Welcome to into the night. I'm Nari, your guide on to day's excursion
down a twisted path. Be careful not to get lost, be it dark
or light. It's easy to lose your way. Are you ready, then
let's begin under the weather. The last few hours of her teaching day grew
increasingly more miserable. The students were great, and Madeline Hale loved being a
teacher, but by the time the day ended, a sudden flu gained the
upper hand in her life. Fevers, chills, a pounding headache, and
a perpetual running nose made every moment a drag. The ticking clock on the
wall seemed to slow down as she longed for the last bell of the day
to ring. When the students left after the last class, she assembled substitute
lesson plans and gathered her purse and a few papers. Degrade, What was
I thinking blaming this on allergies. I feel like I'm burning up. Even
the kids said I look like I feel terrible and that I should go home.
It's not that easy, though, I can't just walk out of school
in the middle of the day and go home. Stopping by the high school
office on the way out, she poked her head in the door. Sandra,
yes, Madeline, I hate to do this on such short notice,
but I'm coming down with the flu that's circulating the school. Can you find
a sub for me? Already left lesson plans in my room, The secretary
furrowed her brow. Well, I'll try. We have three games tomorrow,
so I've already assigned most of our regular subs to cover for the coaches.
I don't mean to be sick. I'm sure you don't. Sandra then turned
her attention to the paperwork on her desk. Isn't that just great? I
hardly ever, miss, and I'm clearly sick. Maybe I should just cough
on all of them. Madeline hated having such ugly thoughts, but she was
tired, feverish, and rightfully irritated that her emergency didn't seem to matter to
the school she devoted her career to. If all they wanted his warm body
to fill my spot, I have a hot one that they probably don't want
to be around. They hook like the world will stop spinning if a teacher
uses a sick dead She practically staggered to her car and made a quick stop
at the local dollar store to pick up cold remedies, and drove the one
hour commute home with a fever radiating from her every pore. By the time
she reached her home in the woods, she shook uncontrollably and her teeth chattered
from the fever. Chills doesn't adequately describe what I have going on. Her
headache raged, and as soon as she walked into the house, she headed
for her bedroom to change into pajamas. She brought with her the bag of
cold medicine she purchased once in her Pegay's into the bathroom, flipped on the
light and looked in the mirror. Holy crap, I looked terrible. She
did, in fact, looked terrible. Her little dog looked up at her
sympathetically. I know, Sophie, your mamma isn't feeling well at all.
Sophie watched her owner with sad brown eyes and wagged her tail. Come on,
girl, let's go to bed. Madeline plumped the pillows and patted the
comforter to signal for Sophie to join her. The combination of the cold medicine
and exhaustion caused her to fall asleep during the night. However, she awoke
with a cough. She stumbled to the bathroom and took a swig of the
cough medicine. Unsure of how long it had been since she took her first
dose of cold medicine, she took more of that too, in hopes the
fever and sinus congestion would go away. If a little is good, Alave
will be better. Sophie loyally followed her into the bathroom and retreated to the
bed with Madeline. Try as she may. However, sleep didn't come easily.
She dozed off and on, but no true rest arrived. Groggy and
miserable, she sent a text to Sandra, I'm sorry, but I am
extremely sick and will need a sub I'm sorry. A wave of guilt washed
over her. I just don't know what else to do. I'm too sick
to even drive to work, let alone teach. Sophie, sensing her distress,
wiggled her way next to Madeleine and placed her head on her chest.
Madeleine patted her little dog and appreciated the companionship. Madeleine drifted off to sleep,
but was awakened later by Sophie's growling what's wrong? Girl? The terrier
stood at attention trembling and staring intently at the bedroom window while she quietly barked
and growled. Madeline sat up in bed. Lightning flashed in the sky.
It's okay, Sophie, it's just going to rain. You've seen thunderstorms before.
Sophie did not relax, but she nestled against Madeleine. Baby, you're
shaking worse than I am. It's gonna be okay. The poor little dog
whimpered, and Madeline held her. The lightning continued to flash outside. Yampust
be very close because I don't hear any thunder yet. I need to try
to sleep, though that storm can arrive. When it does, I'm exhausted.
Fitful sleep followed, and when she awoke, the world was pitch black
outside except for the flickering flashes of lightning. Is it still storming? I
didn't think it was even supposed to rain tonight. Sophie remained alert on the
bed, and she occasionally let out a low, grumbling growl. What's going
on out there, Sophie? What has you so upset? Madeline Rose rubbed
her face with her hands and looked down at Sophie. Let's go take a
look, sleepy, and a little unsteady on her feet, Madeline walked through
the house and stepped out onto the front porch. The cool concrete felt good
to her feverish feet. The lights continued to flash in the sky with no
thunder, and a heavy fog enveloped the landscape. Sophie bristled and stepped backward.
Madeleine opened her mouth to tell Sophie everything was okay, but then she
heard it. A strange howl came down the hollow, followed by other animalistic
sounds coyotes. She listened intently, but those didn't sound like coyotes, dog
like, possibly wild, yes, not coyotes. However, Madeleine grew up
in the country and she knew the normal sounds of the night. An involuntary
shudder went through her body. She bent down and picked up her terrier,
stepping inside. While glancing behind her, she nervously watched through the glass window
of her front door. Ah, I don't understand why there's lightning but no
thunder, and shown't the storm of past already? She found her phone and
on the weather app this doesn't show on the cross at all, no storm
predicted and nothing showing up on the radar. Let me check the other app.
Nothing appeared on the other app either. This doesn't make any sense.
An unsettling fear cried its way into Madeline's consciousness. Sophie's trembling and frantic barking
didn't help Madeline allay her anxiety. Something just isn't right. She left Sophie
inside and decided to take another look outside. Stepping onto the porch, the
wind whipped her hair and strands across her face. The fog isn't moving even
though the wind is blowing. What is going on? And what are those
lias? The howling frenzy now encircled the house, growing more intense with every
passing moment. Fear overtook her, and she raced inside and locked the door
behind her. The sound of the wind pelted the sides of her house,
and the fog grew increasingly dense. As she looked out the window, Vie
whined in terror and raced around Madeline's feet. I must be dreaming, that's
all. This is a fever induced nightmare. She huddled in her bed,
clutching her dog for hours, but daylight never came. Nothing now existed outside
her house but the fog, the lights, and the frightening howls. She
desperately tried to call for help, but her phone was useless. This can't
be. She turned on the television, but the screen said no signal.
Her emergency radio produced nothing but static. The hands on her clock, however,
spun wildly. No one existed to hear her screens. No one existed
to ever see Madeline Hale again. No one existed at all. Thank you
for joining me for this episode of the Into the Night Anthology podcast. Written
by Caroline Giamanco, narrated by Nari Quak, Theme music by Nico Rodriguez.
All other original music, sound design and editing by Omenhawk Studios. You can
find our links in the show notes. Into the Night is on your favorite
podcatcher, so make sure to like, subscribe and leave a five star review
to help other excursionists to join us. I'll see you next time, and
remember, whether in the shadows or in the daylight, all twisted paths lead
you into the night. Into the Night Anthology is a creative typo entertainment production.