WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:04.799 Story one. I'm justin. I live in Stockton, California, with 2 00:00:04.839 --> 00:00:07.240 my dad. It's just the two of us in a 3 00:00:07.240 --> 00:00:10.160 two story house on a quiet street that always feels 4 00:00:10.199 --> 00:00:13.080 like it's holding its breath. This happened a year ago, 5 00:00:13.599 --> 00:00:18.079 one incident. One minute, everything made sense, the next I 6 00:00:18.120 --> 00:00:21.719 don't know anymore. It was around twelve thirty am and 7 00:00:21.760 --> 00:00:24.559 I was headed downstairs to grab something sweet before going 8 00:00:24.559 --> 00:00:27.359 to bed. The hallway light was off and the staircase 9 00:00:27.399 --> 00:00:30.280 creaked like it always does when you try to move quiet. 10 00:00:30.760 --> 00:00:31.760 The house was still. 11 00:00:32.439 --> 00:00:34.439 I thought my dad had passed out on the couch 12 00:00:34.560 --> 00:00:37.200 like usual after coming home from the late shift. But 13 00:00:37.280 --> 00:00:39.840 when I hit the bottom step, I saw him standing 14 00:00:39.880 --> 00:00:44.960 near the entertainment center, looking kind of irritated. Hey, he said, 15 00:00:44.960 --> 00:00:49.439 without looking up, you seen the remote. I blinked. I 16 00:00:49.520 --> 00:00:53.560 thought you were asleep. He shook his head. Nah, got 17 00:00:53.640 --> 00:00:56.359 up to watch something, and it's gone. I've been looking 18 00:00:56.359 --> 00:00:58.679 for it for like half an hour. I even checked 19 00:00:58.719 --> 00:01:01.960 the kitchen and under the rug. It's not here. That 20 00:01:02.079 --> 00:01:05.599 wasn't strange in itself. The remote disappears all the time. 21 00:01:06.079 --> 00:01:08.400 But what caught me off guard was what he said next. 22 00:01:09.040 --> 00:01:11.159 Can you go get the one from your room, the 23 00:01:11.239 --> 00:01:15.120 universal one just for tonight. I nodded and went to 24 00:01:15.159 --> 00:01:18.439 head upstairs, But then I paused. I felt guilty watching 25 00:01:18.519 --> 00:01:20.599 him move the couch cushions like he was on the 26 00:01:20.680 --> 00:01:24.120 verge of losing it, so I said, hold on, let 27 00:01:24.120 --> 00:01:26.280 me help look a bit more before I go grab mine. 28 00:01:27.040 --> 00:01:30.680 We turned the place inside out, sofa cushions off, pulled 29 00:01:30.719 --> 00:01:34.280 out the TV stand, shook out blankets, even checked the 30 00:01:34.280 --> 00:01:37.079 bathroom for no good reason. We tore that living room 31 00:01:37.079 --> 00:01:42.760 apart nothing whatever, he muttered. Finally, just get yours. So 32 00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:45.680 I grabbed my remote for my nightstand, same place it 33 00:01:45.719 --> 00:01:48.719 always is, came back downstairs, handed it to him and 34 00:01:48.760 --> 00:01:53.239 said this will do right. He nodded, thanks and dropped 35 00:01:53.239 --> 00:01:55.719 onto the couch with that heavy sigh he always makes 36 00:01:55.760 --> 00:01:59.439 after work. I went back upstairs, got in bed, and 37 00:01:59.480 --> 00:02:03.280 set my foe alarm. I remember this part clearly. I 38 00:02:03.359 --> 00:02:07.079 put my remote back on the nightstand right there. I 39 00:02:07.159 --> 00:02:09.280 was just about to plug in my phone when I 40 00:02:09.319 --> 00:02:13.439 heard my dad call me again. Justin, he said from downstairs, 41 00:02:13.520 --> 00:02:17.639 voice normal, not urgent. I groaned, got out of bed 42 00:02:17.919 --> 00:02:20.680 and walked to the top of the stairs. What I 43 00:02:20.759 --> 00:02:23.879 shouted down you left your remote down here, he said. 44 00:02:24.280 --> 00:02:24.919 I froze. 45 00:02:25.560 --> 00:02:28.240 No I didn't, I said, I brought it back up. 46 00:02:28.639 --> 00:02:32.400 I'm looking at it. Then, what's this, he asked. I 47 00:02:32.439 --> 00:02:34.639 heard the couch creak and then a beat of silence. 48 00:02:35.159 --> 00:02:38.000 I came down. He was sitting there staring at something 49 00:02:38.039 --> 00:02:40.879 on the cushion next to him. It was my remote, 50 00:02:41.039 --> 00:02:45.520 the exact one, same scratches on the battery cover, same 51 00:02:45.560 --> 00:02:48.840 little white sticker on the back that says Jay. I 52 00:02:48.919 --> 00:02:51.919 stared at it like it might vanish. I thought you 53 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:54.759 said you brought it upstairs, he said slowly. 54 00:02:55.400 --> 00:02:55.759 I did. 55 00:02:55.800 --> 00:02:59.479 I said, I put it on my nightstand. He laughed once, 56 00:02:59.520 --> 00:03:02.840 a short, confused sound, and handed it to me. I 57 00:03:02.879 --> 00:03:06.599 turned it over. It was mine, not just a similar one, 58 00:03:07.159 --> 00:03:11.080 my remote. I walked back upstairs, and there it was, 59 00:03:11.680 --> 00:03:15.039 still sitting on my nightstand. I picked it up. Now 60 00:03:15.080 --> 00:03:18.120 I had two identical remotes in my hands. I stood 61 00:03:18.159 --> 00:03:20.199 there for what had to be a full minute, just 62 00:03:20.240 --> 00:03:23.800 holding them both, blinking like that would explain it. I 63 00:03:23.840 --> 00:03:26.560 went back down. He was still sitting there, staring at 64 00:03:26.599 --> 00:03:31.560 the screen. I held them up. Okay, look, He turned 65 00:03:31.599 --> 00:03:34.960 and looked at me, then looked at my hands. What 66 00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:37.840 the hell he said, I don't know. I told him, 67 00:03:38.120 --> 00:03:40.039 I swear to God, I only have one of these, 68 00:03:40.639 --> 00:03:44.120 always have. I grabbed it, brought it to you, came 69 00:03:44.159 --> 00:03:47.520 back upstairs, put it down, and now there's one up 70 00:03:47.520 --> 00:03:48.639 there and one down here. 71 00:03:49.199 --> 00:03:49.879 He stood up. 72 00:03:50.280 --> 00:03:53.439 You're messing with me, he said, I'm not. I snapped. 73 00:03:53.759 --> 00:03:57.039 Are you messing with me? He didn't answer. We both 74 00:03:57.080 --> 00:04:00.479 walked upstairs. I handed him one of them. He followed 75 00:04:00.520 --> 00:04:03.280 me into my room. We looked at the one on 76 00:04:03.319 --> 00:04:08.199 the night stand again, still there. So now we had three, three, 77 00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:13.360 three remotes, all identical, all physically there. He sat down 78 00:04:13.360 --> 00:04:18.079 on my bed. Okay, okay, this is I don't get it. 79 00:04:18.680 --> 00:04:22.040 Are you pranking me? I asked again. This time's sharper, 80 00:04:22.480 --> 00:04:24.839 like some kind of joke. He looked at me and 81 00:04:24.879 --> 00:04:28.120 he was pale. My dad doesn't get rattled easily, but 82 00:04:28.160 --> 00:04:30.800 he wasn't playing. I know what his jokes look like. 83 00:04:31.319 --> 00:04:34.199 This wasn't it. I held both remotes out and told 84 00:04:34.240 --> 00:04:38.040 him look, try both, see which one works. 85 00:04:38.399 --> 00:04:38.839 He did. 86 00:04:39.319 --> 00:04:43.480 They both worked, both controlled the TV downstairs. I brought 87 00:04:43.480 --> 00:04:47.199 the third one down. That one worked. Two three identical 88 00:04:47.319 --> 00:04:52.040 universal remotes, all fully functional, all physically real, all here, 89 00:04:52.800 --> 00:04:55.560 I tried to make sense of it, like maybe we 90 00:04:55.639 --> 00:04:58.079 had another backup one we forgot about. 91 00:04:58.199 --> 00:05:00.079 But I know we didn't. We only he. 92 00:05:00.079 --> 00:05:03.079 Ever had one universal remote, and I kept it in 93 00:05:03.120 --> 00:05:05.680 my room. He'd always borrow it when the living room 94 00:05:05.720 --> 00:05:10.079 one disappeared. That's what started this whole thing. I stood 95 00:05:10.079 --> 00:05:13.120 there in the middle of the living room holding one remote, 96 00:05:13.160 --> 00:05:16.040 my dad holding another, the third one sitting on the 97 00:05:16.079 --> 00:05:20.439 coffee table between us. You think maybe we just missed 98 00:05:20.480 --> 00:05:24.519 one earlier, I asked, voice tight, No, he said, without 99 00:05:24.519 --> 00:05:25.079 looking up. 100 00:05:25.439 --> 00:05:27.759 We checked everything. He was right. 101 00:05:28.240 --> 00:05:31.279 We had flipped that room upside down. The couch cushions 102 00:05:31.319 --> 00:05:33.959 were still tossed on the floor. There was no remote 103 00:05:33.959 --> 00:05:37.160 there before that third one appeared out of nowhere. And 104 00:05:37.240 --> 00:05:40.519 the worst part, the next morning, there were only two. 105 00:05:41.120 --> 00:05:44.279 The one on the coffee table was gone. Dad said 106 00:05:44.279 --> 00:05:48.040 he didn't touch it. I didn't touch it, but it vanished. 107 00:05:48.319 --> 00:05:51.800 I still have mine. He still has his, but I 108 00:05:51.879 --> 00:05:54.759 don't use it much anymore. Just seeing it makes me 109 00:05:54.879 --> 00:05:58.639 uneasy because for one brief moment, the rules of reality 110 00:05:58.680 --> 00:06:02.319 didn't add up. Something doubled, something showed up where it 111 00:06:02.360 --> 00:06:06.959 shouldn't have, and then disappeared again. There's no reasonable explanation. 112 00:06:07.480 --> 00:06:10.720 We both saw it. We both held them. Three real 113 00:06:10.920 --> 00:06:16.399 solid working remotes, then two story two. You ever hear 114 00:06:16.480 --> 00:06:19.079 your dad say something so random and off the wall, 115 00:06:19.079 --> 00:06:21.639 it sticks with you for life. When I was nine, 116 00:06:21.680 --> 00:06:24.399 mine told me, if you're going to sleep outside, don't 117 00:06:24.439 --> 00:06:25.879 ever sleep with your mouth open. 118 00:06:26.319 --> 00:06:27.439 Spiders will crawl in. 119 00:06:28.279 --> 00:06:30.399 That was the one rule he had when I started 120 00:06:30.480 --> 00:06:34.040 dragging blankets out onto our trampoline in the backyard. Didn't 121 00:06:34.079 --> 00:06:38.480 care about mountain lions, didn't care about frostbite, just spiders. 122 00:06:39.480 --> 00:06:44.319 I live in a small town outside Durango, Colorado, forests mountains. 123 00:06:44.079 --> 00:06:46.000 The whole postcard scene. 124 00:06:46.079 --> 00:06:48.319 Our house backs up to about two hundred yards of 125 00:06:48.360 --> 00:06:51.240 pine before the land starts to rise into rocky slopes. 126 00:06:51.920 --> 00:06:55.439 I was always an outdoor kid. I hated walls, hated 127 00:06:55.439 --> 00:06:58.920 the feeling of air conditioning. Summers, I'd sleep out back 128 00:06:58.959 --> 00:07:01.879 almost every night, flat on my back, staring at the 129 00:07:01.920 --> 00:07:05.160 stars from the middle of our trampoline. My parents gave 130 00:07:05.279 --> 00:07:07.439 up trying to drag me back in after the first 131 00:07:07.480 --> 00:07:10.519 few weeks. That's why I remember the night so clearly, 132 00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:14.000 not because anything strange led up to it. It was 133 00:07:14.040 --> 00:07:18.959 the opposite. Everything was normal, No bad dream, no creepy noise. 134 00:07:19.560 --> 00:07:22.879 I wasn't even cold. I just remember waking up with 135 00:07:22.959 --> 00:07:26.079 this awful pressure on my neck. Not the kind you 136 00:07:26.120 --> 00:07:29.279 get from rolling over onto your pillow weird. This was 137 00:07:29.319 --> 00:07:33.000 pulling me up, not down. My first instinct was that 138 00:07:33.079 --> 00:07:35.720 I'd wrapped myself up in a blanket and twisted it 139 00:07:35.759 --> 00:07:39.480 around my throat. I jerked forward, choking a little, and 140 00:07:39.560 --> 00:07:42.879 my arms went up on instinct. That's when I felt rope, 141 00:07:43.439 --> 00:07:48.000 actual rope, rough, dry hemp, frayed at the ends. And 142 00:07:48.040 --> 00:07:50.759 then this is the part that makes my stomach flip 143 00:07:50.879 --> 00:07:52.120 every time I think about it. 144 00:07:52.480 --> 00:07:54.399 I felt a knot a noose. 145 00:07:54.959 --> 00:07:59.000 I shot upright air rushed in, but it burned going down, 146 00:08:00.040 --> 00:08:02.639 started clawing at it, and when I finally got it off, 147 00:08:02.879 --> 00:08:06.480 I fell sideways off the trampoline and hit the grass hard. 148 00:08:07.360 --> 00:08:09.639 I remember spitting in the dirt and trying not to 149 00:08:09.720 --> 00:08:13.519 throw up. My eyes were watering, I could barely breathe. 150 00:08:14.120 --> 00:08:17.360 The rope was still hanging from my neck. It was short, 151 00:08:17.759 --> 00:08:19.600 less than a foot from the loop to the end, 152 00:08:20.120 --> 00:08:22.399 the kind of length you'd get if someone had cut it, 153 00:08:22.879 --> 00:08:27.240 not frayed by age, not snapped, clean cut. I stared 154 00:08:27.279 --> 00:08:29.639 at it, lying in the grass, dumb as a rock. 155 00:08:30.319 --> 00:08:33.440 It didn't make sense. I hadn't tied anything like that. 156 00:08:33.879 --> 00:08:36.559 We didn't have ropes like that around the house. This 157 00:08:36.600 --> 00:08:38.440 thing looked like it came out of a barn from 158 00:08:38.559 --> 00:08:42.879 eighteen oh two. I ran back inside carrying it. I 159 00:08:42.919 --> 00:08:46.240 don't remember what time. It was, probably just before sunrise. 160 00:08:46.799 --> 00:08:49.679 My dad was already up making coffee. I stood in 161 00:08:49.720 --> 00:08:51.639 the doorway of the kitchen and dropped the rope on 162 00:08:51.679 --> 00:08:54.559 the tile. He stared at it, then looked at me, 163 00:08:55.480 --> 00:08:58.159 Where the hell do you get that? I woke up 164 00:08:58.159 --> 00:09:02.360 with it around my neck like I was kidding. Then 165 00:09:02.399 --> 00:09:05.960 he saw the burn. My neck was red, not bruised, 166 00:09:06.159 --> 00:09:09.200 not gashed, but raw and irritated all the way around, 167 00:09:09.240 --> 00:09:12.480 like I'd been yanked up by it like a leash. 168 00:09:12.879 --> 00:09:17.039 His face changed fast. He asked me again, quieter this time, 169 00:09:17.600 --> 00:09:21.320 where'd you get that? I don't know. I started crying. 170 00:09:21.840 --> 00:09:24.960 I didn't even feel scared at first. I felt confused 171 00:09:25.039 --> 00:09:28.480 and embarrassed and cold, like I'd done something wrong and 172 00:09:28.519 --> 00:09:32.039 didn't know what. He touched the rope, turned it over, 173 00:09:32.480 --> 00:09:35.879 then handed it back like it was diseased. We don't 174 00:09:35.919 --> 00:09:38.919 have this kind of rope, He said, I haven't seen 175 00:09:38.919 --> 00:09:41.440 this kind of weave in thirty years. He had that 176 00:09:41.519 --> 00:09:44.399 look like when a parent wants to fix something but 177 00:09:44.519 --> 00:09:47.279 knows they can't. He didn't ask if I made it. 178 00:09:47.679 --> 00:09:50.440 He didn't even accuse me of lying. That said more 179 00:09:50.440 --> 00:09:53.159 than anything. I ended up lying on the couch for 180 00:09:53.200 --> 00:09:55.279 the rest of the day. He didn't make me go 181 00:09:55.320 --> 00:09:58.080 to school. I kept the rope with me, just staring 182 00:09:58.120 --> 00:10:00.960 at it, turning it over and over, trying to see 183 00:10:01.000 --> 00:10:03.399 a trick in the knot or some tag that would 184 00:10:03.399 --> 00:10:06.679 tell me it was from a store, something manufactured. But 185 00:10:06.759 --> 00:10:10.480 it wasn't. This was hand twisted. The noose was old school, 186 00:10:10.879 --> 00:10:15.159 perfect practiced, meant for one purpose. That night, I asked 187 00:10:15.200 --> 00:10:17.279 him if anyone had ever died back in those woods 188 00:10:17.320 --> 00:10:20.799 behind our house. He didn't answer it first, then he said, 189 00:10:21.399 --> 00:10:24.799 I don't know. I don't ask questions like that. I 190 00:10:24.879 --> 00:10:27.879 never slept on the trampoline again. We left it out 191 00:10:27.919 --> 00:10:31.000 there for years, but I wouldn't even step on it. Eventually, 192 00:10:31.039 --> 00:10:33.200 the snow rusted out the springs and we cut it 193 00:10:33.279 --> 00:10:36.360 up for scrap. I kept the rope, though for years 194 00:10:36.960 --> 00:10:39.519 it sat in a shoe box under my bed. I 195 00:10:39.559 --> 00:10:42.159 think part of me hoped I'd figure it out, like 196 00:10:42.200 --> 00:10:44.960 it was some kind of prank I didn't understand yet. 197 00:10:45.080 --> 00:10:49.039 But it never unraveled, never changed. It stayed dry and 198 00:10:49.159 --> 00:10:52.519 stiff and smelled like dirt in old wood, like a 199 00:10:52.559 --> 00:10:55.559 barnbeam or a coffin. I finally threw it into a 200 00:10:55.559 --> 00:10:57.720 fire pit during a camping trip with friends when I 201 00:10:57.759 --> 00:11:01.000 was sixteen. I didn't tell them what it was. I 202 00:11:01.159 --> 00:11:03.600 just watched it burn and felt sick until the last 203 00:11:03.600 --> 00:11:07.399 ember died. Even now, I don't have an explanation. No 204 00:11:07.399 --> 00:11:10.440 one could have gotten back there without making noise. Our 205 00:11:10.480 --> 00:11:13.559 dogs would have heard. There was no ladder, no sign 206 00:11:13.639 --> 00:11:17.240 anyone had been near the trampoline, no tracks. The gate 207 00:11:17.320 --> 00:11:20.240 was locked, and I checked every rope in our garage 208 00:11:20.279 --> 00:11:22.519 and shed nothing matched. 209 00:11:23.039 --> 00:11:25.159 The only thing I can think, if. 210 00:11:25.000 --> 00:11:27.600 I let my brain go there, is that I woke 211 00:11:27.720 --> 00:11:31.600 up after it happened, like maybe whatever or whoever put 212 00:11:31.639 --> 00:11:33.879 that noose around my neck had already done what they 213 00:11:33.919 --> 00:11:38.399 meant to do, but something stopped it, or someone or 214 00:11:38.440 --> 00:11:40.960 maybe I did die. Maybe I was dead for a 215 00:11:40.960 --> 00:11:44.600 few seconds. Maybe that short rope meant someone had cut 216 00:11:44.639 --> 00:11:47.799 me down just in time. I don't know, and I'm 217 00:11:47.840 --> 00:11:51.679 not sure I want to Story three. I'm not the 218 00:11:51.759 --> 00:11:55.799 type to believe in signs or spirits or anything you 219 00:11:55.840 --> 00:12:00.759 can't see, touch or prove. I was raised in Anaheim, California, 220 00:12:01.159 --> 00:12:03.720 in a tiny two story house built in the eighties 221 00:12:03.759 --> 00:12:06.519 with paper thin walls and carpet that never quite stopped 222 00:12:06.519 --> 00:12:10.200 smelling like dog. Nothing special about the house, just like 223 00:12:10.240 --> 00:12:14.240 there was nothing special about us. My brother Jason was 224 00:12:14.320 --> 00:12:16.639 the only one who ever seemed like he might get 225 00:12:16.639 --> 00:12:20.879 out and do something different. He was eighteen, healthy, sharp, 226 00:12:21.639 --> 00:12:24.600 bit of a screw up sometimes, but nothing serious. Then 227 00:12:24.679 --> 00:12:27.679 one morning he just didn't wake up. It was two 228 00:12:27.720 --> 00:12:31.120 days before his high school graduation. The coroner's van came 229 00:12:31.159 --> 00:12:34.279 and went. They didn't say much. The cops showed up 230 00:12:34.279 --> 00:12:37.759 because of his age. They kept asking about pills, substances, 231 00:12:37.840 --> 00:12:41.039 things like that my mom was a wreck. My sister 232 00:12:41.080 --> 00:12:42.559 and I had been at a friend's house for the 233 00:12:42.559 --> 00:12:44.720 weekend and we got the call in the middle of 234 00:12:44.720 --> 00:12:47.320 a movie. When we got back home, the place was 235 00:12:47.399 --> 00:12:50.919 swarming with police. They tore through his room for hours 236 00:12:51.399 --> 00:12:54.320 looking for his phone. They said they wanted to check 237 00:12:54.360 --> 00:12:58.480 texts calls, see who he'd been talking to, maybe someone 238 00:12:58.480 --> 00:13:02.279 had sold him something, maybe he'd said something before it happened, 239 00:13:02.720 --> 00:13:06.519 but the phone was gone completely. They flipped the mattress, 240 00:13:06.720 --> 00:13:09.720 empty drawers, even pulled the vent cover off the wall 241 00:13:10.039 --> 00:13:11.240 like they thought he'd hidden it. 242 00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:12.440 Nothing. 243 00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:16.919 Eventually they gave up, said they'd check again later. That 244 00:13:17.039 --> 00:13:20.679 night was quiet, too quiet, the kind of quiet that 245 00:13:20.720 --> 00:13:24.399 doesn't feel peaceful, it just makes your ears ring. I 246 00:13:24.440 --> 00:13:27.480 slept on the couch. My sister was upstairs in our 247 00:13:27.519 --> 00:13:31.000 shared room. My mom hadn't gone up there, since she 248 00:13:31.039 --> 00:13:33.879 wouldn't even go near the steps. She just sat at 249 00:13:33.879 --> 00:13:36.679 the kitchen table in the same clothes, nursing a mug 250 00:13:36.679 --> 00:13:39.679 of cold tea and staring out the sliding glass door 251 00:13:39.799 --> 00:13:42.960 like something might show up out there. Three days passed, 252 00:13:43.440 --> 00:13:47.039 the grief wasn't fading, it was just turning heavy and strange, 253 00:13:47.600 --> 00:13:51.720 like the air itself had changed. Then that night, God, 254 00:13:51.840 --> 00:13:52.799 I still don't. 255 00:13:52.679 --> 00:13:55.759 Know what made her do it. It was around three am. 256 00:13:55.919 --> 00:13:57.840 I was half asleep on the couch with the TV 257 00:13:57.960 --> 00:14:01.639 on mute when I heard the stairs creak. I sat up, startled, 258 00:14:01.759 --> 00:14:05.159 and saw my mom going up slowly, barefoot, her hand 259 00:14:05.200 --> 00:14:08.639 trailing the wall like she was half blind. She didn't 260 00:14:08.639 --> 00:14:11.399 look at me, just move like she wasn't fully there. 261 00:14:12.240 --> 00:14:15.440 I followed her without saying anything. She reached the landing, 262 00:14:15.879 --> 00:14:18.919 paused outside our room and said, why is the light on? 263 00:14:19.840 --> 00:14:23.559 I frowned. It shouldn't have been. She pushed the door 264 00:14:23.559 --> 00:14:26.480 open and just stood there. I stepped in beside her. 265 00:14:27.039 --> 00:14:29.320 There at the end of my sister's bed was one 266 00:14:29.360 --> 00:14:32.960 of Jason's pillows, folded over it like something someone had 267 00:14:33.000 --> 00:14:36.679 placed neatly. Was his phone and his charger, the cord 268 00:14:36.720 --> 00:14:39.759 wrapped the way he always did it tight and tucked in. 269 00:14:40.360 --> 00:14:43.559 It was just sitting there. Is this some kind of 270 00:14:43.639 --> 00:14:47.440 sick joke? My mom asked, barely above a whisper. She 271 00:14:47.600 --> 00:14:49.600 reached for the phone like she didn't want to touch it, 272 00:14:50.159 --> 00:14:53.240 like she expected it to vanish. But she picked it up, 273 00:14:53.440 --> 00:14:57.240 held it, flipped it around. It was off. He never 274 00:14:57.279 --> 00:15:01.879 turned it off, I said, My voice cracked never. I 275 00:15:01.960 --> 00:15:05.240 turned and looked at my sister's face. She was dead asleep, 276 00:15:05.559 --> 00:15:10.000 mouth open, sprawled sideways like she always slept. She hadn't 277 00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:13.519 put it there, she couldn't have. We were at Jenna's 278 00:15:13.559 --> 00:15:16.240 house when the call came. The police were already in 279 00:15:16.240 --> 00:15:18.720 the house by the time we got back. No one 280 00:15:18.759 --> 00:15:22.200 had been allowed upstairs alone. I turned the pillow over. 281 00:15:22.399 --> 00:15:26.000 It was his navy blue with tiny red checkers. It 282 00:15:26.120 --> 00:15:28.519 matched his sheets, not the bright pink comforter it was 283 00:15:28.519 --> 00:15:31.360 sitting on. My Mom sat on the edge of the bed, 284 00:15:31.559 --> 00:15:35.519 phone in her lap, staring at nothing. Maybe maybe the 285 00:15:35.559 --> 00:15:38.679 cops missed it, I said, even though I didn't believe it. 286 00:15:39.240 --> 00:15:42.720 Maybe it got kicked into the hall. She didn't respond. 287 00:15:43.159 --> 00:15:45.159 Her hand reached out and touched the pillow like she 288 00:15:45.240 --> 00:15:47.519 was checking to see if it was warm. And then 289 00:15:47.559 --> 00:15:52.120 the phone buzzed. It vibrated once, screens still black, no light, 290 00:15:52.279 --> 00:15:55.840 no display, just the buzz, like a dying breath. I 291 00:15:55.960 --> 00:15:59.279 swear to God, we both jumped. My mom stood up 292 00:15:59.320 --> 00:16:01.960 so fast the pillow slid to the floor. The charger 293 00:16:02.039 --> 00:16:04.840 uncoiled and thudded next to it. I picked up the phone, 294 00:16:05.320 --> 00:16:09.279 pressed the power button. Nothing. I tried again and again. 295 00:16:09.840 --> 00:16:13.399 It was off, fully dead, but it had just buzzed. 296 00:16:13.559 --> 00:16:16.039 I know it did. And this is the part I 297 00:16:16.080 --> 00:16:18.919 can't explain, the one thing that has kept me up 298 00:16:18.919 --> 00:16:21.600 for the last two years. The light in the hallway, 299 00:16:22.120 --> 00:16:25.639 the one right outside the door. It flickered right as 300 00:16:25.679 --> 00:16:28.080 I stepped into the hall to get away from the silence. 301 00:16:28.759 --> 00:16:33.279 Just once pop, like it blew out, and then Jason's door, 302 00:16:33.759 --> 00:16:37.480 his room directly across from ours, slowly, slowly creaked open, 303 00:16:38.279 --> 00:16:41.759 just a few inches we had left it shut. I'm 304 00:16:41.799 --> 00:16:44.840 going downstairs, my mom said, suddenly, clutching her arms like 305 00:16:44.879 --> 00:16:45.519 she was freezing. 306 00:16:46.080 --> 00:16:46.440 Now. 307 00:16:47.080 --> 00:16:49.960 I didn't argue. We never found out how the phone 308 00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:52.960 got there. None of the cops had it. They asked 309 00:16:53.000 --> 00:16:56.200 about it when we returned it later said they checked everywhere, 310 00:16:56.720 --> 00:16:59.360 asked if we'd had it all along. They were sure 311 00:16:59.399 --> 00:17:02.639 it hadn't been the room. I asked my sister once 312 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:07.160 weeks later. She swore up and down she hadn't touched anything. 313 00:17:07.720 --> 00:17:10.880 But she said something that still gives me chills. She said, 314 00:17:11.599 --> 00:17:14.599 I remember having a dream that night. I was asleep 315 00:17:14.960 --> 00:17:17.400 and Jason came in the room, but he didn't look 316 00:17:17.440 --> 00:17:19.400 at me. He walked to the end of the bed 317 00:17:19.440 --> 00:17:22.839 and was just holding his pillow. Then he tucked me in. 318 00:17:23.920 --> 00:17:27.200 She laughed like it was silly. He said, don't lose 319 00:17:27.240 --> 00:17:30.799 this and put something under the pillow. She said it 320 00:17:30.839 --> 00:17:33.319 like it was comforting. I've never told her we found 321 00:17:33.319 --> 00:17:36.519 the phone exactly where she said he put it. Sometimes 322 00:17:36.559 --> 00:17:38.880 I wonder if whatever brought it back didn't want to 323 00:17:38.920 --> 00:17:42.400 scare us, just wanted us to know something that he 324 00:17:42.480 --> 00:17:45.440 wasn't gone all the way, or maybe that we missed 325 00:17:45.480 --> 00:17:48.799 something important. But that phone had been gone. It was 326 00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:52.559 nowhere in that house until it wasn't, and whatever moved it, 327 00:17:53.079 --> 00:17:56.880 whatever opened that door. I don't go upstairs at night anymore. 328 00:17:57.799 --> 00:18:01.079 Story four. I live in Tacoma, WA, Washington, and at 329 00:18:01.079 --> 00:18:03.960 the time this happened, I was renting a studio above 330 00:18:03.960 --> 00:18:07.200 a Vietnamese bakery on thirty eighth. It smelled like sweet 331 00:18:07.240 --> 00:18:10.200 dough and old grease every morning, which I didn't mind. 332 00:18:10.680 --> 00:18:12.680 I was working a temp job at a mid sized 333 00:18:12.759 --> 00:18:16.440 logistics company's regional office. You wouldn't know the name unless 334 00:18:16.480 --> 00:18:20.960 you've shipped refrigerated pharmaceuticals. My job was glorified data entry, 335 00:18:21.400 --> 00:18:25.039 mostly filing scanned contracts and updating spreadsheets. No one checked 336 00:18:25.319 --> 00:18:29.680 unless something went wrong. Eight to five, badge in, badge out. 337 00:18:30.519 --> 00:18:32.839 I liked the rhythm. No one really talked to me, 338 00:18:32.880 --> 00:18:36.880 except for one woman at corporate, Melanie. Melanie worked out 339 00:18:36.920 --> 00:18:40.039 of the East Coast hub. I'd never seen her, never 340 00:18:40.160 --> 00:18:41.799 even heard her voice. 341 00:18:41.839 --> 00:18:42.599 We just I. 342 00:18:42.759 --> 00:18:46.160 Amed and emailed constantly. She had a biting sense of 343 00:18:46.240 --> 00:18:50.119 humor and knew the HRIS system better than anyone. We 344 00:18:50.119 --> 00:18:53.480 were constantly fixing garbage data together and joking around to 345 00:18:53.519 --> 00:18:57.160 stay sane. She started calling me her West Coast clone, 346 00:18:57.680 --> 00:19:01.880 and I called her the voice of Compliance. One morning, Tuesday, 347 00:19:01.960 --> 00:19:05.160 late March, I badge in at seven forty two am. 348 00:19:05.559 --> 00:19:08.079 I remember, because the wind nearly tore my id off 349 00:19:08.079 --> 00:19:11.559 its clip. Right after I logged in, a company wide 350 00:19:11.559 --> 00:19:15.279 alert hit everyone's inboxes. A major piece of federal labor 351 00:19:15.319 --> 00:19:18.160 law had just passed overnight, and we had twenty four 352 00:19:18.240 --> 00:19:21.200 hours to submit compliance proof not prepare. 353 00:19:21.720 --> 00:19:22.119 Submit. 354 00:19:22.839 --> 00:19:27.400 That meant immediate training modules, rewriting hiring policy, auditing the 355 00:19:27.440 --> 00:19:32.279 employee database for specific criteria, and documenting it all. My 356 00:19:32.359 --> 00:19:35.359 supervisor was out that morning for a medical appointment, and 357 00:19:35.440 --> 00:19:38.359 I knew she'd be blindsided when she got back. So 358 00:19:38.440 --> 00:19:41.440 I did what made sense. I reached out to Melanie. 359 00:19:41.920 --> 00:19:44.880 I I amed her first, guess who gets to panic 360 00:19:44.920 --> 00:19:48.599 on behalf of HR today. A few seconds later, she 361 00:19:48.680 --> 00:19:51.920 popped up, already read the memo call me, we need 362 00:19:51.920 --> 00:19:55.680 to move now. I'd never heard her voice before. It 363 00:19:55.759 --> 00:20:00.000 was calm, a little gravelly, She talked fast but never stumbled. 364 00:20:00.400 --> 00:20:03.039 For the next five hours, we were locked in me 365 00:20:03.160 --> 00:20:06.599 and my tiny office, her on speaker, both of us 366 00:20:06.680 --> 00:20:08.920 drafting and coordinating like maniacs. 367 00:20:09.480 --> 00:20:11.839 We pulled in two IT guys and someone from legal. 368 00:20:11.880 --> 00:20:12.400 On our end. 369 00:20:12.799 --> 00:20:17.200 I was typing, tracking tasks, building an audit report, writing 370 00:20:17.240 --> 00:20:20.759 a policy draft, and formatting the new employee training module 371 00:20:21.240 --> 00:20:24.680 all at once. We communicated through IM the whole time, 372 00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:27.640 like a side channel where we could toss snippets and 373 00:20:27.759 --> 00:20:31.720 jokes and short links. She'd write things like good phrasing 374 00:20:32.279 --> 00:20:35.839 or ad to section three while I hammered out paragraphs. 375 00:20:36.200 --> 00:20:38.599 It was one of the most productive sessions I'd ever 376 00:20:38.640 --> 00:20:41.839 had in my life. At around twelve to fifty PM, 377 00:20:42.160 --> 00:20:45.160 I heard the distinctive clack of my supervisor's heels in 378 00:20:45.200 --> 00:20:48.319 the hallway. She walked fast, and when she opened my door, 379 00:20:48.680 --> 00:20:50.480 she looked genuinely freaked out. 380 00:20:51.400 --> 00:20:52.079 Did you see the. 381 00:20:52.039 --> 00:20:55.799 Memo about the legislative change, she asked, eyes wide. I 382 00:20:55.880 --> 00:20:58.960 smiled and pointed to my screen. Already taken care of. 383 00:20:59.359 --> 00:21:02.559 We drafted everything. Just need your final approval before we 384 00:21:02.640 --> 00:21:06.240 launched the module and send the documentation package. It's all 385 00:21:06.240 --> 00:21:09.720 in the email I sent around noon. She blinked, what email? 386 00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:14.400 I opened my Outlook, nothing in sent. Confused, I looked 387 00:21:14.440 --> 00:21:18.400 in drafts nothing. I checked the im chat with Melanie 388 00:21:18.440 --> 00:21:21.640 to grab the backup links. The entire conversation was gone, 389 00:21:22.319 --> 00:21:23.119 not archived. 390 00:21:23.720 --> 00:21:24.079 Gone. 391 00:21:25.079 --> 00:21:28.480 Worse, my Outlook calendar showed I hadn't attended any meetings 392 00:21:28.519 --> 00:21:32.039 that day. My activity log was empty after seven forty 393 00:21:32.039 --> 00:21:35.920 two am. I hadn't opened the HRIS system, hadn't pulled 394 00:21:35.960 --> 00:21:38.480 any employee data, hadn't sent a single file. 395 00:21:38.960 --> 00:21:39.839 It looked like I just. 396 00:21:39.839 --> 00:21:45.319 Logged in and then done absolutely nothing. I started to sweat. No, no, 397 00:21:45.400 --> 00:21:48.319 that's not right. I've been working all morning. We had 398 00:21:48.319 --> 00:21:50.599 five people in here. I was on the phone with 399 00:21:50.680 --> 00:21:54.599 Melanie for hours. We even printed. I reached for the 400 00:21:54.640 --> 00:21:57.359 stack of papers I'd printed and organized during the call. 401 00:21:58.039 --> 00:22:01.960