WEBVTT 1 00:00:04.040 --> 00:00:18.559 Bline Story Studios giving story a voice. This is Addison Peacock and you're listening 2 00:00:18.600 --> 00:00:35.039 to The Wicked Library. Warning. The Wicked Library is a horror fiction podcast 3 00:00:35.320 --> 00:00:41.240 created for immature audience. Our stories contain graphic descriptions of pain, murder, 4 00:00:41.799 --> 00:00:48.240 violence, blood, betrayal, and inhumanity. Monsters win, people die, 5 00:00:48.799 --> 00:00:54.719 and hope is often shattered. There is also beauty, heart, catharsis, 6 00:00:55.000 --> 00:01:00.000 and raw emotion. Fear may be deeply personal, but we all share. 7 00:01:00.079 --> 00:01:03.760 If at any time a story takes you to a place too dark, turn 8 00:01:03.799 --> 00:01:11.400 on the lights, press pause, or press stop, and always remember that, 9 00:01:11.680 --> 00:01:17.040 unlike in the real world, these nightmares and your participation in them, 10 00:01:17.079 --> 00:01:34.120 are under your control. Welcome to the Wicked Library. I'm Daniel Foytech, 11 00:01:34.239 --> 00:01:38.480 and I thank you for listening. A sincere thank you to those of you 12 00:01:38.519 --> 00:01:42.719 who are supporting the show. Without you, this show would not be possible. 13 00:01:42.359 --> 00:01:47.799 This season, all episodes are heard first by Patreon supporters and later shared 14 00:01:47.799 --> 00:01:51.400 with the full audience. When you support the show, you can choose between 15 00:01:51.480 --> 00:01:55.879 ad free episodes, early access to the stories, and at higher levels of 16 00:01:55.879 --> 00:02:00.680 support you'll greet premiere access to Endfield Detective Agency current in production. That's right, 17 00:02:00.920 --> 00:02:05.879 Frank is coming back and to your ears this fall. You can support 18 00:02:05.879 --> 00:02:09.319 the show at Patreon dot com Forward slash Wicked Library. A lot of hard 19 00:02:09.319 --> 00:02:13.360 work and money goes into making a Wicked Library, and I really do rely 20 00:02:13.400 --> 00:02:16.199 on this support to help me pay the authors, voice actors, composer and 21 00:02:16.520 --> 00:02:21.240 artists so that none of the Wicked Libraries contributors work for free. For as 22 00:02:21.240 --> 00:02:23.840 little as three dollars a month, you can help make the show you love 23 00:02:23.919 --> 00:02:29.520 possible at Patreon dot com Forward slash Wicked Library. Now, let's get wicked 24 00:02:29.560 --> 00:02:34.560 with today's first dark tale told by Addison Peacock with a custom score written by 25 00:02:34.639 --> 00:02:39.599 Nico vites Of. We Talk of Dreams. Just another cautionary tale by Alexis 26 00:02:39.759 --> 00:03:34.479 Dubon. Just another cautionary tale by Alexis Dubonne. I had a sister once, 27 00:03:35.800 --> 00:03:42.759 Elsie, but not anymore. She had been accused of a pretty gruesome 28 00:03:42.800 --> 00:03:46.319 crime, and rather than get locked up, she decided to run away. 29 00:03:49.080 --> 00:03:53.360 They were never able to find her. Her boyfriend's bones were discovered all picked 30 00:03:53.439 --> 00:03:59.960 clean after he stopped showing up to work, and since she'd split, everyone 31 00:04:00.159 --> 00:04:03.400 was pretty sure it was her who did it. That was a few years 32 00:04:03.400 --> 00:04:08.960 ago, and Jamie has kind of fallen into the sister shaped hole in my 33 00:04:09.000 --> 00:04:13.639 life. I met her at the bar shortly after all my family drama, 34 00:04:13.800 --> 00:04:18.639 and we've been best friends ever since. She's almost like a sister, about 35 00:04:18.639 --> 00:04:23.959 as close as someone could get, but no one will ever be Elsie. 36 00:04:26.319 --> 00:04:29.319 She'd worked there long enough that she had the good schedule, with the good 37 00:04:29.319 --> 00:04:32.519 bar back and the good regulars, lots of familiar faces night after night, 38 00:04:32.879 --> 00:04:36.839 and Jamie knew them all, which meant I got all the good gossip. 39 00:04:38.879 --> 00:04:42.120 Like Mark, who lost an eye because of the time he got too drunk 40 00:04:42.160 --> 00:04:46.600 to play darts right and used all his strength dislodging one he got stuck in 41 00:04:46.680 --> 00:04:49.600 the wall. He pulled it so hard he impaled himself with the back end 42 00:04:49.600 --> 00:04:55.759 of it. And Will who always had his two Jamison shots and Michaelobultra's between 43 00:04:55.800 --> 00:04:59.199 work and home. He never said a word, but he was there every 44 00:04:59.279 --> 00:05:03.199 day, always left Jamie at twenty. There was Chris, who once puked 45 00:05:03.199 --> 00:05:08.360 all over the bathroom and Jamie made him clean it up himself. After that 46 00:05:08.480 --> 00:05:11.720 night, he always had a hard time looking her in the face, although 47 00:05:11.839 --> 00:05:15.000 that didn't stop him from coming in and getting hammered more often than not. 48 00:05:15.759 --> 00:05:28.160 Then there was Greg. Greg was a predator, gorgeous but evil. He 49 00:05:28.279 --> 00:05:31.439 had those lumberjack arms made of hills and valleys that you kind of just want 50 00:05:31.439 --> 00:05:36.199 to bite. He always had just enough scruff on his face to emphasize that 51 00:05:36.439 --> 00:05:42.839 jaw of his It could have been carved from stone. He had deep blue 52 00:05:42.879 --> 00:05:46.839 eyes that you'd have to swim your way out of. You could just drown 53 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:53.959 in them forever, and the man was devastatingly charming. He would remember just 54 00:05:54.240 --> 00:05:57.879 enough of what you'd say to make you feel important, but it never stayed 55 00:05:57.879 --> 00:06:01.560 in there long enough to make that feeling anything real, just enough to tease 56 00:06:01.639 --> 00:06:09.399 you, make you taste it, but nothing ever lasted. He'd always lose 57 00:06:09.480 --> 00:06:15.720 interest, move on to the next impossible to satisfy women served a passing purpose 58 00:06:15.800 --> 00:06:21.319 to him, and that's where it ended. Greg was a monster. Most 59 00:06:21.360 --> 00:06:26.639 of the drama in the bar started with him. Girls would destroy their lives 60 00:06:26.680 --> 00:06:30.399 to make him happy. They'd break their leases on the promise of moving in 61 00:06:30.439 --> 00:06:32.560 with him, just to be left without a home or a backup plan. 62 00:06:33.279 --> 00:06:39.240 They'd lose lifelong friendships because they didn't know he was simultaneously sleeping with both of 63 00:06:39.279 --> 00:06:43.399 them. They'd sometimes come into the bar and tears, walk up to him 64 00:06:43.439 --> 00:06:46.959 while he was on a date with someone else and cry about how he told 65 00:06:46.959 --> 00:06:50.040 her he loved her just the night before. He'd brush them off like he 66 00:06:50.120 --> 00:06:56.199 didn't even know who they were, greg ate women for breakfast and shout out 67 00:06:56.240 --> 00:07:00.600 broken lives. Lots of these stories I heard from Jamie, but I had 68 00:07:00.600 --> 00:07:05.519 seen enough firsthand and know she wasn't exaggerating. It was always different versions of 69 00:07:05.639 --> 00:07:11.040 the same thing. We'd watch him find some girl at the bar with her 70 00:07:11.079 --> 00:07:14.639 friends or on her own, but he was never the one to approach. 71 00:07:15.639 --> 00:07:21.040 He always just somehow ended up with them. They came to him like hummingbirds 72 00:07:21.079 --> 00:07:26.680 to sugar water. We would watch him scope out the room, make his 73 00:07:26.759 --> 00:07:30.160 selection, and then without any effort at all, she'd end up at his 74 00:07:30.240 --> 00:07:34.399 side, and unless he wanted to, he never left the bar alone. 75 00:07:35.680 --> 00:07:42.160 Greg had an appetite or only one thing, and the man was insatiable. 76 00:07:43.879 --> 00:07:47.759 Jamie and I saw him break countless hearts in the most ruthless, unfeeling ways, 77 00:07:48.160 --> 00:07:53.439 and we tried warning his victims, but none never wanted to hear us. 78 00:07:54.639 --> 00:08:01.399 His spell was too strong and so it went till last week. The 79 00:08:01.519 --> 00:08:05.759 night began like any other, Jamie and I playing Rummy five hundred while it 80 00:08:05.759 --> 00:08:09.720 was slow, and then gradually, as she got busier, our interactions were 81 00:08:09.720 --> 00:08:13.959 reduced to side eyes, shot over guys getting drunker and drunker, and trying 82 00:08:15.079 --> 00:08:20.240 harder and harder to hit on her. Eventually the place was full and we 83 00:08:20.319 --> 00:08:22.759 barely had time for even our brief chats. As she passed from one side 84 00:08:22.800 --> 00:08:26.360 of the bar to the other. With my stool in the middle by the 85 00:08:26.399 --> 00:08:33.519 taps, we exchanged glances over Greg, watching to see which pretty young thing 86 00:08:33.600 --> 00:08:37.919 he would take home. But for whatever reason, his eyes kept landing on 87 00:08:39.080 --> 00:08:43.360 me, even when my back was turned. I felt them big bear paws 88 00:08:43.519 --> 00:08:48.600 hugging my shoulders and working their way down and up the curves of my body, 89 00:08:48.200 --> 00:08:54.159 sussing out the quality of my meat. I was his choice that night. 90 00:08:54.519 --> 00:09:01.120 I felt it that whole I glanced over my shoulder at the empty seat 91 00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:07.440 beside his dangerous territory, but my decision was well informed. He wasn't just 92 00:09:07.679 --> 00:09:13.159 the hot guy at the bar paying attention to lucky little me, so cute 93 00:09:13.200 --> 00:09:18.200 and funny and irresistible that I couldn't possibly say No, he was Greg, 94 00:09:18.919 --> 00:09:24.159 and I knew his game, and he knew I knew his game. This 95 00:09:24.240 --> 00:09:30.360 would be something else. It was almost like a dare. Don't all winning 96 00:09:30.399 --> 00:09:35.279 streaks come to an end? Eventually, Jamie shook her head at me and 97 00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:41.039 mouthed a hard no. Sisters look out for one another, But why not. 98 00:09:41.360 --> 00:09:46.120 I would be entering into this willingly, and we would see which one 99 00:09:46.159 --> 00:09:50.960 of us would survive. The next time Jamie passed by my stool, it 100 00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:56.080 was empty. Jamie shook her head at me disapprovingly. She had seen me 101 00:09:56.159 --> 00:10:00.919 leave with men before. She knew I had a type. I had a 102 00:10:00.919 --> 00:10:05.399 sweet spot for the womanizers, something about a man who could just shoe women 103 00:10:05.480 --> 00:10:09.000 up and spit them right back out. I could never pass it up. 104 00:10:11.120 --> 00:10:16.440 But even compared to the worst of them, Greg was extreme. I had 105 00:10:16.480 --> 00:10:20.399 secretly dreamt at this moment I wanted him so badly, but until that night, 106 00:10:20.440 --> 00:10:26.200 I just never had the opportunity. This was my chance, and I 107 00:10:26.279 --> 00:10:31.960 was going to take it. Hi, was all he said, so coolly. 108 00:10:31.080 --> 00:10:35.840 As I sat down beside him. Hi, I gave him back, 109 00:10:37.639 --> 00:10:41.600 and we both smiled because we both knew that we didn't really need to say 110 00:10:41.639 --> 00:10:48.679 anything. Else we had entered a wordless agreement, Predator and pray. Game 111 00:10:48.720 --> 00:10:54.360 on. We abandoned our half full drinks on the table and walked right out 112 00:10:54.360 --> 00:10:58.080 the door. I'm going to show you something, I said, as I 113 00:10:58.200 --> 00:11:01.840 nuzzled and nibble at his neck, and he pressed harder against the gas pedal. 114 00:11:03.919 --> 00:11:07.120 Just take this exit here. Pretty soon we were heading north on Root 115 00:11:07.200 --> 00:11:13.000 seventy one toward the Lost forty forest. He'd never fucked on the forest floor 116 00:11:13.080 --> 00:11:16.799 before, he said, and I guided his hand up my dress, promising 117 00:11:16.879 --> 00:11:20.320 him warmth against the cold night air. Can't wait to taste you, he 118 00:11:20.480 --> 00:11:26.320 purred. Finally we arrived. He shut off the car and the headlights, 119 00:11:26.399 --> 00:11:31.679 leaving only the moon to light the night for us. Come, I whispered, 120 00:11:31.200 --> 00:11:35.919 and I led him into the woods, off the path where no one 121 00:11:35.960 --> 00:11:39.200 ever went. I want to take you somewhere where we can be as loud 122 00:11:39.240 --> 00:11:46.480 as we want. He followed, without hesitation. This is what a life 123 00:11:46.480 --> 00:11:52.080 of safety brings. No doubts, just guarantees, no fear, just certainty, 124 00:11:52.840 --> 00:11:58.639 not a care in the world besides feeding his hungry body. He knew 125 00:11:58.679 --> 00:12:05.759 in his heart what was going to happen, but he was wrong. I 126 00:12:05.919 --> 00:12:09.600 led him deeper and deeper into the woods, until it was so thick with 127 00:12:09.720 --> 00:12:13.840 trees we could barely see the moonlight anymore. Into the heart of the forest, 128 00:12:13.879 --> 00:12:18.960 where the pines stood tall and pale and silent. He was ready to 129 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:24.320 have me. I would be devoured and demolished and discarded like all the ones 130 00:12:24.320 --> 00:12:31.639 who came before, but not this time. The wind shifted, and I 131 00:12:31.679 --> 00:12:39.559 knew we were close shit. The temperatures dropped like twenty degrees. Greg sputtered 132 00:12:39.559 --> 00:12:43.039 through chattering teeth. I held that handsome face in my hands, and with 133 00:12:43.080 --> 00:12:50.080 a wink, assured him that he wouldn't be cold for long. There in 134 00:12:50.159 --> 00:12:56.679 the silence of the forest. Something began to stir thought and gray. She'd 135 00:12:56.679 --> 00:13:03.480 been waiting among the pines. She could have been a tree herself, standing 136 00:13:03.559 --> 00:13:07.879 so thin and still, until her arm creaked at the hinge and her bare 137 00:13:07.919 --> 00:13:15.720 foot rose from the cold dirt. Hollow and bony, the creature emerged from 138 00:13:15.720 --> 00:13:22.440 the woods, spattered with sparse patches of matted fur, alid skin stretched thin 139 00:13:22.600 --> 00:13:26.120 and tight over her figure, the bones sealed within, threatening to burst through 140 00:13:26.159 --> 00:13:31.720 at any moment. Gregg tried to run, but found himself already in her 141 00:13:31.799 --> 00:13:37.759 grasp. And then came the teeth, dozens of them, shining like ivory 142 00:13:37.879 --> 00:13:43.679 daggers in the dim blue light of the moon, Dripping wet with anticipation. 143 00:13:43.799 --> 00:13:48.480 Her sharp green tongue speared from a lipless mouth, the tip unfurling, as 144 00:13:48.519 --> 00:13:52.080 if in a hurry to taste him, in advance of the rest of her 145 00:13:52.919 --> 00:13:58.279 Dried blood, caked over patches of mange painted a grotesque mockery of a smile 146 00:13:58.360 --> 00:14:03.679 across her face. Then she let out a horrible, haunting sound, giving 147 00:14:03.799 --> 00:14:07.120 voice to the fear in Greg's heart better than any attempt to do so through 148 00:14:07.159 --> 00:14:13.960 his own human mouth. Her breath burned my nostrils with putrid fumes of corruption 149 00:14:13.039 --> 00:14:18.399 and decay. It was worse than I even remembered the sulfur extench of over 150 00:14:18.519 --> 00:14:24.639 boiled eggs, and the sharp sting of vinegar, rotted acrid meat and broiled 151 00:14:24.639 --> 00:14:28.120 flesh, fresh tire tracks, and long dead animals left a bake on hot 152 00:14:28.159 --> 00:14:33.960 summer asphalt. It choked me as I quietly stepped aside and let her study 153 00:14:33.960 --> 00:14:41.399 Greg's body with lifeless, unforgiving eyes, Deciding where to begin. I watched 154 00:14:41.720 --> 00:14:46.679 with cautious glee as he looked to the beast struggling to escape her grip. 155 00:14:48.200 --> 00:14:54.679 Helpless and hopeless and so delicious, I observed all the cockiness had drained from 156 00:14:54.679 --> 00:14:58.679 his face. His confidence had deserted him, his arrogance turned to terror. 157 00:15:00.960 --> 00:15:07.279 There was fear and place of pride, defeat in place of dominance. It 158 00:15:07.360 --> 00:15:13.120 was glorious. The trees shuddered at the sound of his tortured and refutal cries 159 00:15:13.159 --> 00:15:16.679 for help. Needles fell like tears from the pines, as if in solidarity. 160 00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:22.799 He shrieked and sobbed and begged for his life, But we were so 161 00:15:22.840 --> 00:15:26.759 far from anyone who might save him. Here he could scream as loud as 162 00:15:26.759 --> 00:15:31.840 he wanted, only I in the trees would hear. I backed up, 163 00:15:31.879 --> 00:15:35.240 slowly, knowing I had to be in the car and ready to go before 164 00:15:35.279 --> 00:15:39.840 she was done with him. I had brought enough men into these woods to 165 00:15:39.919 --> 00:15:43.120 know that I only had a short time to get myself to safety. While 166 00:15:43.120 --> 00:15:48.240 she fed with every man the beast consumed, she became a little wilder, 167 00:15:48.919 --> 00:15:52.240 a little more feral, And I knew that eventually it would be too dangerous 168 00:15:52.279 --> 00:15:58.679 to keep this up. But now, as I moved further away, I 169 00:15:58.799 --> 00:16:03.960 watched gnaw old talons rip into his beautiful body, slicing a mo open like 170 00:16:03.120 --> 00:16:08.399 pie, spilling blood and piss and half digested beer all over the frosted dirt, 171 00:16:08.919 --> 00:16:15.679 making its steam greg This is Elsie, I shouted to him above his 172 00:16:15.759 --> 00:16:37.559 screams, and please for mercy. She has quite an appetite herself. Next 173 00:16:37.639 --> 00:16:41.360 up, we dive back into the darkness with today's second dark tale, told 174 00:16:41.399 --> 00:16:45.519 by David Alt with a custom score written by Niko VTEs Of. We talk 175 00:16:45.600 --> 00:16:55.200 of dreams, the very counterfeit of death by Ken Browsky, the very counterfeit 176 00:16:55.360 --> 00:17:03.920 of death by Ken Bruski. I am not alone here, I am not 177 00:17:04.160 --> 00:17:11.079 alone here. I remember seeing this island in the distance. I remember it 178 00:17:11.200 --> 00:17:15.559 shaped like a crescent, with a beach of black sand, like a gaping 179 00:17:15.680 --> 00:17:22.799 mouth consuming the blue ocean water. I remember a crash, then darkness. 180 00:17:25.880 --> 00:17:30.240 I can only remember the storm and churning waves. The boat hit a rock. 181 00:17:30.960 --> 00:17:34.599 Suddenly I felt my body slam into the helm. Then cold water and 182 00:17:34.880 --> 00:17:41.480 darkness. The sun burns the skin of my neck. During the day, 183 00:17:41.319 --> 00:17:48.920 the land is dry, hot and sparse. There are cacti and white incense 184 00:17:48.000 --> 00:17:55.599 trees with bare branches and yellow iguanas and giant tortoises with beady, discerning eyes. 185 00:17:56.880 --> 00:18:00.680 They wonder why I don't make my way to the north the island, 186 00:18:00.720 --> 00:18:04.599 where trees are more abundant in their shelter from the elements. I tell them 187 00:18:04.640 --> 00:18:12.440 I'm too weak, too exhausted. I take shade during the day underneath trees 188 00:18:12.519 --> 00:18:18.440 with heavy green leaves. The air is wet at this higher elevation, and 189 00:18:18.799 --> 00:18:22.799 mist obscures any view of the south end of the island. It clings to 190 00:18:23.000 --> 00:18:29.000 me, I swear. I can feel the water droplets crawling across my skin 191 00:18:29.160 --> 00:18:33.559 like an army of ants. Birds call out from the trees. It's a 192 00:18:33.599 --> 00:18:41.000 familiar song. There are rocks jutting out of the southern cliff like tall steps 193 00:18:41.039 --> 00:18:45.119 that make it easy to crawl to the ocean, where the waves are gentle 194 00:18:45.240 --> 00:18:52.400 and undisturbed. I drink the salt water. I can feel my body absorbing 195 00:18:52.480 --> 00:18:59.119 what it needs. I know it's impossible, but it's true. I drink 196 00:18:59.160 --> 00:19:03.960 water that clings to massive spade shaped fern leaves. Birds encourage me with high 197 00:19:03.960 --> 00:19:08.240 pitched tweets. It's as if they want me to survive, and I take 198 00:19:08.319 --> 00:19:12.359 this as a good sign. I was always an optimist. You have to 199 00:19:12.400 --> 00:19:18.880 be when you're waiting for a good wind to fill your sail. The lizard 200 00:19:18.039 --> 00:19:22.519 is watching me from a rock. I grab it and squeeze it until it 201 00:19:22.640 --> 00:19:27.960 stops writhing. I pluck the nails and eat it whole. Then sleep, 202 00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:36.559 wake a dusk with a terrible hunger, my skin burning. Follow a trail 203 00:19:36.599 --> 00:19:41.240 to a tortoise nest. I use my fingernail to slit its throat, devour 204 00:19:41.319 --> 00:19:47.160 it. Jesus Christ. I can't stop, even though the taste is wretched. 205 00:19:48.680 --> 00:19:53.039 The birds wake me early. They sit on low branches, proud of 206 00:19:53.079 --> 00:19:59.640 their yellow and red plumage. They look to me like finches, but some 207 00:20:00.039 --> 00:20:03.119 have a strange horn on their bills. I talk to them to stay sane 208 00:20:03.160 --> 00:20:07.400 while I walk through the forest and gather jew that's collected on leaves. They 209 00:20:07.400 --> 00:20:12.519 follow me, flying from branch to branch. They gather in greater and greater 210 00:20:12.599 --> 00:20:21.759 numbers. My flesh burns and aches. I pluck branches from the white oil 211 00:20:21.839 --> 00:20:27.519 trees and dig them into my skin like giant acupuncture needles. I can feel 212 00:20:27.559 --> 00:20:34.720 the soothing oil lubricate my muscles. It feels so good. This coat of 213 00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:41.160 thorns I try to walk toward the south end of the island, but the 214 00:20:41.240 --> 00:20:49.759 birds cry out a warning. Night is comfortable, cool, dark. I 215 00:20:49.920 --> 00:20:55.680 find another tortoise and drip it apart with my bare hands. I taste salt 216 00:20:55.920 --> 00:21:03.559 and ham and something sweets blood. And when I'm done, I start chewing 217 00:21:03.599 --> 00:21:06.240 on the shell. And I don't know why, but I can't stop. 218 00:21:07.200 --> 00:21:11.240 I'm so sure that if I could only crack through the exterior there might be 219 00:21:11.279 --> 00:21:17.279 some hidden marrow inside. I feel a crack and a wave of pain as 220 00:21:17.359 --> 00:21:22.000 one of my teeth shatters. Terror washes through my veins. What's happening? 221 00:21:23.039 --> 00:21:29.079 Is this punishment? Foot? But no, it was not my fault. 222 00:21:29.319 --> 00:21:34.240 The ship crashed. The birds sit on low branches and watch me sleep. 223 00:21:36.359 --> 00:21:45.039 There's so many now they scare me. The mornings raise rake across my back. 224 00:21:45.079 --> 00:21:51.359 My hollow stomach screams for sustenance. I crawl on the ground and pluck 225 00:21:51.400 --> 00:21:56.519 iguanas from their dirt nests. Something in my head screams for me to stop, 226 00:21:56.559 --> 00:22:03.000 but it's distant and choked by its own hunger. I eat the iguana's 227 00:22:03.039 --> 00:22:08.279 hole. I feel their claws desperately scrape my throat. I relish the feeling 228 00:22:08.319 --> 00:22:15.680 of blood trickling into my gut. More there are none. I've eaten them 229 00:22:15.759 --> 00:22:22.039 all. Why now north? I can hear birds calling to me, thousands 230 00:22:22.079 --> 00:22:29.559 and thousands of birds. They wake me, my ears ring from their whistling 231 00:22:29.640 --> 00:22:33.200 calls. They sit on every branch, yellow and red and black birds, 232 00:22:33.200 --> 00:22:40.440 shouting and flapping their wings a message, a warning. I grab a fallen 233 00:22:40.480 --> 00:22:47.839 branch wet with green moss. I can see them, thousands of birds greeting 234 00:22:47.880 --> 00:22:51.680 me as I enter the forest. I reach out for one on a low 235 00:22:51.759 --> 00:22:56.920 branch, and hundreds scatter in a rainbow cloud that moves like a sentient creature. 236 00:22:57.119 --> 00:23:02.079 I stumble around a tree, my nails clutch at the trunk, and 237 00:23:02.279 --> 00:23:11.480 tear away back. The birds beckon me. Something is coming. I clutch 238 00:23:11.519 --> 00:23:14.680 the branch, heart racing, but I can't hear it over the chorus of 239 00:23:14.720 --> 00:23:18.240 birds. They're flapping their wings, and it's as if the forest itself is 240 00:23:18.319 --> 00:23:26.440 drawing in quick breaths. And then suddenly the birds are quiet. I see 241 00:23:26.519 --> 00:23:33.359 him, a man like me. I lurched toward him and reach out and 242 00:23:33.480 --> 00:23:38.119 tell him I'm marooned here, But my words come out in a drooling draw. 243 00:23:40.519 --> 00:23:42.920 I get closer, and I see through swollen eyes that something is wrong. 244 00:23:44.480 --> 00:23:52.960 He looks like me, He is me? How how could it be 245 00:23:53.079 --> 00:23:57.480 possible? He swings a branch like a club, and I feel a bone 246 00:23:57.480 --> 00:24:03.440 in my shoulder crunch painfully, and now all I see is red. I 247 00:24:03.559 --> 00:24:07.359 must eat, and I scream in terror as the hunger repels me forward. 248 00:24:08.880 --> 00:24:11.839 The full weight of the creature falls on me, and we stumble backward. 249 00:24:12.480 --> 00:24:15.920 I try to push it away, but his rough skin is loose and thick 250 00:24:17.000 --> 00:24:22.599 like risen bread dough. My fingers slide inside. The creature's terrible jaws open 251 00:24:22.680 --> 00:24:26.920 just inches from my face, and I let out a cry. I am 252 00:24:26.960 --> 00:24:30.440 to blame. Yes, I am the one who crashed our ship. I 253 00:24:30.519 --> 00:24:34.519 misread the navigational charts. Yes, and rather than help secure the sails, 254 00:24:34.559 --> 00:24:40.400 I leapt overboard, leaving my crew down a man at their most desperate time. 255 00:24:41.039 --> 00:24:47.839 And so I clawed at myself, ripping away my face. The birds 256 00:24:47.960 --> 00:24:51.799 begin chirping, flapping their wings with glee as the creature's nails tear at my 257 00:24:51.880 --> 00:25:00.599 face. They're watching, They're entertained. They have done this before. They 258 00:25:00.759 --> 00:25:07.079 watch me devour the man who is me, and then they disperse, leaving 259 00:25:07.079 --> 00:25:12.440 me alone in the empty forest, and I fear I shall never again be 260 00:25:12.559 --> 00:25:21.119 the man I was, and all that remains is the evil I've carried all 261 00:25:21.559 --> 00:25:53.920 my life. Thank you for listening to episode number twelve h four. Today's 262 00:25:53.960 --> 00:26:02.559 authors were Alexis Dubon and Ken Browsky. Today's stories were told by Addison Peacock 263 00:26:02.759 --> 00:26:07.519 and David Alt. I'm Daniel Foytech and I've been your host today. Our 264 00:26:07.519 --> 00:26:11.440 resident composer and executive producer is Nikov dazing Off. We talk of dreams. 265 00:26:11.039 --> 00:26:15.559 Artwork for today's episode was created by Greg Schaeffer. Our producers are Meg Williams 266 00:26:15.640 --> 00:26:19.480 and Daniel Foytech. To find out more about The Wicked Library and other Ninth 267 00:26:19.559 --> 00:26:25.359 Story shows, visit the Wicked Library dot com and Ninth Story dot com. 268 00:26:25.400 --> 00:26:27.559 If you'd like to help keep this collection of dark tales coming, please support 269 00:26:27.599 --> 00:26:33.279 The Wicked Library on Patreon at Patreon dot com forward slash Wicked Library. You 270 00:26:33.319 --> 00:26:37.160 can also help by leaving a five star rating in short review in Apple podcasts. 271 00:26:37.480 --> 00:26:41.599 These ratings and reviews help other listeners find the show, which helps generate 272 00:26:41.640 --> 00:26:47.799 revenue to ensure no one contributing to the show works for free. The Wicked 273 00:26:47.839 --> 00:26:51.680 Library is created by Ninth Story Studios LLLC. All rights reserved.