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<v Speaker 1>Now one of your pudding. I got a string going

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<v Speaker 1>on here, something just because my dog. Something killed your dog.

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<v Speaker 1>My dog. We're flying through the air over the tree.

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<v Speaker 1>I don't know how it did it, Okay, Damn, I'm

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<v Speaker 1>really confused. All I saw was my dog coming over

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<v Speaker 1>the fence and he was dead. And once you hit

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<v Speaker 1>the ground like, I didn't see any cars. All I

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<v Speaker 1>saw was my dog coming over the fence. Sat, what

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<v Speaker 1>are you putting? We got some wonder or something crawling

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<v Speaker 1>around out here? Did you see what it was or

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<v Speaker 1>was it was? Standing enough. I'm out here looking through

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<v Speaker 1>the window now and I don't see anything. I don't

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<v Speaker 1>want to go outside. Jesus Quice, you better hello, get

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<v Speaker 1>somebody out here when I'm out there. I thought of

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<v Speaker 1>Amna about Tech forty nine. I don't know easy annount there. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm walking rite hey.

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<v Speaker 2>I recently received a voicemail from a long time listener

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<v Speaker 2>named Heather. She's been listening to the show since twenty

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<v Speaker 2>twenty one, and she was having a hard time with

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<v Speaker 2>the story from the old timer who shared his deathbed confession.

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<v Speaker 2>She questioned whether these stories were real or if I

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<v Speaker 2>was embellishing them for entertainment. I've always thought I'd made

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<v Speaker 2>it clear, but let me state it plainly. I do

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<v Speaker 2>rewrite every story I've ever shared.

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<v Speaker 3>On this show.

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<v Speaker 2>I have to anyone who narrates any story on any

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<v Speaker 2>Bigfoot podcast does, or at least they should. If they

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<v Speaker 2>say they don't, they're most likely lying. These stories come

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<v Speaker 2>from a myriad of places. Some arrive as barely legible

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<v Speaker 2>emails written in broken English. Others are voicemails where the

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<v Speaker 2>witness rambles for twenty minutes without ever just describing what

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<v Speaker 2>they actually saw. Some come from old forum posts, newspaper clippings,

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<v Speaker 2>or accounts passed down through families. They are almost never

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<v Speaker 2>written well. Some have no backstory, some have no middle,

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<v Speaker 2>and many have no end. They would be useless to you,

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<v Speaker 2>the listener, if I didn't have all the pieces to

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<v Speaker 2>offer you a complete story. So yes, I sometimes have

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<v Speaker 2>to get creative, not to change the story, but to

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<v Speaker 2>complete it, to make it entertaining, to paint a clear

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<v Speaker 2>picture of the experiences. I fill in the gaps with

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<v Speaker 2>plausible details. I create dialogue from described conversations. I add

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<v Speaker 2>the emotional context that witnesses often leave out when they're

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<v Speaker 2>focused on just getting through the facts I craft beginnings

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<v Speaker 2>that draw you in and endings that leave you thinking.

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<v Speaker 2>It's interesting that Heather mentioned how much she enjoys Fred

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<v Speaker 2>from Alaska and that she believes every story he shares. Frankly,

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<v Speaker 2>these stories are no different. Fred's stories go through the

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<v Speaker 2>same process. Every compelling encounter you've heard on any podcast

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<v Speaker 2>has been shaped by someone who understands narrative, who knows

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<v Speaker 2>how to build tension, who can transform a jumbled account

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<v Speaker 2>into something that keeps you listening. Even the witnesses I

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<v Speaker 2>interviewed directly, the ones who share their stories on the show,

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<v Speaker 2>they require a decision from you at the end of

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<v Speaker 2>every episode. Was I entertained, was the person believable? And ultimately,

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<v Speaker 2>what do I choose to believe? The story you're about

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<v Speaker 2>to hear came to me through multiple sources. Sarah not

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<v Speaker 2>her real name, initially reached out through a mutual acquaintance

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<v Speaker 2>who knew about my research. She was reluctant to share

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<v Speaker 2>her experience, worried about being judged or disbelieved. Her first

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<v Speaker 2>account was fragmented, jumping around in time, leaving out crucial

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<v Speaker 2>details she found too painful to revisit. It took several

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<v Speaker 2>conversations to piece together the full narrative. I've taken her

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<v Speaker 2>experiences and after them into something coherent, something that captures

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<v Speaker 2>not just what happened, but how it felt, the fear,

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<v Speaker 2>the confusion, the terrible realization that the world contains things

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<v Speaker 2>we don't understand. Every major event she described is here,

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<v Speaker 2>but I've built the connective tissue that makes it a

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<v Speaker 2>story rather than a series of disconnected incidents. So as

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<v Speaker 2>you listen, remember this is Sarah's truth, filtered through her memory,

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<v Speaker 2>processed through her trauma, and shaped by my hand into

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<v Speaker 2>something you can experience. Whether you believe it happened exactly

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<v Speaker 2>as presented, or whether you think some details have been

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<v Speaker 2>unconsciously embellished by time and fear, or whether you think

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<v Speaker 2>it's all fiction, that's your decision to make. All I

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<v Speaker 2>can tell you is that Sarah believes every word. And

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<v Speaker 2>after hearing her voice break when she described the sound

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<v Speaker 2>of her own voice calling her child into the darkness,

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<v Speaker 2>after seeing her hands shake when she showed me the

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<v Speaker 2>photos that came out to blurry to prove anything, after

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<v Speaker 2>watching her check the locks on her windows three times

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<v Speaker 2>during our conversation, I believe her too. But what you believe,

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<v Speaker 2>that's entirely up to you. I never believed in monsters

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<v Speaker 2>until I lived through something that still wakes me up

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<v Speaker 2>at night three years later. My name is Sarah, and

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<v Speaker 2>I need to tell someone what happened when I took

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<v Speaker 2>my boys to that cabin in Alabama. We left Birmingham

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<v Speaker 2>on a Tuesday morning in March. The divorce had just

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<v Speaker 2>been finalized after eighteen months of hell. My ex husband

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<v Speaker 2>had broken my ribs twice, dislocated my shoulder once, and

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<v Speaker 2>left bruises on my boys that I had to explain

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<v Speaker 2>away to teachers. Tyler, my twelve year old, had stopped

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<v Speaker 2>talking about his father entirely. Ben, only ten, still flinched

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<v Speaker 2>when anyone raised their voice. The restraining order was supposed

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<v Speaker 2>to keep us safe, but paper doesn't stop a man

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<v Speaker 2>who thinks he owns you. So when my great aunt

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<v Speaker 2>Martha died and left me her cabin in the middle

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<v Speaker 2>of nowhere, I saw it as a gift from God.

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<v Speaker 2>The drive took four hours into the deepest part of

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<v Speaker 2>Alabama I'd ever been. The roads got narrower with each turn,

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<v Speaker 2>civilization falling away mile by mile. First, the interstate gave

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<v Speaker 2>way to state highways, then county roads, and finally a

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<v Speaker 2>dirt track that hadn't seen a greater in years. My

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<v Speaker 2>old suburban groaned over potholes deep enough to swallow a tire.

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<v Speaker 2>The GPS signal died thirty minutes before we arrived. I

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<v Speaker 2>had to navigate using Aunt Martha's hand drawn map, her

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<v Speaker 2>shaky handwriting barely legible in the fading afternoon light. The

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<v Speaker 2>cabin sat on forty acres of pine forest that backed

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<v Speaker 2>up to the Bankhead National Forest. No neighbors for three miles,

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<v Speaker 2>the nearest town fifteen miles away. Perfect isolation. That's what

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<v Speaker 2>I thought I needed. Distance from my ex from the

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<v Speaker 2>court system, from everyone who knew our story, a place

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<v Speaker 2>where my boys could heal without judgment or pity. The

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<v Speaker 2>cabin was smaller than I expect did, but solid, real

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<v Speaker 2>log construction from the nineteen sixties, not that fake siding

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<v Speaker 2>you see now. Two bedrooms, one bathroom, a kitchen that

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<v Speaker 2>opened into a living room dominated by a stone fireplace. Someone,

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<v Speaker 2>maybe Aunt Martha or a previous owner, had installed serious

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<v Speaker 2>locks and thick windows hurricane glass, I learned later from

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<v Speaker 2>paperwork in a drawer. Those windows were rated to withstand

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<v Speaker 2>impacts at ninety miles per hour, that detail would matter

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<v Speaker 2>more than I could have imagined. For the first week,

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<v Speaker 2>it felt like we'd found paradise. My boys transformed before

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<v Speaker 2>my eyes. They explored the woods from sunrise to sunset,

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<v Speaker 2>coming home covered in dirt and scratches, but grinning like

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<v Speaker 2>I hadn't seen in two years. Tyler discovered a creek

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<v Speaker 2>about a quarter mile east full of craw dads and minnows,

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<v Speaker 2>been built elaborate stick forts, and declared himself King of

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<v Speaker 2>the forest. I spent hours on the porch with coffee,

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<v Speaker 2>watching them play, feeling knots in my chest, finally loosening

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<v Speaker 2>for the first time in years. I wasn't looking over

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<v Speaker 2>my shoulder, I wasn't planning escape routes. I wasn't sleeping

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<v Speaker 2>with my car keys in my hand. The forest around

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<v Speaker 2>us felt ancient and peaceful. Massive pines stretched up so

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<v Speaker 2>high I couldn't see their tops. The undergrowth was thick

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<v Speaker 2>enough that visibility ended about thirty feet in any direction.

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<v Speaker 2>The silence was profound, not empty, but layered with small sounds,

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<v Speaker 2>birds calling, insects, buzzing, branches, creaking in the wind. It

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<v Speaker 2>felt alive and welcoming. I should have noticed when that changed.

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<v Speaker 2>About five days in the birds went quiet around the cabin,

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<v Speaker 2>not suddenly, but gradually, like someone slowly turning down nature's volume.

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<v Speaker 2>I mentioned it to Tyler, who just shrugged and suggested

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<v Speaker 2>it might rain soon. But the weather stayed clear and

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<v Speaker 2>warm for early spring. The silence felt different from a

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<v Speaker 2>coming storm. Ben started telling me about what he called

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<v Speaker 2>the hide and seek animals. He said they were really

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<v Speaker 2>good at hiding, that he could never quite see them,

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<v Speaker 2>but he knew they were there. They made funny sounds,

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<v Speaker 2>he said, like someone clearing their throat, but deeper, and

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<v Speaker 2>sometimes they whistled. I dismissed it as childhood imagination mixed

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<v Speaker 2>with the novelty of being in real wilderness for the

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<v Speaker 2>first time. But that night, lying in bed, I heard

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<v Speaker 2>exactly what he described, a low rumbling sound from somewhere

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<v Speaker 2>in the forest, like someone clearing their throat, if that

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<v Speaker 2>someone had a chest cavity the size of a barrel.

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<v Speaker 2>Then a whistle, not a bird's whistle, but human, like

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<v Speaker 2>the kind you'd use to get someone's attention, except it

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<v Speaker 2>was wrong, somehow, too perfect, like a recording played back

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<v Speaker 2>at the wrong speed. I got up and checked both boys.

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<v Speaker 2>They were asleep. I made sure all the doors and

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<v Speaker 2>windows were locked, even though the night was warm. I

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<v Speaker 2>told myself it was just an animal I wasn't familiar with.

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<v Speaker 2>The woods were full of creatures that made st sounds.

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<v Speaker 2>The next day I found the first footprint. I was

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<v Speaker 2>checking the old shed behind the cabin to see what

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<v Speaker 2>tools Aunt Martha had left there. In the mud beside

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<v Speaker 2>the shed door was a print that made me stop cold.

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<v Speaker 2>It looked human at first glance, five toes a heel

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<v Speaker 2>an arch, but the proportions were all wrong. It had

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<v Speaker 2>to be sixteen inches long and eight inches wide. The

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<v Speaker 2>toes were too long, almost like fingers, with too much

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<v Speaker 2>space between them. I stood there staring at it, my

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<v Speaker 2>mind trying to make sense of what I was seeing.

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<v Speaker 2>I took a photo with my phone, but when I

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<v Speaker 2>looked at it later, the image was blurry and useless,

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<v Speaker 2>like the camera couldn't properly focus on it. That afternoon,

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<v Speaker 2>Tyler dragged me into the woods to show me something

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<v Speaker 2>he'd found. About fifty yards from the house was a

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<v Speaker 2>small clearing where someone had arranged hundreds of stones in

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<v Speaker 2>a perfect spiral pattern, starting small in the center and

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<v Speaker 2>growing larger as it wound outward. Each stone was carefully placed,

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<v Speaker 2>touching the next. It must have taken hours to create.

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<v Speaker 2>Tyler was excited about his discovery, but I felt uneasy.

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<v Speaker 2>The trees around the clearing seemed to lean in, and

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<v Speaker 2>that unnatural silence was complete. There no birds, no insects, nothing.

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<v Speaker 2>I told Tyler we needed to go back to the

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<v Speaker 2>house immediately. Something in my voice must have scared him,

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<v Speaker 2>because he didn't argue. The rock throwing started that night.

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<v Speaker 2>I was washing dishes after dinner when something struck the

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<v Speaker 2>side of the house hard enough to rattle the windows.

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<v Speaker 2>I went outside with a flashlight, expecting to find a

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<v Speaker 2>fallen branch. Instead, I found a white mark on the

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<v Speaker 2>wood siding at head height rock dust. I called out,

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<v Speaker 2>asking if anyone was there, but got only silence and response.

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<v Speaker 2>Yet I felt watched that crawling sensation on your neck

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<v Speaker 2>when you know eyes are on you. My flashlight beams

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<v Speaker 2>seemed to die just a few feet into the forest,

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<v Speaker 2>swallowed by the darkness between the trees. The next night

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<v Speaker 2>brought three impacts in quick succession, hard throws that would

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<v Speaker 2>have required real strength. Tyler came out of his room,

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<v Speaker 2>eyes wide, asking what was happening. I told him it

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<v Speaker 2>was probably local kids playing pranks, though I knew no

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<v Speaker 2>kids would drive fifteen miles down abandon dirt roads just

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<v Speaker 2>to throw rocks at an old cabin. Tyler was too

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<v Speaker 2>smart to believe me. He pointed out we hadn't seen

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<v Speaker 2>another person since we'd arrived. The rocks became our nightly routine,

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<v Speaker 2>sometimes just one or two, sometimes a barrage lasting several minutes,

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<v Speaker 2>always from different directions, never the same pattern. Twice, after

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<v Speaker 2>a particularly bad night, I found one of the rocks.

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<v Speaker 2>It was the size of a softball, and it hit

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<v Speaker 2>hard enough to crack the siding. I called the Sheriff's department.

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<v Speaker 2>After a week of this, they sent Deputy Collins, a

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<v Speaker 2>young man who clearly thought I was wasting his time.

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<v Speaker 2>He suggested we had a bear problem. When I pointed

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<v Speaker 2>out that bears don't throw rocks, he gave me a

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<v Speaker 2>com descending look and said I'd be surprised what bears

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<v Speaker 2>could do. He suggested they might be knocking rocks off

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<v Speaker 2>our roof. When I showed him our secured garbage cans

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<v Speaker 2>and the complete absence of any food waste outside, he

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00:13:12.519 --> 00:13:15.519
<v Speaker 2>shrugged and said to call if it continued. I knew

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<v Speaker 2>he wouldn't come back even if I did call. Three

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<v Speaker 2>weeks in, the screaming started. I woke at two a m.

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<v Speaker 2>Not to a sound, but to its absence, that complete,

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<v Speaker 2>unnatural silence that meant something was wrong. Then it came

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00:13:31.399 --> 00:13:34.720
<v Speaker 2>a scream that wasn't quite a scream, deep and guttural

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<v Speaker 2>and impossibly loud. It seemed to come from everywhere at once,

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<v Speaker 2>vibrating through the cabin walls. It lasted maybe ten seconds,

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<v Speaker 2>but felt like forever. Both boys ran to my room,

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<v Speaker 2>Ben crying, Tyler trying to act brave but shaking uncontrollably.

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<v Speaker 2>I told them it was just an animal, maybe a bobcat,

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<v Speaker 2>that they make strange sounds. But I'd heard bobcats before.

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<v Speaker 2>This was something with much larger lungs, something that could

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<v Speaker 2>produce volume that didn't make sense for any animal. I knew.

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<v Speaker 2>The screams became another part of our routine. Some nights

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00:14:09.559 --> 00:14:13.279
<v Speaker 2>they came from far off, echoing through the pines. Other

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00:14:13.399 --> 00:14:15.720
<v Speaker 2>nights they were so close it seemed like whatever made

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00:14:15.799 --> 00:14:20.039
<v Speaker 2>them was on our porch. They varied, too, Sometimes that deep,

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00:14:20.159 --> 00:14:24.320
<v Speaker 2>reverberating scream sometimes a series of whoops that climbed in pitch,

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00:14:24.919 --> 00:14:28.559
<v Speaker 2>sometimes something that almost sounded like speech, but not quite,

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00:14:28.600 --> 00:14:30.919
<v Speaker 2>like someone trying to talk with the wrong kind of throat.

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<v Speaker 2>I stopped letting the boys play outside after dark, started

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00:14:34.840 --> 00:14:38.559
<v Speaker 2>putting chairs under the doorknobs. The boys noticed the changes.

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00:14:39.240 --> 00:14:42.279
<v Speaker 2>Tyler asked if we were safe. I lied and said,

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<v Speaker 2>of course we were, that I was just being careful

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00:14:44.799 --> 00:14:48.000
<v Speaker 2>like moms do. But I could see he didn't believe me.

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00:14:49.039 --> 00:14:51.840
<v Speaker 2>One morning, about a month in I found every pine

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00:14:51.879 --> 00:14:54.759
<v Speaker 2>cone from the large tree in our front yard arranged

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00:14:54.799 --> 00:14:58.360
<v Speaker 2>in a perfect circle around Tyler's bike, hundreds of them,

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00:14:58.639 --> 00:15:02.159
<v Speaker 2>each one carefully placed to touch the next, all oriented

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00:15:02.200 --> 00:15:04.919
<v Speaker 2>with their points facing outward, like some kind of barrier

250
00:15:05.080 --> 00:15:09.200
<v Speaker 2>or warning. And stay tuned for more sasquatch out to see.

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00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:17.080
<v Speaker 2>We'll be right back. After these messages, when I showed Tyler,

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00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:20.519
<v Speaker 2>his face went pale. He admitted he'd been hearing something

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00:15:20.600 --> 00:15:24.480
<v Speaker 2>outside his window at night, breathing and tapping, like something

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00:15:24.519 --> 00:15:27.320
<v Speaker 2>trying to get his attention. He'd been too scared to

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00:15:27.399 --> 00:15:31.039
<v Speaker 2>move or call for me. That confession from my brave boy,

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00:15:31.440 --> 00:15:33.759
<v Speaker 2>who stood between his father and his little brother more

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00:15:33.799 --> 00:15:37.639
<v Speaker 2>than once terrified me more than anything else that had happened.

258
00:15:38.720 --> 00:15:40.639
<v Speaker 2>I started sleeping in the living room, where I could

259
00:15:40.679 --> 00:15:44.320
<v Speaker 2>watch both bedroom doors and the front entrance. I kept

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00:15:44.320 --> 00:15:48.840
<v Speaker 2>my grandfather's shotgun beside me, loaded with buckshot. I'd never

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00:15:48.879 --> 00:15:51.720
<v Speaker 2>fired it, but I hoped the sound alone might scare

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00:15:51.759 --> 00:15:54.759
<v Speaker 2>off whatever was out there. One night, I woke to

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00:15:54.759 --> 00:15:57.440
<v Speaker 2>find Ben standing at the front door, his hand on

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00:15:57.480 --> 00:16:01.919
<v Speaker 2>the dead bolt. He was sleepwalking, his eyes vacant. He

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00:16:02.039 --> 00:16:04.960
<v Speaker 2>kept saying he'd heard me calling him from outside, that

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00:16:05.000 --> 00:16:07.200
<v Speaker 2>I told him to come out, that I'd said it

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00:16:07.240 --> 00:16:10.840
<v Speaker 2>was important. He said the voice sounded exactly like mine,

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00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:14.440
<v Speaker 2>calling from right outside his window, telling him I needed

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00:16:14.440 --> 00:16:18.039
<v Speaker 2>to show him something. My blood turned to ice. I

270
00:16:18.080 --> 00:16:21.440
<v Speaker 2>hadn't called him, I'd been asleep on the couch. I

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00:16:21.480 --> 00:16:23.480
<v Speaker 2>made him promise that if he ever heard my voice

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00:16:23.480 --> 00:16:27.279
<v Speaker 2>outside when I was inside, or inside when I was outside,

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00:16:27.480 --> 00:16:30.600
<v Speaker 2>he wouldn't listen. He had to come find me first.

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00:16:31.399 --> 00:16:34.480
<v Speaker 2>The confusion in his eyes broke my heart. How could

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00:16:34.480 --> 00:16:37.600
<v Speaker 2>something sound exactly like his mother but not be his mother.

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00:16:38.480 --> 00:16:41.360
<v Speaker 2>That's when I started seeing them. The first time was

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00:16:41.399 --> 00:16:43.879
<v Speaker 2>at dusk. I was calling the boys in when I

278
00:16:43.919 --> 00:16:47.720
<v Speaker 2>saw a movement at the forest edge. Something tall, much

279
00:16:47.759 --> 00:16:51.279
<v Speaker 2>taller than any person, stepped behind a tree, but the

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00:16:51.279 --> 00:16:54.759
<v Speaker 2>way it moved was wrong, too smooth, too quick for

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00:16:54.840 --> 00:16:58.159
<v Speaker 2>something that size, like it was gliding rather than walking.

282
00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:01.919
<v Speaker 2>I stood frozen, waiting for it to show itself again.

283
00:17:02.639 --> 00:17:06.519
<v Speaker 2>It didn't, but I could feel it watching me. After that,

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00:17:06.680 --> 00:17:09.720
<v Speaker 2>I saw them regularly, always at the edge of vision,

285
00:17:10.279 --> 00:17:14.039
<v Speaker 2>always just for a second, dark shapes that didn't belong,

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00:17:14.599 --> 00:17:18.519
<v Speaker 2>moving through the trees with impossible silence. Sometimes I could

287
00:17:18.519 --> 00:17:22.160
<v Speaker 2>make out details, arms that hung past where knees should be,

288
00:17:22.839 --> 00:17:26.160
<v Speaker 2>a massive frame with wrong proportions, a face that was

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00:17:26.240 --> 00:17:30.519
<v Speaker 2>almost human but not quite. Then I'd blink and see

290
00:17:30.519 --> 00:17:34.200
<v Speaker 2>nothing but shadows and trees. The boys saw them, too,

291
00:17:34.400 --> 00:17:38.119
<v Speaker 2>though they pretended otherwise. I'd catch Ben staring at his

292
00:17:38.200 --> 00:17:42.640
<v Speaker 2>window at night. Transfixed, Tyler started having nightmares about tall

293
00:17:42.680 --> 00:17:46.079
<v Speaker 2>people in the woods. He'd wake up describing dreams where

294
00:17:46.119 --> 00:17:49.039
<v Speaker 2>they stood in a circle around the cabin, just watching,

295
00:17:49.519 --> 00:17:53.440
<v Speaker 2>waiting for something. In his dreams, they had faces, but

296
00:17:53.519 --> 00:17:55.559
<v Speaker 2>he could never remember what they looked like when he

297
00:17:55.640 --> 00:17:59.000
<v Speaker 2>woke One afternoon, I was hanging laundry when I heard

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00:17:59.000 --> 00:18:01.559
<v Speaker 2>Ben laughing in the front yard, but it wasn't his

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00:18:01.640 --> 00:18:05.160
<v Speaker 2>normal laugh. It was forced the way he laughed when

300
00:18:05.160 --> 00:18:08.200
<v Speaker 2>he was nervous but trying to be polite. I found

301
00:18:08.279 --> 00:18:10.519
<v Speaker 2>him standing at the edge of the yard, about ten

302
00:18:10.559 --> 00:18:13.559
<v Speaker 2>feet from the forest line, looking up and nodding like

303
00:18:13.599 --> 00:18:17.880
<v Speaker 2>he was having a conversation. But nothing was there, just trees.

304
00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:21.039
<v Speaker 2>When I called his name, he turned to me, smiling

305
00:18:21.079 --> 00:18:24.319
<v Speaker 2>and said the mommy was funny that she made silly sounds.

306
00:18:25.039 --> 00:18:27.400
<v Speaker 2>He pointed at the trees and said she was right there,

307
00:18:28.039 --> 00:18:29.640
<v Speaker 2>and he wanted to know if I could see her.

308
00:18:30.240 --> 00:18:32.599
<v Speaker 2>He said she wasn't a stranger because she knew his name,

309
00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:36.039
<v Speaker 2>knew all about us. I grabbed him and pulled him

310
00:18:36.079 --> 00:18:39.279
<v Speaker 2>back to the house. As I did, I saw something

311
00:18:39.319 --> 00:18:42.960
<v Speaker 2>move back into the deeper forest, something dark and massive

312
00:18:43.039 --> 00:18:46.480
<v Speaker 2>with a strange loping gait. That night, I called my

313
00:18:46.519 --> 00:18:50.319
<v Speaker 2>sister in Birmingham, desperate to hear a normal voice. She

314
00:18:50.440 --> 00:18:53.279
<v Speaker 2>asked how country life was treating us, said it must

315
00:18:53.279 --> 00:18:55.359
<v Speaker 2>be wonderful for the boys to have all that fresh

316
00:18:55.440 --> 00:18:59.200
<v Speaker 2>air and nature. I wanted to tell her everything, wanted

317
00:18:59.240 --> 00:19:02.359
<v Speaker 2>to pack up and to her house that minute, but

318
00:19:02.440 --> 00:19:04.920
<v Speaker 2>what would I say that I thought we were being

319
00:19:04.960 --> 00:19:08.559
<v Speaker 2>stalked by something that wasn't quite human, That something in

320
00:19:08.599 --> 00:19:12.680
<v Speaker 2>the woods wanted my son instead. I said everything was

321
00:19:12.720 --> 00:19:16.119
<v Speaker 2>great and hung up. After the call, I found Tyler

322
00:19:16.200 --> 00:19:18.839
<v Speaker 2>sitting on Ben's bed. He looked at me with eyes

323
00:19:18.880 --> 00:19:21.400
<v Speaker 2>that looked like they belonged to someone way beyond his

324
00:19:21.480 --> 00:19:25.000
<v Speaker 2>twelve years. He said we needed to leave. He said

325
00:19:25.039 --> 00:19:28.880
<v Speaker 2>Ben didn't understand that. Ben thought they were friendly. When

326
00:19:28.920 --> 00:19:31.200
<v Speaker 2>I asked what he meant by they, he said I

327
00:19:31.240 --> 00:19:34.279
<v Speaker 2>knew there was more than one. He'd been watching them too.

328
00:19:35.000 --> 00:19:38.480
<v Speaker 2>He said there were at least three, maybe four, one

329
00:19:38.480 --> 00:19:40.720
<v Speaker 2>bigger than the others that did most of the screaming,

330
00:19:41.319 --> 00:19:44.839
<v Speaker 2>a female with long hair who watched Ben's window, and

331
00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:47.440
<v Speaker 2>one or two others he'd only seen moving through the trees.

332
00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:50.319
<v Speaker 2>He told me about seeing the female in the moonlight

333
00:19:50.359 --> 00:19:53.599
<v Speaker 2>the week before, standing just inside the tree line watching

334
00:19:53.599 --> 00:19:57.079
<v Speaker 2>Ben's window. She had hair down to her waist. He

335
00:19:57.119 --> 00:20:00.599
<v Speaker 2>hadn't told me because he didn't want to scare meteive boy,

336
00:20:01.000 --> 00:20:04.359
<v Speaker 2>trying to shield me from the horror. About six weeks in,

337
00:20:04.720 --> 00:20:08.200
<v Speaker 2>the mimicry got worse. One evening, I heard Tyler calling

338
00:20:08.200 --> 00:20:11.279
<v Speaker 2>Ben from outside, telling him to come see something cool.

339
00:20:11.960 --> 00:20:14.240
<v Speaker 2>But Tyler was in the shower. I could hear the

340
00:20:14.240 --> 00:20:17.119
<v Speaker 2>water running. I caught Ben heading for the door and

341
00:20:17.200 --> 00:20:20.039
<v Speaker 2>had to explain that it wasn't really Tyler, even though

342
00:20:20.039 --> 00:20:23.720
<v Speaker 2>it sounded exactly like him. Ben's eyes went wide as

343
00:20:23.720 --> 00:20:26.279
<v Speaker 2>he realized his brother was in two places at once.

344
00:20:27.160 --> 00:20:30.599
<v Speaker 2>The voice outside called three more times, getting more insistent,

345
00:20:30.960 --> 00:20:34.319
<v Speaker 2>before finally stopping. When Tyler got out of the shower

346
00:20:34.359 --> 00:20:36.599
<v Speaker 2>and I told him what happened, he went pale and

347
00:20:36.640 --> 00:20:40.279
<v Speaker 2>said it was learning, learning how to be us. They

348
00:20:40.319 --> 00:20:44.119
<v Speaker 2>started using our voices regularly after that, always trying to

349
00:20:44.200 --> 00:20:47.279
<v Speaker 2>lure one of us outside, always when the person they

350
00:20:47.279 --> 00:20:50.799
<v Speaker 2>were mimicking was clearly somewhere else. It would have been

351
00:20:50.799 --> 00:20:54.119
<v Speaker 2>almost funny if it wasn't so terrifying, this thing that

352
00:20:54.160 --> 00:20:57.119
<v Speaker 2>could perfectly copy our voices but didn't understand that we

353
00:20:57.200 --> 00:20:59.839
<v Speaker 2>knew where each other were. One night, I woke to

354
00:21:00.079 --> 00:21:04.759
<v Speaker 2>Ben's voice outside my window. It said, Mommy, I'm scared.

355
00:21:05.119 --> 00:21:08.039
<v Speaker 2>I'm outside and can't get back in. Please help me.

356
00:21:09.000 --> 00:21:12.599
<v Speaker 2>The voice was perfect Ben's slight lisp, the way he

357
00:21:12.640 --> 00:21:15.720
<v Speaker 2>still called me mommy when frightened. But I could see

358
00:21:15.759 --> 00:21:18.720
<v Speaker 2>Ben's door from the couch, still closed, with the chair

359
00:21:18.759 --> 00:21:22.160
<v Speaker 2>wedged under from inside, like I'd taught him. The voice

360
00:21:22.200 --> 00:21:25.440
<v Speaker 2>got more desperate, said something was out there with him.

361
00:21:25.720 --> 00:21:28.079
<v Speaker 2>It was so convincing I actually got up to check

362
00:21:28.079 --> 00:21:31.400
<v Speaker 2>on Ben, just to be sure he was in his bed,

363
00:21:31.720 --> 00:21:34.759
<v Speaker 2>fast asleep. When I came back to the living room,

364
00:21:35.039 --> 00:21:38.160
<v Speaker 2>a shadow blocked the moonlight at the window. I watched

365
00:21:38.200 --> 00:21:40.200
<v Speaker 2>it raise what might have been a hand and tap

366
00:21:40.240 --> 00:21:45.240
<v Speaker 2>on the glass three times, slow deliberate. Then it spoke

367
00:21:45.240 --> 00:21:48.079
<v Speaker 2>in Ben's voice and said it knew I was in there,

368
00:21:48.599 --> 00:21:52.079
<v Speaker 2>that it could smell me. The shadow moved away, but

369
00:21:52.119 --> 00:21:54.799
<v Speaker 2>I didn't sleep the rest of the night. The next

370
00:21:54.799 --> 00:21:58.359
<v Speaker 2>morning I found those handprints on the window, not quite hands,

371
00:21:58.880 --> 00:22:02.559
<v Speaker 2>too long wide, with a thumb that bent the wrong way.

372
00:22:03.519 --> 00:22:06.160
<v Speaker 2>In the dirt. Below were footprints leading to and from

373
00:22:06.200 --> 00:22:11.119
<v Speaker 2>the forest. Those same massive prints seventeen inches long eight

374
00:22:11.160 --> 00:22:14.480
<v Speaker 2>inches wide. Whatever made them had to be at least

375
00:22:14.519 --> 00:22:18.400
<v Speaker 2>eight feet tall. That afternoon, while the boys were reading,

376
00:22:18.680 --> 00:22:21.799
<v Speaker 2>I walked the property perimeter. I found trails through the

377
00:22:21.880 --> 00:22:26.079
<v Speaker 2>underbrush where something large moved regularly, Trees with bark rubbed

378
00:22:26.119 --> 00:22:30.960
<v Speaker 2>off at eight feet high, more stone arrangements, circles, spirals,

379
00:22:31.240 --> 00:22:34.480
<v Speaker 2>lines pointing toward the cabin, and on a flat rock

380
00:22:34.519 --> 00:22:37.559
<v Speaker 2>about one hundred yards from the house, I found bones,

381
00:22:38.400 --> 00:22:43.519
<v Speaker 2>small animals, rabbits, squirrels, birds picked clean and arranged in

382
00:22:43.599 --> 00:22:46.759
<v Speaker 2>patterns that almost looked like riding, like someone trying to

383
00:22:46.839 --> 00:22:50.720
<v Speaker 2>use an alphabet. They didn't understand. I took photos of everything,

384
00:22:51.079 --> 00:22:54.039
<v Speaker 2>thinking maybe I could get help. But every picture came

385
00:22:54.079 --> 00:22:58.039
<v Speaker 2>out blurry, oversaturated, or showing nothing but trees where I

386
00:22:58.119 --> 00:23:01.960
<v Speaker 2>knew i'd photographed something else. The camera couldn't capture what

387
00:23:02.079 --> 00:23:05.519
<v Speaker 2>was really there. About ten weeks in, Ben woke me

388
00:23:05.559 --> 00:23:08.599
<v Speaker 2>saying the tall Mommy was at his window. I grabbed

389
00:23:08.599 --> 00:23:11.839
<v Speaker 2>the shotgun and rushed to his room. Through the curtains,

390
00:23:11.839 --> 00:23:16.119
<v Speaker 2>I could see a massive shadow, swaying slightly. Ben whispered

391
00:23:16.119 --> 00:23:18.640
<v Speaker 2>that she wanted him to come outside, that she had

392
00:23:18.640 --> 00:23:21.759
<v Speaker 2>babies who wanted to play. She was making a low,

393
00:23:21.880 --> 00:23:25.519
<v Speaker 2>mournful sound that did sound like grief. It was answered

394
00:23:25.559 --> 00:23:29.000
<v Speaker 2>by other calls from deeper in the forest. Tyler appeared

395
00:23:29.039 --> 00:23:31.319
<v Speaker 2>in the doorway with the baseball bat I'd given him,

396
00:23:31.559 --> 00:23:34.720
<v Speaker 2>knuckles white around the handle. He counted three of them

397
00:23:34.720 --> 00:23:37.480
<v Speaker 2>out there. We could hear them walking around the cabin,

398
00:23:37.960 --> 00:23:41.960
<v Speaker 2>those heavy footsteps making the porch boards creak. They circled

399
00:23:42.039 --> 00:23:46.960
<v Speaker 2>us three times, making low vocalizations to each other. Almost conversational,

400
00:23:47.440 --> 00:23:50.480
<v Speaker 2>like they were discussing something. Then I heard my own

401
00:23:50.559 --> 00:23:54.119
<v Speaker 2>voice from outside, clear as day, telling the boys it

402
00:23:54.160 --> 00:23:56.519
<v Speaker 2>was okay to come out, that I was out there

403
00:23:56.559 --> 00:24:00.440
<v Speaker 2>and everything was fine. Then Tyler's voice calling Ben buddy,

404
00:24:00.880 --> 00:24:04.319
<v Speaker 2>saying he needed help with something. Then my panicked voice

405
00:24:04.319 --> 00:24:07.119
<v Speaker 2>saying there'd been an accident and I needed them both

406
00:24:07.160 --> 00:24:12.400
<v Speaker 2>outside immediately. The mimicry continued for hours, trying different approaches.

407
00:24:13.000 --> 00:24:16.119
<v Speaker 2>My angry mom voice demanding Tyler come out right now,

408
00:24:16.799 --> 00:24:20.640
<v Speaker 2>Tyler's brotherly tone asking Ben for help, my scared voice

409
00:24:20.680 --> 00:24:24.799
<v Speaker 2>saying something was wrong. They were experimenting, seeing what would work.

410
00:24:25.680 --> 00:24:28.640
<v Speaker 2>We huddled together in my room until four am, when

411
00:24:28.720 --> 00:24:34.119
<v Speaker 2>everything went silent, that complete, unnatural silence. Then came the

412
00:24:34.160 --> 00:24:39.559
<v Speaker 2>breathing outside my bedroom window, deep rhythmic breathing through the curtains.

413
00:24:39.599 --> 00:24:43.240
<v Speaker 2>I could see multiple shadows. The breathing went on for hours.

414
00:24:43.960 --> 00:24:47.400
<v Speaker 2>Then came a voice that wasn't quite a voice, something

415
00:24:47.440 --> 00:24:51.480
<v Speaker 2>between human speech and animal vocalization, forming words with a

416
00:24:51.519 --> 00:24:55.400
<v Speaker 2>throat not designed for human language. It called Ben's name

417
00:24:55.519 --> 00:24:58.960
<v Speaker 2>over and over, saying he should come, that someone was

418
00:24:59.039 --> 00:25:04.319
<v Speaker 2>lonely wanted to play. Ben sat up, eyes unfocused, and

419
00:25:04.400 --> 00:25:07.319
<v Speaker 2>started climbing over me toward the door. I had to

420
00:25:07.359 --> 00:25:10.720
<v Speaker 2>physically restrain him while he struggled, saying in a monotone

421
00:25:10.799 --> 00:25:13.480
<v Speaker 2>voice that she needed him, that her baby was gone

422
00:25:13.839 --> 00:25:16.839
<v Speaker 2>and she needed a new one. Tyler was crying, but

423
00:25:16.920 --> 00:25:19.640
<v Speaker 2>helped me hold his brother back. The thing at the

424
00:25:19.640 --> 00:25:23.319
<v Speaker 2>window made a sound of frustration or anger. The whole

425
00:25:23.359 --> 00:25:26.440
<v Speaker 2>wall shook as something struck it. The window cracked but

426
00:25:26.480 --> 00:25:30.880
<v Speaker 2>didn't break. Thank God for that hurricane glass. More impacts

427
00:25:30.920 --> 00:25:35.079
<v Speaker 2>followed all around the house. The wall shook, picture frames fell,

428
00:25:35.519 --> 00:25:37.680
<v Speaker 2>and in the living room I heard wood splinter as

429
00:25:37.680 --> 00:25:42.200
<v Speaker 2>the doorframe cracked under assault. I remembered the shotgun. I'd

430
00:25:42.200 --> 00:25:45.200
<v Speaker 2>never fired it, but maybe the sound would scare them.

431
00:25:45.640 --> 00:25:47.640
<v Speaker 2>I pointed it at the ceiling and pulled the trigger.

432
00:25:48.279 --> 00:25:52.480
<v Speaker 2>The blast was deafening, plaster rained down, My ears rang,

433
00:25:53.200 --> 00:25:57.160
<v Speaker 2>but it worked. The pounding stopped. I heard those two heavy,

434
00:25:57.200 --> 00:26:01.640
<v Speaker 2>two fast footsteps moving away. Stayed huddled together until dawn.

435
00:26:02.440 --> 00:26:05.000
<v Speaker 2>When I finally looked outside, the house was surrounded by

436
00:26:05.039 --> 00:26:09.160
<v Speaker 2>those strange handprints in the dirt on the walls, on

437
00:26:09.240 --> 00:26:13.000
<v Speaker 2>the windows. The front door frame was splintered, the door

438
00:26:13.039 --> 00:26:17.279
<v Speaker 2>hanging at an angle. Deep gouges ran along the exterior walls,

439
00:26:17.680 --> 00:26:21.680
<v Speaker 2>like claw marks, but too deliberate, too patterned, and carved

440
00:26:21.759 --> 00:26:24.319
<v Speaker 2>into the big pine tree and letters three feet tall

441
00:26:24.440 --> 00:26:29.880
<v Speaker 2>was one word, so n I started packing immediately. The

442
00:26:29.920 --> 00:26:34.119
<v Speaker 2>boys helped without asking why. But that night, our last night,

443
00:26:34.640 --> 00:26:37.839
<v Speaker 2>they came back with a vengeance. The rocks were constant

444
00:26:37.880 --> 00:26:41.720
<v Speaker 2>and harder than ever. The kitchen windows shattered, the screams

445
00:26:41.759 --> 00:26:45.799
<v Speaker 2>came from all directions, and the mimicry was horrible. Not

446
00:26:45.960 --> 00:26:49.960
<v Speaker 2>just our voices now, but others. My ex husband's voice

447
00:26:50.319 --> 00:26:54.880
<v Speaker 2>which made my blood freeze, my sister's voice, my mother's voice,

448
00:26:55.319 --> 00:26:59.440
<v Speaker 2>though she'd been dead for five years. Around midnight, everything

449
00:26:59.440 --> 00:27:03.599
<v Speaker 2>went quiet. Then Ben stood up, eyes vacant, and walked

450
00:27:03.640 --> 00:27:06.519
<v Speaker 2>to his bedroom. I followed and found him trying to

451
00:27:06.559 --> 00:27:09.880
<v Speaker 2>open the window I'd nailed shut that afternoon. He kept

452
00:27:09.880 --> 00:27:12.759
<v Speaker 2>saying she was calling him, that the mommy needed him

453
00:27:12.960 --> 00:27:16.079
<v Speaker 2>because her baby was gone and she needed him, that

454
00:27:16.160 --> 00:27:18.960
<v Speaker 2>he could be her baby Tyler, and I had to

455
00:27:18.960 --> 00:27:24.200
<v Speaker 2>physically restrain him. Outside Ben's window, that massive shadow appeared again.

456
00:27:25.039 --> 00:27:27.319
<v Speaker 2>This time I could see more details through the curtain,

457
00:27:27.960 --> 00:27:31.359
<v Speaker 2>A huge head covered in hair, arms that reached almost

458
00:27:31.400 --> 00:27:34.880
<v Speaker 2>to the ground, something like a face pressed against the glass.

459
00:27:35.759 --> 00:27:39.640
<v Speaker 2>It spoken that horrible approximation of human speech, saying to

460
00:27:39.720 --> 00:27:43.480
<v Speaker 2>give him that Ben was hers, now screaming mine with

461
00:27:43.559 --> 00:27:46.720
<v Speaker 2>a roar that shook the whole cabin. Then it did

462
00:27:46.759 --> 00:27:50.400
<v Speaker 2>something that still haunts me. It spoke in a child's voice,

463
00:27:50.799 --> 00:27:54.119
<v Speaker 2>a young boy, maybe five or six years old, saying, Mama,

464
00:27:54.160 --> 00:27:57.519
<v Speaker 2>where are you? I'm scared the humans took me. Please

465
00:27:57.559 --> 00:28:01.400
<v Speaker 2>come get me. The creature outside I'd made sounds like crying,

466
00:28:01.960 --> 00:28:06.279
<v Speaker 2>like grieving, and I understood with horrible clarity it had

467
00:28:06.319 --> 00:28:09.519
<v Speaker 2>lost a child somehow and wanted Ben as a replacement.

468
00:28:10.359 --> 00:28:12.640
<v Speaker 2>I said out loud that I was sorry for its loss,

469
00:28:12.960 --> 00:28:16.480
<v Speaker 2>but it couldn't have my son. The shadow pulled back,

470
00:28:16.799 --> 00:28:19.519
<v Speaker 2>and for a moment I thought it might leave. Then

471
00:28:19.559 --> 00:28:23.720
<v Speaker 2>the entire wall exploded inward. The hurricane glass held for

472
00:28:23.720 --> 00:28:27.400
<v Speaker 2>half a second before shattering. The wooden frame splintered like

473
00:28:27.480 --> 00:28:30.759
<v Speaker 2>match sticks, and through the hole I saw it clearly

474
00:28:30.799 --> 00:28:34.279
<v Speaker 2>for the first time. It was massive, at least eight

475
00:28:34.319 --> 00:28:38.400
<v Speaker 2>feet tall, covered in dark brown, matted hair. Its face

476
00:28:38.480 --> 00:28:43.039
<v Speaker 2>was almost human, but the proportions off its arms hung low,

477
00:28:43.440 --> 00:28:45.799
<v Speaker 2>ending in hands twice the size of mine with those

478
00:28:45.920 --> 00:28:49.000
<v Speaker 2>terrible long fingers. It looked at me with eyes that

479
00:28:49.119 --> 00:28:54.880
<v Speaker 2>held intelligence, alien but undeniable intelligence. And in those eyes

480
00:28:54.920 --> 00:28:59.920
<v Speaker 2>I saw grief, real profound grief. It reached for Ben.

481
00:29:00.759 --> 00:29:03.720
<v Speaker 2>I didn't think. I brought the shotgun up and fired

482
00:29:03.759 --> 00:29:07.960
<v Speaker 2>directly at it. The blast hit its center mass. It screamed,

483
00:29:08.440 --> 00:29:12.759
<v Speaker 2>not roared, but screamed and stumbled backward. Dark fluid splattered

484
00:29:12.799 --> 00:29:16.480
<v Speaker 2>the destroyed wall, but it didn't fall. It clutched its

485
00:29:16.559 --> 00:29:19.799
<v Speaker 2>chest and looked at me with something like surprise. Then

486
00:29:19.839 --> 00:29:22.960
<v Speaker 2>the others came. Three more shapes appeared at the hole

487
00:29:23.000 --> 00:29:27.079
<v Speaker 2>in the wall, all massive, all covered in hair, all

488
00:29:27.160 --> 00:29:31.240
<v Speaker 2>moving with that strange gliding gait. One was even larger,

489
00:29:31.759 --> 00:29:34.680
<v Speaker 2>had to be nine feet tall. They looked at their

490
00:29:34.680 --> 00:29:38.599
<v Speaker 2>injured companion, then at us. The huge one let out

491
00:29:38.599 --> 00:29:42.880
<v Speaker 2>a roar of pure rage. I pumped the shotgun, chambering

492
00:29:42.920 --> 00:29:46.000
<v Speaker 2>another round, my hands shaking so badly I could barely

493
00:29:46.039 --> 00:29:49.599
<v Speaker 2>hold it. But they didn't attack. They grabbed their injured

494
00:29:49.599 --> 00:29:53.039
<v Speaker 2>companion and supported it between them. The one eyed shot

495
00:29:53.079 --> 00:29:55.599
<v Speaker 2>looked back at Ben one more time and spoke in

496
00:29:55.640 --> 00:29:59.119
<v Speaker 2>that broken English, saying he was hers that he would

497
00:29:59.119 --> 00:30:03.319
<v Speaker 2>come back. Stay tuned for more sasquatchy oat to see.

498
00:30:03.359 --> 00:30:10.880
<v Speaker 2>We'll be right back after these messages. Then they melted

499
00:30:10.920 --> 00:30:14.640
<v Speaker 2>back into the forest with impossible speed and silence. We

500
00:30:14.680 --> 00:30:17.200
<v Speaker 2>didn't wait for dawn. I threw the boys in the

501
00:30:17.200 --> 00:30:20.359
<v Speaker 2>car with whatever I could grab in five minutes. As

502
00:30:20.400 --> 00:30:23.039
<v Speaker 2>we drove away, I saw them in the rear view mirror,

503
00:30:23.559 --> 00:30:26.720
<v Speaker 2>all four standing at the forest edge, watching us leave.

504
00:30:27.559 --> 00:30:30.880
<v Speaker 2>The one eyed shot held its chest, dark stains covering

505
00:30:30.920 --> 00:30:34.720
<v Speaker 2>its hair. We drove straight through to Birmingham, stopping only

506
00:30:34.759 --> 00:30:38.440
<v Speaker 2>for gas. The boys slept most of the way, exhausted.

507
00:30:39.319 --> 00:30:41.720
<v Speaker 2>When we stopped at a well lit station just outside

508
00:30:41.759 --> 00:30:44.759
<v Speaker 2>the city, Ben woke and asked where the forest mommy went.

509
00:30:45.400 --> 00:30:47.359
<v Speaker 2>He said she'd been following us for a while, but

510
00:30:47.440 --> 00:30:50.920
<v Speaker 2>stopped at the big road the interstate. We stayed with

511
00:30:50.960 --> 00:30:53.119
<v Speaker 2>my sister for a week while I found an apartment

512
00:30:53.680 --> 00:30:57.160
<v Speaker 2>third floor, center of the city, as far from forests

513
00:30:57.279 --> 00:31:00.720
<v Speaker 2>as possible. The boys never talked about those two months

514
00:31:00.720 --> 00:31:04.559
<v Speaker 2>in detail. It was like the memories just faded. Maybe

515
00:31:04.559 --> 00:31:07.240
<v Speaker 2>that was for the best, but there were signs they

516
00:31:07.279 --> 00:31:11.839
<v Speaker 2>remembered something. Tyler became hypervigilant, never letting Ben out of

517
00:31:11.839 --> 00:31:14.960
<v Speaker 2>his sight, walking him to and from school, sleeping with

518
00:31:15.000 --> 00:31:18.319
<v Speaker 2>that baseball bat beside his bed, for months, he never

519
00:31:18.359 --> 00:31:21.119
<v Speaker 2>wanted to go camping or hiking or anywhere near woods.

520
00:31:21.759 --> 00:31:25.079
<v Speaker 2>Ben was different. He'd stare out windows looking for something.

521
00:31:25.599 --> 00:31:30.119
<v Speaker 2>He'd draw pictures, tall, dark figures among trees, a female

522
00:31:30.160 --> 00:31:33.839
<v Speaker 2>figure with long hair reaching toward a small boy. When

523
00:31:33.880 --> 00:31:36.279
<v Speaker 2>I asked about the drawings, he'd look confused and say

524
00:31:36.319 --> 00:31:38.599
<v Speaker 2>he didn't know why he drew them, that he just

525
00:31:38.680 --> 00:31:42.200
<v Speaker 2>saw them in dreams. Sometimes he said the forest mommy

526
00:31:42.279 --> 00:31:45.359
<v Speaker 2>was always crying in his dreams, that she'd lost her

527
00:31:45.400 --> 00:31:49.160
<v Speaker 2>baby and was looking for him. Six months later, I

528
00:31:49.200 --> 00:31:51.839
<v Speaker 2>went back in broad daylight with two armed friends to

529
00:31:51.880 --> 00:31:55.920
<v Speaker 2>get important documents we'd left behind. The cabin was destroyed,

530
00:31:56.400 --> 00:32:01.759
<v Speaker 2>walls caved in, roof partially collapsed, everything inside shredded and scattered.

531
00:32:02.359 --> 00:32:05.319
<v Speaker 2>Every remaining wall had words carved deep into the wood.

532
00:32:05.960 --> 00:32:10.480
<v Speaker 2>Come back, bring Ben, He's mine, my baby, And in

533
00:32:10.519 --> 00:32:13.720
<v Speaker 2>Ben's room painted in what looked like mud but smelled

534
00:32:13.759 --> 00:32:18.200
<v Speaker 2>like copper. Still waiting. I had the cabin demolished, told

535
00:32:18.240 --> 00:32:22.440
<v Speaker 2>insurance it was storm damage. They didn't investigate closely. The

536
00:32:22.480 --> 00:32:26.480
<v Speaker 2>adjuster seemed spooked by the location. The land is still mine,

537
00:32:27.000 --> 00:32:30.680
<v Speaker 2>but I'll never go back. When Hunter's call asking permission

538
00:32:30.720 --> 00:32:34.119
<v Speaker 2>to use it. I always say no, that land belongs

539
00:32:34.119 --> 00:32:38.559
<v Speaker 2>to something else now, or maybe it always did. Last month,

540
00:32:38.559 --> 00:32:41.160
<v Speaker 2>at a cousin's birthday party, there was a small patch

541
00:32:41.200 --> 00:32:44.359
<v Speaker 2>of woods at the park's edge. Ben wandered over and

542
00:32:44.359 --> 00:32:47.759
<v Speaker 2>stood staring into the shadows between the trees. When I

543
00:32:47.759 --> 00:32:51.519
<v Speaker 2>found him ten minutes later, he was completely still. He

544
00:32:51.599 --> 00:32:53.720
<v Speaker 2>turned to me with vacant eyes for just a second,

545
00:32:54.240 --> 00:32:56.640
<v Speaker 2>then said he thought he'd heard the forest. Mommy, but

546
00:32:56.720 --> 00:32:59.440
<v Speaker 2>it was just the wind. He said, she was still

547
00:32:59.440 --> 00:33:03.599
<v Speaker 2>out there, still sad, still looking for her baby. He

548
00:33:03.640 --> 00:33:06.559
<v Speaker 2>said he dreamed about her sometimes, that she showed him

549
00:33:06.559 --> 00:33:09.359
<v Speaker 2>her baby, who looked like her, but smaller. Then the

550
00:33:09.400 --> 00:33:11.960
<v Speaker 2>baby was gone, and she was alone and so sad.

551
00:33:12.759 --> 00:33:15.079
<v Speaker 2>He said. He felt bad for her, even though she'd

552
00:33:15.119 --> 00:33:18.839
<v Speaker 2>scared us, that she was just lonely. That night, I

553
00:33:18.880 --> 00:33:23.279
<v Speaker 2>researched old newspaper archives from Alabama. I found articles dating

554
00:33:23.319 --> 00:33:26.759
<v Speaker 2>back to nineteen fifty two children who'd vanished in or

555
00:33:26.799 --> 00:33:30.119
<v Speaker 2>near Bankhead Forest, A five year old boy in nineteen

556
00:33:30.160 --> 00:33:33.640
<v Speaker 2>fifty two, a three year old girl in nineteen sixty seven,

557
00:33:34.279 --> 00:33:38.279
<v Speaker 2>twin boys in nineteen seventy four, more in nineteen eighty three,

558
00:33:38.720 --> 00:33:43.359
<v Speaker 2>nineteen ninety one, All disappeared without a trace, leaving only

559
00:33:43.480 --> 00:33:47.759
<v Speaker 2>unusual footprints that were dismissed as bear tracks. The most

560
00:33:47.799 --> 00:33:51.039
<v Speaker 2>recent was from two thousand and one. Four year old

561
00:33:51.039 --> 00:33:54.680
<v Speaker 2>Michael vanished while hiking with his family. His mother swore

562
00:33:54.759 --> 00:33:56.640
<v Speaker 2>she heard him calling for her from the woods for

563
00:33:56.759 --> 00:34:01.480
<v Speaker 2>hours after he disappeared, but searchers found nothing. She insisted

564
00:34:01.519 --> 00:34:04.200
<v Speaker 2>something in the forest took him, that she saw tall,

565
00:34:04.319 --> 00:34:07.880
<v Speaker 2>dark figures watching the search parties. No one believed her.

566
00:34:08.440 --> 00:34:10.880
<v Speaker 2>Michael would be about Ben's age now, if he'd lived,

567
00:34:11.440 --> 00:34:15.400
<v Speaker 2>if he'd stayed human, I'll never know the truth. Was

568
00:34:15.440 --> 00:34:17.719
<v Speaker 2>one of those missing children, somehow one of them?

569
00:34:17.760 --> 00:34:18.000
<v Speaker 4>Now?

570
00:34:18.760 --> 00:34:21.280
<v Speaker 2>Had the creature lost a human child it had taken?

571
00:34:22.159 --> 00:34:24.440
<v Speaker 2>Was it mourning a child that had once been human?

572
00:34:24.960 --> 00:34:30.039
<v Speaker 2>Or its own offspring? The not knowing is its own horror. Sometimes,

573
00:34:30.039 --> 00:34:32.800
<v Speaker 2>on quiet nights, I swear I can still hear it calling,

574
00:34:33.599 --> 00:34:36.599
<v Speaker 2>not with my ears, but with something deeper, a pull

575
00:34:36.639 --> 00:34:40.320
<v Speaker 2>I can't explain. Ben feels it too. I see it

576
00:34:40.360 --> 00:34:43.920
<v Speaker 2>in the way he sometimes stops mid sentence, head tilted,

577
00:34:44.440 --> 00:34:47.920
<v Speaker 2>listening to something only he can hear. We're safe now,

578
00:34:47.960 --> 00:34:51.519
<v Speaker 2>I tell myself. We're in the city, surrounded by lights

579
00:34:51.559 --> 00:34:55.079
<v Speaker 2>and people and noise. But safety is an illusion when

580
00:34:55.079 --> 00:34:57.920
<v Speaker 2>you know what's out there in the forests, when you

581
00:34:58.000 --> 00:35:00.400
<v Speaker 2>know there are things that can learn our voices, that

582
00:35:00.480 --> 00:35:03.119
<v Speaker 2>can call our children in the night, that can grieve

583
00:35:03.199 --> 00:35:06.719
<v Speaker 2>and rage and want with an intelligence that's almost human

584
00:35:06.800 --> 00:35:10.239
<v Speaker 2>but not quite. The story doesn't have an ending, because

585
00:35:10.280 --> 00:35:14.280
<v Speaker 2>it's not over. Every time Ben stares into trees, every

586
00:35:14.280 --> 00:35:17.480
<v Speaker 2>time Tyler jumps at shadows, every time I wake to

587
00:35:17.559 --> 00:35:20.199
<v Speaker 2>sounds that might be wind or might be something else,

588
00:35:20.760 --> 00:35:24.400
<v Speaker 2>we're back in that cabin. We're always back there in

589
00:35:24.440 --> 00:35:28.760
<v Speaker 2>the dark, listening to something breathe outside our window, listening

590
00:35:28.840 --> 00:35:32.239
<v Speaker 2>to our own voices calling us into the night. That's

591
00:35:32.280 --> 00:35:36.599
<v Speaker 2>the real horror, Not the creatures themselves, but knowing they exist,

592
00:35:37.400 --> 00:35:40.159
<v Speaker 2>knowing the woods aren't empty, that some things want our

593
00:35:40.239 --> 00:35:43.679
<v Speaker 2>children for reasons will never understand, and all we can

594
00:35:43.719 --> 00:35:47.320
<v Speaker 2>do is hold them tight, lock our doors, and hope

595
00:35:47.320 --> 00:35:50.599
<v Speaker 2>that whatever they are, whatever they want, they'll wait a

596
00:35:50.599 --> 00:35:54.519
<v Speaker 2>little longer. Sarah's account ended there, but her story haunts

597
00:35:54.519 --> 00:35:58.239
<v Speaker 2>me in ways that other encounters haven't. I've been researching

598
00:35:58.239 --> 00:36:02.440
<v Speaker 2>and documenting sasquatch encounters for years now. I've interviewed dozens

599
00:36:02.440 --> 00:36:06.360
<v Speaker 2>of witnesses who've heard. These creatures mimic human voices, usually

600
00:36:06.400 --> 00:36:10.159
<v Speaker 2>simple words or phrases, sometimes the voices of loved ones.

601
00:36:10.920 --> 00:36:13.079
<v Speaker 2>It's a detail that comes up more often than you

602
00:36:13.159 --> 00:36:17.039
<v Speaker 2>might think, always delivered with that same mix of confusion

603
00:36:17.400 --> 00:36:23.039
<v Speaker 2>and terror. But Sarah's experience feels different, more deliberate, more intelligent,

604
00:36:23.679 --> 00:36:28.599
<v Speaker 2>more calculated. The creatures she described didn't just mimic voices.

605
00:36:29.119 --> 00:36:33.280
<v Speaker 2>They understood family dynamics. They knew when to use which voice.

606
00:36:33.880 --> 00:36:38.519
<v Speaker 2>They attempted psychological manipulation, trying different emotional approaches, like a

607
00:36:38.519 --> 00:36:42.760
<v Speaker 2>predator learning the weak points in its praise defenses. That

608
00:36:42.920 --> 00:36:46.280
<v Speaker 2>level of sophistication goes beyond anything I've encountered in other

609
00:36:46.360 --> 00:36:51.239
<v Speaker 2>witness testimonies. I've interviewed other people who've reported sasquatch creatures

610
00:36:51.440 --> 00:36:56.079
<v Speaker 2>watching them through windows, especially at night. Usually it's described

611
00:36:56.119 --> 00:37:00.000
<v Speaker 2>as curiosity, a face appearing briefly at the glass before

612
00:37:00.159 --> 00:37:06.719
<v Speaker 2>disappearing back into darkness. But what Sarah described was surveillance, studying, planning.

613
00:37:07.480 --> 00:37:11.199
<v Speaker 2>These creatures watched her family for weeks, learning their routines,

614
00:37:11.559 --> 00:37:16.559
<v Speaker 2>their voices, their relationships. They identified the most vulnerable member,

615
00:37:16.920 --> 00:37:21.440
<v Speaker 2>young Ben, and specifically targeted him, which raises the question

616
00:37:21.519 --> 00:37:24.559
<v Speaker 2>that keeps me awake at night. What did they actually

617
00:37:24.599 --> 00:37:28.360
<v Speaker 2>want with that child? Sarah believes the female creature had

618
00:37:28.400 --> 00:37:31.239
<v Speaker 2>lost its own offspring and wanted Ben as a replacement.

619
00:37:32.000 --> 00:37:35.760
<v Speaker 2>It's a disturbingly human motivation, grief driving a mother to

620
00:37:35.840 --> 00:37:39.480
<v Speaker 2>desperate actions. But is that really what was happening? Do

621
00:37:39.559 --> 00:37:42.880
<v Speaker 2>these creatures experience emotions the way we do? Can they

622
00:37:42.920 --> 00:37:46.320
<v Speaker 2>form parental bonds with human children? Or is it something

623
00:37:46.360 --> 00:37:50.400
<v Speaker 2>far more nefarious that we can't even comprehend. The pattern

624
00:37:50.480 --> 00:37:55.800
<v Speaker 2>is undeniable children vanishing for decades. There are occasional reports,

625
00:37:56.039 --> 00:38:01.599
<v Speaker 2>usually dismissed as hysteria or misidentification, of people seeing unusually tall,

626
00:38:01.679 --> 00:38:06.239
<v Speaker 2>hair covered figures accompanied by smaller ones, and sometimes witnesses

627
00:38:06.280 --> 00:38:11.079
<v Speaker 2>describe the smaller ones as looking almost human, but not quite.

628
00:38:11.679 --> 00:38:13.679
<v Speaker 2>I don't want to think about the implications of that.

629
00:38:14.280 --> 00:38:16.119
<v Speaker 2>I don't want to consider what might happen to a

630
00:38:16.199 --> 00:38:19.360
<v Speaker 2>human child raised by something that can walk upright and

631
00:38:19.480 --> 00:38:23.400
<v Speaker 2>use tools and mimic speech but isn't human, Whether they

632
00:38:23.440 --> 00:38:26.119
<v Speaker 2>would still be human after years in the deep forest,

633
00:38:26.559 --> 00:38:29.840
<v Speaker 2>or if they would become something else, something in between.

634
00:38:31.039 --> 00:38:34.800
<v Speaker 2>Sarah's story also makes me reconsider other encounters I've documented.

635
00:38:35.519 --> 00:38:38.440
<v Speaker 2>The voice mimicry that I used to think was simple parroting.

636
00:38:39.079 --> 00:38:44.639
<v Speaker 2>Maybe it's actually sophisticated hunting behavior. The window watching that always,

637
00:38:45.159 --> 00:38:50.519
<v Speaker 2>at face value, seemed like curiosity, but maybe it's selection.

638
00:38:51.320 --> 00:38:55.199
<v Speaker 2>The rock throwing that appears aggressive. Maybe it's testing our defenses.

639
00:38:56.079 --> 00:38:59.880
<v Speaker 2>What if we've been misunderstanding these creatures entirely. What if

640
00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:03.400
<v Speaker 2>there not the gentle giants some researchers believe, or the

641
00:39:03.480 --> 00:39:08.079
<v Speaker 2>territorial animals others claim. What if there's something more complex

642
00:39:08.400 --> 00:39:12.159
<v Speaker 2>and more dangerous, intelligent enough to want things from us,

643
00:39:12.440 --> 00:39:15.519
<v Speaker 2>but alien enough that we can't understand what those things are.

644
00:39:16.679 --> 00:39:18.880
<v Speaker 2>I reached out to Sarah recently to follow up on

645
00:39:18.920 --> 00:39:22.320
<v Speaker 2>her story. She was reluctant to talk, but finally agreed

646
00:39:22.320 --> 00:39:25.920
<v Speaker 2>to a brief conversation. Ben is sixteen now. She told

647
00:39:25.960 --> 00:39:29.760
<v Speaker 2>me he still has the dream, sometimes still draws those

648
00:39:29.760 --> 00:39:33.519
<v Speaker 2>figures without meaning to, and sometimes when they're driving and

649
00:39:33.559 --> 00:39:36.880
<v Speaker 2>pass a heavily wooded area, he'll suddenly go quiet and

650
00:39:36.920 --> 00:39:40.000
<v Speaker 2>press his face against the window, watching the tree line

651
00:39:40.039 --> 00:39:43.119
<v Speaker 2>with an expression she can't read. She also told me

652
00:39:43.159 --> 00:39:47.079
<v Speaker 2>something she hadn't included in her original account. Last year,

653
00:39:47.079 --> 00:39:49.920
<v Speaker 2>Ben's class went on a camping trip. His first time

654
00:39:49.960 --> 00:39:53.239
<v Speaker 2>back in the real wilderness since the cabin. The teachers

655
00:39:53.239 --> 00:39:55.639
<v Speaker 2>found him at three am, standing at the edge of

656
00:39:55.679 --> 00:39:59.360
<v Speaker 2>their campsite, staring into the forest. He was wide awake,

657
00:39:59.599 --> 00:40:03.320
<v Speaker 2>fully conscious, not sleep walking. When they asked what he

658
00:40:03.360 --> 00:40:06.079
<v Speaker 2>was doing, he said he was listening to someone calling him,

659
00:40:06.559 --> 00:40:10.159
<v Speaker 2>someone who sounded sad, someone who'd been waiting a long time.

660
00:40:10.960 --> 00:40:13.039
<v Speaker 2>They brought him back to his tent, but he didn't

661
00:40:13.079 --> 00:40:15.599
<v Speaker 2>sleep the rest of the night, and in the morning

662
00:40:15.920 --> 00:40:20.320
<v Speaker 2>the teachers found footprints around the campsite, large barefoot prints

663
00:40:20.320 --> 00:40:23.920
<v Speaker 2>that the park rangers dismissed as a hoax. Sarah pulled

664
00:40:23.960 --> 00:40:26.480
<v Speaker 2>Ben out of school for a week after that. They've

665
00:40:26.519 --> 00:40:30.119
<v Speaker 2>moved twice since then, each time farther from any wilderness.

666
00:40:30.800 --> 00:40:33.719
<v Speaker 2>But she knows, and I think Ben knows too, that

667
00:40:33.840 --> 00:40:37.800
<v Speaker 2>distance might not matter. Whatever connection was formed during those

668
00:40:37.800 --> 00:40:42.480
<v Speaker 2>two months in Alabama, it's still there waiting. This is

669
00:40:42.519 --> 00:40:46.199
<v Speaker 2>what truly disturbs me about Sarah's story. It suggests these

670
00:40:46.199 --> 00:40:50.039
<v Speaker 2>creatures can form attachments to specific humans that they can

671
00:40:50.079 --> 00:40:54.119
<v Speaker 2>remember and wait and perhaps even track someone across years

672
00:40:54.119 --> 00:40:57.599
<v Speaker 2>and miles that they're patient in ways we can't fathom,

673
00:40:58.000 --> 00:41:01.679
<v Speaker 2>operating on time scales that make our human urgency seem fleeting.

674
00:41:02.519 --> 00:41:04.960
<v Speaker 2>So I leave you with this thought and this warning.

675
00:41:05.760 --> 00:41:07.639
<v Speaker 2>The next time you're in the woods and you hear

676
00:41:07.679 --> 00:41:11.719
<v Speaker 2>a familiar voice calling from the darkness, pause before you answer.

677
00:41:12.519 --> 00:41:14.840
<v Speaker 2>If your child or loved one claims to hear you

678
00:41:14.960 --> 00:41:18.440
<v Speaker 2>calling when you know you haven't spoken, believe them. And

679
00:41:18.480 --> 00:41:21.679
<v Speaker 2>if you ever feel watched from the forest's edge, trust

680
00:41:21.719 --> 00:41:25.079
<v Speaker 2>that instinct, because it may not be who or what

681
00:41:25.719 --> 00:41:29.760
<v Speaker 2>it seems. And some things, once they notice you never

682
00:41:29.840 --> 00:41:30.920
<v Speaker 2>truly stop watching.

683
00:41:32.360 --> 00:41:37.119
<v Speaker 3>They say, you don't gotta go home, but you can't stay.

684
00:41:42.000 --> 00:41:43.039
<v Speaker 4>I don't want to be.

685
00:41:45.639 --> 00:41:45.920
<v Speaker 3>Out.

686
00:42:00.079 --> 00:42:12.079
<v Speaker 5>Step child, this child, that child, everything.

687
00:42:12.480 --> 00:42:17.639
<v Speaker 3>Can you ride back right back? Joy for me, joy

688
00:42:17.840 --> 00:42:22.480
<v Speaker 3>staying right? You come it right away?

689
00:42:27.280 --> 00:43:07.679
<v Speaker 4>Still, step steps.

690
00:43:04.280 --> 00:43:30.440
<v Speaker 6>Down, knocking down, dotsssstssssss

691
00:43:32.400 --> 00:43:35.159
<v Speaker 4>Used thess