Speaker 1: This episode may contain content that is not suitable for
all audiences. Listener discretion is advised, especially for those under
the age of thirteen. Welcome to Endo the Night. I'm
Narri your guide on today's excursion down a twisted path.
Be careful not to get lost. Be it dark or light,
it's easy to lose your way. Are you ready, then
let's begin, Magashanna.
Speaker 2: The room fell silent. Considering what happened to the Hasmat team,
I don't think anyone could have spoken. If it wasn't
for the twitch in the hand of the dead man,
it would appear as if nothing had happened at all.
And yet, one by one they collapsed onto the hewn
stone floors, writhing there until death finally took them. I
remember personally cleaning and sealing a few of those suits.
They were supposedly completely sealed, protective from threats ranging from
viral agents to ionizing radiation, and we ourselves were locked
in hermetically sealed by mechanical locks behind keycard access, which
only made the truth of their debts all the more mystifying.
What could have both stirred the dead and killed my colleagues?
How to explain the convulsions, the desperate attempt to escape
the oozing, deep ruby red blood spilling from a thousand
microscopic pricks. I am ashamed to admit that when it happened,
I froze. We both did. But I was supposed to
be on shift for observations and recordings. I instead traded
the shift with Oscar, And now Oscar and Henry and
lew and Garrett were all lying on the floor in
some god forsaken crypt with a corpse from a different millennium.
I may as well have joined them, for how paralyzed
I was. In the observation room, the old CRT monitors
were deathly silent, still depicting the gruesome scene in that
coldly sterile manner that only a machine can. Silent enough
that I could hear my breath quiver at the pounding
of my heart, Silent enough that I could hear my
sole companion, doctor Keith, whispering her way through some prayer.
I couldn't recognize, silent enough that I could swear I
heard the blood trickling down the step towards the glass
sarcophagus where the body lay. I always thought they were
supposed to hum. I was a touch transfixed by the
flow of blood after a time. I blame it on
the lack of stimulus at the time of writing, but
in the moment I cannot be certain. It filled the
grooves in the floor and trickled and dripped with all
the urgency of fungal decay, torpidly making its way down
toward the sarcophagus, which sat in the center of the
burial chamber at its lowest point. At first I could
barely even watch, but as time passed, the disgust waned
and my morbid curiosity waxed. The mummy itself was an
undeniable oddity. From initial analysis, we were able to find
preserved blood vessels and organs from the X ray, but
also blood. Fresh blood. We were able to determine the
man entombed here had ab positive blood, judging from the
small sample we had extra from him. His hair was
still oily, and even his eyelashes and beard hairs were
still in place. If it weren't for the discoloration of
his skin from the mummification process, I could swear he
could get up out of his crypt and tell us
exactly what we were looking for. Even his pose felt
too lifelike to be completely sure he was dead. Rather
than the crossed arms of Egyptian mummies, he was laying
on his back, hands by his side, as if he
had simply drifted off to sleep, save the one that
had inexplicably twitched upward from the wrist. The plaque at
his feet read in that old Cunei form, behold Lugo Magashana,
king of Kiag, and devote yourself. The only disruption on
his form was that hand that had suddenly twitched up.
Lugo Magashana was an enigmatic figure. There were scant few
references to him from other Mesopotamian states, and those who
did refer to him did so in forbidding tones. From
what we knew within the research team, he was a
tyrant and superstitious even for his time in the temple
capital of Kireg, he led his priests in occult rituals,
though the supposed purpose of these rituals was lost to time.
We do know, however, that everything he did was in
service to his patron deity al Wepthis, while other Sumerian
gods like Marduke or Seamish or Inana were very well documented,
Al Wepthis seemed to have been struck from any sort
of record. We dreaded learning what these rituals may have entailed,
and considering the responses from the neighbors of Kireg, we
were right to do so. The city of Kireg was
completely lost to time as well, so attaining first person
perspectives of the rituals proved to be rather difficult. Other
cities only ever seemed to mention Kireg suddenly disappearing in
the middle of the night, spinning tallis about the hand
of Alwepthi's stretching down and taking Kirag into the heavens.
If it weren't for a few scant artifacts found where
Kireg was said to be, it would have been written
off as a fairy tale. There was one larger tablet recovered,
but unfortunately it was lost during the Iraqi invasion of
the Gaza Strip in the early nineties. Our patron, doctor
Jordan Emerick, had a researcher studying the tablet in secret,
and unfortunately he passed during the invasion. Whatever secrets he
learned were lost to time, and the city remained a
strange reminder of a more superstitious time even stranger, however,
were the jars kept here with him. Mesopotamian burial traditions
hardly included mummification. Grave goods would have been expected with
someone of his kingly status, But the jars were an anomaly.
Standing there against the wall, spaced out evenly, were large
jars standing up to about my waist, and each of
the jars was filled with fresh human blood, also type
to be ABE positive. It was a true mystery how
the blood, at the very least hadn't coagulated. Perhaps there
had been waiting the secrets of preservation that could keep
this nearly five thousand year old blood so fluid and
fresh that a new medical breakthrough was merely lying dormant,
waiting to be discovered under the greenery just off the
banks of the Euphrates. My mind briefly entertained the thought
of that blood being freshly taken from some poor, unfortunate
soul who wandered in before us somehow, but that was
quickly pushed away in favor of reason. The entrance had
been sealed when we found it, the doors wrapped tight
in some kind of animal sinew. Whoever last left this
tomb had intended it to stay closed, and for nearly
five thousand years, the world had agreed. While I was
left to my thought, doctor Key spoke to me. What
do we do now, Robert? She said, The sudden call
nearly split me out of my skin. What happened in there?
We can't go in, I started. We need to make
a call and get reinforced, resupplied. Her eyes widened incredulously.
We can't just wait and hear Her voice was vehement,
but her body was barely able to hold upright between
the weakness and her knees. I knew she was coming
down off the shock just as much as I was.
I couldn't blame her as opposed to what Ruth do
We just go in there and die too? At least
we'd be doing something other than just waiting to be saved.
Doctor Emerick is not going to waste all this funding.
I'm just going to send him a message and tell
him what happened. It won't take any time at all.
Doctor Emerick is in America. What can he possibly do
to help us? I couldn't answer her. We were alone
down here, no help, no hope. We sat in silent rumination.
I looked out to the bodies slowly draining on them.
We had to get to them somehow. There was still
a spare hazmat suit, But what good would that do?
I kept thinking and thinking and thinking, watching the blood
still inexorably flow down to the center of the chamber.
I watched it and started considering the ramifications. In most situations,
the blood surely would have stopped by now, it would
have found a natural settling point and started pooling. But
there was something else at work. Clearly, each of the
three men had a stream of blood pulling away from
them and towards the glass sarcophagus. I was transfixed, distracted
for the moment. In consideration of the physics involved. It
seemed to me that the blood ought to have simply
pooled around the bodies, or merely filled some grooves and
likewise settle. And yet here it flowed downward and downward
on the old corpse. I looked back over the mummy,
and what I saw chilled my very soul. The hand
had moved again, where it had simply lifted and remained
pronate before. The hand was now supine, two fingers raised,
palmed towards the ceiling. I turned back to doctor Key,
and my face must have said it all, for she
simply joined me and observed the hand. We went back
over the monitors and watched the video back, fast forwarding
from the time of the killings. What I saw there
in that recording I simply could not explain. At a
glacial pace, the hand that had twitched had, over the
course of an hour, slowly rotated into that position. As
inexplicable as the initial movement was. My mind boggled further
at this development. Perhaps the inexplicable preservation of the body
was to blame. Yes, that had to be it, of
suspended water via osmosis. Surely the body itself hadn't moved.
I couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of it all.
Doctor Key, however, was even more determined to leave now.
She started suiting up in another hazmat suit, muttering the
same prayer from before as she worked. I couldn't blame her.
There was a rational explanation, surely, but fear was getting
the better of us. I couldn't let her leave. Of course,
there was some unknown menace out there still, perhaps some
kind of trap we simply hadn't seen until now. I
grabbed her shoulder and pulled her close. Ruth, you can't leave,
I said. We have no idea what's going on out there.
You're going to get yourself killed. She tore my hand
off her. Better I die trying for freedom than curled
up in here waiting, she continued, donning her suit. You
can stay down here all you like, but I'm getting
the hell out of here. You aren't thinking right, I shouted,
blocking the exit. You've got your whole life ahead of you.
We're waiting for help to come to us. First. Doctor
Emeric will save us. Don't throw your life away. Ruth
was clearly more determined than I was. However, She pulled
me away from the door, but I held her tight,
her back against my chest. We struggled and fought with
each other for a moment before she overpowered me. She
slammed my head against the wall. My whole world spun
around me, and my eyes filled with stars. I collapsed
to the floor, dazed and bewildered. When I was finally
able to gather myself, she was already outside and on
the radio. Robert, I promise I'm going to come back
for you, she said, her breath ragged from the fight,
but right now. I have to get out of here.
I tried to get back out there with her, has
map be damned, but she blocked the door from the outside.
I slammed my fist on the door and screamed her name.
I begged and pleaded with her not to go, but
I could hear her footsteps growing softer. I turned back
around to the window to watch her progress. She moved
slow and deliberately, still wary of whatever danger rested here
in the crypt. Step by step, inch by inch, she
made her way toward the channel leading upwards and outwards
to the surface. I listened to her breath grow ever
louder and fearful as she continued. She was by the
other bodies at this point, no worse for the experience.
I thought perhaps the danger had passed, that she had
a window of opportunity. That was until I caught some
motion out of the corner of my eye. The Mummy's
head slowly turned towards me. I watched it turn in
real time, slowly and methodically. His face was indifferent, his
eyes now open. We stared at each other for what
felt like minutes but couldn't have been more than seconds,
and then the light exploded. Every bulb, every monitor, every
perceivable source of light all burst in an instant. Sparks
flew for a few seconds, giving the last moments of
light in what was assuredly the end of my life.
I heard Ruth scream through the glass. The radio feed
was completely silent. I dared not utter a sound, nor
make a single movement. Doctor Key as well, stopped from
the sounds of things, complete and total silence. For the
first time. I could remember, not even the sigh of ventilation.
I could hear my heart pounding, my hands rubbing, I
swear even my sweat beating on my forehead. My mind
raced with possibilities. The phenomenon surely came back, and now
Ruth was bleeding out on the floor. I had nothing,
not even the beginnings of a plan. I knew I
had to get out, But how I could tackle the
door and hopefully dislodge whatever Doctor Key had put in
place to lock the door? Would that even be possible?
Was I simply stuck here for the rest of my days,
however limited they may be. I could feel the tears
beginning to well in my eyes, my throat closing, my
chest hollowing. Eventually However, the silence was broken. Robert said, Ruth,
I'm still here, Doctor, I responded, The relief nearly pulled
a laugh out of me. Thank God. Do you have
any idea what happened? It had to have been whatever
killed the others. I saw them, and then came a scraping.
The sound started, and I was unsure of what I
was hearing until the crash of broken glass destroyed the
new piece in the tomb. It had to have been
the sarcophagus. There was nothing else in there that could
have made such a sound. We both fell completely silent
as a new sound emerged, a footstep singular. After a
few moments, another came. I could hear the panic in
doctor Key's breath over the radio. She was trying her
best to be silent, but the terror in her heart
and the anxiety in her head kept her breaths trembling
and frail.
Speaker 1: The footsteps continued.
Speaker 2: I was having a hard time tracking where they were
headed until I heard the curious sound of moving fluid. Ruth,
what the hell is going on out there? I whispered
as quietly as I could into the receiver. The mummy
is moving, Doctor.
Speaker 1: Key said, doing her level best to stay calm. The
fucking mummy is alive and moving.
Speaker 2: Robert, what what do you mean? The mummy is alive?
I nearly shouted, but I caught my voice before it
could get too loud.
Speaker 1: The mummy is alive and it's doing something with the blood.
Speaker 2: She was breathless and still. She stood there silently before
attempting to speak. I'm coming back to you, don't you
fucking dare? I responded, Stay still and try not to
make any noise. You are in serious danger. She ignored me.
I heard her footsteps start up. I tried to find
some corner to hide in. Slowly she made her way
over to the door, and slowly I heard whatever she
had put in front of the door move, calling out
in a distant stone on stone scrape. Was it one
of the jars? I could hardly believe.
Speaker 1: What she had done.
Speaker 2: I kept in my little corner, praying for safety. When
I heard the footsteps start again, I had to act fast.
I kept quiet, inching to the radio. Before I could
speak to her. Move Ruth, I shouted in silence, she
fucking here's you. She didn't respond verbally, She just started
moving to Her footsteps were as silent as she could
make them, but the mummies were loud enough.
Speaker 1: To track Ta ta tag tag.
Speaker 2: Slowly and inexorably, making its way to me. I heard
the crackling of his joints stirring again. After who knows
how long I hid back in my corner. What else
could I have done. I kept deathly still, waiting for
the inevitable end.
Speaker 1: Tag ta tah tab.
Speaker 2: Closer and closer. Still. My eyes flooded with tears, and
my breath came out in a whimper. I was going
to die. I knew it. I could see the handle
till the door start shaking. The clasp came undone, and
it was slowly opening. It was my fate to die
along with the others. Ruth, however, had a different idea.
From across the room, there came a crash. It seemed
like Ruth had broken one of the jars. The door
stopped and the footsteps started. She had saved me. I
had to act fast. I crept out of the corner
and over to the now open door. Slowly, silently, I
slinked out and made my way for the exit. I
had to feel my way out. There was still no
light and only the sound of the Mummy's footsteps. I
couldn't tell where Ruth was. I hoped against hope that
this would be enough of an opportunity for the both
of us. At last, I found the stairs, but how
to alert Ruth. I felt around the ground for something,
some loose stone I could throw. When my hand ran
against something soft and rubbery, I froze. I was dead.
I could hear the soft crackle of movement right next
to me, one hand on my back, another on my head,
then both beneath my arms, lifting me. At the very
least my death would buy Ruth some time. Silently sobbed
as the end came. As I heard a hiss emerge
next to me.
Speaker 1: Shit.
Speaker 2: Ruth hissed. I could hardly contain my elation that it
was her salvation. Be client Robert. We have to get
the door open all at once, I remembered. The door
kept everything sealed tight. We merely had to swipe a
key card to get out. I fumbled for mine, grasping
it in hand, and groped around for the scanner. The
mummy had stopped moving for the time being. I could
almost see him watching us, feeling for our presence in
the inky black tomb. Were we to become the contents
of even more jars. I couldn't afford to think about that.
I had to find that goddamn scanner and get us
out of here. And at last I had found it.
I scanned my key card, finally free, the door unlocked
with a beep and a hiss. The door slowly opened.
My heart sank.
Speaker 1: Ta ta ta ta.
Speaker 2: I nearly screamed. I pushed against the slowly sliding doors.
Ruth joined me. We fought against the mechanism in desperate
hopes of opening the door just a little faster.
Speaker 1: Ta ta ta ta.
Speaker 2: The mummy grew closer and closer.
Speaker 1: Tah tah tah tah.
Speaker 2: Finally the door was open enough for me to slide through. Ruth, however,
could not, her hazmat suit was too bulky to fit through.
I felt her push me through the opening. I screamed
and reached for her. I clawed back. There was no
way I was leaving her behind, but then I felt
her suddenly leave. She was torn back into the darkness
by incontrovertible force. I reached and prodded, desperately, trying to
find any remaining sign of Ruth's presence. The doors continued opening, slowly,
letting more moonlight into the scene, and there I saw
the Mummy holding Ruth, his eyes locked with mine. An ancient,
mystifying terror beset me, like I was looking directly into
the mouth of some slavery, ravenous beast. I saw his
mouth torn into her neck. Her blood was oozing out
from her wounds, Her head twisted impossibly backwards. The visor
of her hazmat suit had been removed, and I could
see her lip quivering and her eyes slowly rolling backwards
into her head. Her body twitched and quaked, like the
leg of a dying spider, jerking and spasming, while her
blood spilled on the ground. I scarcely remember what happened next.
My mind was not my own. All I can remember
was howling and screaming into the night, tears streaming down
my face. At some point I must have made my
way to town and got picked up by the police.
Some of the more superstitious of the officers claimed I
had been possessed by a gin, but most of them
merely accepted that I was having some sort of mental breakdown.
I attempted to explain what happened to me, but the
words simply wouldn't come out. Even if they did, I
don't know that they would be so readily accepted in time.
I simply gave them a line about being attacked in
the desert by bandits, that all my friends had died
and we were due to return to the United States.
They took some of my contact information and sent me
on my way to the embassy in Baghdad, where I
was taken home. I attempted to get back in touch
with doctor Emmerick. I had figured he'd want to know
what happened on the expedition and in the tomb, but
I was never able to reach him. His phone number
was disconnected and his email address merely bounced everything back.
I even went so far as to contact his university,
mar Elias University of Arizona. I was met with a
most chilling revelation. They had no idea who he was.
I attempted to find my communicates with him, only to
find they had all been removed while I was in Iraq.
My mind folded inward on the revelation. The only conclusion
that I could come to was that he somehow knew
this would happen that Lugo Magashana would somehow rise from
his crypt to taste blood once again. The only question
I had left then was why go through all the
effort just to feed him? What was the purpose behind
this senseless slaughter? I fear I do not know, and
I fear that this may only be the beginning of
things to come.
Speaker 1: Thank you for joining me for this episode of the
Endo the Night Anthology podcast. Narrated by Nari Quak, theme
music by Nico Rodriguez, all other original music, sound design
and editing by Omenhawk Studios. You can find our links
in the show notes. Into the Night is on your
favorite podcatcher, so make sure to like, subscribe and leave
a five star review to help other excursionists to join us.
I'll see you next time, and remember, whether in the
shadows or in the daylight, all twisted paths lead you
into the night. Into the Night Anthology is a creative
typo entertainment production.