WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:05.879 Welcome to Scary Story Podcast. If you're following me on Instagram, you'll notice 2 00:00:05.919 --> 00:00:11.759 an obvious connection between what I've been doing and today's story. It's about a 3 00:00:11.800 --> 00:00:21.839 trail. My name is Edwin, and here's a scary story. I scrambled 4 00:00:21.879 --> 00:00:26.239 through the backpack early in the morning. Four was too early to be awake. 5 00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:29.719 Although I remembered what it was like getting to the factories in my early 6 00:00:29.839 --> 00:00:34.399 years, six days a week, coming in at four forty five in the 7 00:00:34.439 --> 00:00:39.439 morning, those four dollars and twenty five cents per hour seemed like nothing now, 8 00:00:39.960 --> 00:00:44.439 and still every once in a while I think of everything it took to 9 00:00:44.479 --> 00:00:48.679 get me here. Those four dollars and twenty five cents were part of that 10 00:00:48.719 --> 00:00:56.280 too. It was a strange silence that morning. Normally there would be the 11 00:00:56.320 --> 00:01:00.520 sound of plastic and people clearing their throats, teeth being broughtushed, and the 12 00:01:00.560 --> 00:01:04.599 occasional alarm clock that had not yet been silenced. It had all registered for 13 00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:08.680 the trail along the Northeast Mountain Range. This would be one of those rare 14 00:01:08.799 --> 00:01:15.200 flat areas of it, miles and miles of flat terrain, a river that 15 00:01:15.239 --> 00:01:19.719 would come along about halfway through, and yet most of the hikers had decided 16 00:01:19.760 --> 00:01:23.519 to wait for one of the buses that would take them over the next hill 17 00:01:23.560 --> 00:01:29.799 instead. I found it silly, it really did. It was such a 18 00:01:29.840 --> 00:01:34.040 widely accepted story that businesses had sprouted for those who decided to skip that area 19 00:01:34.040 --> 00:01:38.000 of the trail. Most would be getting around the corner of a rock in 20 00:01:38.040 --> 00:01:42.519 the shape of a tower just before sunrise, but by that time it would 21 00:01:42.560 --> 00:01:47.040 be too late to get past the rest of the area with no shade and 22 00:01:47.200 --> 00:01:52.920 the scorching sun. Everyone like me had to be up and ready to leave 23 00:01:52.959 --> 00:01:56.840 by four fifteen and maintain the past given on the guide books in order to 24 00:01:56.879 --> 00:02:01.079 get to the next stop just before noon the heat. And yet no one 25 00:02:01.120 --> 00:02:06.599 wanted to pass by the ruins of Gertha in the dark. There was a 26 00:02:06.640 --> 00:02:10.680 section through the trees and stones, some called them the Witches Pass, just 27 00:02:10.719 --> 00:02:15.560 before leaving the forest. But like with all trails, we had some options. 28 00:02:16.280 --> 00:02:21.000 We could cross it just before sunset and to the rest of the distance 29 00:02:21.039 --> 00:02:23.360 in the dark, or we could get one of those buses I just told 30 00:02:23.360 --> 00:02:28.439 you about. He could even hire an ATV to take you in a caravan 31 00:02:28.520 --> 00:02:32.879 through the pass just after sunrise. Stories had circulated for some time. It 32 00:02:32.919 --> 00:02:37.560 was even in one of the original guide books, the tale of a man 33 00:02:37.599 --> 00:02:42.319 who had written his name down Nicholas Bauman in a notebook at the start of 34 00:02:42.360 --> 00:02:46.560 that day's section, but he never made it out. When he was found 35 00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:53.039 weeks later, his fist was crawling with ants, and upon being opened, 36 00:02:53.840 --> 00:02:59.960 they found loosely wrapped hard candy, melted, no brand, no color, 37 00:03:00.280 --> 00:03:06.919 supposedly part of the Witch's curse, just off that pass. I knew to 38 00:03:06.960 --> 00:03:10.080 avoid those types of stories. I wouldn't call myself afraid of it, but 39 00:03:10.159 --> 00:03:15.560 I avoid them because of the mindset everyone got from them, a way to 40 00:03:15.639 --> 00:03:20.520 be lazy and not go through when we were supposed to. Victor, a 41 00:03:20.560 --> 00:03:23.520 man I had met at the start of the trail just two days before, 42 00:03:23.960 --> 00:03:27.199 had mentioned the Witch's Pass when you were at one of the campsites, and 43 00:03:27.319 --> 00:03:30.680 he was telling a story of a friend of his. Bob was his name. 44 00:03:31.039 --> 00:03:35.639 He walked out of Orgison sometime in the fall. He had always been 45 00:03:35.800 --> 00:03:39.000 one of those silent people who didn't mind doing the work alone. He woke 46 00:03:39.120 --> 00:03:44.479 up before four in the morning and walked out on his own. He was 47 00:03:44.479 --> 00:03:46.759 about to make it through the corner by the ruins when he heard the voice 48 00:03:46.800 --> 00:03:52.360 of a woman calling him. He looked over at her and was able to 49 00:03:52.400 --> 00:03:57.439 describe a haunched old woman walking to the top of one of the stones. 50 00:03:58.960 --> 00:04:04.120 Slowly she crawled the rocks. First he saw her hair, it was messy 51 00:04:04.199 --> 00:04:12.719 and tangled, and then her eyes and pale face. This way she whispered, 52 00:04:13.280 --> 00:04:17.839 smiling and trying to invite him to come to her. Startled, knowing 53 00:04:17.959 --> 00:04:21.879 exactly what he was looking at, he turned around and ran back to camp, 54 00:04:23.519 --> 00:04:27.279 something he later found out was the best decision he could have made. 55 00:04:27.519 --> 00:04:30.439 Had he chosen to run past her, his fate would have been the same 56 00:04:30.480 --> 00:04:36.079 as Nicholas Bauman from the guidebook. He shared a story with everyone at the 57 00:04:36.120 --> 00:04:43.240 campsite, some believing him completely, while others, of course teased them to 58 00:04:43.279 --> 00:04:47.399 no end. Bob put his trail short and went home on the next bus 59 00:04:47.399 --> 00:04:51.680 back. But Victor, the guy who had been telling me this story, 60 00:04:51.800 --> 00:04:55.920 said that a few of the guys knew him from that and other trails they 61 00:04:55.959 --> 00:04:59.600 had hiked over the years. But they said that Bob was never the same 62 00:04:59.639 --> 00:05:03.120 after that at might have been the teasing that got to him, or might 63 00:05:03.160 --> 00:05:09.000 have been the thing he saw that morning I asked Victor if he believed in 64 00:05:09.040 --> 00:05:13.839 the story of the Witches Pass, and he chuckled. No, but I'm 65 00:05:13.839 --> 00:05:17.800 not risking it, he said. He laughed to himself for a bit before 66 00:05:17.879 --> 00:05:21.839 letting the silence take over, with only the sound of the fire crackling in 67 00:05:21.879 --> 00:05:27.519 front of us. Not everyone knew each other as we hiked the trails. 68 00:05:28.199 --> 00:05:31.279 Some people joined us at Pacific campsites, while others were planning to end where 69 00:05:31.319 --> 00:05:39.480 others started. Somehow, the story held everyone together. Once we get past 70 00:05:39.560 --> 00:05:43.800 it, the tone of the hike changes as we complained about other things, 71 00:05:43.839 --> 00:05:47.759 like our packs or the bugs, and the Witch's Pass becomes just another tale 72 00:05:47.800 --> 00:05:54.800 of the trail. The night before the Witches Pass was as you would expect 73 00:05:54.839 --> 00:06:00.160 it to be. The dozen or so people doing the trail were split to 74 00:06:00.240 --> 00:06:03.560 either being nervous about seeing something at the end of the forest by the ruins 75 00:06:04.480 --> 00:06:10.160 or nervous but trying to hide it. Everyone, though, had a plant 76 00:06:10.199 --> 00:06:15.399 to detour the walk by the ruins before sunrise. I met a couple from 77 00:06:15.439 --> 00:06:19.319 Australia that night as we sat by the fire. The man was noticeably nervous 78 00:06:19.360 --> 00:06:24.399 about going through it, but his wife had figured out away around the Witch's 79 00:06:24.439 --> 00:06:29.879 Pass, a trail that would take them an extra two hours. It isn't 80 00:06:29.959 --> 00:06:32.839 just about the past, they said, since not making hikers go through there. 81 00:06:32.879 --> 00:06:38.000 The trails are barely marked now, but the last year's rains the bunny 82 00:06:38.079 --> 00:06:42.040 trails are the only guides that remain, and even those take you deeper into 83 00:06:42.040 --> 00:06:46.199 the woods before you make it out. She could tell she had studied the 84 00:06:46.240 --> 00:06:49.879 guide books and maps. She said the were alternative routes from the inside of 85 00:06:49.879 --> 00:06:56.720 the forest, though they were rough, some requiring some steep climbs up jagged 86 00:06:56.839 --> 00:07:00.600 rocks. I wanted to learn more about these alternative routes, you know, 87 00:07:01.560 --> 00:07:06.079 just in case I told no one about my plan to leave at the scheduled 88 00:07:06.079 --> 00:07:12.759 time and walk through the woods and through the ruins just before sunrise. I 89 00:07:12.800 --> 00:07:17.279 wanted none of that negativity, especially now. Say what you want about haunted 90 00:07:17.319 --> 00:07:23.439 forests or whatever, but our mind is more powerful than that. If I 91 00:07:23.519 --> 00:07:26.839 go out there expecting to see a witch, you can bet I'm going to 92 00:07:26.879 --> 00:07:30.480 see a witch out there, and she's gonna take my shoes and give me 93 00:07:30.560 --> 00:07:34.399 some candy and leave me for dead, or whatever the story say. As 94 00:07:34.399 --> 00:07:39.279 I stared at the fire, the Australian couple got up and got all zipped 95 00:07:39.279 --> 00:07:45.240 into their tent, saying good night to everyone, and then everyone shushed down. 96 00:07:45.879 --> 00:07:48.040 There's a standard rule for anyone trying to go to sleep earlier than the 97 00:07:48.079 --> 00:07:54.279 rest of the group. I looked around, noticing a new face in the 98 00:07:54.319 --> 00:07:59.519 group. The man's gray beard glowed orange with the fire as he looked at 99 00:07:59.519 --> 00:08:03.040 me and held up his metal cup with his right hand. I raised mine, 100 00:08:03.079 --> 00:08:05.519 and he got up to walk over to the log I was sitting on. 101 00:08:07.879 --> 00:08:11.279 You're planning on sticking to the trail, laurn't you? He said, 102 00:08:13.519 --> 00:08:18.160 guilty, I shot back. He smiled and asked if I could tell that 103 00:08:18.240 --> 00:08:20.199 he was going to do it too, so that we would see each other 104 00:08:20.240 --> 00:08:26.160 out on the trail that morning. Like all conversations about the topic, I 105 00:08:26.240 --> 00:08:28.399 asked him if he was afraid of what we were about to see that next 106 00:08:28.399 --> 00:08:33.720 morning, what he thought of everything, and most importantly, if he believed 107 00:08:33.720 --> 00:08:39.440 in the story of the Witch's Pass. He stayed silent for a bit, 108 00:08:39.200 --> 00:08:43.000 saying he was ready for it now. He had tried it many years ago 109 00:08:43.120 --> 00:08:50.159 and let everyone's talk get to him, but now this time he was ready. 110 00:08:50.960 --> 00:08:54.000 I looked at his necklace with a crucifix, and asked if he knew 111 00:08:54.000 --> 00:09:00.159 the stories behind that that it pisces her off. Yeah, I've heard of 112 00:09:00.240 --> 00:09:03.639 that, he said, chuckling. He believed the stories, and he knew 113 00:09:03.639 --> 00:09:09.960 of many more encounters with the witch for decades she had lived in there, 114 00:09:09.080 --> 00:09:13.879 And if there were any logical explanations about it, researchers had failed to find 115 00:09:13.919 --> 00:09:20.879 one. Several privately founded investigations, mainly from television shows and radio stations, 116 00:09:20.879 --> 00:09:24.080 had tried to make stories about it, some even coming up with the movie. 117 00:09:24.399 --> 00:09:31.240 They never made anything happen intentions, He said, how are you going 118 00:09:31.320 --> 00:09:33.039 to find a story when you're looking to take advantage of it? Like that? 119 00:09:33.519 --> 00:09:39.960 Come on? He looked at me right in the eye. There was 120 00:09:39.000 --> 00:09:43.600 a strange calmness in his voice that made me question all of these other stories 121 00:09:43.639 --> 00:09:46.960 I had heard about the Witch's past. The debates had largely become a thing 122 00:09:48.039 --> 00:09:52.080 of do we believe in it? Do we not believe in it? And 123 00:09:52.159 --> 00:09:58.120 if you do, why, if you don't, why not? This was 124 00:09:58.159 --> 00:10:03.000 different. You can accept a story as it is and then decide if you 125 00:10:03.039 --> 00:10:07.960 want to go through it or not. My decision, for example, had 126 00:10:07.960 --> 00:10:11.759 been made. I wanted to go through the hike as it was intended to 127 00:10:11.799 --> 00:10:15.159 happen, and it did not matter to me if the witch existed or not. 128 00:10:16.399 --> 00:10:20.639 It was okay to be nervous about it. That would be alone, 129 00:10:20.720 --> 00:10:24.919 well, maybe not anymore. During the walk that next morning, I turned 130 00:10:24.919 --> 00:10:28.600 my head toward the man as I stood up to go to my tent to 131 00:10:28.639 --> 00:10:31.080 say good night. Pride had called it a night while I was lost in 132 00:10:31.159 --> 00:10:37.320 my introspection, and he was no longer there, And with that I got 133 00:10:37.320 --> 00:10:41.440 to my tent. I zipped everything up, listened to the sound with the 134 00:10:41.519 --> 00:10:50.919 dying fire against the soft wind coming from the dark woods behind us. The 135 00:10:50.960 --> 00:10:56.000 second part of Witch's pass was coming upward. After this stay with me, 136 00:11:00.159 --> 00:11:05.000 the alarm pluck vibrated under my sleeping bag. I had not slept much anyway, 137 00:11:05.080 --> 00:11:07.039 so I was waiting for the darn thing to go off at any moment. 138 00:11:07.080 --> 00:11:11.960 For the past couple of hours, almost everything was ready. I rolled 139 00:11:11.960 --> 00:11:16.360 everything up and collapsed a tent with the light of my head lamp and walked 140 00:11:16.360 --> 00:11:20.679 out of the group of blue and yellow tarps, my boots crunching against the 141 00:11:20.759 --> 00:11:24.840 dried up dirt as I left the camp site and entered the dark valley just 142 00:11:24.879 --> 00:11:30.559 before the forest, and I heard some one walking up behind me. Quickly 143 00:11:30.600 --> 00:11:33.080 I turned around, following the beam of my head lamp as it moved across 144 00:11:33.120 --> 00:11:39.279 the open field and the campsite off in the distance. The stories, even 145 00:11:39.279 --> 00:11:43.840 though I didn't want to admit it, then had gotten to me. I 146 00:11:43.879 --> 00:11:48.080 was about to walk into a site known for its ghost or which, whatever 147 00:11:48.120 --> 00:11:50.879 you want to call it. It was part of history for that trail. 148 00:11:52.519 --> 00:11:56.039 Locals had talked about it for decades, and it was part of the reason 149 00:11:56.080 --> 00:11:58.480 why so many people chose to walk the trail in the fall every year. 150 00:12:00.759 --> 00:12:03.440 It was a thrill to be so close to it and yet still cautious enough 151 00:12:03.480 --> 00:12:09.919 to walk around it. No designated trails, they said, too dangerous or 152 00:12:09.960 --> 00:12:13.039 too dark, And sometimes the stories would play with your mind and disorient you 153 00:12:13.240 --> 00:12:18.919 enough to see things in the dark, maybe go into a panic, and 154 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:26.480 even cause an accident. And so I looked forward and continued, and about 155 00:12:26.480 --> 00:12:30.320 half an hour later I was at the tree line alone. Wouldn't sign with 156 00:12:30.360 --> 00:12:37.080 the carved letters ruins of Gertha and an arrow pointing into the woods, That's 157 00:12:37.159 --> 00:12:43.759 what everyone knew. As the witches pass, I looked around for any hikers, 158 00:12:43.759 --> 00:12:48.720 but couldn't see any lights in there. With one big breath, that 159 00:12:48.799 --> 00:12:52.720 took a step forward, but I was interrupted by the sounds of someone behind 160 00:12:52.759 --> 00:12:56.960 me. Again. I turned around and nearly screamed when I saw the same 161 00:12:58.000 --> 00:13:01.679 man I had been talking to the night before. He had said he was 162 00:13:01.720 --> 00:13:05.080 ready for the trail. This time. His brown jacket was barely visible from 163 00:13:05.080 --> 00:13:09.799 the light of a headlamp. Howdy, he said, as he walked up 164 00:13:09.840 --> 00:13:16.159 the dirt trail and towerts sign are you ready? The small nood I wanted 165 00:13:16.159 --> 00:13:20.879 to give was enlarged by the beam of light against the edge of the trees, 166 00:13:20.840 --> 00:13:26.559 and with a silent agreement, he continued into the dark woods. We 167 00:13:26.639 --> 00:13:31.960 didn't say much this time. We were walking in unison through the trail between 168 00:13:31.000 --> 00:13:35.519 the trees, and he could tell that not many hikers had gone through the 169 00:13:35.519 --> 00:13:41.519 woods past a certain point. The path had become thin and overgrown with plants 170 00:13:41.519 --> 00:13:45.919 that grew by the roots of the trees. There were no silhouettes, just 171 00:13:46.200 --> 00:13:52.159 darkness all around us. The sky was barely visible through the caps and branches 172 00:13:52.919 --> 00:13:58.720 the crooked trunks that seemed to swirl around us with every step. The man 173 00:13:58.799 --> 00:14:03.639 started humming to himself of about twenty minutes in the familiar song with no lyrics 174 00:14:03.679 --> 00:14:07.159 that matched the rhythm of our steps as we moved around the woods. But 175 00:14:07.240 --> 00:14:13.080 suddenly the humming stopped. I turned back to look at him, the light 176 00:14:13.159 --> 00:14:18.039 reflecting off the cross of his cold necklace. Are you scared, he asked 177 00:14:18.080 --> 00:14:24.480 me, put a serious tone in his voice. I don't know what I'm 178 00:14:24.480 --> 00:14:26.639 doing, I confessed, trying to hide the fact that I had felt that 179 00:14:26.679 --> 00:14:31.159 way longer than I wanted to admit, always trying to do things as they 180 00:14:31.200 --> 00:14:35.000 were supposed to get done, even if there wasn't a reason to other than 181 00:14:35.039 --> 00:14:39.480 to do them right. I thought of the sacrifices I had made to keep 182 00:14:39.519 --> 00:14:45.759 my house and the wife happy, giving away my days at the factory that 183 00:14:45.879 --> 00:14:50.279 could not care any less for me. This was the only time I had 184 00:14:50.279 --> 00:14:56.879 to get away from everything. After a short silence in the darkness, I 185 00:14:56.960 --> 00:15:01.960 asked him if he wasn't scared already, said that a crucifix would piss off 186 00:15:01.960 --> 00:15:07.799 the witch even more, and yet there he was wearing a bright one outside 187 00:15:07.799 --> 00:15:13.440 of a shirt. He chuck Golden said, this is the only thing that 188 00:15:13.480 --> 00:15:18.559 will be protecting us. They'll thank me. Later I asked him again why 189 00:15:18.600 --> 00:15:22.399 he thought this thing was real, and he said that he did not question 190 00:15:22.480 --> 00:15:26.919 reality anymore, just how he didn't question light or darkness, earth or water. 191 00:15:28.159 --> 00:15:31.919 That we're just there and not a matter of belief. So you're saying 192 00:15:31.919 --> 00:15:35.600 that we're going to get to the Witch's Pass the Ruins of Gertha, and 193 00:15:35.639 --> 00:15:39.799 we're going to see a witch and she's going to give us candy, and 194 00:15:39.799 --> 00:15:43.799 we're going to be found dead. A week later, I asked, in 195 00:15:43.840 --> 00:15:48.440 a slightly angrier tone that I had imagined would come out. Something's there, 196 00:15:48.480 --> 00:15:56.600 he replied quietly. He started walking again. They meet all sorts of people 197 00:15:56.639 --> 00:16:00.919 out in the woods. I knew of that, some claiming to see things 198 00:16:00.919 --> 00:16:04.519 out there. The funny story of a guy who was out in search of 199 00:16:04.559 --> 00:16:11.720 a place where elementals lived, tiny mythical creatures from the woods. He had 200 00:16:11.720 --> 00:16:15.879 them drawn out in everything. The rest of us had a laugh at his 201 00:16:15.960 --> 00:16:19.000 story. But he went out with the most confidence I had ever seen from 202 00:16:19.039 --> 00:16:23.320 a man early one morning, and the later came out drawing everything he had 203 00:16:23.360 --> 00:16:29.759 witnessed with an enormous smile on his face. But this guy was different. 204 00:16:30.679 --> 00:16:33.320 He had no flashlight on him I don't know how he was expecting to do 205 00:16:33.399 --> 00:16:38.159 the trail that morning. He believed in the thing from the ruins of Gertha. 206 00:16:38.840 --> 00:16:42.639 He walked with a confident limp. He had no reason to do the 207 00:16:42.679 --> 00:16:48.200 trail, just like me, and so we walked until we got to a 208 00:16:48.200 --> 00:16:52.600 section of rocks that seemed to appear from the darkness. By this time, 209 00:16:52.639 --> 00:16:56.399 the troll had completely disappeared, and we were basing our steps solely on the 210 00:16:56.440 --> 00:17:00.960 directions from the guide books. The two large, sharp rocks would lead to 211 00:17:02.000 --> 00:17:06.359 a flat one, and between them the trail followed an ancient river wash up 212 00:17:06.359 --> 00:17:11.160 a hill. This was the last section before the witches passed. Everyone knew 213 00:17:11.200 --> 00:17:18.599 it. We passed the rocks and climbed past the enormous routes before everything went 214 00:17:18.640 --> 00:17:25.279 still. I looked behind me as a man looked past me, and continued 215 00:17:25.319 --> 00:17:30.640 to step. The ruins were there, large stones lined up along the trees, 216 00:17:30.839 --> 00:17:36.480 like walls of an enormous palace without a roof, walls all around it, 217 00:17:37.519 --> 00:17:40.640 half of it missing from the forest, taking it over once again. 218 00:17:41.039 --> 00:17:45.799 You were still a good distance away from it, and yet you could feel 219 00:17:45.839 --> 00:17:52.400 its presence in its entirety all around you. This was the infamous Witches Pass 220 00:17:52.559 --> 00:17:57.079 that was there, that had made it. I walked slowly at first, 221 00:17:57.279 --> 00:18:03.160 amazed by being in the place many people avoided if only they knew what they 222 00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:10.640 were missing. But as we walked, I heard it, a whisper from 223 00:18:10.640 --> 00:18:14.880 the trees. I couldn't tell what it said at first, but the place 224 00:18:15.000 --> 00:18:21.480 was so still that any sounds, even from an animal, would stand out. 225 00:18:22.960 --> 00:18:29.720 This way, I heard it say that froze in place. This was 226 00:18:29.880 --> 00:18:33.319 not my hiking companion that morning. There was the voice of a woman, 227 00:18:34.440 --> 00:18:41.880 flat and tired. Don't look, I heard from behind me. Who was 228 00:18:41.920 --> 00:18:45.960 that? I asked him, You're almost through, Just keep going, I 229 00:18:45.960 --> 00:18:51.359 heard him say. I picked up the step as I watched the bruins get 230 00:18:51.359 --> 00:18:55.920 closer, like a castle in the woods, though shorter than we had seen 231 00:18:55.920 --> 00:19:00.119 in the movies, and we were only on the edge of it, I 232 00:19:00.160 --> 00:19:03.000 could not help but imagine what it looked like back when it was built. 233 00:19:04.119 --> 00:19:08.440 Footsteps quick ones behind me and on my left, running off and around the 234 00:19:08.440 --> 00:19:17.119 trees this way, I heard it say, don't you turn toward it to 235 00:19:17.240 --> 00:19:22.440 hear me. I heard the man say. My heart started racing. I 236 00:19:22.519 --> 00:19:26.359 had heard the voice loud and clear this time. Was it some elaborate prank? 237 00:19:27.440 --> 00:19:30.319 Was it really the witch from the ruins, the one from the story. 238 00:19:33.000 --> 00:19:37.160 I walked even faster as we passed the walls. The sky was turning 239 00:19:37.240 --> 00:19:40.720 dark blue by this time, and I could see just how large the stones 240 00:19:40.799 --> 00:19:45.319 were, the empty holes on the walls that used to be windows, pitch 241 00:19:45.440 --> 00:19:55.319 black air on the inside. The footsteps approached from behind us quickly this way, 242 00:19:55.720 --> 00:19:59.480 it said, I could feel my heart on my throat this time. 243 00:20:00.279 --> 00:20:04.319 The thing was real. There was no way anyone else will be out here 244 00:20:04.440 --> 00:20:10.640 this early. They had no reason to. No one else except for this 245 00:20:10.759 --> 00:20:14.720 man had known that I was planning to come to the trail of this time. 246 00:20:17.319 --> 00:20:22.759 This way, I heard from my right side. It became suspicious right 247 00:20:22.799 --> 00:20:26.880 then I turned behind me and yelled for him to hide his necklace with a 248 00:20:26.960 --> 00:20:30.079 cross. But was he doing wearing it? Why would he make the thing 249 00:20:30.279 --> 00:20:34.920 angry on purpose like that? And if this was a prank, if what 250 00:20:36.039 --> 00:20:40.559 was he taking it this far? Do you believe in it now? Don't 251 00:20:40.599 --> 00:20:44.920 you? He said? But I was not going to do this, not 252 00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:48.000 anymore. Many times I had been wondering why I did what I did, 253 00:20:49.079 --> 00:20:52.440 sending all of my money away to Sarah, who spent it on god knows 254 00:20:52.480 --> 00:20:56.880 what. All this time, early mornings and late evenings at the factories and 255 00:20:56.920 --> 00:21:02.119 restaurants, just to do everything all over again the next day. I had 256 00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:04.400 no chance to look anywhere else. I just did what I was supposed to 257 00:21:04.440 --> 00:21:11.279 do, and now this condemned to keep my eyesight straight ahead, avoiding the 258 00:21:11.440 --> 00:21:17.319 very thing that was calling me this time. Don't listen to it, I 259 00:21:17.359 --> 00:21:21.319 heard from behind me. Who are you? I yeled back, Who are 260 00:21:21.359 --> 00:21:26.960 you to tell me anything about what I'm supposed to do this way? I 261 00:21:26.000 --> 00:21:32.039 heard from up ahead. Silhouettes were beginning to show along the path as the 262 00:21:32.079 --> 00:21:36.480 sky became just a little bit lighter. What if this thing was real? 263 00:21:37.279 --> 00:21:41.839 What if we were walking into some type of trap? What if I angered 264 00:21:41.880 --> 00:21:45.759 it by not turning to see it. You don't have to see it to 265 00:21:45.839 --> 00:21:51.880 know that it's there, I heard the man say. The whole thing was 266 00:21:51.880 --> 00:21:55.759 silly, a grown man afraid of the story. That nobody knew if it 267 00:21:55.799 --> 00:22:00.319 was real or not. But it wouldn't matter. The story was real to 268 00:22:00.359 --> 00:22:04.640 me, at least during those last two minutes of the walk. The only 269 00:22:04.720 --> 00:22:08.640 way to disprove it would be to turn toward it to see who was calling 270 00:22:08.680 --> 00:22:14.720 me, And then I heard the footsteps behind me, much lighter than my 271 00:22:14.880 --> 00:22:22.720 hiking companion, approaching very quickly turned around, he said, and that really 272 00:22:22.759 --> 00:22:30.519 made my blood boil. This way. The light was a bit brighter now 273 00:22:30.640 --> 00:22:33.920 that the edge of the trees was near. I could count the number of 274 00:22:33.960 --> 00:22:40.240 them. My nails were digging into the palm of my right hand and anger. 275 00:22:40.279 --> 00:22:45.119 When I heard that command, who are you? I yelled, still 276 00:22:45.119 --> 00:22:52.880 facing forward. The name's Nick, And why did that sound so familiar? 277 00:22:56.039 --> 00:23:00.400 I stopped as I reached the tree line and turned around. Was a bit 278 00:23:00.400 --> 00:23:08.480 brighter now there was no one there, I yelled for him, looking into 279 00:23:08.519 --> 00:23:14.000 the tunnel the trees had made. My heart was still racing when I took 280 00:23:14.079 --> 00:23:19.079 those two deep breaths, wondering about what had just happened. But I turned 281 00:23:19.119 --> 00:23:23.880 away from the trees and faced forward, doing what I was supposed to do, 282 00:23:42.759 --> 00:23:47.960 which is past. Was written by me Edwin Kovarubyaz. You can find 283 00:23:47.960 --> 00:23:52.279 me over on Instagram at Edwin Cove that's e d W N coo V, 284 00:23:53.000 --> 00:23:56.480 or you can email me directly. I'll leave my info in the description of 285 00:23:56.519 --> 00:24:02.200 this episode. Up next check out horror Story, where I tell you about 286 00:24:02.200 --> 00:24:07.000 true creepy events and mysteries. You'll find it by typing horror story in the 287 00:24:07.000 --> 00:24:11.960 search bar of Spotify or Apple Podcasts, or over on horror story dot com. 288 00:24:12.119 --> 00:24:17.000 Thank you very much for listening and for your comments. To you soon.