1 00:00:01,919 --> 00:00:06,280 Getting one of those doorbell cameras was one of the best investments I made since 2 00:00:06,320 --> 00:00:11,279 moving into my new house. If something happens outside your house, you catch 3 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:15,439 it. I was one of those skeptics who thought it'd be useful to track 4 00:00:15,480 --> 00:00:20,600 package deliveries and ward off porch pirates, especially since I'm not home much because 5 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:25,839 of work. But this has made me privy the little mysteries I wouldn't have 6 00:00:25,839 --> 00:00:30,800 figured out otherwise, like why was my sprinkler floating half my yard in the 7 00:00:30,839 --> 00:00:35,159 morning. Well, a neighborhood kid knocked it over on his bike on a 8 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:39,119 late night ride. I even got a clip of one of the local kids 9 00:00:39,359 --> 00:00:44,000 taking a hilarious spill on the curb outside my house, which I gladly shared 10 00:00:44,039 --> 00:00:50,159 around the office. But some mysteries are too much for one person, and 11 00:00:50,280 --> 00:00:56,560 I wrestled with a moby dick of problems. I got pinged with a notification 12 00:00:56,640 --> 00:01:00,719 of motion captured by my doorbell, and when the c started, I saw 13 00:01:00,759 --> 00:01:06,879 a man waltz up to my post box. He was gleeful with his movement, 14 00:01:07,519 --> 00:01:11,959 a semi prince glide with a wide toothy grin for him. He was 15 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:18,319 a kid on Christmas and my post box was the toy he'd wanted all year. 16 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:23,280 He reached in and pulled out one of my white envelopes, and immediately 17 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:29,879 I was raging that someone was stealing my mail, not a package which would 18 00:01:29,879 --> 00:01:34,159 have had value, but one of my nondescript bills. I prayed he wasn't 19 00:01:34,159 --> 00:01:40,480 doing this to steal my personal information, but that notion was quickly thrown out 20 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:46,560 with what he did next. He slipped as much paper would fit into his 21 00:01:46,640 --> 00:01:52,640 mouth, bit down and yanked sideways, ripping the letter in half, envelope 22 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:57,239 and all. He chewed like he was eating a five waggy beef, and 23 00:01:57,400 --> 00:02:02,920 swallowed with glee. Then he glided away with a jovial step, eating the 24 00:02:02,959 --> 00:02:10,759 rest. The emotions I felt couldn't be quantified with a straightforward word. I 25 00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:15,840 was angry, confused, shocked, and a mix of many more swirling thoughts. 26 00:02:17,639 --> 00:02:23,520 Did a man really just eat one of my letters? It didn't make 27 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:28,360 any sense. I was so taken aback that I didn't know how to respond. 28 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:32,599 How do you report something like this? He didn't seem to rifle through 29 00:02:32,599 --> 00:02:38,759 the letters looking for anything in particular. He seemingly took one at random. 30 00:02:39,319 --> 00:02:44,680 When I went home, I checked my mailbox and all my usual letters were 31 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:50,039 there, but as a one off incident, I wasn't too pressed about it. 32 00:02:51,199 --> 00:02:54,599 Most likely nothing of value was taken, since the only letters I received 33 00:02:54,599 --> 00:03:00,599 were bills or spam, so I easily chogged it down to a junk that 34 00:03:00,759 --> 00:03:06,840 wondered to the nice side of town. Sadly, no matter how much I 35 00:03:06,919 --> 00:03:13,159 believed it was a one off incident, it didn't make it a reality because 36 00:03:14,560 --> 00:03:21,520 it happened again. I was at work typing away when my phone pinged. 37 00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:25,759 We're allowed to check our phones while on the clock in case it's about work, 38 00:03:27,759 --> 00:03:31,919 but when I saw the doorbell motion notification, I figured it wouldn't hurt 39 00:03:31,919 --> 00:03:38,479 to check. When I pulled up the clip, I was dismayed when I 40 00:03:38,520 --> 00:03:43,719 saw him again. He glided with more glee, this time down the street 41 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:49,439 towards my house, before stopping at my mailbox. He reached in and grabbed 42 00:03:49,439 --> 00:03:53,240 a couple of letters. This time, he cartoonishly licked his chops like a 43 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:59,960 Looney Tunes character about to eat a freshly made pie. He ate each less 44 00:04:00,199 --> 00:04:04,360 differently, like a kid playing with his food. He slotted the first letter 45 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:09,439 in his mouth, but he didn't rip it this time just chewed for a 46 00:04:09,479 --> 00:04:13,759 while, then sucked in the rest. He nibbled bits of the second letter 47 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:18,360 like a hamster, before getting impatient and shoveling the rest. The third was 48 00:04:18,399 --> 00:04:24,240 almost like a magic trick. He tilted his head back and with a smile, 49 00:04:24,639 --> 00:04:29,279 slotted it down slowly like a sword swallower putting on a show, and 50 00:04:29,439 --> 00:04:35,600 swallowed it whole. Then, with a satisfied smile, pranced off down the 51 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:46,439 street. I was livid. It wasn't big enough emergency to leave work early. 52 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:50,680 I'm sure my company would choose profits over me heroically saving my junk mail. 53 00:04:51,439 --> 00:04:56,480 But I was seething while on shift, thinking a million miles per hour, 54 00:04:56,879 --> 00:05:01,439 scheming ways to stop this nonsense. When I finally got home, I 55 00:05:01,519 --> 00:05:09,439 tried to settle down. However, after the anger subsided, I started feeling 56 00:05:09,519 --> 00:05:15,439 uncomfortable. The context of the whole situation began to sink in. For a 57 00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:20,240 start, I no longer felt that this was a one off incident. This 58 00:05:20,439 --> 00:05:25,560 man had visited twice, which only led me to think he'd come more. 59 00:05:26,639 --> 00:05:30,000 Also, every time I watched the footage, he never touched any of the 60 00:05:30,040 --> 00:05:36,360 other houses in the neighborhood, only mine. This meant he was specifically targeting 61 00:05:36,399 --> 00:05:44,800 me, though I couldn't think of why, I started feeling paranoid. Despite 62 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:47,639 my doorbell camera not being hidden, he never seemed to look for it in 63 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:51,920 any of the saved clips, which meant he wasn't hiding in any way. 64 00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:58,639 But if he was targeting me and wanted to be seen, what if he 65 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:03,480 was doing things he didn't want to be seen? I suddenly felt very watched. 66 00:06:04,399 --> 00:06:09,759 Invasive thoughts of him peering through my windows flashed in my head each time 67 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:14,879 I passed by one. Naturally, I closed every curtain in the house and 68 00:06:14,959 --> 00:06:19,079 tripple checked that all my doors were locked, but I never truly felt safe 69 00:06:19,079 --> 00:06:26,240 for the whole night. A few days after I'd finished adding a few new 70 00:06:26,279 --> 00:06:30,839 dead bolts on my door, I even added some on the interior doors in 71 00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:35,439 case I needed more layers of security. My mind was rampant with scenarios of 72 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:40,399 being closed in on by whatever it was that was eating my damn mail. 73 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:45,720 My heart would drop whenever I got a notification about motion from my doorbell. 74 00:06:46,959 --> 00:06:49,600 Though it had pained me to click the pop up, I always felt an 75 00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:56,680 urgency that made me need to know what was seen. Each time, it'd 76 00:06:56,680 --> 00:07:00,000 be someone passing by, or the package deliveries for the dead Bae and various 77 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:08,040 tools I needed. But with these innocuous results, a haunting feeling each time 78 00:07:08,439 --> 00:07:15,439 never lessened. The male in my neighborhood doesn't come at precise times. I'm 79 00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:20,279 guessing I'm further into the mailman's root, so whatever the various delays he has 80 00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:27,680 during his shift means the time he comes veries drastically, And it was always 81 00:07:27,839 --> 00:07:32,920 after I'd left for work. So when I was pinged that there was movement 82 00:07:33,079 --> 00:07:41,639 while I'm shifted, I dreaded watching what was picked up. It was him 83 00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:47,639 again, with twirls and leaps, he lightfooted, he glided towards my mailbox, 84 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:54,000 which contained a fresh batch of letters. He was at an all you 85 00:07:54,079 --> 00:07:59,680 can eat buffet. It was less theater this time, as he scarfed letter 86 00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:05,839 after letter, not stopping until my mailbox was empty. I was dismayed. 87 00:08:05,839 --> 00:08:11,079 Before there was a chance he'd just eaten a spam letter or two and left 88 00:08:11,120 --> 00:08:16,639 at least some of the important ones. But this time it was everything. 89 00:08:18,319 --> 00:08:22,800 I couldn't process what to do. I just closed the app and finished my 90 00:08:22,879 --> 00:08:26,279 day at work, hoping i'd come up with something before he came back. 91 00:08:28,279 --> 00:08:33,200 I ended up calling my nephew, who recommended I get the camera doorbell in 92 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:39,480 the first place. To say he was confused was an understatement, and though 93 00:08:39,519 --> 00:08:43,279 his tone definitely let off that he didn't believe me, he gave me a 94 00:08:43,279 --> 00:08:52,679 piece of advice, try talking through the camera. I didn't know this, 95 00:08:52,360 --> 00:08:56,039 but there was a feature that allowed me to talk to anyone outside the door 96 00:08:56,120 --> 00:09:01,720 via a speaker technology. He isn't one of my strong suits. To my 97 00:09:01,799 --> 00:09:09,360 amazement at this revelation deflected off my nephew, but to me, I was 98 00:09:09,519 --> 00:09:16,840 armed with the ability to try socially dissuay this visitor verbally. I save at 99 00:09:16,840 --> 00:09:22,000 the moment when motion was pinged, I opened the app and saw him. 100 00:09:22,559 --> 00:09:28,200 He did his usual prance towards my mailbox. As soon as he opened the 101 00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:33,200 hatch, I clicked the mic setting and started screaming at him to stop. 102 00:09:33,440 --> 00:09:37,600 I was so loud that I could hear my voice reverberating back, so I 103 00:09:37,720 --> 00:09:45,960 knew he could definitely hear me, and hear me he did. He lifted 104 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:52,039 his head and finally acknowledged the camera. He just stared for a few seconds, 105 00:09:52,600 --> 00:10:01,519 a smile still on his face, and somehow he smiled more. The 106 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:07,720 sides of his mouth twisted upwards in a sickening way, contrasting the emotion he 107 00:10:07,799 --> 00:10:13,799 was trying to portray. The jovial smile twisted to a grin that exuded malicious 108 00:10:13,799 --> 00:10:18,519 intent. He must have been painful to have his skin that tought. I 109 00:10:18,559 --> 00:10:22,679 don't think I could have achieved such a face without pulling hard with my hands 110 00:10:22,759 --> 00:10:30,000 or wires. However, he managed to do it naturally with no assistance. 111 00:10:31,919 --> 00:10:35,879 He grabbed all the letters from the box, pulled his mouth open to a 112 00:10:35,960 --> 00:10:41,279 gaping maw, and shoveled the whole batch in. I don't think he even 113 00:10:41,360 --> 00:10:48,080 chewed this time, as he consumed them all and waltzed away. Because of 114 00:10:48,200 --> 00:10:56,519 my outburst, I was called into the manager's office. Apparently my expletives were 115 00:10:56,559 --> 00:11:01,159 heard over the phone by an important client. In my emotional eye, I 116 00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:07,720 used some rather colorful language. My explanation probably got me in more trouble than 117 00:11:07,720 --> 00:11:13,399 a thinly veiled lie, because I was suspended without pay for a week. 118 00:11:16,759 --> 00:11:22,200 At any other time I would have been dismayed at this. My track record 119 00:11:22,200 --> 00:11:26,879 at the company had been spotless for years, but as it settled in I 120 00:11:26,960 --> 00:11:31,600 realized I could be home when he next visited, and I'd be able to 121 00:11:31,679 --> 00:11:37,000 catch him in the act. I head up the shopping mall and picked up 122 00:11:37,039 --> 00:11:41,799 some goodies. I bought a metal baseball bat from a sports store to help 123 00:11:41,840 --> 00:11:46,960 if things got close range. I bought some pepper spray to turn a possible 124 00:11:46,960 --> 00:11:50,759 confrontation in my favor. I bought a sling shot with thick metal ball bearings 125 00:11:50,919 --> 00:11:56,320 to attack at range if needed. However, after firing a few shots at 126 00:11:56,360 --> 00:12:01,639 some tree branches, I realized I'd be more likely to break a neighbor's window 127 00:12:01,759 --> 00:12:07,960 than hit him. Watching Batman cartoons while growing up walked my perception of how 128 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:13,360 easy little gadgets were to use, so I left it boxed up in the 129 00:12:13,399 --> 00:12:20,120 closet. Each morning, I set a chair up in the hallway of the 130 00:12:20,159 --> 00:12:24,600 front door. I left only one dead bolt latched, set the bat of 131 00:12:24,639 --> 00:12:31,720 my lap, and waited patiently. Each morning a notification with ping, and 132 00:12:31,799 --> 00:12:37,759 I'd burst out, scaring the mailman each time. He must have thought I 133 00:12:37,799 --> 00:12:41,600 was a nut job with how paranoid I looked. But there was never a 134 00:12:41,720 --> 00:12:48,120 second ping, the one that tells me he's here. But when it reached 135 00:12:48,159 --> 00:12:52,919 the early afternoon, a time later than he'd ever arrived. I'd go out 136 00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:58,320 and check the mailbox, and all I'd see was an empty box, maybe 137 00:12:58,320 --> 00:13:05,120 a few scraps with teeth marks that was still damp. How was he doing 138 00:13:05,200 --> 00:13:11,480 this? Before I knew it? A week was up, I was scheduled 139 00:13:11,519 --> 00:13:15,679 to have a meeting at work to discuss my employment, but all I could 140 00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:20,919 think about was the man eating my mail. During the meeting, my phone 141 00:13:20,960 --> 00:13:28,279 buzzed. I slipped it out discreetly and checked the notification. Motion was detected. 142 00:13:31,279 --> 00:13:35,039 I didn't watch it, knowing I'd probably lose my chop if I did, 143 00:13:35,639 --> 00:13:39,000 and my head with how red my boss was getting. But I knew 144 00:13:39,039 --> 00:13:45,799 what i'd see once I opened the notification. When I was finally out of 145 00:13:45,879 --> 00:13:50,519 the meeting, it was exactly what I thought it was. He came up, 146 00:13:52,000 --> 00:14:00,240 ate every letter and left. I was at a loss if there was 147 00:14:00,279 --> 00:14:03,879 a way to stop this. I didn't have a clue what it was. 148 00:14:05,799 --> 00:14:09,159 I just worked the rest of the day getting emails about failed payments of my 149 00:14:09,279 --> 00:14:15,720 various credits. I relied on monthly bills to keep track of them, and 150 00:14:15,799 --> 00:14:20,879 realized I'd missed a lot of important payments lately. When I got home, 151 00:14:22,519 --> 00:14:28,440 I walked up to my mailbox and stopped. I contemplated the whole situation, 152 00:14:28,120 --> 00:14:35,080 running every detail through my head over and over. Staring at the mailbox, 153 00:14:35,720 --> 00:14:41,440 I realized that though we had no physical interaction, this was the only thing 154 00:14:41,600 --> 00:14:48,240 that connected us. I slipped a piece of paper out of my coat, 155 00:14:48,759 --> 00:14:56,120 pulled out my pen, and wrote a simple note, please leave me alone, 156 00:14:58,039 --> 00:15:03,240 a request felt deep down in my heart, condensed to four words. 157 00:15:03,919 --> 00:15:09,360 I went home, bolted every door and closed every curtain, trying to continue 158 00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:16,320 on as normal. By the time I got the notification at work the next 159 00:15:16,360 --> 00:15:22,960 day, I was desensitized. At home, I was still paranoid about an 160 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:28,279 intruder, but watching him eat my mail each day was tiresome. But still 161 00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:35,279 I decided to watch as he finished his delectable meal, lapping it up like 162 00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:43,000 a hungry dog. Something was different. He pulled out the note I left 163 00:15:43,759 --> 00:15:48,320 and gently scanned it with his eyes. Then he looked at the camera the 164 00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:54,440 same way he had before, despite me not using the mic, he smiled 165 00:15:54,440 --> 00:16:03,720 that same unnatural smile and stared for a few beats. After an uncomfortable silence, 166 00:16:03,279 --> 00:16:07,960 he slipped out a letter of his own from his back waistband. The 167 00:16:08,039 --> 00:16:15,440 letter looked unlike any letter I'd normally receive. A contrast to the stark white 168 00:16:15,600 --> 00:16:19,879 or manilla brown envelope. This letter was a layer of jet black paper. 169 00:16:22,159 --> 00:16:26,200 Its edges were trimmed in a gold leaf that shimmered through the low quality of 170 00:16:26,200 --> 00:16:32,360 the doorbell camera. I was enamored at this. Whatever the letter was, 171 00:16:33,039 --> 00:16:37,440 it was meant for me, because he slipped it into my box and slinked 172 00:16:37,480 --> 00:16:45,039 away. All through work I was consumed with thoughts of this, wondering what 173 00:16:45,159 --> 00:16:48,919 it might be. Could it be a response to the note I left? 174 00:16:51,039 --> 00:16:56,519 Not likely he had it ready, not knowing what I'd have written. This 175 00:16:56,840 --> 00:17:00,840 was a pre arranged event. Could he have been waged for me to leave 176 00:17:00,879 --> 00:17:06,319 a note, or had an arbitrary amount of time passed? This got me 177 00:17:06,359 --> 00:17:10,680 excited that it was a farewell, a note to tell me he was moving 178 00:17:10,720 --> 00:17:15,640 on. But the hope in my heart twisted with darker thoughts. Could it 179 00:17:15,640 --> 00:17:19,680 be an automatum, an offer to get him to stop but at a cost. 180 00:17:22,359 --> 00:17:26,640 The worst thought was that it was a threat. Could he have seen 181 00:17:26,680 --> 00:17:30,599 my note as a provocation, something he had ready to respond to with mental 182 00:17:30,599 --> 00:17:37,279 warfare or was it an invitation to something bigger? After all? I felt 183 00:17:37,319 --> 00:17:44,839 like I was being tested. My thoughts bounced around like a game of ping 184 00:17:44,920 --> 00:17:49,279 pong in my head until it was time to leave, and I rushed back 185 00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:53,160 as fast as I could, breaking a few traffic laws on the way. 186 00:17:55,440 --> 00:18:00,319 I turned in my drive so fast my head nearly hit the window. I 187 00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:03,720 rushed over to the mailbox and yanked it open, praying the letter wasn't gone, 188 00:18:04,279 --> 00:18:11,279 or that it wasn't some manifestation of my fraying sanity. But there it 189 00:18:11,440 --> 00:18:18,279 was. The black was a juicier darkness than I'd anticipated, and it made 190 00:18:18,279 --> 00:18:26,720 the gold trimming pop even in the mailbox's shade. I gently pulled it out 191 00:18:26,440 --> 00:18:33,599 its presentation, subconsciously creating a perceived value that I was respecting. There was 192 00:18:33,640 --> 00:18:38,000 more to it than I'd seen in the glimpses. On its face was a 193 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:42,480 word so ornately written that I had to stare at it to figure out what 194 00:18:42,559 --> 00:18:48,079 it said. It was in the old timey cursive you'd see in a European 195 00:18:48,200 --> 00:18:55,920 museum, but I worked out what it said. It was my name. 196 00:18:57,039 --> 00:19:03,039 I looked around me, thought he was lingering nearby to watch me. Open 197 00:19:03,119 --> 00:19:07,680 it, or worse, use it as a distraction to sneak up on me. 198 00:19:07,559 --> 00:19:12,640 So I took a solid few minutes to scan my surroundings. I stared 199 00:19:12,640 --> 00:19:18,319 at trees and bushes for an uncomfortable amount of time, enough that if someone 200 00:19:18,440 --> 00:19:26,720 was hiding, they'd have twitched a little. But there was nothing. I 201 00:19:26,839 --> 00:19:32,200 was utterly alone on the street. Not even the neighbors seemed to be in 202 00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:40,720 After finally satisfying my justified paranoia, I turned my attention back to the letter. 203 00:19:41,519 --> 00:19:47,119 Inspecting it up close did not give me any indication of what it contained. 204 00:19:48,119 --> 00:19:52,079 In fact, I was even more confused by what it contained. But 205 00:19:53,519 --> 00:20:00,440 I could no longer delay it. The time for thinking was over. Now 206 00:20:00,960 --> 00:20:07,599 was the time for action. I gently lifted it, scrunched it all into 207 00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:11,559 my mouth, and ate it.