could it be? People did 150 00:14:15,840 --> 00:14:22,080 not go missing in my hometown. Everyone knew what it meant if someone failed 151 00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:26,120 to show up at breakfast or was a no show at work. Or church. 152 00:14:26,200 --> 00:14:31,759 It meant they'd gotten careless. It meant they touched the snare, and 153 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:37,120 there was no coming back from that mistake, although in the case of Samantha's 154 00:14:37,159 --> 00:14:43,960 parents it was unclear if they'd done so by accident. They didn't find anything, 155 00:14:43,519 --> 00:14:48,879 I said, nothing concrete anyway. I think it frustrated them, this 156 00:14:50,039 --> 00:14:54,480 unsolvable problem. Maybe they hoped he'll throw enough money at it to figure it 157 00:14:54,519 --> 00:14:58,440 out. Let some billionaire spend his cash and leave their budgets alone. God 158 00:14:58,480 --> 00:15:03,720 knows his what most people think when they find out I have money. An 159 00:15:03,759 --> 00:15:09,559 awkward silence settled between us. Thank you, Samantha said, once it had 160 00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:13,399 gotten on long enough. I know you must get a lot of people asking 161 00:15:13,440 --> 00:15:16,960 for charity. Don't worry, I replied, cutting her off. I didn't 162 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:22,399 mean to. It's the least I could do. It was my friend who 163 00:15:22,879 --> 00:15:28,480 it's just if that drone footage is real. She was referring to the one 164 00:15:28,519 --> 00:15:33,759 bit of fruitful evidence the government had dug up, a short video taken by 165 00:15:33,799 --> 00:15:41,480 an aerial drone racing through overgrown trees. It lasted no more than five seconds, 166 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:46,559 covering one hundred or so meters before the machine had failed, but for 167 00:15:46,639 --> 00:15:52,240 the first time in mine or Samantha's life. We had finally had a glimpse 168 00:15:52,399 --> 00:15:56,600 into the forbidden woods, which are the source of the red snares. Five 169 00:15:56,759 --> 00:16:03,480 seconds of nothing, five deconds of blurry trees and autumnal leaves. And a 170 00:16:03,559 --> 00:16:11,000 frame, a single frame, A frame that was emailed to Samantha by an 171 00:16:11,039 --> 00:16:15,399 anonymous researcher, A frame that prompted her to call me and cash in all 172 00:16:15,480 --> 00:16:21,000 that guilt. I could have been angry to find this ghost that my child 173 00:16:21,039 --> 00:16:27,440 had returned demanding I spent millions on some whim but I wasn't. She had 174 00:16:27,480 --> 00:16:32,720 sent me the image, and I immediately knew what she wanted and why. 175 00:16:33,120 --> 00:16:37,519 Six months later, and I'd managed to bribe enough officials to let me purchase 176 00:16:37,600 --> 00:16:48,639 the derelict and empty remains of my hometown, the image was of Greg, 177 00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:55,559 a blurred shadow, recognizable only by the distinct make and coloring of his clothes. 178 00:16:56,440 --> 00:17:02,320 Details burned into both mine and Samantha's memories, details neither of us could 179 00:17:02,320 --> 00:17:07,039 forget. No, you could not see his face, but we didn't have 180 00:17:07,200 --> 00:17:15,680 to. We knew it was him anyway. Samantha's expression grew sad as her 181 00:17:15,680 --> 00:17:21,599 eyes fell to the window. With a town passed directly beneath us. We 182 00:17:21,599 --> 00:17:26,519 were slowing. As the chopper approached the landing site. I briefed the pilot 183 00:17:26,720 --> 00:17:30,759 that the situation was fluid and he would need to keep a keen eye out 184 00:17:30,799 --> 00:17:34,559 for a place free of snares. A glance at the direction he was taking 185 00:17:34,880 --> 00:17:41,039 told me he was heading straight for the church. Do you know what it 186 00:17:41,119 --> 00:17:45,599 was like in the end, she asked, Eyes still on the town. 187 00:17:47,359 --> 00:17:52,160 Even from this height, we could see thousands of snares, snaking from building 188 00:17:52,160 --> 00:17:56,480 to building, window to window, through abandoned cars, and around tilting telephone 189 00:17:56,480 --> 00:18:03,880 poles, a cat's cradle of shimmering red twine. My dad called a few 190 00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:07,519 weeks before he disappeared. I answered. Every couple of months, he'd call 191 00:18:07,799 --> 00:18:12,960 and go through the list every time it got smaller. In the end, 192 00:18:14,279 --> 00:18:18,240 he was just one person. I asked if it had been a good month, 193 00:18:18,720 --> 00:18:22,839 if people had been extra careful. He told me they just weren't enough 194 00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:27,359 people to go missing anymore. In the end, he was the last, 195 00:18:29,079 --> 00:18:37,119 too stubborn who refused to move down below the church raced into view. In 196 00:18:37,200 --> 00:18:41,200 the months since the town had emptied, the once impeccable kept grass had been 197 00:18:41,279 --> 00:18:47,519 left to grow wild and unkempt in the autumn heat. I wondered what it 198 00:18:47,599 --> 00:18:52,519 might hide, so I leaned forward and got the pilot's attention. Radio the 199 00:18:52,519 --> 00:18:56,839 guys on the ground and tell them not to step on the grass, I 200 00:18:56,920 --> 00:19:03,240 shouted. They used to keep it short for a reason. The pilot gave 201 00:19:03,279 --> 00:19:07,559 me a thumbs up before speaking into his mic. Standing sheepishly at the edge 202 00:19:07,559 --> 00:19:12,200 of the old lawn, three small figures looked up at us and waved to 203 00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:18,720 get our attention. When I first paid for the expedition to enter the town 204 00:19:18,839 --> 00:19:23,519 and map its contents, there had been four two scientists and two former soldiers 205 00:19:23,599 --> 00:19:30,200 hired a security. It didn't surprise me, looking down, that we were 206 00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:36,880 missing one of the scientists. It's worse than before, Doctor Wagner, the 207 00:19:36,960 --> 00:19:41,720 expedition scientist, looked at me with curiosity as we picked away carefully down main 208 00:19:41,799 --> 00:19:47,640 Street. It wasn't unusual for one of the roads to have a few snares 209 00:19:47,680 --> 00:19:51,720 across it, I added, But the air is practically red with the stuff. 210 00:19:52,079 --> 00:19:56,920 Perhaps it has become frustrated with the lack of food, She replied, 211 00:19:57,240 --> 00:20:03,160 You think it eats them and she nodded. Seems possible, I added, 212 00:20:03,319 --> 00:20:10,440 as I studied a nearby shop window, a little boutique that sold dresses the 213 00:20:10,559 --> 00:20:15,960 kind of women would wear to church. I remember waiting outside while my mother 214 00:20:15,160 --> 00:20:21,880 bruised inside for what felt like hours on end. Sometimes I would grow impatient 215 00:20:22,039 --> 00:20:26,480 and want to go inside too. But something about the mannequin in the window 216 00:20:26,599 --> 00:20:33,480 scared me. Faceless, featureless, hard plastic glimpse. What was it about 217 00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:37,160 the lack of eyes that left me convinced it was looking right at me? 218 00:20:38,519 --> 00:20:42,960 It had only cotton, worse with age. It's head a raw shack of 219 00:20:44,039 --> 00:20:49,759 peeling paint, beige and white, untarnished gun metal grays. It must be 220 00:20:49,799 --> 00:20:56,240 intelligent, sentient, if not sapient, Wagner said, as they turned away 221 00:20:56,279 --> 00:21:00,920 from the unsettling doll. The scientist was a small woman in a late forties, 222 00:21:02,680 --> 00:21:07,759 usually quite brazen and funny. For twenty four hours in this town had 223 00:21:07,799 --> 00:21:12,680 already worn her down. It knew to target the objects that Mike doctor mcnolah 224 00:21:12,759 --> 00:21:22,000 touched regularly. I cringed at the reminder of the expedition's losses. It isn't 225 00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:26,160 just intelligent, I said, it's vindictive. Did I tell you what happens 226 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:32,799 if you damage the thread. She shook her head. One man set fire 227 00:21:32,839 --> 00:21:36,640 to a whole bunch of snares on his lawn, I told her used a 228 00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:40,319 can of spray paint, and his lighter woke up the next day to find 229 00:21:40,319 --> 00:21:44,440 a snare punched right through his belly and tied to a bedspring on the other 230 00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:51,519 side. The scientist winced at the thought, but I left out the part 231 00:21:51,839 --> 00:21:55,519 with A man had stayed in his bed for a full two days before he 232 00:21:55,599 --> 00:21:59,359 was finally driven mad by the itch of the twine running through his guts. 233 00:22:00,599 --> 00:22:03,559 I had heard from some older kids that in the end he tore at himself 234 00:22:03,599 --> 00:22:08,920 like an animal in a trap, and in a red twist, the twine 235 00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:14,920 did not take him. It left his body there, skewered on a piece 236 00:22:14,960 --> 00:22:18,160 of string, and the doctor had to come round with a couple of farmers 237 00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:23,839 and cut him out. But still the twine stayed fixed and taught, so 238 00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:29,319 that his family could not get rid of anything it touched. Not the sheets, 239 00:22:29,559 --> 00:22:33,279 not the mattress, not even the half inch or so of flesh the 240 00:22:33,359 --> 00:22:37,839 twine had bonded too. The stink of infection infested the house. They said 241 00:22:38,759 --> 00:22:45,079 and on hot summer days it even reached the street. It must have been 242 00:22:45,119 --> 00:22:52,119 hell living here. Why would anyone stay? Most people didn't. Just about 243 00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:56,319 everyone my age left as soon as they got old enough. Town went from 244 00:22:56,359 --> 00:23:00,559 five thousand to a few hundred in just a couple decades, I replied. 245 00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:04,400 When my dad was a kid, there were maybe two or three snares at 246 00:23:04,440 --> 00:23:08,519 the time, few enough that if you got tangled, others would cut you 247 00:23:08,559 --> 00:23:12,599 out without too much risk to themselves. Hurt like hell, mind, but 248 00:23:12,839 --> 00:23:18,079 survivable by the time it got real bad. Some people were just too old 249 00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:22,759 or stubborn. Plus I suspect some stayed in the hope that was taken would 250 00:23:22,759 --> 00:23:29,920 come back. My father was definitely in that camp. At least you got 251 00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:33,160 out, Wagner said. If you'd stayed, you would have either been taken 252 00:23:33,200 --> 00:23:40,240 already or probably gone insane from the loneliness. I understood our words, but 253 00:23:40,559 --> 00:23:45,720 I didn't feel them. People who were born into this were never really normal. 254 00:23:45,839 --> 00:23:49,440 I couldn't go to the bathroom without checking the door five times each way. 255 00:23:51,319 --> 00:23:55,400 Sleep was short, fitful at best, since there was always when you 256 00:23:55,440 --> 00:24:00,759 were most vulnerable. From what I understood, most people who'd left the town 257 00:24:00,960 --> 00:24:06,799 hadn't fared so well, I suppose. I shrugged, and we continued to 258 00:24:06,960 --> 00:24:11,039 carefully step over strands of red twine. There thrummed with excitement as our feet 259 00:24:11,079 --> 00:24:18,960 passed over. We got maybe halfway down main Street before Wagner tripped, fell 260 00:24:19,359 --> 00:24:27,400 and set off the first of the snares drop it. She lowered her backpack 261 00:24:27,480 --> 00:24:33,599 without taking her eyes off it. Lucky woman had fallen in such a way 262 00:24:33,920 --> 00:24:37,480 her bag had taken the hit, but already other snares started to gum up 263 00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:44,200 the fabric. They attracted each other somehow. You never saw them move. 264 00:24:44,759 --> 00:24:48,720 It just appeared when you weren't looking, almost like they were always there. 265 00:24:48,680 --> 00:24:55,039 But a quick person could beat them. Jesus, I cried. Step away. 266 00:24:56,480 --> 00:25:02,240 Wagner ran over to me as dozens more appeared wrapped around a backpack. 267 00:25:03,359 --> 00:25:08,119 Slowly they began to constrict, melding into and right through the material, looking 268 00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:12,839 for the flesh of its owner, while still dragging it further into the web 269 00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:18,480 so more snares could seize it. Slowly, but surely, the bag was 270 00:25:18,559 --> 00:25:25,720 dragged into the darkness of a nearby alley. I was close, the scientist 271 00:25:25,759 --> 00:25:30,599 said. Once the bag was out of sight, I didn't bother, chastising 272 00:25:30,599 --> 00:25:33,920 her. No one could really get used to this kind of place. You 273 00:25:34,039 --> 00:25:37,680 had to live with it for years before the lessons had taught you, sank 274 00:25:37,759 --> 00:25:42,759 In, I merely offered to take a short break, sharing what little food 275 00:25:42,799 --> 00:25:48,519 I had before the pair of us continued. At least she was a little 276 00:25:48,519 --> 00:25:55,440 more watchful going forward. Nothing more I could ask for. The journey dragged 277 00:25:55,480 --> 00:26:00,039 on for hours, with our pace so slow, we used the time to 278 00:26:00,039 --> 00:26:04,960 document what we saw the state of the town. Crumbling buildings, twine punched 279 00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:10,839 glass without shattering, it, blending perfectly with wood, rock, metal, 280 00:26:10,920 --> 00:26:15,279 and plastic. Where one end met man made structures, while the other ran 281 00:26:15,319 --> 00:26:21,359 off towards the horizon, inevitably disappearing into the darkness beneath the forest's canopy. 282 00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:26,920 From there, no one knew where it led, only that disappearing into the 283 00:26:26,960 --> 00:26:33,960 woods meant you never came back. Meanwhile, the silence bore down on us. 284 00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:38,000 I wasn't used to it, certainly, not here of all places, 285 00:26:38,799 --> 00:26:44,599 what was once a home to me. But aside from us moving and speaking, 286 00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:48,640 there was nothing to break up the eerie silence. And even then our 287 00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:55,279 words felt intrusive and dangerous, like we might catch the attention of something lurking 288 00:26:55,559 --> 00:27:00,039 just out of sight, perhaps somewhere behind the windows that peered down on us, 289 00:27:02,160 --> 00:27:07,720 old, gray and grimy, the rooms beyond hidden like islands in the 290 00:27:07,799 --> 00:27:14,200 fog. The only splash of color the red twine that ensnared the spaces within 291 00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:21,200 those decrepit rooms, hardware shops, florists, record stores, apartments once occupied 292 00:27:21,240 --> 00:27:26,240 by people who had left no one behind to claim their things. So now 293 00:27:26,359 --> 00:27:32,039 toasters and TVs and ovens and fridges and all manner of personal items lingered on, 294 00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:37,160 gathering no dust because there was no one to shed skin and create some 295 00:27:38,279 --> 00:27:44,440 I felt watched by those windows. Slowly but surely, my paranoia spiked, 296 00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:48,720 like a child in a haunted house, convinced that something was waiting to jump 297 00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:53,880 out. Wagner spoke to me in places, and I just ignored her, 298 00:27:55,440 --> 00:28:00,960 willing her into silence out of fear of something coming along. At one point 299 00:28:00,160 --> 00:28:04,640 she had to grab me to get my attention. Do you hear that? 300 00:28:06,279 --> 00:28:11,880 She asked, her eyes wide with fear, and I realized for the first 301 00:28:11,920 --> 00:28:19,039 time it wasn't just me who'd been feeling the pressure. I listened there. 302 00:28:19,240 --> 00:28:25,920 It was a tinkle of a bell, But unlike the ones I'd heard when 303 00:28:25,920 --> 00:28:33,440 a snare was touched, this was gentle, playful, singular, A lone 304 00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:38,039 bell, a lone piece of twine somewhere being played with like a cat batting 305 00:28:38,039 --> 00:28:44,599 a toy. What the hell? I muttered, clearly more baffled by this 306 00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:49,839 than Wagner. The bells did not ring alone. I knew this. Everyone 307 00:28:49,920 --> 00:28:56,559 in the town knew this. They always screamed in unison. As quickly as 308 00:28:56,559 --> 00:29:03,839 it came, it stopped, but we investigated anyway. Pulled by the law 309 00:29:03,160 --> 00:29:10,039 into the doorway of a shop, I went first, Wagner close behind. 310 00:29:11,279 --> 00:29:15,839 When she saw the figure standing there, she gasped, but whatever noise I 311 00:29:15,920 --> 00:29:22,400 wanted to make was caught in my throat. At first I assumed there was 312 00:29:22,440 --> 00:29:26,559 another person for their stock. Still pose could not have been achieved by anyone 313 00:29:26,680 --> 00:29:33,839 with a pulse. It was a mannequin. The mannequin, the one I'd 314 00:29:33,839 --> 00:29:38,000 studded at at the other end of the street. It even wore the same 315 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:44,960 clothes. It had been punchured by snares in dozens of places, the head, 316 00:29:45,200 --> 00:29:48,960 the neck, the elbow, and knees, so much so it resembled 317 00:29:49,119 --> 00:29:56,599 marionette and even as the comparison popped into my head. It turned to face 318 00:29:56,720 --> 00:30:03,519 us. Stiff rotate achieved by the tug of a twine. With more stilted 319 00:30:03,559 --> 00:30:11,200 movement, it reached out and held up Wagner's bag, suddenly unharmed, albeit 320 00:30:11,359 --> 00:30:18,680 a little scuffed should I Wagner almost reached out. Hell no, I cried, 321 00:30:18,720 --> 00:30:22,960 while snatching a wrist. I've never seen anything like this, But geez 322 00:30:23,079 --> 00:30:26,720 if it doesn't look like a trap, I don't know what does. No. 323 00:30:26,720 --> 00:30:30,799 No, we need to move. We need to find the others and 324 00:30:30,839 --> 00:30:36,400 get the hell on with his expedition. No more notes radio the others, 325 00:30:36,960 --> 00:30:41,279 I added, while glaring at the empty street, watching for signs of further 326 00:30:41,359 --> 00:30:47,640 movement. Behind all that dull and lifeless grass, It's time to move into 327 00:30:47,640 --> 00:30:52,119 the woods. Samantha and I were standing on the crest of the same hill 328 00:30:53,119 --> 00:30:59,880 where Gregg had fallen over twenty years ago. Only now the air was cooler 329 00:31:00,039 --> 00:31:03,599 and the grass greener, and plenty of birds chirruped in the nearby trees. 330 00:31:06,240 --> 00:31:10,279 It had seemed, through no gentle twist of fate, we'd been brought to 331 00:31:10,359 --> 00:31:15,279 the trail he'd singled out years ago. This is definitely what a satellite picked 332 00:31:15,279 --> 00:31:21,759 out, I asked, while Samantha chewed anxiously on a thumb. This is 333 00:31:21,799 --> 00:31:26,119 the root, Wagner replied. Why is there something wrong with it? It's 334 00:31:26,200 --> 00:31:30,559 just that the infrared and elevation scans made it clear. If we want to 335 00:31:30,720 --> 00:31:37,640 enter the forest, this is our best bet. No, if you're sure, 336 00:31:37,799 --> 00:31:41,240 you're sure, I said, or briefly, nudging a child shoe back 337 00:31:41,400 --> 00:31:48,400 into the long grass. I could only hope Samantha hadn't noticed. Come on, 338 00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:52,640 one of the soldiers said, will taking point, We need to get 339 00:31:52,720 --> 00:31:56,839 moving, or as we'll risk getting stuck her in the dark. The woods 340 00:31:56,960 --> 00:32:02,599 were surprisingly free of snares, but for the last century the townspeople had treated 341 00:32:02,640 --> 00:32:07,880 it like cursed land, and it seemed so had the wild life. No 342 00:32:08,079 --> 00:32:15,200 trails, no paths, no sign of intervention by humans or animals. Nothing 343 00:32:15,319 --> 00:32:19,400 dared to encroach on these trees to weather down their grip on the earth. 344 00:32:20,680 --> 00:32:24,839 They grew over one another like people in a jostling crowd. Roots left to 345 00:32:24,920 --> 00:32:30,799 thicken and fight tooth and nail, crowding so tightly, they burst through the 346 00:32:30,880 --> 00:32:36,920 soil and crawled over one another like something in a mangrove. Swamp. You 347 00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:40,359 didn't hike through this forest. You crawled along on your hands and knees, 348 00:32:40,839 --> 00:32:45,319 climbing steep inclines, one moment, gripping gnarled roots like the rungs of a 349 00:32:45,400 --> 00:32:52,440 ladder, before descending the other side in reverse. Was this place always free 350 00:32:52,440 --> 00:32:58,279 of snares? One of the soldiers asked. Honestly, I don't know, 351 00:32:58,920 --> 00:33:05,359 I replied. Both Samantha and I had been shocked by the fact that neither 352 00:33:05,400 --> 00:33:09,160 of us had talked since noticing it. No one went into the woods, 353 00:33:09,640 --> 00:33:15,240 Samantha added, as the same man helped her over a particularly steep set of 354 00:33:15,319 --> 00:33:20,200 roots. It wasn't even a matter of being forbidden. It was just that 355 00:33:20,720 --> 00:33:25,440 if you entered, you never returned. High stakes for a hike, he 356 00:33:25,559 --> 00:33:30,319 replied, I'm not sure I'm being paid enough to never see the sun again. 357 00:33:30,799 --> 00:33:37,039 Well, we've walked thirty minutes and we're still alive, Wagner said. 358 00:33:37,880 --> 00:33:44,279 Maybe people just got lost. Nothing, says Wagner. Was climbing beside sam 359 00:33:44,359 --> 00:33:47,720 as she spoke, only her words came to a startling halt. Before she 360 00:33:47,759 --> 00:33:53,880 could finish. She cried out, lost the footing and tumbled backwards. But 361 00:33:54,200 --> 00:33:59,759 as she fell, her cries grew shrill and almost hysterical, and her rushed 362 00:33:59,759 --> 00:34:04,000 over to help, unsure of what had happened. When I reached her, 363 00:34:04,440 --> 00:34:08,039 she was on her back clutching an old piece of root. In a blur, 364 00:34:08,400 --> 00:34:13,480 she threw it far away from herself and began to point at something inside 365 00:34:13,480 --> 00:34:16,840 the roots. Oh no, no, no, no no, she muttered, 366 00:34:16,880 --> 00:34:22,119 while hyperventilating. Oh my god, Samantha cried as her eyes picked out 367 00:34:22,159 --> 00:34:29,440 what had upset Wagner. It took a second to see it. I crawled 368 00:34:29,480 --> 00:34:35,159 over that exact spot just moments ago and noticed nothing. But there it was, 369 00:34:36,320 --> 00:34:40,840 a moss covered bundle of leathery and muffled skin, the features below so 370 00:34:40,920 --> 00:34:46,719 brutalized by decay that it was scarcely recognizable as anything that might have once skittered 371 00:34:46,840 --> 00:34:55,440 or sculped around these woods. The deer dead, desiccated, taken years before, 372 00:34:57,800 --> 00:35:00,559 poor Wagner had gripped one of his bony limbs, mistaking it for a 373 00:35:00,679 --> 00:35:06,760 root. It was nearly identical due to the moss covering it, but only 374 00:35:06,760 --> 00:35:10,360 the slimy gift of his skin beneath her fingers had clued her in. And 375 00:35:10,440 --> 00:35:15,480 then once she saw those hollow eyes gazing back at her from the darkness. 376 00:35:15,599 --> 00:35:22,159 Well, it's a wonder she hadn't screamed the whole place down. Looks like 377 00:35:22,199 --> 00:35:24,840 it died and got caught up in the tree roots, one of the soldiers 378 00:35:24,880 --> 00:35:30,480 said, as he took her closer. Look, do you think it touched 379 00:35:30,519 --> 00:35:34,159 one of the snares, Wagner asked, as she rubbed her hands clean on 380 00:35:34,199 --> 00:35:39,440 her trousers. Guys, does it even take animals? Wagner added, it 381 00:35:39,639 --> 00:35:45,679 can, I replied. Guys weren't allowed pets because of it. Samantha added, 382 00:35:46,199 --> 00:35:51,760 bird seemed to avoid the snares instinctively, but cats, dogs, anything 383 00:35:51,800 --> 00:35:57,280 like that really didn't fare so well, guys. One of the soldiers shouted 384 00:35:57,320 --> 00:36:01,119 from the nearest deadfall, where he peeked over the top. I found the 385 00:36:01,159 --> 00:36:08,159 townspeople. They moved. Chasing them or walking towards them was a sure way 386 00:36:08,199 --> 00:36:14,599 to get lost, and the soldiers let us know that empathetically. We were 387 00:36:14,639 --> 00:36:20,199 to continue as is, penetrating deeper into the forest in the hope of finding 388 00:36:20,239 --> 00:36:25,280 something, anything, that gave us answers. Meanwhile, all we could do 389 00:36:25,519 --> 00:36:32,199 was ignore the strange figures that bobbed amongst the trees. Limp bodies, hanging 390 00:36:32,320 --> 00:36:37,599 arms, drooping heads, hair full of twigs and leaves, mouths full of 391 00:36:37,639 --> 00:36:45,440 soil, moss coated skin, pallid and soft. Dead bodies suspended like puppets 392 00:36:45,440 --> 00:36:52,000 and twine. They didn't run if you approached them. They merely drifted away, 393 00:36:52,320 --> 00:36:57,559 as if the hands that controlled them were taking them off stage. This 394 00:36:58,000 --> 00:37:01,440 was the first time in my life seen the red thread used for something other 395 00:37:01,519 --> 00:37:12,760 than snares. Somehow this felt worse, guys, I said, after we 396 00:37:12,880 --> 00:37:16,079 march for another hour, I think we can safely say how that image of 397 00:37:16,119 --> 00:37:21,440 Gregg was taken. I gestured to one of the bodies that floated amidst the 398 00:37:21,480 --> 00:37:27,199 trees, its body swaying in unseen currents. Are we sure we need to 399 00:37:27,239 --> 00:37:31,159 go further? He's right, one of the soldiers said, as he dropped 400 00:37:31,159 --> 00:37:36,519 his bag and began to roll out his shoulders and back. I don't like 401 00:37:36,639 --> 00:37:39,039 this one bit, and we now know the context of that screen grab. 402 00:37:39,760 --> 00:37:43,960 I know I'm not paying for this whole thing, but I think it's time 403 00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:47,599 to call it a day. He reached down and grabbed the bag, ready 404 00:37:47,599 --> 00:37:53,440 to pull one strap over his shoulder. When we heard it, how had 405 00:37:53,519 --> 00:38:00,400 we been so stupid. The woods had never been free of snares. It 406 00:38:00,559 --> 00:38:05,199 was just another way of getting us to lower our guard. When the soldier 407 00:38:05,239 --> 00:38:08,719 had reached for the bag, his hand, bare skin even, had brushed 408 00:38:08,719 --> 00:38:14,440 against a snare that had appeared. When our eyes were turned, a dozen 409 00:38:14,519 --> 00:38:19,400 brass bells rang out from the contact, and slowly joining in one by one, 410 00:38:20,039 --> 00:38:25,239 A thousand, a million others joined a deafening, maddening, ear splitting 411 00:38:25,280 --> 00:38:31,599 cry, the most unnatural thing I've ever heard in my life. Decades gone 412 00:38:31,599 --> 00:38:37,719 without it, but here it was once more, powerful, enough to make 413 00:38:37,760 --> 00:38:43,800 me feel like a weeping child waiting to be grabbed by Samantha's arms. The 414 00:38:43,880 --> 00:38:49,559 soldier looked at me, terrified. You said there weren't any in the forest, 415 00:38:50,000 --> 00:38:53,559 he cried, hail as a ghost. I began to stammer. I 416 00:38:53,679 --> 00:38:59,320 wanted to say we'd made no promises, that I'd only agreed with others observations. 417 00:39:00,320 --> 00:39:05,679 But what would that achieve? Calm down? I shouted instead, But 418 00:39:05,840 --> 00:39:10,360 he tried to run towards us. Already new snares had appeared to tangle up 419 00:39:10,360 --> 00:39:15,679 his feet, binding to his clothes, wrapping around his limbs from the ever 420 00:39:15,840 --> 00:39:23,679 rising panic that made him thrash about the man was going to die, destined 421 00:39:23,719 --> 00:39:30,400 to It was too late, maybe if we'd taken it slowly, reacted just 422 00:39:30,599 --> 00:39:37,400 right, But that ship had sailed. Now he was bound in dozens of 423 00:39:37,440 --> 00:39:43,519 them, and as he continued to panic, it only grew worse. They 424 00:39:43,639 --> 00:39:47,559 melted into his scalp, his cheeks, his brow, his hands, and 425 00:39:47,679 --> 00:39:52,400 where his top rode up in the mad struggle. They now began to weld 426 00:39:52,400 --> 00:39:58,239 to his chest and back. No no, no, no no. He 427 00:39:58,360 --> 00:40:01,559 muttered the words over and over. His friend took a step towards him, 428 00:40:01,800 --> 00:40:06,760 but I held out a hand to stop him. What could you do? 429 00:40:07,320 --> 00:40:13,480 The soldier continued to thrash in fear. Anyone who got near him would end 430 00:40:13,559 --> 00:40:17,800 up touching a snare, and there was no coming back from that. His 431 00:40:17,960 --> 00:40:22,719 panic made him as dangerous to us as he was to himself. We had 432 00:40:22,719 --> 00:40:28,719 to watch as the snares ramped up their pressure, dragging him with increasing speed 433 00:40:29,000 --> 00:40:36,320 up and over a cluster of roots. Oh no, Wagner was the first 434 00:40:36,320 --> 00:40:40,559 to notice. The snares did not run over all the roots, They went 435 00:40:40,679 --> 00:40:46,239 through them, under them. Their path was a complicated weave in and out 436 00:40:46,239 --> 00:40:52,800 of ancient bows and roots, don't watch, was all I managed to say, 437 00:40:52,079 --> 00:40:58,159 as his body hit the first of many split directions. As one we 438 00:40:58,280 --> 00:41:02,039 turned away. Anther scrunched the face, trying as hard as she could to 439 00:41:02,159 --> 00:41:07,519 shut out any and all light. Wagner clasped her hands over her ears to 440 00:41:07,639 --> 00:41:15,159 block out the sound of breaking bone, but there was no escaping those screams. 441 00:41:15,159 --> 00:41:21,760 She surely must have heard them, and the remaining soldier, for some 442 00:41:21,840 --> 00:41:29,519 reason, he watched. When it was done, there was only blood slicked 443 00:41:29,599 --> 00:41:34,000 tree, limbs, torn and shredded clothes, and a grown man on his 444 00:41:34,079 --> 00:41:37,639 knees, throwing up and crying from what he had just seen. And behind 445 00:41:37,719 --> 00:41:44,800 us. All around us, all except for a single route ahead, the 446 00:41:45,000 --> 00:41:52,800 snares had returned so many the air thrummed like a dropped guitar, so many 447 00:41:52,000 --> 00:41:57,440 it was hard to see further than a few meters in any direction, So 448 00:41:57,480 --> 00:42:02,360 many that the message they sent was clear. After all, the timing of 449 00:42:02,440 --> 00:42:07,920 the first snare could not have been an accident. Whatever lay them was telling 450 00:42:08,000 --> 00:42:17,960 us as loud as it could, there's no turning back. We did not 451 00:42:19,079 --> 00:42:23,239 hear the soldiers cries, but we heard the struggle. I'm still not sure 452 00:42:23,280 --> 00:42:28,239 what happened, only that by the time we turned, he was one foot 453 00:42:28,239 --> 00:42:31,719 off the ground, his mouth a mask of twine so thick it resembled a 454 00:42:31,760 --> 00:42:37,360 writhing nest of earthworms, a faceless body floating, his limbs shivering from the 455 00:42:37,440 --> 00:42:42,960 overwhelming agony. God, I hope that if he can die of pain, 456 00:42:43,480 --> 00:42:47,840 it at least happens quickly, and his face a quivering, ever shifting bundle 457 00:42:47,880 --> 00:42:52,679 of blood red. The sight was like a nightmare, and it was all 458 00:42:52,719 --> 00:42:58,280 the worse that we hadn't even seen it happen. If it hadn't been for 459 00:42:58,400 --> 00:43:01,320 one of his shoes falling off as he had a seizure, we might never 460 00:43:01,440 --> 00:43:07,039 have even known he was gone. But that wasn't the worst of it. 461 00:43:07,480 --> 00:43:17,079 No, the worst was that he came back. Wagner noticed first. She 462 00:43:17,239 --> 00:43:22,159 was already at the rear when it became apparent to her that another person had 463 00:43:22,159 --> 00:43:28,320 floated up behind and was now just a few meters away. She mewed a 464 00:43:28,440 --> 00:43:34,079 desperate cry for help, and Samantha and I turned in unison. The man 465 00:43:34,199 --> 00:43:37,719 who had been taken just an hour before had resumed his position at the back 466 00:43:37,719 --> 00:43:43,599 of the group. He bobbed along the woodland floor, but his feet did 467 00:43:43,639 --> 00:43:47,639 not touch the ground. If we approached, he moved away, just like 468 00:43:47,800 --> 00:43:52,679 the others, but unlike them, he was being paraded in full view, 469 00:43:53,480 --> 00:43:58,880 close behind, to make sure we stayed on track. If we took a 470 00:43:58,920 --> 00:44:05,440 step, he took a step as well, bouncing along in mock imitation of 471 00:44:05,559 --> 00:44:09,880 us. Whatever had happened to him in the canopy. He looked broken, 472 00:44:09,920 --> 00:44:16,239 now, crunched, crumpled, lado squeezed in a fist of an angry child, 473 00:44:17,000 --> 00:44:22,519 sunken eyes and a toothless mouth hung low, his dislocated jaw swinging freely 474 00:44:22,840 --> 00:44:30,159 as saliva collected on a swollen tongue, just like the mannequin with a stiff 475 00:44:30,239 --> 00:44:36,800 arm. The twine moved him and gestured for us to carry on. At 476 00:44:36,880 --> 00:44:39,719 last, after the hours had gone on for so long, the sky turned 477 00:44:39,719 --> 00:44:45,840 a dull gray, ready for nightfall. We found it a clearing in the 478 00:44:45,880 --> 00:44:52,119 woods as large as any stadium. And there before us lay what I could 479 00:44:52,159 --> 00:44:59,480 only describe as a congregation. And like many great gatherings held in secret and 480 00:44:59,559 --> 00:45:05,480 silence, they knelt in supplication, heads pressed to the floor, skin and 481 00:45:05,559 --> 00:45:09,239 hair withered away or released, marred by the filth around them, that they 482 00:45:09,239 --> 00:45:16,079 were hard to tell apart. Individual identity meant little in this crowd. The 483 00:45:16,159 --> 00:45:21,360 clothes, too, were close to falling apart. But all these people on 484 00:45:21,400 --> 00:45:27,599 their knees. Somehow, the shoes still told the story. Leather boots, 485 00:45:27,719 --> 00:45:32,000 rogues, moccasins, slippers, trainers, chucks, nikes, doc martins, 486 00:45:32,039 --> 00:45:37,880 boomers to millennials, Three generations of a town brought to their knees, right 487 00:45:38,119 --> 00:45:44,519 and colorful, stern and business like. The elderly and the younger like lay 488 00:45:44,599 --> 00:45:52,719 before us, dead men and women praying to a woman bound in twine. 489 00:45:55,159 --> 00:46:02,239 She was not another floating marionette. This was immediately apparent. Her features were 490 00:46:02,280 --> 00:46:07,800 not hidden, her skin not marred by soil, Her hair, a rich 491 00:46:07,920 --> 00:46:13,199 chestnut brown, was long and flowing. Her clothes, what little we could 492 00:46:13,239 --> 00:46:16,920 see beneath a cocoon of red twine, was a pale white gown. But 493 00:46:17,159 --> 00:46:22,800 time had not left her alone. Her head was a withered skull, her 494 00:46:22,840 --> 00:46:28,480 mouth a livering gape, A corpse as surely as any other, but free 495 00:46:28,559 --> 00:46:31,840 from the abuse of a life. On the forest floor where she floated high 496 00:46:31,920 --> 00:46:37,760 amongst the trees, thousands of red snares emerging from her body to suspender in 497 00:46:37,800 --> 00:46:43,280 the center of an explosion of red lines that radiated out from her core. 498 00:46:45,159 --> 00:46:50,599 Beneath her lay the remnants of an ancient bonfire. Above her, the branches 499 00:46:50,599 --> 00:46:54,599 and canopy had been scorched black, but the woman appeared to have been untouched 500 00:46:54,639 --> 00:47:00,000 by the flame. A ghostly image of death. She was like something out 501 00:47:00,000 --> 00:47:07,639 of a Renaissance painting, beautiful and haunting, other worldly and divine. The 502 00:47:07,719 --> 00:47:12,079 sight of her made my heartbreak, even if I couldn't say, why, 503 00:47:14,079 --> 00:47:21,440 Who is she? Wagner asked, her voice choked with tears. All at 504 00:47:21,480 --> 00:47:25,760 once, the bodies turned to face us, moving from their bad position just 505 00:47:27,039 --> 00:47:31,440 enough to fix us with vacant, cloudy eyes. Greg was one of those 506 00:47:31,480 --> 00:47:37,719 many. I spotted him nearby, still a child. He glared at me 507 00:47:37,800 --> 00:47:43,480 with empty sockets that seemed darker than any shadow, like a flicker of his 508 00:47:43,559 --> 00:47:49,079 betrayal remained alive within him. Had he warned that furious expression For all these 509 00:47:49,159 --> 00:47:53,840 years, I wanted to answer Wagner's question, but the answer froze in my 510 00:47:53,880 --> 00:48:00,320 throat. I had no definitive proof, but couldn't see the betrayal, and 511 00:48:00,360 --> 00:48:06,679 the woman's face couldn't see the hatred in a hollow eyes God. Being stood 512 00:48:06,679 --> 00:48:12,119 there, it felt wrong, felt dangerous. It felt like I just wondered 513 00:48:12,119 --> 00:48:17,079 into chernobyl. I was making direct contact with the elephant's foot. Whoever that 514 00:48:17,199 --> 00:48:23,599 woman was, she radiated hate the same way the sun radiates heat. Whatever 515 00:48:23,639 --> 00:48:29,360 the details of her, there was no mistaking the intensity of her contempt for 516 00:48:29,480 --> 00:48:35,320 us. I'd spent decades wondering what force or creature could hate my town so 517 00:48:35,440 --> 00:48:39,559 much they would torture us. For nearly three decades, looking at her, 518 00:48:40,039 --> 00:48:46,440 I understood easily where that cruelty came from. A witch burned? Perhaps I 519 00:48:46,599 --> 00:48:51,159 never heard of that in our history, and who burns a witch in the 520 00:48:51,280 --> 00:48:55,199 nineties? But who knows what happens in the deep woods? Who knows what 521 00:48:55,280 --> 00:49:01,559 atrocities are committed in the dark? And so far from watching eyes? Then 522 00:49:01,599 --> 00:49:07,800 again, did she need justification to hate us? A part of me felt 523 00:49:07,800 --> 00:49:10,679 like I was standing before a god of some kind, and who knows what 524 00:49:10,800 --> 00:49:16,480 they do or do not take offense to? After all, do you explain 525 00:49:16,559 --> 00:49:22,400 to an aunt why you crush it? As if hearing my thoughts, she 526 00:49:22,559 --> 00:49:29,840 turned to face me, dead but alive, rotting bud whole, and for 527 00:49:29,920 --> 00:49:36,119 a brief passing instant I saw enough to render the world white, for blood 528 00:49:36,159 --> 00:49:39,280 to come bubbling out of my ears in a warm stream. I wouldn't notice 529 00:49:39,320 --> 00:49:50,559 for hours more. And then, after that silence darkness, my final thought 530 00:49:50,840 --> 00:49:59,079 was the realization that I'd been right. I had just heard a God speak. 531 00:50:00,360 --> 00:50:06,719 From the town came church bells. Even from where we sat on the 532 00:50:06,760 --> 00:50:10,960 hood of a car miles away awaiting extraction, I could see the glow in 533 00:50:12,000 --> 00:50:17,519 the tower. The town had come alive at last. Our journey from the 534 00:50:17,519 --> 00:50:24,039 woods had not been alone. Her congregation easily, her thousand rotting bodies floated 535 00:50:24,079 --> 00:50:30,320 down behind us, and she came in tow, looming overall like some nightmarish 536 00:50:30,360 --> 00:50:36,440 puppeteer. Only when we reached the bottom of the hill and passed the first 537 00:50:36,480 --> 00:50:40,280 building did the woman in red move into the lead, where she slowly took 538 00:50:40,280 --> 00:50:45,880 a congregation to the center of the town. There she remains even now, 539 00:50:46,440 --> 00:50:53,480 still floating, still bound in a million threads, but her congregation moved on. 540 00:50:54,760 --> 00:51:00,400 Gregg returned home. My father too, hand in hand with the mother, 541 00:51:00,119 --> 00:51:04,400 the woman he'd loved so much. There wasn't much room for me. 542 00:51:05,840 --> 00:51:10,679 Others had worked to do. Shopkeepers flipped close signs to open, switches were 543 00:51:10,679 --> 00:51:15,480 flicked, barber's poles came to life, Neon signs began to throng, and 544 00:51:15,519 --> 00:51:22,639 glow. Light flooded the nighttime streets as ancient bulbs flickered once twice, and 545 00:51:22,719 --> 00:51:30,599 then finally fell into a steady hum. All of them lifeless bodies, manipulated 546 00:51:30,639 --> 00:51:36,039 by the twine, cloudy eyes, brains as inert as lumps of insulation. 547 00:51:37,840 --> 00:51:43,760 And yet they were animated with just enough hints of a former life as to 548 00:51:43,840 --> 00:51:47,280 make me wonder what exactly the woman in Red had been doing with them up 549 00:51:47,320 --> 00:51:53,960 there for all those years. Either way, for simile was shocking. If 550 00:51:53,960 --> 00:51:59,679 you could ignore all the snares and the strange way its citizens floated and bobbed 551 00:51:59,679 --> 00:52:05,400 along, the town almost appeared normal as life began to slowly flood back in. 552 00:52:07,280 --> 00:52:10,440 It had been a miracle to get electricity back on so quickly, But 553 00:52:10,800 --> 00:52:16,199 the woman in Red brooked no argument. Her demands were many, and if 554 00:52:16,239 --> 00:52:22,119 I hadn't accepted them, she would have boiled my brains right there in that 555 00:52:22,239 --> 00:52:28,960 clearing. What happens when we die? One day, Samantha asked, as 556 00:52:28,960 --> 00:52:32,840 we watched houses light up one by one, what happens if there's a power 557 00:52:32,840 --> 00:52:39,079 cut. She can move the cars on her own butt electricity. I don't 558 00:52:39,119 --> 00:52:45,719 know, I replied, or shaking my head. But already I was thinking 559 00:52:45,760 --> 00:52:50,960 of ways to install a generator, something that Twine could maybe move in emergencies 560 00:52:51,920 --> 00:52:55,920 enough to keep the town going while I took care of the rest. But 561 00:52:57,559 --> 00:53:22,719 I'd really rather not find out what happens if she doesn't get her own way.