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Speaker 1: Hello, I'm welcomed stories all the time. Glad you are here.

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Let's get into it. My taxi driver made good time

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between the airport and the quaint little town of Ridgeville.

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I was happy to learn the driver was a chatty

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fellow who liked to answer questions as much as I

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like to ask them. I gained all sorts of trivial

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knowledge about the little town I'd be living in along

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the way. I remember him saying something along the lines

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of people don't usually care to hear about old Ridgeville.

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I'm sure you'll learn pretty quick. This is a quiet

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place for quiet folk. That doesn't bother me one bit.

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I told him I could use some quiet in my life.

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Which will sits between two large hills. I wouldn't call

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them mountains, but someway. They make the whole town feel

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like it's being kept in the oath's pocket. The hills

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create a feeling of isolation that is not unpleasant. At

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least it wasn't unpleasant that day. While driving to my

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new home, just outside of town, we passed a huge

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cemetery sprawled at the base of the north hill. The

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spiny black gate enclosed the graveyard, and a stoic brick

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building sat beside it. That's a lot of graves. I said, Oh, YEA,

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don't worry, we don't got that many people dying out

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here in Rudeville. The driver said, so where do they

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come from? All over? The funeral home is one of

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this town's biggest businesses. He pointed to the stowic brick building.

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People for miles away arranged to have their loved ones

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buried here by the hill. Can't blame them. It's a

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nice spot to come visit. It's got to beat this

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erry municipal cemeteries in the city. We took a left

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to race stop sign and enter the downtown area. I smiled.

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The town already felt like home. There's something about a

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historic downtown that makes me feel nostalgic. For a time

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before my mother even thought of me. It was getting

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late and I only saw one person on the sidewalk,

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A dirty, cheerful man. He rested on toomusmatch backpacks against

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a bank's wall. He was drinking discolowed water from Reu's

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plastic bottle. If I had followed my gut instincts, I

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would have turned away from that man and pretended not

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to see him instead. I fought this reaction and studied

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the grubby man as we passed by. As if reading

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my thoughts. The driver said that there's Sam. Some call

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him Uncle Sam as a sort of joke. You know,

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what do you know about him? I asked, A not much,

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the driver replied, I try not to get too close,

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Know what I mean. I don't mean to be cruel

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or nothing. Just never got a good feeling from old Sam.

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He sort of gives me the creeps. Think that makes

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me about guy? No, I answered slowly, No, he gave

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me a weird feeling when we passed him too. We

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exchanged pleasant for wells. As the driver dropped me off

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in front of my new house, I made sure he

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noticed how well I tipped him, because he seemed like

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the kind of guy I might run into at a

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bar or a diner. Since he was also a talkative

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guy and potentially a gossip, I thought he would be

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a good friend of As I got myself syncd up

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with the town, I've done plenty of research on Ridgual,

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but there are certain things about a town you can't

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find online. Some things you have to learn by diving

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at first into the deep end. What was your name again,

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I asked him Bill. He told me and yours paddock. Well, Patrick,

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I'll be seeing you around. With that, he left me

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standing in front of my new home. I was fully

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settled in by the end of that week. I got unpacked,

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filled the fridge and pantry, and got all my entertainment

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set up, as well as my office. The entire time

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at homeless Man Sam kept intruding on my thoughts. I

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couldn't explain why then, or even now, why the filthy

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stranger remained so prominently fixed in my mind, but I

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thought of him several times per day. I made up

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my mind to go talk to him, but continually put

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it off for another day, then another week. Finally, on

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a rainy afternoon, I gazed blankly through my rain speckled

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office window and thought of some out in the weather.

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Since he was already on my mind, I knew I

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wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I didn't so

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much as check on him, So I grabbed my jacket,

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walalert and keys, and got in my car. Three minutes later,

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the bank's iron came into view through the drizzle. Sure enough,

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I saw Sam propped against the wall near just as

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he had been the day I arrived in town. I

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pulled up to the curb on the wrong side of

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the road, cracked my window, and shouted, how about a

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hot meal. I'll never forget the way Sam looked at

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me when I called to him through the rain. His

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reaction made me wonder if I had been the first

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person to talk to him in months. Maybe its He

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looked like he didn't believe it could be talking to him.

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He pointed at himself, and I gave an affirmative nod.

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He didn't smile or give any indication he understood. He

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just got up, left his belongings and walked over to

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the side of my car. You don't have anywhere to go,

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I asked, once he was situated in a passenger's seat.

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He didn't speak, but shook his head. No. Well, am

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mewed to town. But I did see there's a nice

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looking diner over on Fifth. Ever been there, I asked again.

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He shook his head. I put the car in gear

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and made a left on to Fifth. The diner was

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wolit and inviting, even so, we were the only ones

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there when we went inside besides the cook and one waitress.

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I ordered meat pulsubs for both of us. The waitress

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seemed uneasy around Sam and quickly jotted down our order

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before disappearing into the kitchen. We didn't see her again

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until she returned with the food. Then she disappeared again. Listen,

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I said to Sam as he bit into his sand,

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which like an animal. I'd like to know about you,

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how you got here, how you ended up. Well. Didn't

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mean to sound insensitive, but I was truly curious. Sam

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didn't seem put off, thankfully, He grunted why. I told him,

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I'm a writer. Right now, I am working on a

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book full of stores from interesting people in small towns,

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rural areas, anywhere off the beaten path. Really, I'm thinking

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of calling at hidden gems at the mention of my

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working title, The Men's Marked. Why you don't like it?

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I asked, mostly just trying to get him to converse.

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It's a little contrived, he said. I was shocked to

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hear worldlike contrived come from a man like Sam let

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alone news. Correctly, I suppose it is, I said, laughing.

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What would you recommend? Well? What kind of stores are

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in it? He asked back. Yours would be the first,

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I told him. Sam seemed to consider the seriously as

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he took his next bite. I got excited, thinking I

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had stumbled upon a gold nugget for the book. Sorry

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to disappoint, but I've got no story, Sam said. I

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prompted him to explain how he had gotten into Richel,

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how he had ended up on the street, why he

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stayed near the bank, et cetera, but Sam continued to

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eat his sandwich in silence. When he finished, he started

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fiddling with an old watch on his wrist. Does it work?

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I asked him. He jumped like I had scared him.

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He covered the watch with his hand and bowled his

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arm toward his chest. I've raised my hands like a

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surrendering soldier. I like you, Sam said, unexpectedly. You act

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like a good person, but you've got selfish motors behind

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your good deeds. You don't even try to hide that,

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do you. His words took me aback. There was no

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sarcism or astility in his tone, just curious observation, and

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I had to admit he was right. I thought so,

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he said. He turned his wrist and latched the watch.

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He held it over the table, saying, I want you

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to have this. I tried to refuse, but he insisted

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I take it. He said he felt guilty, he didn't

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have a story for me, and wanted to pay for

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his meal this way instead. I graciously accepted the watch

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and offered to drive him somewhere where he could take

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shelter from the rain. Oh I'll be all right, he said,

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as he slayd out of his booth with his back

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turn as he walked away, Sam said, you'd better stop

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working on that book while there was still time. I

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was about to thank him when those last few words

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hit me. I turned to ask what he meant as

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the door bulging gold, and he was gone. As I

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finished my own sandwich, I studied the watch. It had

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a crack face and worn leather band. I couldn't find

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any brand or I coon to indicate its make, so

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I assumed it probably had no value even when it

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was in good condition. I tried to wind it, but

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the gears made a pitiful clicking sound and the hands

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didn't move on the back. Someone had crudely inscribed the

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letters b l Z b L, too many letters to

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be initials, I thought. I tried a quick online search

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of the letters, with no likely results. I figured the

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next time I was downtown, I just asked Sam what

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they meant. That turned out to be the following morning.

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I wanted to stop into the local police department and

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see if I could make any friends there. I thought

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the police might have the most interesting stories from Ridgel

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if I could convince any of them to talk. On

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my way, I passed the bank and saw Sam's belongings

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drying in the sun. Sam was nowhere in sight, though.

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I pulled over and got out to walk a round

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the block. I thought Sam might have just gone and

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up to stretch his legs and maybe seek out a meal.

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You gonna take that stuff? A high, mean voice asked

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from behind me. I turned to see young blond boy,

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maybe eleven or twelve years old, wearing cleats, chink guards,

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and a blue soccer uniform that said virtual Writers. He

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had one foot perched on top of a soccer ball.

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M no, and just looking for my friend. I told

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the boy, gross, your friends with sick o Sam? He asked, well,

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we just met, but hey, you know it's mean to

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call people names like that even when they are not

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around to hear it. Whatever, man, I just wouldn't go

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calling that guy your friend around here? The kids started

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kicking his ball down the sidewalk, and my gut told

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me to let him go. He told me I didn't

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need to bother myself with a braddy compassionates kid. But

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I didn't listen. Why not, I shouted down the sidewalk.

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I saw the back of the kid's uniform, said Worthing seventeen.

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He spun around and shouted back, are you talking to

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me again? Yeah? I said, why shouldn't I call Sam

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my friend? Worthing seventeen kicked the ball to me and

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I just barely caught it with the tip of my

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sneak before it rolled into the empty street. I tapped

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it back to him when he was close enough that

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I've felt confident in my aim. You want to know

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why we call him Sicosam, Worthing seventeen asked, sure, Well,

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he sits here all dight and watches us like he's

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counting us kids. I mean, he always seems to know

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where we'll be and who will be with and at night,

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if one of us is outside alone, he finds us

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and tries to take us into the woods. Does he

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say what he wants to do in the woods, I

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asked Worthing seventeen scrunched his face and scoffed, What kind

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of grown up are you? He doesn't have to. It's

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obvious it's sick, and that's why we call him Sickosam.

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Has he done this to you? I asked. Worthing seventeen

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shook his head. No, but he's asked like all my friends,

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they've all talked about it. I don't think he's done

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it to me because I know to stay away from

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sick as like him. I'm too smart and he knows it.

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I'm sure I got to get to practice good luck.

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I guess Worthing seventeen kicked his ball down the sidewalk

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around the bank, where I lost sight of him. I

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wasn't convinced he was telling me the truth, but I

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made a note to keep my budding friendship with Sam

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quiet until could learn more about him. If he was

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a non pervert, I think Bill, my cab driver, would

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have mentioned that. I pulled up to the police station

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ten minutes later. An officer was near his open trunk

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checking some medical gear. He nodded at me as I approached.

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I asked if he had seen Sam that morning, and

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he said he hadn't. The guy usually hangs out at

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the bank all day a night. We've always wondered if

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he ever eats or sleeps. Seems like he's always just there,

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the officer said. I told him, well, he's not there

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to day. The officer shrugged and said, well, I need

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to get going, but I'll keep an eye out for him.

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All right, your friend, he asked. I told him I

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just met Sam the day before, was all. I decided

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to drive around for a while and see if I

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could find Sam myself. It didn't take me long to

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cover most of the main roads unless he had gone

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inside some place. Sam was really gone, and since he

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hadn't bothered to go inside during the rainstorm the day before,

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I assumed it was unlikely he was indoors. Now. When

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I pulled into my driveway, my heart skipped a beat.

238
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My front door was wide open, and some of my

239
00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:10,120
belongings had been tossed out on to the front lawn. Stupidly,

240
00:11:10,200 --> 00:11:12,960
I ran inside to see what had happened. I found

241
00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:16,080
most of the house untouched. My office had specifically been

242
00:11:16,120 --> 00:11:19,080
targeted by whoever came in. As I dialed nine hundred

243
00:11:19,159 --> 00:11:21,080
eleven and looked around to see what was missing, I

244
00:11:21,159 --> 00:11:23,320
noticed Sam's watch sitting in the middle of my desk.

245
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It was just about the only item that hadn't been

246
00:11:25,759 --> 00:11:28,279
moved during the break in. After going over the house

247
00:11:28,320 --> 00:11:31,080
with the police, we determined nothing had been taken. There

248
00:11:31,080 --> 00:11:34,039
were no signs of forced entry. Some one had come in,

249
00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:37,360
somehow torn apart my office and then just left. The

250
00:11:37,440 --> 00:11:40,080
officer I had asked about Sam was there. He asked

251
00:11:40,120 --> 00:11:41,919
me if maybe I thought there was any link between

252
00:11:41,919 --> 00:11:43,759
the brak and the homeless man. I told him I

253
00:11:43,759 --> 00:11:45,879
couldn't imagine there would be, but asked him to question

254
00:11:45,919 --> 00:11:48,399
Sam about it the next time he saw him. Once

255
00:11:48,399 --> 00:11:50,159
I got my office back in shape, it was as

256
00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:52,840
if the breaking never happened. I went about life as

257
00:11:52,919 --> 00:11:55,399
usual for the next few days. I made a habit

258
00:11:55,440 --> 00:11:57,320
of drouting down town every day to look for Sam,

259
00:11:57,559 --> 00:11:59,639
but never saw him. But the third day of his

260
00:11:59,679 --> 00:12:02,399
disco appearance, some one had removed his belongings from the

261
00:12:02,440 --> 00:12:04,919
bank wall. The only evidence I had of the man's

262
00:12:04,960 --> 00:12:07,120
existence was a watch he gave me. I had started

263
00:12:07,159 --> 00:12:09,559
worrying it as a sort of good luck charm. It

264
00:12:09,559 --> 00:12:11,679
became a reminder to do good, and not just for

265
00:12:11,799 --> 00:12:14,799
my own motives. I saw at having problems during the

266
00:12:14,799 --> 00:12:17,879
next few days. First nearly sent me to the hospital.

267
00:12:18,399 --> 00:12:20,200
I had poured myself a glass of water from the

268
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kitchen sink with the tap pushed all the way to

269
00:12:22,159 --> 00:12:24,840
the cold side. The water that poured from the glass

270
00:12:24,879 --> 00:12:27,720
into my mouth was almost boiling hot, though I didn't

271
00:12:27,759 --> 00:12:29,759
notice the steam rising from the glass until after I

272
00:12:29,759 --> 00:12:32,600
had nearly swallowed the scorching water. I played with the

273
00:12:32,600 --> 00:12:34,480
tap trying to get cold water to come out, but

274
00:12:34,559 --> 00:12:36,759
all I could get was hot. I was able to

275
00:12:36,759 --> 00:12:39,200
get some cold water out of the bathroom sink, thankfully.

276
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My electricity became spotty as well. The house had frequent

277
00:12:43,080 --> 00:12:46,600
blackouts that lasted one or two seconds. There didn't seem

278
00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:49,000
to be any rhyme or reason to them. They just

279
00:12:49,039 --> 00:12:52,879
happened randomly. An important note before we go forward. I

280
00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:55,720
like to sleep with a white noise machine. It produces

281
00:12:55,759 --> 00:12:57,840
a constant, static like sound throughout the night to block

282
00:12:57,879 --> 00:13:00,799
outside sounds out. One night ight, I woke up to

283
00:13:00,879 --> 00:13:03,799
use the bathroom. I don't remember anything different from any

284
00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:05,840
other night, except that when I returned to my bedroom,

285
00:13:05,919 --> 00:13:08,240
the constant drone of white noise was sort of pulsating,

286
00:13:08,759 --> 00:13:11,639
fading in a knout in an inconsistent rhadom. I was

287
00:13:11,679 --> 00:13:14,000
going to unplug it and run it on batteries, thinking

288
00:13:14,039 --> 00:13:16,840
it was probably just another electrical problem. But when I

289
00:13:16,960 --> 00:13:19,399
bend over to grab the plug, I heard something underneath

290
00:13:19,399 --> 00:13:23,279
the white noise. A voice. It was deep but sounded

291
00:13:23,320 --> 00:13:26,679
thin through the cheap speaker. Its words sounded purposeful, but

292
00:13:26,720 --> 00:13:29,879
I couldn't understand any of them. I didn't even recognize

293
00:13:29,919 --> 00:13:33,000
whatever language it was speaking. I told myself the voice

294
00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:35,200
must have been coming from some broadcast that got picked

295
00:13:35,240 --> 00:13:37,440
up by a machine, like when someone gets a metal

296
00:13:37,440 --> 00:13:40,000
plate in their head and claims they can hear radio stations.

297
00:13:40,600 --> 00:13:42,679
But when I pulled the plug in silence the white noise,

298
00:13:42,799 --> 00:13:45,440
the voice continued to come through. I took the white

299
00:13:45,480 --> 00:13:47,279
noise machine out of the living room and left it

300
00:13:47,320 --> 00:13:50,039
in the couch. It had gone silent as soon as

301
00:13:50,039 --> 00:13:52,120
it was out of the bedroom. I went back to

302
00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:54,600
sleep without it, but not before tossing and turning for

303
00:13:54,639 --> 00:13:57,240
some time. I dared to put the white noise machine

304
00:13:57,240 --> 00:13:59,840
back in the bedroom the following night. To my relief,

305
00:14:00,039 --> 00:14:03,039
no voices came through the speaker when I turned it on. However,

306
00:14:03,120 --> 00:14:05,279
I woke in the middle of the night again. This

307
00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:07,559
time it was a bodily urges that took me out

308
00:14:07,600 --> 00:14:11,720
of sleep. Silence did total silence that somehow seemed louder

309
00:14:11,759 --> 00:14:15,159
than the absent white noise. Another power outage, I thought.

310
00:14:15,679 --> 00:14:17,639
I stumbled through the house in the dark, wishing I

311
00:14:17,639 --> 00:14:20,039
had thought to put a flashlight by my bed. There

312
00:14:20,080 --> 00:14:21,759
was enough ambient light in the house for me to

313
00:14:21,799 --> 00:14:23,519
make it to the basement, but I stared down into

314
00:14:23,519 --> 00:14:26,240
total blackness from the top of the stairs. If I

315
00:14:26,279 --> 00:14:28,440
hadn't been worried about the food in my freezer, I

316
00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:31,320
would have just left the electricity off until morning. Not

317
00:14:31,440 --> 00:14:33,320
knowing what else I could do, I stepped down into

318
00:14:33,320 --> 00:14:36,279
the darkness. I felt a run for the electrical box

319
00:14:36,320 --> 00:14:39,039
on the wall, naking my finger on its corner. I

320
00:14:39,080 --> 00:14:41,480
slid my hand towards the latch and bumped into something else.

321
00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:44,799
It felt soft and warm. I retracted my hand and

322
00:14:44,840 --> 00:14:47,840
stifled a yelp. Then I convinced myself I was just

323
00:14:47,919 --> 00:14:51,039
tired and delusional. When I reached back out, my hand

324
00:14:51,080 --> 00:14:53,080
landed right on top of another hand that was holding

325
00:14:53,080 --> 00:14:55,679
the electric box shut. I screamed and ran back up

326
00:14:55,720 --> 00:14:58,279
the stairs, slamming the door behind me. Then I ran

327
00:14:58,320 --> 00:15:00,159
to the bedroom and grabbed my phone to col Nige

328
00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:03,159
hundred eleven. I paused when I noticed the charging icon

329
00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:05,679
at the top of my phone screen. Then I noticed

330
00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:08,399
the white noise machine was working again. I flipped the

331
00:15:08,440 --> 00:15:11,000
light switch, and sure enough, the electricity was back on.

332
00:15:11,679 --> 00:15:14,039
I cautiously returned to the basement door, opened it, and

333
00:15:14,080 --> 00:15:17,000
flipped the basement light onto. There was no sign any

334
00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:19,039
one else was or ever had been inside the house.

335
00:15:19,720 --> 00:15:21,799
Had I dreamt the whole thing starting with the power

336
00:15:21,840 --> 00:15:24,679
going out. It didn't seem likely, but I told myself

337
00:15:24,720 --> 00:15:27,600
that's what had happened anyway. I performed a quick sweep

338
00:15:27,600 --> 00:15:30,279
of the house, found nothing worrisome and returned to bed.

339
00:15:30,919 --> 00:15:33,759
At first, seemed the odd occurrences were only happening at night,

340
00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:36,600
but I started to recognize a more intricate pattern emerging.

341
00:15:37,080 --> 00:15:38,840
When I took inventory of each time the power went

342
00:15:38,840 --> 00:15:40,960
out or I felt something strange in the house, I

343
00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:44,200
realized each event was linked by one thing, me removing

344
00:15:44,240 --> 00:15:46,879
Sam's watch from my wrist. I had taken it off

345
00:15:46,879 --> 00:15:49,440
to wash dishes at time the water turned hot. I

346
00:15:49,480 --> 00:15:52,120
took it off every night before bed. I also had

347
00:15:52,159 --> 00:15:53,759
a habit of taking it off when I got hot,

348
00:15:53,759 --> 00:15:55,919
because my wrist was well and press against the band,

349
00:15:56,600 --> 00:15:59,440
I decided to do an experiment. When I finished a

350
00:15:59,519 --> 00:16:01,399
day's work on my book, I got up from my

351
00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:04,000
desk and removed the watch. I left it on my

352
00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:07,360
desk while I went about my usual routine. Almost immediately,

353
00:16:07,360 --> 00:16:10,360
something felt off. It almost seemed one side of the

354
00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:13,480
house had dropped about an inch. My steps felt uneven,

355
00:16:14,080 --> 00:16:16,120
I felt slightly off kilter, and all of this made

356
00:16:16,159 --> 00:16:18,679
me feel quite vulnerable. It was as if my body

357
00:16:18,720 --> 00:16:21,600
had fallen drunk. While my mind maintained its faculties, the

358
00:16:21,639 --> 00:16:24,120
imaginary tilt of the house kept directing me back towards

359
00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:25,840
my office, like my home was a giant ball with

360
00:16:25,879 --> 00:16:28,799
the office at a center. At one point, I rested

361
00:16:28,840 --> 00:16:31,200
against the closed office door, just to relax for a minute.

362
00:16:31,240 --> 00:16:33,919
But I heard something moving inside the room. It sounded

363
00:16:33,960 --> 00:16:36,759
like something hard scraping against wood, like something sliding across

364
00:16:36,759 --> 00:16:40,559
my desk, maybe the watch. I turned the door knob

365
00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:43,360
and nearly fell into the room. Sure enough, I caught

366
00:16:43,399 --> 00:16:45,240
the watch sliding on its own towards the edge of

367
00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:48,080
the desk. I ran forward and slammed my hand down

368
00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:50,519
on top of it. It was ice cold, and when

369
00:16:50,519 --> 00:16:52,559
I retracted my hand in shock, I heard a girl

370
00:16:52,600 --> 00:16:54,759
behind me. I spun around and saw the dark shape

371
00:16:54,759 --> 00:16:57,679
of some one crouching behind the open door. At first

372
00:16:57,720 --> 00:16:59,720
I thought it was Sam, hunched over and snarling at me,

373
00:17:00,279 --> 00:17:02,320
but as the creature stepped into the light, I saw

374
00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:05,319
it was a mangy black dog. Its eyes were yellow

375
00:17:05,359 --> 00:17:08,119
and its bare teeth were stained with blood. It watched

376
00:17:08,119 --> 00:17:11,039
me from the doorway, growling and slobbering. I felt like

377
00:17:11,079 --> 00:17:13,000
if I even breathed in a way the dog didn't like,

378
00:17:13,200 --> 00:17:15,240
it would rush in and disembowel me. I snatched the

379
00:17:15,279 --> 00:17:18,119
watch from the desk, ignoring its temperature, and shouted, is

380
00:17:18,160 --> 00:17:21,559
this what you want? Go fetch and I tossed the

381
00:17:21,599 --> 00:17:24,160
watch through the door. It bounced off the wall and

382
00:17:24,200 --> 00:17:27,119
landed somewhere down the hallway. The dog tore after it.

383
00:17:27,680 --> 00:17:30,039
I darted to the door and sound it shut. Then

384
00:17:30,079 --> 00:17:32,880
I took a moment to catch my breath. As I rested,

385
00:17:32,920 --> 00:17:36,039
I listened. After a while of hearing no sounds outside

386
00:17:36,039 --> 00:17:38,279
the room, I put my head into the hallway. The

387
00:17:38,359 --> 00:17:40,319
dog had vanished, but the watch still lay on the

388
00:17:40,319 --> 00:17:43,319
floor where it had landed. I slowly crept down the hall,

389
00:17:43,480 --> 00:17:46,880
peering around every corner and listening intently. But I couldn't

390
00:17:46,880 --> 00:17:50,359
see or hear the dog any more. Something unnatural was happening,

391
00:17:50,400 --> 00:17:52,640
of that, I was sure, and I was also sure

392
00:17:52,720 --> 00:17:55,720
whatever it was revolved around Sam's watch. I rubbed my

393
00:17:55,720 --> 00:17:59,279
finger over that inscription once more, beel Zebiel. I still

394
00:17:59,319 --> 00:18:02,079
couldn't figure out what the letters might mean. I stopped

395
00:18:02,079 --> 00:18:04,079
the watch to my wrist to prevent any further incidents.

396
00:18:04,079 --> 00:18:05,960
As I got into my car and headed down the street.

397
00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:09,160
I had passed an old church numerous times and decided

398
00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:11,279
it was time to stop and for a visit. I

399
00:18:11,319 --> 00:18:13,480
pulled into the dirt pucking lot, bouncing as my front

400
00:18:13,480 --> 00:18:16,240
tirees hit the pocking box. I shut off my car,

401
00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:19,400
got out, and nervously approached the door. Maybe it was

402
00:18:19,440 --> 00:18:21,559
my elevated blood pressure, but I could have sworn the

403
00:18:21,599 --> 00:18:25,000
watch band tightened around my wrist. As I entered the church, HULLO,

404
00:18:25,759 --> 00:18:27,519
I think I need some help, I called out into

405
00:18:27,559 --> 00:18:30,319
the empty auditorium. It looked far more modern than the

406
00:18:30,400 --> 00:18:33,799
church's exterior, with hedther brogundy carpet, white walls and cushioned

407
00:18:33,799 --> 00:18:36,400
black seats all in neat rows. I heard a door

408
00:18:36,400 --> 00:18:39,279
close somewhere, and soon after the shuffling of feet, a

409
00:18:39,319 --> 00:18:41,599
short man in khakis and a green polo appeared in

410
00:18:41,599 --> 00:18:44,119
a doorway near the humble pulpit. What can I do

411
00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:47,440
for you, he asked, I need to speak with the

412
00:18:47,480 --> 00:18:50,519
priest or somebody. I'm no priest, but i'm the pastor

413
00:18:50,559 --> 00:18:53,559
of this congregation. If you need something, I'm mere guy,

414
00:18:53,640 --> 00:18:56,599
he replied cheerily. I introduced myself and gave him a

415
00:18:56,640 --> 00:18:59,400
quick summary of everything that had been happening. The pastor

416
00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:02,160
hadn't even Roussand's disappearance, and offered a brief prayer for

417
00:19:02,160 --> 00:19:05,200
forgiveness for the oversight. When I finish, he asked to

418
00:19:05,200 --> 00:19:07,640
take a look at the watch. As I removed it

419
00:19:07,640 --> 00:19:10,279
from my wrists, he said, you know, we aren't really

420
00:19:10,279 --> 00:19:13,200
big believers and cursed objects for witchcraft. Around here, Padrick,

421
00:19:13,839 --> 00:19:16,319
we tend to stick to more. He trailed off as

422
00:19:16,359 --> 00:19:19,720
a watch fell away, revealing its under side. He snatched

423
00:19:19,759 --> 00:19:21,240
it out of my hand and stared at the etching

424
00:19:21,279 --> 00:19:24,359
with wide eyes. Yeah I'm not sure what that's all about,

425
00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:27,920
I said, his eyes slowly raised to meet mine. Felsible

426
00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:31,200
he said, I replied, yea b l ze No, he said,

427
00:19:31,240 --> 00:19:34,240
cutting me off. Felsible, a demon once said to have

428
00:19:34,359 --> 00:19:38,319
led a revolt against Lucifer himself. I stayed quiet. I

429
00:19:38,359 --> 00:19:41,240
wanted to laugh off the past's dramatic reaction. Was he

430
00:19:41,319 --> 00:19:44,720
toying with me? I half expected some televangelist style sales

431
00:19:44,759 --> 00:19:47,000
pissed to come next. But I also couldn't stop thinking

432
00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:50,759
about the dog. Something to Monica not was certainly attached

433
00:19:50,799 --> 00:19:54,400
to that watch. Could it be this Beelsible, I wondered.

434
00:19:55,079 --> 00:19:56,680
I asked the past if I could leave the watch

435
00:19:56,720 --> 00:19:58,359
with him. Since he seemed to know more about it

436
00:19:58,359 --> 00:20:00,920
than I, I hoped he might be more qualified to look

437
00:20:00,960 --> 00:20:04,039
after it. He said, yes, he'd best leave it here.

438
00:20:04,559 --> 00:20:06,519
I'll lock it up until some one with more expertise

439
00:20:06,519 --> 00:20:09,079
in this area can take a look. Do you a Christian?

440
00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:11,720
I hadn't been asked at question by anyone but the

441
00:20:11,720 --> 00:20:14,839
occasional door to door evangelist in quite some time. I

442
00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:17,119
was baptized in my teens, went to church on and

443
00:20:17,200 --> 00:20:20,880
often early adulthood. I suppose i am. I've never really

444
00:20:20,880 --> 00:20:23,839
thought of myself as anything else, I answered. The pastor

445
00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:26,200
nodded quickly. As if my answer was exactly what he

446
00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:30,160
had expected to hear. Bought any crucifixes, rosaries, that sort

447
00:20:30,200 --> 00:20:33,559
of thing at home? He asked, Well, I have this.

448
00:20:34,359 --> 00:20:36,279
I pulled on a silver chain that ran around my

449
00:20:36,319 --> 00:20:39,039
neck and under my shirt. A little cross emerged from

450
00:20:39,079 --> 00:20:42,000
my collar. I had worn this necklace since my baptism

451
00:20:42,039 --> 00:20:44,920
nearly fourteen years ago. Putting out on had become as

452
00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:48,039
much a habit as wiring underware. It was easy to forget.

453
00:20:48,079 --> 00:20:50,559
It was even hanging on my neck most days. That

454
00:20:50,640 --> 00:20:54,160
should work for now. It could be what's protected you

455
00:20:54,279 --> 00:20:57,279
so far. I thought she didn't believe in cursed objects

456
00:20:57,720 --> 00:21:01,279
our holy objects different we I at least believe both

457
00:21:01,319 --> 00:21:03,039
God and demons will always find a way to do

458
00:21:03,119 --> 00:21:05,720
their work. That means that while most of the times

459
00:21:05,759 --> 00:21:08,160
humans try using curses or summoning demons and why not,

460
00:21:08,359 --> 00:21:12,400
it doesn't work, but it can. Supernatural forces just don't

461
00:21:12,400 --> 00:21:16,000
operate upon our whims. However, if a supernatural being such

462
00:21:16,039 --> 00:21:18,160
as a demon were to decide a certain human's actions,

463
00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:21,759
provided an opportunity, it very well could take advantage. I'm

464
00:21:21,799 --> 00:21:24,160
not saying one way or another way of this watchs couspasse,

465
00:21:24,400 --> 00:21:26,039
But if fevil is at work here. I just have

466
00:21:26,079 --> 00:21:28,559
to trust God to counter it with his goodness. So

467
00:21:28,759 --> 00:21:32,519
keep a cross close. What's your name again? It's Patrick,

468
00:21:33,319 --> 00:21:37,400
Patrick Newell. Ah. Yes, Patrick, I'll remember for the next

469
00:21:37,440 --> 00:21:39,599
time I see you, which I hope will be Sunday morning.

470
00:21:40,119 --> 00:21:43,119
With that, I went back home, back to my quiet, peaceful,

471
00:21:43,279 --> 00:21:46,559
normal home. I spent the remainder of the day without incident,

472
00:21:46,640 --> 00:21:49,519
and slept through the night understoubed. My piece may have

473
00:21:49,519 --> 00:21:51,880
continued through the next morning too, if I hadn't turned

474
00:21:51,920 --> 00:21:54,720
on the TV while making breakfast. The screen showed the

475
00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:56,759
ashen lop where the church had stood the day before,

476
00:21:57,480 --> 00:21:59,599
chov remains of its pious structure, where all that will

477
00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:02,440
left now. A reporter was in the middle of describing

478
00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:04,799
a harrowing overnight battle against the fire. The cause of

479
00:22:04,839 --> 00:22:08,240
itch were still under investigation. As I watched, someone knocked

480
00:22:08,279 --> 00:22:11,440
on my door. I answered it, still dazed and nearly

481
00:22:11,440 --> 00:22:14,559
didn't recognize the pastor as he stood, sweating, dirty and

482
00:22:14,599 --> 00:22:17,759
bleary eyed on my front porch. His crisp khakis and

483
00:22:17,799 --> 00:22:20,039
clean pullow had been replaced by Grace whitson a plain

484
00:22:20,079 --> 00:22:22,799
back hoodie that smelled like smoke. Do you have it,

485
00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:27,240
he asked. Did the watch come back here? Come back here?

486
00:22:27,880 --> 00:22:31,119
I echoed, Why would it be back here? And how

487
00:22:31,119 --> 00:22:34,079
did you know where I live? It's gone, the pastor said,

488
00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:37,000
ignoring my second question. It was in a safe box

489
00:22:37,039 --> 00:22:39,079
when I left it before the fire. Now it's gone.

490
00:22:39,359 --> 00:22:43,000
Could it have burned up? Couldn't of That box was

491
00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:46,200
designed to protect its contents against fire. Specifically, it was

492
00:22:46,240 --> 00:22:48,400
locked when I left, but open after the fire. Marshal

493
00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:51,759
brought it out to me. Well good, Reddin's right, I said.

494
00:22:52,559 --> 00:22:56,480
The pastor's pale face didn't change. No, no, not good,

495
00:22:56,519 --> 00:22:59,200
he said. Now that watch and the evil attached to

496
00:22:59,240 --> 00:23:01,079
it or out there again. He gestured to the world

497
00:23:01,119 --> 00:23:05,319
to around him. We aren't safe, No one is not

498
00:23:05,480 --> 00:23:07,680
until we find that watch and let the proper authorities

499
00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:11,920
destroy it. Who would that be? I asked? He paused,

500
00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:14,759
taking time to breathe. He looked like he wanted to answer,

501
00:23:14,799 --> 00:23:18,759
but couldn't. Finally, he said, I don't know. The tragedy

502
00:23:18,759 --> 00:23:20,759
of the day wouldn't end with the church burning down.

503
00:23:21,319 --> 00:23:24,240
The police recovered Sam's body later that morning. He was

504
00:23:24,359 --> 00:23:27,359
naked and horribly burned from the neck down. Police Chief

505
00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:29,720
fredman Stone held a press conference and announced there would

506
00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:32,680
be an extensive investigation into both the fire and Sam's death,

507
00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:35,400
but at that time the department assumed the two were

508
00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:38,799
directly connected. The prepared statement that she freedomplied that Sam

509
00:23:38,839 --> 00:23:40,599
had burned down the church as an act of meaning

510
00:23:40,599 --> 00:23:43,200
at Saracen and had fatally injured himself in the process.

511
00:23:43,920 --> 00:23:45,920
I went to the press conference with the pastor, whose

512
00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:49,079
name alone was Isaac. The press conference was held just

513
00:23:49,119 --> 00:23:52,240
outside the police station. Isaac had been invited to speak,

514
00:23:52,319 --> 00:23:54,720
but had declined the offer. He told me he would

515
00:23:54,759 --> 00:23:56,920
rather deal with the aftermath of the fire privately with

516
00:23:57,000 --> 00:23:59,480
his congregation. We had hoped to learn more about the

517
00:23:59,519 --> 00:24:01,680
circumstance answers of the fire, but the chief and later

518
00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:04,400
the mayor were both incredibly vague. They made it sound

519
00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:06,799
like Sam, who had lived peacefully in town for years,

520
00:24:06,839 --> 00:24:09,839
had suddenly turned into a deranged criminal. The bress seemed

521
00:24:09,839 --> 00:24:12,440
to eat this narrative up. All of their questions pride

522
00:24:12,480 --> 00:24:14,319
at how Samba in the church down and not why.

523
00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:16,960
Isaac and I had a few questions of our own,

524
00:24:17,039 --> 00:24:19,359
but decided to wait until the official conference ended to

525
00:24:19,359 --> 00:24:21,880
ask them. The chief tried to vanish as soon as

526
00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:24,960
the mayor concluded the event. Luckily, Isaac had the force

527
00:24:24,960 --> 00:24:27,160
sight to start walking to the police station's side door

528
00:24:27,160 --> 00:24:30,119
as the last journalist was asking her question. Before the

529
00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:33,160
chief could grab the door handle, Isaac was saying, excuse me, sir.

530
00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:37,599
The chief turned toward us slowly. He looked exhausted. I

531
00:24:37,599 --> 00:24:39,680
had never considered how tiring it must be to stand

532
00:24:39,759 --> 00:24:42,200
up and answer questions for an hour, and that, on

533
00:24:42,279 --> 00:24:44,839
top of managing an awson investigation in a small town,

534
00:24:44,880 --> 00:24:47,599
were crimes of any sort of seldom committed. What do

535
00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:50,880
you want, he asked rudely. I saw you two standing

536
00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:53,839
in the back over there. What's the deal? You can't

537
00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:57,000
watch the press conference on TV like everyone else. We

538
00:24:57,119 --> 00:24:59,960
just wanted to get a little more info. I said. Well,

539
00:25:00,079 --> 00:25:02,119
I hate to say it, but I told the reporters

540
00:25:02,160 --> 00:25:05,640
everything I know. That's not true, iiske said the chief.

541
00:25:05,720 --> 00:25:08,559
Grimerston looked at his boots bashfully. He looked like a

542
00:25:08,559 --> 00:25:11,039
small child caught in a lie. I made a mental

543
00:25:11,079 --> 00:25:14,359
note to ask iysciff the chief was in his congregation later. Look,

544
00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:16,160
we knew Sam had been missing for a few days

545
00:25:16,160 --> 00:25:19,000
before the fire. I told one of your officers Sam

546
00:25:19,039 --> 00:25:22,319
had disappeared, I added. The chief snapped and pointed at me.

547
00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:25,559
You were that offer who just got into town. Your

548
00:25:25,599 --> 00:25:29,079
house was broken into, he said, putting everything together. Oh right,

549
00:25:29,759 --> 00:25:31,240
I guess I can give you a little more inver

550
00:25:31,319 --> 00:25:35,119
since your technically part of this investigation. I am not

551
00:25:35,279 --> 00:25:39,960
here the underground seven hundred thirty, just you too. I

552
00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:42,759
am not going to have this conversation in uniform. The

553
00:25:42,839 --> 00:25:46,240
chief left us there bewildered. Isaac finally shruged and said

554
00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:48,000
he should probably get to the church and deal with

555
00:25:48,039 --> 00:25:50,359
insurance or whatever else needed to be done reguard in

556
00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:53,000
the fire. I lied and told him I had plenty

557
00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:54,960
of business of my own to attend to, but I

558
00:25:55,079 --> 00:25:57,559
ended up at home, being in the office instead. It

559
00:25:57,640 --> 00:25:59,400
was a show I liked to put on, like a blanket.

560
00:26:00,079 --> 00:26:02,559
It warmed and comforted me. They knew the episodes well

561
00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:04,640
enough to alluw my mind to wander away and find

562
00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:07,039
its way back when it felt safe. I might have

563
00:26:07,079 --> 00:26:10,000
looked slovenly and bought an observer that afternoon, but inside

564
00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:12,960
my gears returning as my mind processed speculation after speculation

565
00:26:13,039 --> 00:26:15,079
on what the police chief might tell us Later that night,

566
00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:18,559
Isaac and I arrived at the underground, the lesser frequented

567
00:26:18,599 --> 00:26:21,640
of Ridgefal's two bars, promptly at seven point thirty. I

568
00:26:21,720 --> 00:26:23,559
had a habit of shoring up exactly on time, and

569
00:26:23,599 --> 00:26:26,799
I felt anxious about a particular meeting. I privately wondered

570
00:26:26,799 --> 00:26:30,720
if the pastor's timeliness was a symptom of his own nervousness. Together,

571
00:26:30,839 --> 00:26:32,720
we entered the bout through the door under its pink knee,

572
00:26:32,759 --> 00:26:35,920
and sign Ic looked visibly uncomfortable as he scanned the

573
00:26:35,960 --> 00:26:39,440
small crowd. Thankfully, but not surprisingly, he didn't see any

574
00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:42,119
members of his congregation. The chief stood up from a

575
00:26:42,119 --> 00:26:43,920
table in the back corner and came to meet us

576
00:26:43,920 --> 00:26:46,599
by the door. I almost didn't recognize him under his

577
00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:50,160
Hikogobert's baseball cap. Heap your heads down, the chief said,

578
00:26:50,160 --> 00:26:51,640
as he came near enough to be heard over the

579
00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:54,039
thumping baseline of the red hot chili Pepper's rendition of

580
00:26:54,119 --> 00:26:57,119
higher ground. His gap tilted down towards the sticky for

581
00:26:57,319 --> 00:26:59,839
as he led us to the corner table. Have a seat,

582
00:26:59,839 --> 00:27:01,759
he said, gesturing to the booth with its back to

583
00:27:01,799 --> 00:27:04,319
the door. He sat down opposite us under a green

584
00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:06,680
lamp a quart. A full picture of beer sat in

585
00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:09,119
front of him in a puddle of foam. Once we

586
00:27:09,119 --> 00:27:11,839
were seated, he slid two glasses toward me and gestured

587
00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:15,079
to the picture. I emptied at remaining contents into one glass,

588
00:27:15,160 --> 00:27:17,880
which I shallly offered to Isaac. He held up his

589
00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:20,599
hand and shook his head. Much to my delight, I

590
00:27:20,640 --> 00:27:22,960
pulled the glass back towards myself and took a lawn's

591
00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:26,160
wake before my glass hit the table again. The Chief said,

592
00:27:26,200 --> 00:27:28,359
Now I want to stick to facts during this conversation.

593
00:27:28,920 --> 00:27:31,400
Is that clear? Isac and I looked at each other

594
00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:36,079
incredulously Under normal circumstances, I would wholeheartedly agree. But first,

595
00:27:36,119 --> 00:27:38,200
I'm curious why you feel the need to say that, sir,

596
00:27:38,920 --> 00:27:42,400
I said. The Chief stirred me down. I could feel

597
00:27:42,400 --> 00:27:45,200
disdain filling his booth, threatening to overflow across the table.

598
00:27:45,759 --> 00:27:47,880
All right, he finally said, slapping his hand on the

599
00:27:47,880 --> 00:27:51,039
table in front of himself. I'll probably regret talking to

600
00:27:51,079 --> 00:27:53,240
you two it all, but let's just see where this goes.

601
00:27:53,880 --> 00:27:56,200
For stadters, I don't believe Sam was at the church

602
00:27:56,200 --> 00:27:59,079
when the fire started, but he told the reporters. The

603
00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:01,880
Chief interrupted me with the raised hand. I gave them

604
00:28:01,880 --> 00:28:04,640
a simplified narrative to run with. It wasn't a lie,

605
00:28:04,720 --> 00:28:07,279
but the whole truth is hard to believe. That's why

606
00:28:07,279 --> 00:28:09,319
I dragged you two out here instead of talking at

607
00:28:09,359 --> 00:28:11,720
the station. Oh and by the way, if you try

608
00:28:11,759 --> 00:28:13,279
to run to anyone else with a word of this,

609
00:28:13,359 --> 00:28:16,319
they'll just think you're crazy, So don't bother. It sounded

610
00:28:16,359 --> 00:28:18,200
more like he was trying to convince himself than us.

611
00:28:19,039 --> 00:28:21,799
Just tell us, chief is sac said. The Chief gave

612
00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:24,119
us each long stairs in turn, then lean back in

613
00:28:24,200 --> 00:28:27,440
his seat. Just call me Red. I'm going to need

614
00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:30,119
to abandon my official title for this conversation to proceed.

615
00:28:30,759 --> 00:28:32,759
I sick and I agree to this, although I didn't

616
00:28:32,759 --> 00:28:35,920
think it really mattered. And Red continued. The witness who

617
00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:38,079
called nine hundred eleven says the whole church went up

618
00:28:38,079 --> 00:28:41,640
at once, the whole building just He threw his hands

619
00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:45,839
in the air, imitating fire shooting upwards. One second, everything's normal,

620
00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:48,759
the next the entire building is in flames. The fire

621
00:28:48,799 --> 00:28:53,519
department investigated this claim. I asked the fire department, some

622
00:28:53,599 --> 00:28:56,400
of my guys, yeah, we looked into it. Trust me.

623
00:28:56,440 --> 00:28:59,519
I made sure they were thir I'm sure it was

624
00:28:59,559 --> 00:29:03,559
your church too, Isaac said, confirming my earlier suspicion. So

625
00:29:03,799 --> 00:29:05,599
did this witness see any one go in or come

626
00:29:05,599 --> 00:29:10,759
out of the church, I asked. Red shook his head. No.

627
00:29:10,759 --> 00:29:12,640
Now we asked if she saw any body, and she's

628
00:29:12,680 --> 00:29:15,400
pretty convinced no one went in or out. So what

629
00:29:16,200 --> 00:29:18,640
Sam could have gone out the back or something, Isaac said,

630
00:29:19,240 --> 00:29:22,559
I don't think so, Red reply. The only evidence Sam

631
00:29:22,640 --> 00:29:24,319
was there at all o the burns he had done him.

632
00:29:24,799 --> 00:29:28,519
That's pretty damning evidence, though, isn't it, I asked. Rad

633
00:29:28,559 --> 00:29:30,720
took a long swig from his glass, entering it before

634
00:29:30,720 --> 00:29:34,079
he continued. It would probably make this whole conversation easier

635
00:29:34,119 --> 00:29:35,799
if I just laid out the facts as we know them,

636
00:29:35,839 --> 00:29:38,559
he said. He folded his hands on the table, drew

637
00:29:38,559 --> 00:29:41,559
a deep breath, and began call. Came in around three

638
00:29:41,599 --> 00:29:44,160
in the morning. The witness hallowed despatch what I just

639
00:29:44,200 --> 00:29:47,119
told you about the church coming up in flames. Six

640
00:29:47,160 --> 00:29:49,880
minutes later, one of my officers gets there and secure

641
00:29:49,880 --> 00:29:51,960
as the scene while fire starts showing up and works

642
00:29:51,960 --> 00:29:54,799
on putting the church out. They have the fire extinguished

643
00:29:54,799 --> 00:29:57,680
by three point forty five and we start investigating I've

644
00:29:57,680 --> 00:30:00,319
four arm the dot. Another call comes in as one

645
00:30:00,359 --> 00:30:02,720
is from a guy up in the hills says he's

646
00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:05,400
found a body. We get somebody up there and figure

647
00:30:05,400 --> 00:30:08,039
outed Sam. His arms are burned so bad we can

648
00:30:08,079 --> 00:30:11,240
see child bones in his hands. This torsa was blackened

649
00:30:11,279 --> 00:30:14,359
and everything else was charred pretty good creepier still, he

650
00:30:14,440 --> 00:30:15,920
was laying in the middle of a star he drawn

651
00:30:15,920 --> 00:30:18,720
in the dirt. There were a few little ashpiles scattered

652
00:30:18,720 --> 00:30:20,920
around the star, so I'm guessing some other stuff cut

653
00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:23,160
burned up to It was like something out of a

654
00:30:23,200 --> 00:30:28,880
horror movie. You know, a watch maybe is cast. I'm sorry,

655
00:30:28,880 --> 00:30:31,519
if Rid replied, could one of the other objects in

656
00:30:31,559 --> 00:30:35,359
the star have been a watch? I clarified, Red squinted

657
00:30:35,359 --> 00:30:37,759
his eyes. I'm not sure if he was thinking or

658
00:30:37,759 --> 00:30:40,160
trying to read our faces in the dull greenish light.

659
00:30:40,839 --> 00:30:42,880
Not unless it was made of something that could totally

660
00:30:42,920 --> 00:30:45,720
burn up. I'm telling you all, that was Leffer's ash.

661
00:30:46,240 --> 00:30:48,880
So you think Sam started the fire, burned himself, and

662
00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:51,880
ran up into the hills, I asked. The chief shook

663
00:30:51,880 --> 00:30:55,839
his head. Not possible, he said. Where Sam's body was found.

664
00:30:55,880 --> 00:30:58,039
As a two iro walk from the church and that's

665
00:30:58,079 --> 00:31:00,599
for a normal, healthy person. If we see him he

666
00:31:00,599 --> 00:31:02,640
got burned in the church fire, that means he made

667
00:31:02,640 --> 00:31:05,480
that warp double time with his injuries. It just doesn't

668
00:31:05,519 --> 00:31:08,440
add up. What about the guy who found him? Could

669
00:31:08,440 --> 00:31:11,039
he have set Sam on fire or driven him up

670
00:31:11,039 --> 00:31:13,680
the hill? Maybe it's just a coincidence that Sam was

671
00:31:13,759 --> 00:31:16,119
killed and the same night the church burned down. That

672
00:31:16,160 --> 00:31:18,880
it'd be a hell of a coincidence around here. No,

673
00:31:19,200 --> 00:31:21,599
I don't think so. The guy who found him is

674
00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:24,839
a hunter. He was out getting an early start. We

675
00:31:24,920 --> 00:31:28,079
did question him, no doubt, but he's innocent. He's far

676
00:31:28,279 --> 00:31:30,119
enough up in those hills. He could have just buried

677
00:31:30,119 --> 00:31:31,759
some rather than call lost to come get him if

678
00:31:31,759 --> 00:31:34,519
he didn't want us poking around in his business. Well,

679
00:31:34,599 --> 00:31:37,039
Chief read, sorry, Why don't you just give it to

680
00:31:37,119 --> 00:31:39,880
us straight? What exactly do you think happened last night?

681
00:31:40,640 --> 00:31:43,519
Off the record? Of course, Isac said? Was any of

682
00:31:43,519 --> 00:31:46,400
this on the record, the Chief asked, raising an eyebrow

683
00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:47,920
at me. I raised my hand to show I was

684
00:31:47,960 --> 00:31:51,240
figuratively unarmed. If I ever write about this, I swear

685
00:31:51,319 --> 00:31:54,279
you won't even be mentioned, I said, Red nodded, But

686
00:31:54,319 --> 00:31:56,400
I thought I caught a hint of indignition in his eyes.

687
00:31:57,079 --> 00:31:58,920
I wondered if the closed up, tough guy we were

688
00:31:58,960 --> 00:32:01,440
being presented with was an act. I wondered if he

689
00:32:01,519 --> 00:32:04,599
might actually want a little attention. Well, his eyes flicked

690
00:32:04,599 --> 00:32:07,720
to me again. Off the record, I don't think Sam

691
00:32:07,759 --> 00:32:10,480
started the fire directly, but I still think he's responsible

692
00:32:11,039 --> 00:32:12,920
based on the scene we recovered his body fro him.

693
00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:15,279
I believe he was attempting some sort of a cult ritual.

694
00:32:15,559 --> 00:32:17,559
And here the chief paused on the precipice of a

695
00:32:17,559 --> 00:32:20,880
crucial moment. He searched us both with his eyes, especially

696
00:32:20,880 --> 00:32:26,119
the pastor. He was looking for something trust. Maybe his

697
00:32:26,240 --> 00:32:28,480
face didn't hold the stern hardness I would have expected

698
00:32:28,480 --> 00:32:31,160
from the ten stop carp It slowly dawned on me

699
00:32:31,200 --> 00:32:33,599
that Ray was about to say something completely ludicrous and

700
00:32:33,640 --> 00:32:36,559
what he was looking for from us for safety. Go ahead, Chief,

701
00:32:36,559 --> 00:32:40,640
I encouraged, We'll believe you read, furrowed his brow and

702
00:32:40,720 --> 00:32:42,480
leaned all the way back in the booth, sliding a

703
00:32:42,519 --> 00:32:46,160
little sideways. Well, boys, I think his ritual actually worked.

704
00:32:46,799 --> 00:32:49,839
A pregnant pause lingered while Isaac and I process this statement.

705
00:32:50,559 --> 00:32:52,599
Just to be sure, I understand he thinks Sam was

706
00:32:52,640 --> 00:32:54,480
able to set the church on fire for miles away

707
00:32:54,480 --> 00:32:58,920
with some kind of what magic, I asked. I tried

708
00:32:58,920 --> 00:33:01,160
to make sure I sound a curate, but not doubtful.

709
00:33:01,680 --> 00:33:03,480
I think he together at church like a snapper on

710
00:33:03,519 --> 00:33:06,440
a hilltop. Sorry, Pastor, I don't mean to be glad.

711
00:33:06,480 --> 00:33:10,480
It's just no need to apologize, red. I've done my grieving.

712
00:33:11,000 --> 00:33:13,759
It was just a building. However, there's one missing item

713
00:33:13,799 --> 00:33:17,079
that still bothers me. A watch, and we need you

714
00:33:17,119 --> 00:33:19,119
to be on the lookout for it. That's why I

715
00:33:19,200 --> 00:33:22,400
asked about a watch, droller. We think it's connected, I added.

716
00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:24,799
Sam gave it to me right before my house was

717
00:33:24,839 --> 00:33:27,519
broken into. I'm weird stuff kept happening at home after that.

718
00:33:28,359 --> 00:33:30,480
I gave the watch Isaac for safekeeping because I thought

719
00:33:30,519 --> 00:33:33,039
it might have been cursed. For lack of a better term,

720
00:33:33,279 --> 00:33:35,279
rad that watch was in a fire safe box and

721
00:33:35,359 --> 00:33:37,319
is the only item that went and accounted for after

722
00:33:37,359 --> 00:33:43,079
the fire. Isaac reiterated, All right, a watch really just

723
00:33:43,119 --> 00:33:47,200
an ordinary watch, The chief asked, isa Can I remain

724
00:33:47,240 --> 00:33:51,279
flat and serious? The chief shrugged inside. I thought it

725
00:33:51,359 --> 00:33:53,160
was silly of him to believe a dark ritual could

726
00:33:53,200 --> 00:33:55,440
burn down a church, but drawed a line at cursed watch.

727
00:33:56,200 --> 00:33:58,960
Maybe he realized this too, because he leaned forward again

728
00:33:59,000 --> 00:34:03,119
and adopted a Mowson posture. This watch, what's it look like?

729
00:34:03,880 --> 00:34:09,280
He asked? Cheap? I said, nothing special, brown leather band.

730
00:34:09,360 --> 00:34:12,440
The face is cracked. It doesn't work, Isaac jumped in.

731
00:34:13,079 --> 00:34:15,239
Most importantly, it is an inscription in the back that

732
00:34:15,280 --> 00:34:17,159
looks like it was scratched with a knife or something.

733
00:34:17,679 --> 00:34:21,480
It's the letters b l's b L all capital. Does

734
00:34:21,519 --> 00:34:25,480
that mean anything to you? Should it? Red asked? I

735
00:34:25,559 --> 00:34:28,480
believe it's short term for beeasible that that demon right

736
00:34:29,079 --> 00:34:30,960
the chief scratch his bare cap as he tried to

737
00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:33,239
remember an old sermon the pastor had given in which

738
00:34:33,239 --> 00:34:37,480
this particular demon was mentioned. Correct, Isac said, And now

739
00:34:37,480 --> 00:34:40,519
it's my turn for insane theories. I believe Sam was

740
00:34:40,519 --> 00:34:43,360
an unwitting pawn in this demon scheme. I don't think

741
00:34:43,360 --> 00:34:45,239
it is a coincidence that the church caught fire on

742
00:34:45,280 --> 00:34:47,559
the very first night the watch was being kept inside.

743
00:34:48,079 --> 00:34:50,079
I'm not sure where Sam got the watch, but I

744
00:34:50,079 --> 00:34:52,119
think he was instructed to get it to you Patrick,

745
00:34:52,239 --> 00:34:54,000
and I think you were influenced to bring it to me.

746
00:34:54,079 --> 00:34:55,920
I think the demon beausible needed to get that watch

747
00:34:55,920 --> 00:34:58,320
inside the church to burn it down. All that work

748
00:34:58,440 --> 00:35:01,559
just to destroy a little church in Ridgeville. The chief asked,

749
00:35:02,199 --> 00:35:05,840
think about it. This is a small town. My churches

750
00:35:06,280 --> 00:35:09,639
was the only one here. Without it, my faithful congregation

751
00:35:09,719 --> 00:35:11,719
doesn't really have a place to gather to feel close

752
00:35:11,760 --> 00:35:14,559
to God. We scattered Unless I can figure out where

753
00:35:14,559 --> 00:35:17,519
I can gather everyone together. How would that help a demon?

754
00:35:18,119 --> 00:35:21,880
It's pretty simple, really. I imagine some type of violent motorcycle

755
00:35:21,880 --> 00:35:23,840
gang came to town and set up a club us somewhere.

756
00:35:24,400 --> 00:35:25,760
Let's just say you where I was in the edge

757
00:35:25,800 --> 00:35:28,519
of town. You and your cops need to capture these guys,

758
00:35:28,599 --> 00:35:31,239
but they are aren't and dangerous. Would you charge on

759
00:35:31,280 --> 00:35:33,239
to their turf and try to arrest them on the spot,

760
00:35:33,519 --> 00:35:35,280
or would you try to separate them and pick them

761
00:35:35,320 --> 00:35:38,679
off one by one on your terms? Am Okay, I

762
00:35:38,679 --> 00:35:40,480
think I see what you're getting at. The chief said,

763
00:35:41,239 --> 00:35:44,800
this demon wants to waltz into our town without a fight, exactly,

764
00:35:45,559 --> 00:35:47,559
so it separated all the people who might get together

765
00:35:47,599 --> 00:35:50,880
and pray away or whatever. Basically, the Christians here will

766
00:35:50,880 --> 00:35:53,599
be weaker without each other support. So now it's up

767
00:35:53,599 --> 00:35:55,639
to the three of us to fight it. The three

768
00:35:55,639 --> 00:35:57,760
of us sat silently for nearly a minute while Alan

769
00:35:57,840 --> 00:36:00,559
Jackson sang at five o'clock somewhere through the overhead speakers.

770
00:36:01,199 --> 00:36:04,400
Bread was right. We had to fight the evil a

771
00:36:04,480 --> 00:36:07,000
right air of a pastor and a cop. The duty

772
00:36:07,039 --> 00:36:10,000
had somehow landed on her shoulders. If I had stopped

773
00:36:10,039 --> 00:36:12,000
to consider it, I might have realized I bore no

774
00:36:12,039 --> 00:36:15,599
real responsibility, not on paper. I hadn't taken any oath

775
00:36:15,599 --> 00:36:18,199
to protect this little community of Ridgeville. I could have

776
00:36:18,280 --> 00:36:19,920
just gotten into my car and gotten the hell out

777
00:36:19,960 --> 00:36:22,559
of there if I had wanted to. Instead, I studied

778
00:36:22,559 --> 00:36:25,440
the other two men's faces, first the chiefs, then the pastors,

779
00:36:25,440 --> 00:36:27,599
and couldn't help but admire the courageous resolve I saw

780
00:36:27,639 --> 00:36:30,280
in their eyes. They were committed to doing battle, and

781
00:36:30,320 --> 00:36:32,760
something within me, some instinct, I thought I had lost

782
00:36:32,760 --> 00:36:35,079
in the blurry transition from childhood into constantly was an

783
00:36:35,079 --> 00:36:38,119
adult life. Set down the risk, down the consequences. Let's

784
00:36:38,119 --> 00:36:40,440
do this. I down the rest of my beer in

785
00:36:40,480 --> 00:36:42,559
one gulp and slammed my glass down on the table

786
00:36:42,599 --> 00:36:44,519
as I asked, so, how do we fight a demon?

787
00:36:45,119 --> 00:36:47,000
My phone rang While I was watching the news. The

788
00:36:47,000 --> 00:36:49,639
following morning. I knew who it was before I even

789
00:36:49,679 --> 00:36:54,000
picked it up. Have you heard I succast I'm watching

790
00:36:54,039 --> 00:36:57,039
it now, I said. I've been with his mother all morning.

791
00:36:57,639 --> 00:36:59,960
I told her I needed to go to the bath room.

792
00:37:00,079 --> 00:37:01,320
I had to lie just so I could have a

793
00:37:01,400 --> 00:37:03,800
second to call you. Do you think this is related

794
00:37:03,800 --> 00:37:06,679
to you know? I stared at the TV screen and

795
00:37:06,760 --> 00:37:09,800
a young blond boy, maybe eleven or twelve, wearing a

796
00:37:09,800 --> 00:37:13,400
blue ritual Rider's soccer uniform stare back. The ticker read

797
00:37:13,440 --> 00:37:17,679
local boy. Waitworthing reported missing. Overnight search preparations under way.

798
00:37:18,280 --> 00:37:22,079
It was little Worthing seventeen, maybe, I said. I met

799
00:37:22,079 --> 00:37:25,239
that kid once. Coincidentally, I talked to him right where

800
00:37:25,239 --> 00:37:27,519
Sam used to sit at the bank. He told me

801
00:37:27,559 --> 00:37:29,480
he and his friends called Sam sick o Sam because

802
00:37:29,519 --> 00:37:32,440
he tried to locate into the woods at night. Wait. Really,

803
00:37:33,199 --> 00:37:35,000
that seems like the kind of thing that would get

804
00:37:35,000 --> 00:37:37,960
around his community pretty quick. I don't think people would

805
00:37:37,960 --> 00:37:39,840
have been so tolerant of Sam if that were true.

806
00:37:40,280 --> 00:37:42,639
Who knows kid to mix stuff up? I said, but

807
00:37:42,679 --> 00:37:46,119
it's hard to ignore the possibility, knowing what we know now. Well,

808
00:37:46,119 --> 00:37:49,480
hold on ISAC said, Sam's dead? We know that for

809
00:37:49,559 --> 00:37:52,719
sure this kid could have just wandered off and gotten lost.

810
00:37:53,480 --> 00:37:55,800
She hasn't said this publicly, but his mom told me

811
00:37:55,880 --> 00:37:58,800
they had to fight yesterday evening before he left. That

812
00:37:58,960 --> 00:38:01,880
ease might worry a little. With everything else going on,

813
00:38:02,079 --> 00:38:04,920
I had immediately jumped to the worst case scenario. It's

814
00:38:04,960 --> 00:38:06,760
like I forgot kids could run away on their own.

815
00:38:07,360 --> 00:38:09,320
I looked at the kid's smiling picture hanging out on

816
00:38:09,360 --> 00:38:13,280
the screen and hoped that was the case. Patrick, Patrick,

817
00:38:13,360 --> 00:38:17,519
were you there? I scrought me back. Yeah, sorry, we

818
00:38:17,519 --> 00:38:20,559
should join the search party. Red will be coordinating it.

819
00:38:20,599 --> 00:38:23,000
I'm sure I think the three of us should all

820
00:38:23,000 --> 00:38:26,840
be together out there. Good idea, I'll clear my calendar,

821
00:38:27,000 --> 00:38:29,280
I said. There was a long pause on the other

822
00:38:29,400 --> 00:38:33,559
end of the line. Finally I scaced, was that a joke? Yes? Yes,

823
00:38:33,599 --> 00:38:37,079
it was at least an attempt at one. Probably not

824
00:38:37,119 --> 00:38:40,559
the best time, I suppose. I'll see you there. We

825
00:38:40,639 --> 00:38:42,719
met up a trailhead where the police were organizing a

826
00:38:42,760 --> 00:38:45,800
search party. An officer handed us each an orange vest,

827
00:38:45,880 --> 00:38:48,199
like one a hunter might wear. I sick and I

828
00:38:48,239 --> 00:38:50,159
walked round the crow to get a round to the chief.

829
00:38:50,639 --> 00:38:53,599
He looked Haggar I'm guessing he was trying to manage

830
00:38:53,639 --> 00:38:55,880
a slight hangover as well as the growing search party.

831
00:38:56,559 --> 00:38:59,320
Oh good, I hope you two might show up, he said.

832
00:38:59,360 --> 00:39:00,840
When he saw I say and I you could have

833
00:39:00,880 --> 00:39:03,760
called us, I said, Yeth been a little busy today,

834
00:39:03,760 --> 00:39:06,639
in case you hadn't noticed. Sorry, what can we do?

835
00:39:07,280 --> 00:39:09,880
You choose stick with me while we search. I'm going

836
00:39:09,960 --> 00:39:11,199
to have the rest of this bunch comb in the

837
00:39:11,199 --> 00:39:12,960
woods in a grade, but there's a spot I want

838
00:39:12,960 --> 00:39:15,639
to check personally. Let me guess you want to check

839
00:39:15,679 --> 00:39:19,559
the spot where Sam was found. Oz casped. Red praysed

840
00:39:19,559 --> 00:39:22,480
his lips and raised his eyebrows, silently recommending the pasture

841
00:39:22,559 --> 00:39:25,559
keep his voice down. Over the next ten minutes, officers

842
00:39:25,639 --> 00:39:28,000
organized the crowd into jews and spaced them out evenly.

843
00:39:28,599 --> 00:39:30,760
They were instructed to walk straight through the woods and

844
00:39:30,800 --> 00:39:33,760
call out if they found anything ridgel Pid didn't have

845
00:39:33,760 --> 00:39:36,119
anything as fancy as whistles to hand out to the party.

846
00:39:36,719 --> 00:39:39,559
While the rest of the civilians were still receiving their instructions,

847
00:39:39,679 --> 00:39:41,960
Red told iacon I to follow him back to his car.

848
00:39:42,559 --> 00:39:44,440
We loaded into the back like a couple of drunks.

849
00:39:44,440 --> 00:39:47,280
He pick up for bar fighting lose those vests. He said,

850
00:39:47,920 --> 00:39:50,119
I don't want anyone spotting us and asking why we're

851
00:39:50,119 --> 00:39:53,880
separated from the party. But you're the chief, I pointed out, Oh,

852
00:39:54,000 --> 00:39:56,079
you think that means I'm top dark, can do whatever

853
00:39:56,159 --> 00:39:59,159
I want. Listen, Ardy, I still got answer to the

854
00:39:59,159 --> 00:40:01,559
may at the city camp, even the frigin education board.

855
00:40:01,559 --> 00:40:04,239
I thisy fit to ask what's going on? If anything,

856
00:40:04,320 --> 00:40:06,320
I am under more scrutiny than the average cop, so

857
00:40:06,440 --> 00:40:08,800
we gotta be careful. He started the car and we

858
00:40:08,880 --> 00:40:10,840
drove around the woods to a gravel road leading up

859
00:40:10,880 --> 00:40:13,400
into the hills. It took about five minutes to reach

860
00:40:13,440 --> 00:40:16,159
a spot where saw mudy ti tracks pointing various directions

861
00:40:16,239 --> 00:40:18,519
dug into the mud on the shoulder. This is it,

862
00:40:18,639 --> 00:40:20,960
the chief said, Why have the rest of the town

863
00:40:21,000 --> 00:40:22,800
searching the woods if you think the boys up here?

864
00:40:23,440 --> 00:40:27,519
Isaac casked, just in case I'm wrong, the chief replied, God,

865
00:40:27,639 --> 00:40:31,559
I hope I'm wrong. Sadly, the chief was dead right almost.

866
00:40:32,320 --> 00:40:34,639
I was the one who actually found him. We had

867
00:40:34,639 --> 00:40:37,440
stopped where samperformed as ritual, but found the area empty.

868
00:40:37,440 --> 00:40:39,719
Safe for a few stakes and police tape warning civilians

869
00:40:39,760 --> 00:40:42,639
like me and Isaac to keep out. However, someone had

870
00:40:42,679 --> 00:40:45,360
ignored the bowl black words and had recreated the pentagram

871
00:40:45,400 --> 00:40:48,920
in the dirt and something else. The five pointed star

872
00:40:49,079 --> 00:40:51,360
was darker than the rest of the ground. It looked

873
00:40:51,400 --> 00:40:54,079
like it had been recently saturated and hadn't yet dried.

874
00:40:54,679 --> 00:40:56,960
I noticed one point of the star overlapped the circle

875
00:40:57,000 --> 00:40:59,159
around it and touched the root of a tree. I

876
00:40:59,199 --> 00:41:01,119
followed the route to it trunk, and half way out

877
00:41:01,119 --> 00:41:03,840
the trunk, I spotted the rope. It was old and frayed,

878
00:41:03,920 --> 00:41:07,320
and the second pentagram was carved above its coils. With dread,

879
00:41:07,440 --> 00:41:10,440
I searched the trees branches for Poor Worthing seventeen's blue uniform.

880
00:41:10,960 --> 00:41:12,840
I realized now it was silly of me to assume

881
00:41:12,840 --> 00:41:14,719
he would have worn his soccer uniform to hike up

882
00:41:14,760 --> 00:41:17,280
into the hills and hang himself. I didn't find his

883
00:41:17,320 --> 00:41:20,440
body in the tree, though well, he was definitely here.

884
00:41:20,480 --> 00:41:23,000
I heard Red say, or at least some one was,

885
00:41:23,079 --> 00:41:26,639
Isaac replied, I was too busy to participate in their conversation.

886
00:41:27,280 --> 00:41:29,599
I was walking towards the tree to investigate the rope.

887
00:41:30,000 --> 00:41:32,679
I still felt it was important. Turned out it was.

888
00:41:33,320 --> 00:41:35,320
The rope didn't run up into the tree branches, like

889
00:41:35,320 --> 00:41:38,440
I had initially suspected, it ran back down the hill

890
00:41:38,480 --> 00:41:40,920
and disappeared into the leaves and brush on the forest floor.

891
00:41:41,519 --> 00:41:44,239
Eg eyes, I shouted back to the other two. They

892
00:41:44,320 --> 00:41:49,199
came running. Is it him? Isac casped? Maybe? I answered.

893
00:41:49,840 --> 00:41:51,599
I gave the rope a quick whack and we watched

894
00:41:51,599 --> 00:41:55,239
it in silence. Its vibrations created a wide helix and

895
00:41:55,280 --> 00:42:00,000
slowly shrank along the rope's length. Looks long red observed

896
00:42:00,159 --> 00:42:03,400
down to the creek. I suck and I shared concerned glances.

897
00:42:04,079 --> 00:42:05,679
The other two must have been weighed down by the

898
00:42:05,719 --> 00:42:07,440
burden of what we were all sure we were about

899
00:42:07,440 --> 00:42:09,920
to discover. They fell behind as I took the lead,

900
00:42:10,000 --> 00:42:12,880
following the rope down the hill around trees and bushes.

901
00:42:13,679 --> 00:42:15,559
Soon I could hear the water bubbling up onto the

902
00:42:15,599 --> 00:42:18,239
creek bed. Just as soon as I could see the creek,

903
00:42:18,320 --> 00:42:20,800
I found Wade Worthing. He was floating in the six

904
00:42:20,880 --> 00:42:22,920
inch deep creek with the rope tied around his neck.

905
00:42:23,480 --> 00:42:26,440
He was face down. I only recognized him from his

906
00:42:26,480 --> 00:42:28,800
shaggy blonde hair and the blue rider's uniform with Worthing

907
00:42:28,840 --> 00:42:31,320
seventeen on the back, which he had actually been wearing

908
00:42:31,320 --> 00:42:33,800
when he ran out the night before. In the short

909
00:42:33,840 --> 00:42:36,239
seconds before the others caught up with me, I wondered

910
00:42:36,239 --> 00:42:38,079
if anything that had happened to me since I'd arrived

911
00:42:38,079 --> 00:42:40,840
in Ridgel had been a coincidence. I had met Sam

912
00:42:40,880 --> 00:42:43,159
first and Weighed second, the same order in which they

913
00:42:43,159 --> 00:42:46,079
had died. Wade had been weirring the same uniform in

914
00:42:46,119 --> 00:42:48,480
which he now floated before me dead, and to the

915
00:42:48,480 --> 00:42:50,440
watch Sam gave me being inside the church the night

916
00:42:50,480 --> 00:42:52,840
it burned down, and I couldn't ignore the odds any more.

917
00:42:53,960 --> 00:42:56,679
I decided in those short, quiet seconds, something bigger had

918
00:42:56,679 --> 00:42:58,800
been at work long before Sam had given me the watch,

919
00:42:59,280 --> 00:43:01,639
maybe even before or I have come to tell some

920
00:43:01,719 --> 00:43:03,760
one watched beside me and brought me back to the creek,

921
00:43:03,840 --> 00:43:05,920
the rope, the boy bobbing at the end of it.

922
00:43:05,920 --> 00:43:08,280
It was Icic who had made the noise. When he

923
00:43:08,320 --> 00:43:10,960
steadied himself, Red came up to my side and asked,

924
00:43:11,079 --> 00:43:13,880
you think it was suicide or murder? You were asking me,

925
00:43:14,559 --> 00:43:17,280
I replied, involuntarily, glancing at his badge as it winked

926
00:43:17,280 --> 00:43:20,679
in the sunlight. I'm just thinking out loud. We can

927
00:43:20,760 --> 00:43:22,679
check this out for a minute. But I'm on duty

928
00:43:22,800 --> 00:43:25,199
and there's a devastated mother wondering where her child is.

929
00:43:25,239 --> 00:43:27,199
I can't hold off on coalin this and for too long,

930
00:43:27,880 --> 00:43:31,199
I understand, I said. I slid carefully down the embankment

931
00:43:31,199 --> 00:43:33,840
and took off my shoes. I rolled up my jeans

932
00:43:33,880 --> 00:43:36,760
and started wading towards the body, Thankful it was downstream.

933
00:43:37,079 --> 00:43:39,400
Red followed, but didn't bother to remove his boots or

934
00:43:39,480 --> 00:43:42,760
roll his pants. The body was stiff, bloated an extra

935
00:43:42,800 --> 00:43:45,440
coal from the water. Its skin was great and sort

936
00:43:45,440 --> 00:43:49,119
of translucent. Can we roll him over? I asked Fred.

937
00:43:49,760 --> 00:43:52,400
We really shouldn't disturb the scene, but Red winced and

938
00:43:52,400 --> 00:43:55,760
grod wade saturated uniform. He looked up at me expectantly,

939
00:43:55,760 --> 00:43:57,519
and I reached down and grabbed my own handful of

940
00:43:57,519 --> 00:44:00,599
wet fabric. Red gave a threecount, and we turned the

941
00:44:00,599 --> 00:44:04,239
body over. Way's eyes were open and collless. His face

942
00:44:04,280 --> 00:44:07,239
was purple and puffy. His tongue had swelt, filling his

943
00:44:07,320 --> 00:44:10,199
mouth and forcing its way between his blue lips. Now

944
00:44:10,239 --> 00:44:13,400
it was my turn to wretch despatch. This is a chief.

945
00:44:14,039 --> 00:44:16,559
I've got a body approximately two miles up blown a creek.

946
00:44:17,079 --> 00:44:19,079
I heard Red make the call, but I had otherwise

947
00:44:19,079 --> 00:44:22,199
dissociate it from the present re's radio crackle in a

948
00:44:22,280 --> 00:44:24,360
voice said something to him, but it all sounded like

949
00:44:24,360 --> 00:44:27,320
a noise coming through a wall. My ears started ringing

950
00:44:27,360 --> 00:44:30,119
and my vision shrank. I realized I was about to

951
00:44:30,119 --> 00:44:32,679
black out. I woke up laying on the hard plastic

952
00:44:32,679 --> 00:44:35,400
buck seat of Red's police cruiser. All the doors had

953
00:44:35,400 --> 00:44:37,800
been left open to give me some air. I later

954
00:44:37,880 --> 00:44:40,079
learned that Isaac had noticed me looking pale and starting

955
00:44:40,079 --> 00:44:41,880
to sway, and I jumped into the creek just in

956
00:44:41,920 --> 00:44:43,840
time to catch me before I fell face first into

957
00:44:43,840 --> 00:44:47,559
the water. He and Reddad dragged me back up the embankment. No,

958
00:44:47,760 --> 00:44:51,360
absolutely not, do not, under any circumstances allow that woman

959
00:44:51,480 --> 00:44:54,280
up here, I heard Red say, sternly. Got it. Chief,

960
00:44:54,800 --> 00:44:58,199
a voice I didn't recognize, replied his consciousness slowly picked

961
00:44:58,320 --> 00:45:00,320
me back up. I noticed the hurried sounds of many

962
00:45:00,320 --> 00:45:02,719
people all around me. I sat up slowly and took

963
00:45:02,719 --> 00:45:06,360
in the scene. Uniform cops were everywhere, Most of them

964
00:45:06,360 --> 00:45:08,079
appeared to be down by the creek, where one was

965
00:45:08,079 --> 00:45:11,519
wrapping police taper round trees. An ambulance had backed up

966
00:45:11,519 --> 00:45:14,280
as far as it could toward the embankment. Ah, good,

967
00:45:15,000 --> 00:45:18,679
you are awake, I sick, said, I jumped. I hadn't

968
00:45:18,719 --> 00:45:21,280
noticed him sitting perfectly still in a passenger seat up front.

969
00:45:21,760 --> 00:45:26,000
How long was I out, I asked, A while, at

970
00:45:26,119 --> 00:45:29,159
least fifteen minutes. I guess while you were out, we

971
00:45:29,280 --> 00:45:32,000
got some bad news. Bad enough of the town, but

972
00:45:32,039 --> 00:45:35,199
probably worse for us. What do you mean there was

973
00:45:35,199 --> 00:45:37,880
a freak accident at the funeral home. It's the most

974
00:45:37,920 --> 00:45:41,440
ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Honestly, It's like something out

975
00:45:41,440 --> 00:45:44,119
of a bad movie. Oh, for crying out loud, just

976
00:45:44,159 --> 00:45:47,519
tell me what happened, I snapped. There was a water

977
00:45:47,559 --> 00:45:49,920
main break near the edge of town. It flooded the

978
00:45:49,920 --> 00:45:52,119
street in front of the funeral home and overflowed all

979
00:45:52,159 --> 00:45:55,039
around it. Apparently there was a sinkhole no one knew

980
00:45:55,079 --> 00:45:57,639
about right next to the funeral home. When the water

981
00:45:57,679 --> 00:45:59,880
came up and soaked the ground, it all just collapsed,

982
00:46:00,599 --> 00:46:03,519
the ground, the building just gone tip. Poor burn is

983
00:46:03,559 --> 00:46:07,880
down with it. Who's Burness, I asked. She was a

984
00:46:07,920 --> 00:46:11,280
mortician there, a sweet old thing. You'd never have been

985
00:46:11,320 --> 00:46:13,719
able to guess what she did for a living. Jeez,

986
00:46:13,760 --> 00:46:17,280
I said. I processed this news for a moment, he said,

987
00:46:17,320 --> 00:46:19,800
it was worse for us. What did ye mean by that?

988
00:46:20,639 --> 00:46:23,800
Think about it Isac said, Sam burns about here, and

989
00:46:23,880 --> 00:46:26,880
my church burns down way Erans, and a freak flood

990
00:46:26,880 --> 00:46:29,840
takes down the funeral home. Patrick, I think the demon

991
00:46:29,880 --> 00:46:33,360
is making these people perform ritual sacrifices of themselves. I

992
00:46:33,360 --> 00:46:36,519
think he's using them to assault the town. Oh my god, Sam,

993
00:46:36,599 --> 00:46:40,079
I said, icick ray is an eye brought me his body?

994
00:46:40,639 --> 00:46:43,360
Where would his body have been kept? Well, they would

995
00:46:43,400 --> 00:46:46,639
have taken it to the oh. Isa went quiet as

996
00:46:46,639 --> 00:46:49,360
he came to the same realization I just had. Sam

997
00:46:49,400 --> 00:46:51,559
would have been inside the funeral home when it collapsed.

998
00:46:52,039 --> 00:46:54,480
I wondered if any of the bodies had been lost.

999
00:46:54,800 --> 00:46:58,280
Do you think it's trying to destroy the evidence? I asked.

1000
00:46:58,719 --> 00:47:01,679
Driver's door opened suddenly and made me jump again. I

1001
00:47:01,719 --> 00:47:03,679
guess I wasn't quite as conscious as I had thought.

1002
00:47:03,719 --> 00:47:06,039
Yet we got to go, the chief said, as he

1003
00:47:06,039 --> 00:47:08,679
sat in front of the wheel Way's mother is causing

1004
00:47:08,679 --> 00:47:10,079
a scene down at the bottom of the hill, and

1005
00:47:10,159 --> 00:47:12,880
you too, really shouldn't be here anyway. As we drove

1006
00:47:12,920 --> 00:47:15,320
down the hill, Isaac filled Reddin on the conversation we

1007
00:47:15,360 --> 00:47:18,480
had just had OK, here's what we do. Red said,

1008
00:47:19,079 --> 00:47:21,599
I'll deal with miss Worthing. You two head over to

1009
00:47:21,639 --> 00:47:23,920
the funeral home and check it out. There won't be

1010
00:47:24,000 --> 00:47:25,960
much of a police presence this since I've got almost

1011
00:47:26,000 --> 00:47:28,599
every one up here dealing with the kid. Still, if

1012
00:47:28,639 --> 00:47:32,119
you see anything worth worrying about, call me. But we

1013
00:47:32,239 --> 00:47:35,079
agreed to the plan. I couldn't look at Morrel Worthing

1014
00:47:35,159 --> 00:47:36,880
as we rounded the bend and came to the bottom

1015
00:47:36,920 --> 00:47:39,480
of the hill. I knew my face would give everything away.

1016
00:47:40,039 --> 00:47:42,039
Not that she needed another hint about what was happening.

1017
00:47:42,559 --> 00:47:45,039
She must have already known her son was dead. She

1018
00:47:45,199 --> 00:47:46,960
ran at the car and read quickly got out to

1019
00:47:47,000 --> 00:47:49,840
intercept her. Isaac and I took hock you and started

1020
00:47:49,840 --> 00:47:52,199
walking back to my house to get my car. It

1021
00:47:52,239 --> 00:47:55,320
feels quiet, doesn't it, Isaac asked, as we enter town

1022
00:47:55,360 --> 00:47:59,159
on foot. Yeah, I agreed. The already low energy of

1023
00:47:59,239 --> 00:48:02,960
Virtuel had seen we dissipated, leaving perfect silence behind. There

1024
00:48:03,000 --> 00:48:04,960
wasn't one car in the road or a single person

1025
00:48:05,000 --> 00:48:08,239
out in the yard. Most blinds and curtains had been closed.

1026
00:48:08,840 --> 00:48:11,880
Almost every door was shut. I wanted to shout out, pillow,

1027
00:48:12,159 --> 00:48:15,400
can anyone hear me, but I was too afraid. I

1028
00:48:15,480 --> 00:48:17,400
was too afraid there would be no answer at all.

1029
00:48:18,000 --> 00:48:19,840
My car was in my driveway, and I already had

1030
00:48:19,880 --> 00:48:21,480
the keys in my pocket, so we got in and

1031
00:48:21,519 --> 00:48:24,119
headed to the funeral home. I wondered whether the road

1032
00:48:24,159 --> 00:48:26,360
would even be open, and decided just to get as

1033
00:48:26,360 --> 00:48:29,480
close as I could. First person we came across was

1034
00:48:29,480 --> 00:48:31,400
a public works man from the city, sitting in the

1035
00:48:31,400 --> 00:48:34,000
cab of his pickup. I pulled up alongside him and

1036
00:48:34,039 --> 00:48:37,000
asked what the situation was up ahead. Roads closed down

1037
00:48:37,039 --> 00:48:40,440
to one lane. He said, half the highways collapsed. You

1038
00:48:40,519 --> 00:48:42,400
can go on ahead, but don't be surprised if they

1039
00:48:42,440 --> 00:48:45,000
send you packing back this way. I thanked him and

1040
00:48:45,039 --> 00:48:47,360
moved on. There was a fire truck in a single

1041
00:48:47,400 --> 00:48:49,960
police car up ahead, and I drove on towards them.

1042
00:48:50,280 --> 00:48:52,960
Not surprisingly, a young police officer stopped us as soon

1043
00:48:52,960 --> 00:48:55,639
as we got close. She held her hand up until

1044
00:48:55,639 --> 00:48:57,960
I came to a complete stop. Then she approached my window.

1045
00:48:58,639 --> 00:49:00,559
The road's not safe until we can figure out how

1046
00:49:00,559 --> 00:49:03,559
big the sinkhal is, she told me. So is there

1047
00:49:03,599 --> 00:49:05,960
any way I can get out of town? I asked,

1048
00:49:06,639 --> 00:49:08,400
you'll have to go back the way you came up

1049
00:49:08,400 --> 00:49:11,360
through the hills. Eventually you'll come to another road and

1050
00:49:11,400 --> 00:49:14,000
come back track, but that'll take at least an hour,

1051
00:49:14,239 --> 00:49:17,480
I argued. I know, sorry, I wish I had a

1052
00:49:17,480 --> 00:49:20,440
better solution, but honestly we're a little overwhelmed at the moment.

1053
00:49:21,239 --> 00:49:24,039
All right, thanks, officer, I said, and rolled up my window.

1054
00:49:24,639 --> 00:49:26,719
Why do you want to get out of town? Ice

1055
00:49:26,800 --> 00:49:29,360
cast I don't, but now I know if I did,

1056
00:49:29,440 --> 00:49:30,960
it would be a long time before I could get

1057
00:49:31,039 --> 00:49:34,960
somewhere safe. You think that's by design? Has anything that's

1058
00:49:34,960 --> 00:49:38,280
happened felt round unto you? I asked, regrettably, displaying my

1059
00:49:38,280 --> 00:49:41,400
frustration to the pastor, of course, I think it's by design.

1060
00:49:41,920 --> 00:49:44,119
He's killing people one by one, and now it's cut

1061
00:49:44,199 --> 00:49:47,679
us off. You realize what this means, right, Medical AI,

1062
00:49:47,800 --> 00:49:50,480
back up for the police, additional fire trucks. All of

1063
00:49:50,519 --> 00:49:52,519
those things that were only ten minutes away will now

1064
00:49:52,559 --> 00:49:54,360
take over an hour or to get here from the city.

1065
00:49:54,960 --> 00:49:57,960
I sick, looked totally defeated. For a moment, I felt

1066
00:49:58,000 --> 00:50:00,440
bad and was about to apologize for being too when

1067
00:50:00,440 --> 00:50:04,400
he perked up. Do you see that, he asked? I

1068
00:50:04,480 --> 00:50:06,840
followed his gaze through the windshield, and up the north hill.

1069
00:50:07,519 --> 00:50:10,960
Oh my god, I shouted, that's the dog I saw

1070
00:50:11,000 --> 00:50:14,840
in my house. We finally arrived. The black dog was

1071
00:50:14,880 --> 00:50:16,920
inspecting us from a rocky outcrop about half way up

1072
00:50:16,920 --> 00:50:19,480
the hill, maybe two hundred feet from the ground. Is

1073
00:50:19,599 --> 00:50:21,159
sick and I were too far away from me to

1074
00:50:21,159 --> 00:50:23,639
actually see its eyes, but I could fill them. They

1075
00:50:23,639 --> 00:50:27,199
were scanning us, threatening us, warning us to leave everything alone,

1076
00:50:27,719 --> 00:50:30,960
let things be. We couldn't just walk away. I know

1077
00:50:31,079 --> 00:50:32,840
now as well as I knew then, but I can't

1078
00:50:32,880 --> 00:50:34,639
tell you how badly I wanted to heed the black

1079
00:50:34,639 --> 00:50:37,320
Dog's warning. Well, I guess this is what we signed

1080
00:50:37,360 --> 00:50:39,360
up for, I muttered as I shifted the car into gear.

1081
00:50:40,079 --> 00:50:43,920
Patrick Ic sounded nervous. He had every right to be.

1082
00:50:44,679 --> 00:50:46,599
I must have looked like a maniac, staring up the

1083
00:50:46,639 --> 00:50:49,159
hill through the windshield, leaning over the steering wheel like

1084
00:50:49,199 --> 00:50:51,639
I was trying to keep it from floating away. I

1085
00:50:51,719 --> 00:50:54,039
floored the gas and the car road then lutched over

1086
00:50:54,079 --> 00:50:56,920
the curb. We rocked back and forth as we rumbled

1087
00:50:56,920 --> 00:50:58,800
towards the base of the hill of a pockwark Dead.

1088
00:50:59,440 --> 00:51:02,039
Patrick were going to get us both arrested. Isaac shouted

1089
00:51:02,079 --> 00:51:06,360
over the bellowing engine. By who I asked. The cops

1090
00:51:06,400 --> 00:51:08,960
were all busy, and besides, I figured Red would just

1091
00:51:09,000 --> 00:51:11,440
get us out again. No one's following us up the

1092
00:51:11,440 --> 00:51:14,519
silk pastor, I heard a siren wind up behind us.

1093
00:51:15,239 --> 00:51:17,639
In the vibrating rear view, I watched a single police

1094
00:51:17,639 --> 00:51:19,800
courspind in the dirt and start hustling in our direction.

1095
00:51:20,480 --> 00:51:23,800
Here they come, get ready to run, I shouted, what

1096
00:51:24,960 --> 00:51:27,480
Ic looked pale. I wondered if this was the greatest

1097
00:51:27,480 --> 00:51:30,840
sin he had ever committed in different circumstances. I might

1098
00:51:30,840 --> 00:51:33,079
have reminded him that we were working for a good cause,

1099
00:51:33,320 --> 00:51:35,199
but there was no time for comforting word. As we

1100
00:51:35,280 --> 00:51:37,400
rushed to the base of the hill, I slammed the

1101
00:51:37,440 --> 00:51:40,239
brakes a few feet from the hill's craggy vase Vero,

1102
00:51:40,360 --> 00:51:43,360
I shouted and gave Isaac a strong persh. I left

1103
00:51:43,400 --> 00:51:45,320
my door open as I stumbled out of the car

1104
00:51:45,320 --> 00:51:47,800
and ran toward the hill. My pacing top with the

1105
00:51:47,800 --> 00:51:50,840
cars dinging an obnoxious reminder to shut the door. That

1106
00:51:50,960 --> 00:51:52,840
sound faded away, and soon all I could hear were

1107
00:51:52,840 --> 00:51:56,440
our footsteps and breaths and a rapidly approaching siren. Isic

1108
00:51:56,480 --> 00:51:58,599
and I climbed over the first batch of boulders and

1109
00:51:58,639 --> 00:52:00,639
began the steep ascent through the thick pines that gave

1110
00:52:00,679 --> 00:52:03,840
the hill its furry appearance a distance. Up close, they

1111
00:52:03,880 --> 00:52:06,800
were rough and harsh, like wooden bullies. We used protruding

1112
00:52:06,880 --> 00:52:09,400
roots as handles and footholes and managed to scale fifty

1113
00:52:09,440 --> 00:52:11,599
feet or so before the pursuing cop got to my car.

1114
00:52:12,239 --> 00:52:15,119
Stop climbing and come back down. You are under arrest,

1115
00:52:15,280 --> 00:52:17,440
the officer shouted, as soon as he opened his door

1116
00:52:17,480 --> 00:52:20,360
and got her Sorry it, officer, we can't do that,

1117
00:52:20,559 --> 00:52:23,639
I shouted back. I heard him curse and mutter something

1118
00:52:23,679 --> 00:52:27,239
unintelligible into his shoulder mounted microphone. I hope Red would

1119
00:52:27,239 --> 00:52:29,400
hear whatever message the officer put out and either tell

1120
00:52:29,480 --> 00:52:31,760
him to stand down or go to our aid. I

1121
00:52:31,800 --> 00:52:34,199
heard something coming down toward us and made myself as

1122
00:52:34,239 --> 00:52:36,599
flat as I could. My first thought was of a

1123
00:52:36,639 --> 00:52:39,320
falling rock tumbling down the hill, but a black, panting

1124
00:52:39,360 --> 00:52:43,360
blow rushed by instead. It was the dog. Surreal relief

1125
00:52:43,440 --> 00:52:45,159
came over me as it by passed both me and

1126
00:52:45,199 --> 00:52:47,960
Isaac and ran all the way down. I looked back

1127
00:52:48,000 --> 00:52:49,960
and saw the officer still had his head tilted down

1128
00:52:50,000 --> 00:52:52,639
towards his radio. I tried to call out to him,

1129
00:52:52,800 --> 00:52:55,039
but it was too late. By then he looked up

1130
00:52:55,079 --> 00:52:57,280
right before the giant black dog launched itself off the

1131
00:52:57,360 --> 00:52:59,519
rocks and landed with a heavy hymp on top of him.

1132
00:52:59,760 --> 00:53:02,519
His throaty death gurgles lasted only a few seconds before

1133
00:53:02,559 --> 00:53:05,480
as body went limp, the dog turned a stripping, bloody

1134
00:53:05,519 --> 00:53:08,199
muzzle up towards us. When it was finished, the smeared

1135
00:53:08,239 --> 00:53:11,079
gore gave the grotesque impression of a grinning clown. It

1136
00:53:11,159 --> 00:53:13,440
stepped off the officer's body, giving us a full view

1137
00:53:13,480 --> 00:53:15,920
of his bloody corpse. It looked like he had been

1138
00:53:15,960 --> 00:53:19,360
nearly decapitated by the animal savage jaws. The dog had

1139
00:53:19,360 --> 00:53:23,519
completely torn out his throat. I figured we were next climb.

1140
00:53:23,599 --> 00:53:26,320
I shouted, but Ice was already moving. I had a

1141
00:53:26,320 --> 00:53:28,599
feeling the dog was a much more proficient climber than us,

1142
00:53:28,639 --> 00:53:31,159
but going up was our only option. As I climb,

1143
00:53:31,280 --> 00:53:32,960
I searched for a rock or a stick to defend

1144
00:53:33,000 --> 00:53:36,360
myself with when the creature inevitably caught us. I finally

1145
00:53:36,360 --> 00:53:38,320
saw stern necker juice off to the side and stretched

1146
00:53:38,360 --> 00:53:40,880
to reach it. My fingers had just wrapped round the

1147
00:53:40,920 --> 00:53:42,599
stone when a guns it ran out and made me

1148
00:53:42,639 --> 00:53:45,559
retract my outstretched arm. Ti it rained down on top

1149
00:53:45,599 --> 00:53:48,440
of my head. A second shot sounded, and this time

1150
00:53:48,480 --> 00:53:50,480
I heard a zipping sound before the dirt two feet

1151
00:53:50,480 --> 00:53:53,199
to the left of me exploded. I was being shot at.

1152
00:53:53,880 --> 00:53:56,079
I stole one quick glance down the hill and nearly

1153
00:53:56,119 --> 00:53:59,360
blacked out again. The officer was somehow standing the black

1154
00:53:59,400 --> 00:54:01,800
dog at his eye. It had hung limply to the

1155
00:54:01,880 --> 00:54:04,920
left by his unsupported spine. His pistol was raised and

1156
00:54:04,920 --> 00:54:07,480
pointed directly at me. The trees growing out of the

1157
00:54:07,519 --> 00:54:10,480
hillside were far too small to hide behind. I could

1158
00:54:10,480 --> 00:54:13,519
only hope demons went great shots and keep climbing. Isiic

1159
00:54:13,559 --> 00:54:15,639
had gone a step further than hoping, and had begun

1160
00:54:15,679 --> 00:54:18,719
to beseech God for salvation. But as I resumed my climb,

1161
00:54:18,800 --> 00:54:21,639
he followed suit. The next bullet stuck in a tree.

1162
00:54:22,079 --> 00:54:25,000
The one after the exploded a rock between us. My

1163
00:54:25,079 --> 00:54:26,920
hands were growing slick with sweat, and I feared I

1164
00:54:26,920 --> 00:54:29,880
wouldn't be able to maintain a grip much longer. Over Here,

1165
00:54:29,960 --> 00:54:32,360
I sick shoudered out of the blue. I shimmered over

1166
00:54:32,360 --> 00:54:34,679
to him and saw what he had found. The narrow

1167
00:54:34,800 --> 00:54:36,440
mouth of a small cave was yawning as from a

1168
00:54:36,480 --> 00:54:40,159
jagged out crop. I sik slid into it first. Normally

1169
00:54:40,199 --> 00:54:42,920
I wouldn't blindly dive into a small, enclosed space, but

1170
00:54:42,960 --> 00:54:45,000
a bullet struck the dout four inches from my right

1171
00:54:45,000 --> 00:54:47,679
hand and gave me all the encouragement I needed. The

1172
00:54:47,760 --> 00:54:50,760
cave's narrow mouth had been deceptive. When I slid through it,

1173
00:54:50,960 --> 00:54:52,840
my feet dropped down far enough that when they finally

1174
00:54:52,920 --> 00:54:55,800
hid the ground, I was able to stand upright. Isaac

1175
00:54:55,880 --> 00:54:57,760
and I both stood beneath the opening for a minute

1176
00:54:57,800 --> 00:55:00,519
and caught our breath. We should try to warn Iac

1177
00:55:00,559 --> 00:55:03,480
finally suggested. He pulled out his phone, tapped the screen

1178
00:55:03,519 --> 00:55:05,400
a few times, and held it up to his ear.

1179
00:55:05,960 --> 00:55:08,159
I could hear it faintly ringing, and then read stale

1180
00:55:08,199 --> 00:55:10,960
voice saying you've reached Rigel. Police chief read and Ica

1181
00:55:11,039 --> 00:55:13,719
hung up. He called back when he sees you, called

1182
00:55:13,800 --> 00:55:16,639
I hope aloud. Isaac kept his phone in hand and

1183
00:55:16,679 --> 00:55:19,920
turned on its flashlight feature. He shone it into the cave.

1184
00:55:20,639 --> 00:55:22,639
It had a throat which descended a shot grate into

1185
00:55:22,679 --> 00:55:25,280
the bowels of the hill. It wanted to swallow us,

1186
00:55:25,360 --> 00:55:26,960
and I wanted to let it purely for the sake

1187
00:55:27,000 --> 00:55:30,639
of survival. Where do you think it let out, he asked.

1188
00:55:31,280 --> 00:55:33,679
I'm not sure, I said, honestly, but wherever it has

1189
00:55:33,719 --> 00:55:36,360
to be safer than here. We might have escaped the bullet,

1190
00:55:36,519 --> 00:55:39,760
but this cave WoT stopped. That dog, agreed, Isaac said,

1191
00:55:39,800 --> 00:55:42,480
and slowly made his way toward the throat. Going down

1192
00:55:42,559 --> 00:55:45,320
was much faster than coming up, but not necessarily easier.

1193
00:55:45,920 --> 00:55:48,559
The stone esophagus had been smoothed by censuries of erosion.

1194
00:55:49,079 --> 00:55:52,679
A glistening layer of moisture made it surface quite slick. Thankfully,

1195
00:55:52,800 --> 00:55:54,800
there were a few stretches where the slick surface came

1196
00:55:54,840 --> 00:55:57,760
in handy, and we could simply slide down. Soon we

1197
00:55:57,800 --> 00:55:59,920
were both down in the belly of the hill. I

1198
00:56:00,159 --> 00:56:02,159
was surprised to see what looked like daylight up ahead,

1199
00:56:02,239 --> 00:56:06,480
and to hear dripping water away out Aaac wondered aloud

1200
00:56:06,519 --> 00:56:09,360
as he pointed towards the light. I smiled and gestured

1201
00:56:09,360 --> 00:56:11,440
for him to lead the way. I felt like we

1202
00:56:11,480 --> 00:56:13,559
had slid down a secret tube in super Mario and

1203
00:56:13,599 --> 00:56:16,559
by passed the danger above. My relief had given birth

1204
00:56:16,559 --> 00:56:18,639
to a fat, slimy confidence baby that I was about

1205
00:56:18,639 --> 00:56:21,159
to learn couldn't survive the cold, dark world inside the hill.

1206
00:56:21,719 --> 00:56:24,480
Asak and I crept toward the light, I kept waiting

1207
00:56:24,480 --> 00:56:26,320
to hear the black dog following us, but it left

1208
00:56:26,400 --> 00:56:29,119
us alone. Speculating as to why the dog had given

1209
00:56:29,159 --> 00:56:31,679
up so easily made me sweat. I couldn't help but

1210
00:56:31,719 --> 00:56:33,400
wonder if it had left us to a worse fate.

1211
00:56:34,119 --> 00:56:36,639
A wide turn lay just ahead. We could tell the

1212
00:56:36,719 --> 00:56:38,920
light shining down and across the cave floor were spilling

1213
00:56:38,920 --> 00:56:41,800
from a source around the bend. I'll go first, I

1214
00:56:41,840 --> 00:56:44,760
told Isaac. He fell in line behind me, and we

1215
00:56:44,800 --> 00:56:47,159
both hugged the icy wall as we slid around the curve.

1216
00:56:47,760 --> 00:56:49,920
The drooping sounds were amplified the closer we got to

1217
00:56:49,920 --> 00:56:52,400
the light. If we hadn't been underground, I might have

1218
00:56:52,440 --> 00:56:54,800
thought it was raining. Up ahead. I took a few

1219
00:56:54,800 --> 00:56:57,880
more steps before stopping abruptly in surprise. Up ahead was

1220
00:56:57,880 --> 00:57:00,760
a splintered door of a crumbling brick facade, uttered windows,

1221
00:57:00,800 --> 00:57:03,599
and the traumatized roof of the funeral home. Water was

1222
00:57:03,639 --> 00:57:05,480
dripping down all around it from the edges of the

1223
00:57:05,480 --> 00:57:07,559
sinkhole that had brought the building down into the cave.

1224
00:57:08,199 --> 00:57:10,599
There were no lights on inside, obviously, but I was

1225
00:57:10,639 --> 00:57:13,559
horrified to hear movement behind the walls. Do you think

1226
00:57:13,599 --> 00:57:17,519
she's still alive? I sic passed from behind me. Who,

1227
00:57:17,840 --> 00:57:21,719
I asked bareness the mortician. They said she was inside

1228
00:57:21,719 --> 00:57:24,320
when the funeral home went I suppose we have to

1229
00:57:24,400 --> 00:57:28,159
check now, don't we, I replied bitterly. Judging by the

1230
00:57:28,199 --> 00:57:30,800
orange tailor glowing above the sunken funeral home, the sun

1231
00:57:30,880 --> 00:57:32,880
was beginning its trip to the other side of the world.

1232
00:57:33,480 --> 00:57:35,400
Night time was coming, and I wanted to escape the

1233
00:57:35,440 --> 00:57:39,480
cave before it arrived. We'll be quick, I sac said. Besides,

1234
00:57:39,639 --> 00:57:41,960
I bet all those corps of firefighters are still standing

1235
00:57:41,960 --> 00:57:44,000
around up there. We can shout for help if anything

1236
00:57:44,000 --> 00:57:46,280
goes wrong, as long as they don't want to kill us,

1237
00:57:46,360 --> 00:57:50,320
I said, Lead the way. Ic approached the door confidently,

1238
00:57:50,400 --> 00:57:52,960
but then seemed to shrink against the funeral home's hollow presence.

1239
00:57:53,599 --> 00:57:55,840
He shone his light into the darkness inside, but it

1240
00:57:55,920 --> 00:57:58,199
barely cut past a welcome mat, which lay as hue

1241
00:57:58,239 --> 00:58:02,519
and folded over itself. Hello, I, Sike, murmured into the darkness.

1242
00:58:03,159 --> 00:58:05,519
We both jumped back when a metal tree crang out.

1243
00:58:06,119 --> 00:58:09,800
It was followed by a loud echoing clank berness. I

1244
00:58:09,840 --> 00:58:12,960
s hold, sounding stronger now, at least now he knew

1245
00:58:12,960 --> 00:58:16,719
there was definitely someone inside. Maybe she's hurt and count respond,

1246
00:58:16,840 --> 00:58:20,760
I offered, we should hurry, Ic reply, follow me in

1247
00:58:20,800 --> 00:58:23,239
stay cloths. I've been inside this building far too often.

1248
00:58:23,320 --> 00:58:25,440
Is dark and crooked now, but I can still find

1249
00:58:25,440 --> 00:58:27,559
my way around. The wet and even floor made our

1250
00:58:27,599 --> 00:58:30,280
exploration precarious. It would have been quite easy to slip

1251
00:58:30,280 --> 00:58:32,159
and t astore brick an angle ice glad me past

1252
00:58:32,159 --> 00:58:34,559
the entryway into sort of foy where coffin unrollers its

1253
00:58:34,599 --> 00:58:36,239
mass to hold the size of a truck tire in

1254
00:58:36,280 --> 00:58:38,159
the drywalk. The coffin itself now lay on its side,

1255
00:58:38,199 --> 00:58:40,519
with the bottom facing ass I involuntarily held my birth

1256
00:58:40,559 --> 00:58:43,599
as Ike approached the Capsay's Copp's vessel. It's empty, he said.

1257
00:58:43,679 --> 00:58:46,480
I felt moments relief before he uttered it. Dismayed, Oh, oh,

1258
00:58:46,559 --> 00:58:49,280
but it hasn't always been, not now, Isaac, I really

1259
00:58:49,280 --> 00:58:51,360
don't have the patience for jokes. Isaac turned to me,

1260
00:58:51,519 --> 00:58:53,559
and the sunken corners of his mouth assured me he

1261
00:58:53,599 --> 00:58:56,239
was most certainly not joking. Come see for yourself, he said,

1262
00:58:56,280 --> 00:58:58,920
Those smears in the liner its foundation. Burness puts it

1263
00:58:58,960 --> 00:59:01,519
on bots before a visiting to disguise the discoloration and

1264
00:59:01,519 --> 00:59:03,440
make them more laugh like. But it's not. Actually the

1265
00:59:03,440 --> 00:59:05,400
first thing I noticed. Look here, he pointed to a

1266
00:59:05,400 --> 00:59:07,920
spot along the insideline. They're easily seen in the flask

1267
00:59:08,000 --> 00:59:09,880
light's glow, was thin print of a hand. Based in

1268
00:59:09,920 --> 00:59:12,679
the size, it belonged to an adult man, not Burness.

1269
00:59:12,679 --> 00:59:15,320
Full ride pastor think who's died recently? Who should be

1270
00:59:15,360 --> 00:59:18,400
in here? Well? This sam, obviously another scraping sort of

1271
00:59:18,400 --> 00:59:20,719
sand echoed down the hall. Another clid punctuated it and

1272
00:59:20,800 --> 00:59:23,079
chilled my blood. It wasn't Sund. Sund died too recently

1273
00:59:23,119 --> 00:59:25,079
to have been all dauled up. If that's even possible

1274
00:59:25,079 --> 00:59:27,159
to do to a guy who burned to death, I whispered.

1275
00:59:27,239 --> 00:59:29,199
Iiske and I were both staring down the hall where

1276
00:59:29,239 --> 00:59:30,840
the sound had come from. I think we have to

1277
00:59:30,840 --> 00:59:33,639
go down there, ask said chickily. No we don't, I said,

1278
00:59:33,679 --> 00:59:35,840
we can leave right now. If we climb up the building,

1279
00:59:35,920 --> 00:59:37,639
I bet we can get outside, and you just want

1280
00:59:37,679 --> 00:59:39,880
to abandon who I was back there a skat before

1281
00:59:39,920 --> 00:59:42,880
it was burnas now it's however, Isaac, if it's not bonus,

1282
00:59:42,920 --> 00:59:44,480
then it is to be. I was going to say

1283
00:59:44,480 --> 00:59:46,400
a dead guy, but my tongue refused to even form

1284
00:59:46,440 --> 00:59:48,960
this insane word. The very idea should have seemed ridiculous,

1285
00:59:49,039 --> 00:59:51,199
but down there in the dark, damp funeral home, it

1286
00:59:51,239 --> 00:59:53,719
seemed to horribly possible, especially having just been shot at

1287
00:59:53,719 --> 00:59:55,960
by a dead cop. Just Go, Isaac said, I have

1288
00:59:56,159 --> 00:59:58,079
duty to protect the people of this town against evil

1289
00:59:58,079 --> 01:00:00,119
and evildoers. You've got nothing but a drunken pack to

1290
01:00:00,159 --> 01:00:01,960
hold you again to Bok just Go. We had made

1291
01:00:01,960 --> 01:00:04,320
a pact, drunken or not, and I intended to uphold

1292
01:00:04,320 --> 01:00:06,000
my end of the deal. I still thought the best

1293
01:00:06,000 --> 01:00:07,920
option would be to leave the funeral home behind them

1294
01:00:07,960 --> 01:00:10,159
get back to the surface, but I gestured for us

1295
01:00:10,199 --> 01:00:12,199
to lead the way down the hole. Anyway. He drew along,

1296
01:00:12,320 --> 01:00:14,800
deep breath and stepped forward. There was another loud scrape

1297
01:00:14,800 --> 01:00:17,039
and to slam. This time, now we could pimpint the noises.

1298
01:00:17,079 --> 01:00:18,639
They were coming from a pitch black room at the

1299
01:00:18,719 --> 01:00:20,360
end of the hole to the right. I wanted so

1300
01:00:20,400 --> 01:00:22,239
badly to ask Kaysak what was in the room, but

1301
01:00:22,320 --> 01:00:24,920
I dared not speak. Even a whisper, I feared could

1302
01:00:24,920 --> 01:00:26,880
allow whoever or whatever it was in that dark room

1303
01:00:26,960 --> 01:00:29,440
terror approach. Iasac stopped when we reached the black doorway,

1304
01:00:29,480 --> 01:00:31,159
and I bumped into him. We were so close to

1305
01:00:31,199 --> 01:00:32,880
each other I could hear the whispers of his shirt

1306
01:00:32,960 --> 01:00:35,119
rubbing against the wall as he shivered with fear. Someone

1307
01:00:35,239 --> 01:00:37,719
was definitely moving around inside the room. This sounded slow,

1308
01:00:37,760 --> 01:00:39,800
und in us, like an elephant in a zoo. Again

1309
01:00:39,840 --> 01:00:41,719
there came a graving sound. This time I could hear

1310
01:00:41,719 --> 01:00:44,239
another sound beneath it. It sounded like small rocks tumbling down

1311
01:00:44,239 --> 01:00:46,639
a hillside. The noise that seized momentarily then repeated at

1312
01:00:46,639 --> 01:00:49,039
double or triple speed, and ended with a reverberating clank,

1313
01:00:49,159 --> 01:00:51,599
not rocks. I decided to roll us wheels beneath the

1314
01:00:51,679 --> 01:00:53,719
large drawer. Now it was my turn to shiver as

1315
01:00:53,760 --> 01:00:55,960
I realized what kind of giant draws could be found

1316
01:00:56,000 --> 01:00:58,039
in a funeral home. Asked put his hand over his

1317
01:00:58,119 --> 01:01:00,119
light and slowly moved it into the doorway. Then he

1318
01:01:00,119 --> 01:01:02,360
carefully potted his fingers to allow lead a light rue.

1319
01:01:02,360 --> 01:01:04,320
There were four of them, and three were naked. They

1320
01:01:04,320 --> 01:01:06,480
all went still when the Wagli brushed their skin. They

1321
01:01:06,519 --> 01:01:08,519
were all colored by different shades of gray with dull

1322
01:01:08,559 --> 01:01:10,719
blotches here and there. Than the first woman, who I

1323
01:01:10,719 --> 01:01:13,639
didn't recognize. Purple spots were pulled around her eyes, mouth,

1324
01:01:13,800 --> 01:01:15,679
and stomach. The next in line was also a woman.

1325
01:01:15,719 --> 01:01:17,719
She was clothed in liveler looking besides a sword of

1326
01:01:17,760 --> 01:01:20,440
yellow discoloration around her mouth. I assumed this was Bernas.

1327
01:01:20,480 --> 01:01:22,480
The third was to friendly taxi driver who had brought

1328
01:01:22,519 --> 01:01:24,280
me to riddvel Bill. I nearly allowed a gasp to

1329
01:01:24,280 --> 01:01:25,960
slip through my teeth when I saw him. He had

1330
01:01:26,000 --> 01:01:27,880
a reddish patch around his chest and for it that

1331
01:01:27,920 --> 01:01:29,800
looked like a crop total neck. I bet you didn't

1332
01:01:29,880 --> 01:01:31,760
know he was dead, did you? The voice of the

1333
01:01:31,800 --> 01:01:34,400
fourth most horrifying body I could my thoughts. I stumbled

1334
01:01:34,400 --> 01:01:36,719
back against the opposite wall. I hadn't been able to

1335
01:01:36,719 --> 01:01:38,480
tell whether this body had belonged to a man or

1336
01:01:38,519 --> 01:01:40,559
woman until he spoke. His skin had flaked away from

1337
01:01:40,639 --> 01:01:43,079
ninety percent of his body. His bones were like charcoal.

1338
01:01:43,159 --> 01:01:45,039
His skull had when hollow, socket and one were just

1339
01:01:45,079 --> 01:01:47,639
a loose with a eyeball, and his voice, the voice

1340
01:01:47,639 --> 01:01:49,639
that had been do small fear than the body's appearance,

1341
01:01:49,760 --> 01:01:51,320
belonged to the man I had shared a meal with

1342
01:01:51,320 --> 01:01:53,039
one rainy day, the man who had given me the

1343
01:01:53,079 --> 01:01:55,039
Curst watch and kicked this whole thing off. The voice

1344
01:01:55,079 --> 01:01:57,639
belonged to sam as Sund stepped forward. Ask told me

1345
01:01:57,679 --> 01:01:59,679
to run. At the sound of Icek's voice, the other

1346
01:01:59,719 --> 01:02:02,079
three boarders awoke, their eyes flashed as I spun around

1347
01:02:02,079 --> 01:02:03,639
to run back the way we had come. We run

1348
01:02:03,679 --> 01:02:06,159
out of the collapsed funeral home, round the cave bend

1349
01:02:06,360 --> 01:02:08,159
and up to the steep slope we had slid down

1350
01:02:08,199 --> 01:02:10,239
to escape the dark. There's no way we can climb this,

1351
01:02:10,559 --> 01:02:12,719
I said, I know, Aasak said. We looked at each

1352
01:02:12,719 --> 01:02:15,039
other stupidly for a second. Then I searched the cave

1353
01:02:15,119 --> 01:02:17,400
around us. Finally, I said, turn off the light and

1354
01:02:17,480 --> 01:02:19,719
get behind the rock. Let's just wait them out. I

1355
01:02:19,800 --> 01:02:21,880
pointed to a boulder about five feet away. We made

1356
01:02:21,920 --> 01:02:24,159
our weight before Ask shut off the flasklight. Maybe you

1357
01:02:24,159 --> 01:02:26,920
should try the chief again, I whispered, while Aasak still

1358
01:02:27,000 --> 01:02:29,400
at his fur nap. I don't have a signal, he replied. Wait.

1359
01:02:29,559 --> 01:02:31,559
I shushed Disk and held my breath. I thought I

1360
01:02:31,639 --> 01:02:33,639
had heard a commanding voice shutting in the distance. Then

1361
01:02:33,679 --> 01:02:35,320
we both heard it. I couldn't make out what the

1362
01:02:35,400 --> 01:02:37,360
man was saying, but he sounded it scared. Then came

1363
01:02:37,360 --> 01:02:39,840
the gunshots, dozens of them. It sounded like a fireworks

1364
01:02:39,880 --> 01:02:42,320
display popping off just above us. That first I was scared,

1365
01:02:42,519 --> 01:02:44,920
Then as the last shots faded away, I allowed myself

1366
01:02:44,960 --> 01:02:46,760
to hope had we just been rescued. We waited a

1367
01:02:46,760 --> 01:02:49,000
few more minutes, but when the fresh silence lingered, we

1368
01:02:49,079 --> 01:02:51,599
crept back into the open. Asked didn't turn the flasklight

1369
01:02:51,719 --> 01:02:53,559
back on, and I didn't ask him to. There was

1370
01:02:53,639 --> 01:02:55,280
enough light coming in from the sink hole to see

1371
01:02:55,280 --> 01:02:57,440
where we were going without giving ourselves away. While we

1372
01:02:57,480 --> 01:02:59,480
made our way back to the opening, I asked, Isaac,

1373
01:02:59,599 --> 01:03:01,719
did you know there's other dead people? Isa cleared his

1374
01:03:01,840 --> 01:03:03,880
ferorud and said, I recognized two of them. One was

1375
01:03:03,880 --> 01:03:06,079
a woman from my congregation. She always came alone to

1376
01:03:06,159 --> 01:03:08,599
her husband. Well, let's just say he could have used

1377
01:03:08,639 --> 01:03:10,519
the Lord's light in his life. This isn't a time

1378
01:03:10,559 --> 01:03:12,719
to be vrake. Ask what did her husband dear? He

1379
01:03:13,039 --> 01:03:15,039
he was a drunkend, a wife beater. She always wore

1380
01:03:15,039 --> 01:03:17,840
a loose clothes to hide the bruises. Apparently he took

1381
01:03:17,840 --> 01:03:19,719
the abuse all the way this time. But you didn't

1382
01:03:19,760 --> 01:03:21,679
hear about her death, I asked, it must have been

1383
01:03:21,719 --> 01:03:23,440
in the last day or so. I've been so caught

1384
01:03:23,480 --> 01:03:25,559
up with the fire, and you don't have to make excuses.

1385
01:03:25,639 --> 01:03:28,119
I understand. I'm just trying to put everything together. I

1386
01:03:28,199 --> 01:03:30,079
need the other man. His name was Belled. He was

1387
01:03:30,119 --> 01:03:32,480
a taxi driver. Yeah, I know, he was the type

1388
01:03:32,519 --> 01:03:34,519
you only see a church on holidays. But he was

1389
01:03:34,559 --> 01:03:36,559
such a friendly guy. I couldn't have forgotten him. So

1390
01:03:36,719 --> 01:03:39,400
you think he was also killed recently, I asked, Isak, shocked.

1391
01:03:39,440 --> 01:03:41,400
We had reached the funeral home again and stopped to

1392
01:03:41,440 --> 01:03:43,840
listen for movement. The whole world felt dead on my lead,

1393
01:03:43,880 --> 01:03:46,599
who scaled the lopsided building, climbing the collapse roof and

1394
01:03:46,719 --> 01:03:48,960
reaching the precipice of the sinkhole. I pulled myself out

1395
01:03:49,000 --> 01:03:50,920
and turned to Graveask's hand. The look I saw on

1396
01:03:51,000 --> 01:03:53,000
his face paralyzed me. I had to read his lips.

1397
01:03:53,119 --> 01:03:55,639
He made practically no sound, as hem out, don't move.

1398
01:03:55,719 --> 01:03:59,159
I heard a creaky, popping noise behind me. Now, Isaac screamed, duck.

1399
01:03:59,360 --> 01:04:01,000
I dove to this side and rolled over to see

1400
01:04:01,000 --> 01:04:02,920
a police officer with a hole in his chest, point

1401
01:04:02,960 --> 01:04:04,599
in his service weapon where I had just been. I

1402
01:04:04,679 --> 01:04:06,360
crab walked away from him into the hole and saw

1403
01:04:06,440 --> 01:04:10,159
the rest of the emergency crew, firefitters, waterworks, m's and Bernice,

1404
01:04:10,239 --> 01:04:12,960
all covered with copious amounts of blood, all with fatal injuries,

1405
01:04:13,039 --> 01:04:14,840
and all with the same hateful energy full in there

1406
01:04:14,840 --> 01:04:17,119
otherwise void eyes. The gun in the officer's hand went off.

1407
01:04:17,119 --> 01:04:19,199
The bullet missed me by inches. Three other dead officers

1408
01:04:19,239 --> 01:04:21,239
raised the guns in my direction. I called into a ball,

1409
01:04:21,400 --> 01:04:23,559
making myself as small as I possibly could. I didn't

1410
01:04:23,639 --> 01:04:25,880
know what else to do. Stand down, A commanding voice

1411
01:04:25,880 --> 01:04:28,519
shouted through the radios attached to every emergency worker. Half

1412
01:04:28,519 --> 01:04:30,000
a dozen and dead heads turned to look at the

1413
01:04:30,119 --> 01:04:32,400
radios as if they had never seen them before. I repeat,

1414
01:04:32,480 --> 01:04:34,519
stand down. The voice shouted again, this time that I

1415
01:04:34,639 --> 01:04:37,360
recognized it, his writs. The reanimated cup nearest me seemingly

1416
01:04:37,400 --> 01:04:39,840
decided to ignore the strange talking object on his shoulder

1417
01:04:39,880 --> 01:04:41,840
and trained his weapon arm me once again. That sit

1418
01:04:41,960 --> 01:04:44,159
the radio crackled. I heard sirens wind up as an

1419
01:04:44,199 --> 01:04:45,920
engine rod just out of sight to the west, the

1420
01:04:46,000 --> 01:04:49,000
Chief's car rushed into view, going seventy maybe eighty milesborough ire.

1421
01:04:49,159 --> 01:04:51,480
He hit the waterworks crew first, sending them both flying

1422
01:04:51,519 --> 01:04:53,760
over the car. Reds light Boire was damaged, but he

1423
01:04:53,840 --> 01:04:56,280
kept coming. He flattened one cup and center firefighter, flying

1424
01:04:56,360 --> 01:04:59,159
before striking another one firefitter, and two E and T later.

1425
01:04:59,280 --> 01:05:00,920
The cop with his gun trained on me was the

1426
01:05:01,000 --> 01:05:03,000
only demon's on me left that was too light. Red

1427
01:05:03,119 --> 01:05:04,880
had cleared the rest of the danger, but the gun

1428
01:05:05,000 --> 01:05:06,960
was aimed right at my head and I had zero defense.

1429
01:05:07,000 --> 01:05:08,519
I could hear the soup to prow of a chief's

1430
01:05:08,519 --> 01:05:10,840
car barreling toward me in a feudal attempt at rescue,

1431
01:05:10,920 --> 01:05:12,480
but I knew he wouldn't make it. I chose not

1432
01:05:12,559 --> 01:05:14,280
to look into my killers as knowing I would not

1433
01:05:14,360 --> 01:05:16,800
see a police officer but a demon. Instead, I chose

1434
01:05:16,800 --> 01:05:18,400
to look straight down the bowel of the gun, not

1435
01:05:18,480 --> 01:05:20,880
giving beals whatever the satisfaction of seeing my fear. The

1436
01:05:20,920 --> 01:05:23,159
cop was already squeezing the trigger when icac obupted from

1437
01:05:23,159 --> 01:05:25,480
the sinkhole and grabbed his ankles. He went down hard.

1438
01:05:25,639 --> 01:05:28,320
Red score car flattened his body a second later, spraying

1439
01:05:28,360 --> 01:05:30,800
me with blood and little bits of soft warm tissue.

1440
01:05:30,840 --> 01:05:33,000
I didn't even notice. I had been expecting death and

1441
01:05:33,119 --> 01:05:35,000
was simply stune to still be breathing slowly at the

1442
01:05:35,039 --> 01:05:37,039
veil that had descended upon the world around me. Lifted

1443
01:05:37,079 --> 01:05:39,519
and I heard ask saying no, shouting my name over

1444
01:05:39,599 --> 01:05:41,519
and over and over. I wanted to throw up, but

1445
01:05:41,599 --> 01:05:44,079
instead I laughed. I laughed so hard I fell onto

1446
01:05:44,119 --> 01:05:46,719
my back. Icek looked scared rightfully so in handsight, and

1447
01:05:46,840 --> 01:05:48,800
it just made me laugh harder. I continued to laugh

1448
01:05:48,840 --> 01:05:51,320
until the Chief walked over, grabbed my collar and smapped

1449
01:05:51,320 --> 01:05:53,159
me across the face. Get up, he said, you're just

1450
01:05:53,239 --> 01:05:55,880
dumping adrenaline. This is far from over. I collected myself

1451
01:05:55,920 --> 01:05:57,760
and stood. The Chief was looking out at the field

1452
01:05:57,760 --> 01:05:59,760
of manual, the bodies and muddy tracks. Tis felled his

1453
01:05:59,840 --> 01:06:01,920
eyes as he growled. You wouldn't answer. You're a damfron

1454
01:06:02,000 --> 01:06:03,920
We'd tried to call, but we had no signal. Isaac

1455
01:06:04,000 --> 01:06:06,480
said we were. It doesn't matter, We've already lost. What

1456
01:06:06,599 --> 01:06:08,760
do you mean, I asked, Come with me, he said grimly.

1457
01:06:08,800 --> 01:06:10,880
We loaded into his blood spattered car. His wipe a

1458
01:06:10,920 --> 01:06:13,440
blade squeaked across the red street. Winchelton got stuck halfway

1459
01:06:13,480 --> 01:06:15,199
with a grunt of red sprayed wipe a fluid on it.

1460
01:06:15,280 --> 01:06:17,000
And freed them. He had to repeat the spray white

1461
01:06:17,000 --> 01:06:19,400
cycle four times before he could see clearly enough to drive.

1462
01:06:19,519 --> 01:06:21,559
Even then, the sunset looked a little two red through

1463
01:06:21,559 --> 01:06:23,360
the glass, not that there was much of a sunset

1464
01:06:23,440 --> 01:06:25,000
left to see. The sun looked like the tip of

1465
01:06:25,039 --> 01:06:27,239
a finger and nail slipping away between the hills. We

1466
01:06:27,320 --> 01:06:29,599
were minutes from darkness when Red sped us back into town,

1467
01:06:29,639 --> 01:06:31,639
as if he was aggressively trying to capture the last

1468
01:06:31,679 --> 01:06:33,599
bit of light. Red. There was a guy down there,

1469
01:06:34,320 --> 01:06:38,239
a taxi driver named William Fetterman. Yea, he was killed

1470
01:06:38,280 --> 01:06:40,639
in the job last night. I just found out a

1471
01:06:40,679 --> 01:06:43,039
couple of hours ago. He's a part of this. Now.

1472
01:06:43,760 --> 01:06:47,559
Was there a woman killed? Two? Isa casted, not sure

1473
01:06:48,400 --> 01:06:51,400
she was from the city. I think I didn't recognize her.

1474
01:06:52,159 --> 01:06:56,239
You saw her, I asked, I hit her, and I

1475
01:06:56,320 --> 01:06:59,079
think I stopped her. She almost got away with Bill.

1476
01:06:59,679 --> 01:07:02,880
By then we had gotten downtown. The town felt lifeless.

1477
01:07:03,639 --> 01:07:05,719
Not one person was outside or in the windows of

1478
01:07:05,719 --> 01:07:08,960
any building we passed. The automatic street lamp supplied the

1479
01:07:09,000 --> 01:07:11,880
early light as the sun made his final descent. Where

1480
01:07:12,000 --> 01:07:16,000
is everyone, I asked? A lot of them are probably dead,

1481
01:07:16,719 --> 01:07:19,239
Some of them have probably locked up and hidden themselves.

1482
01:07:19,960 --> 01:07:22,800
The rest they're probably going to bed with no idea

1483
01:07:22,840 --> 01:07:25,800
what's going on outside. Chief, We don't even know what's

1484
01:07:25,840 --> 01:07:27,920
going on. Are you going to fill us an any

1485
01:07:27,960 --> 01:07:30,599
time soon? Or just keep sight seeing? Red pulled over

1486
01:07:30,639 --> 01:07:33,760
and killed his head lights. Then he unbuckled and turned

1487
01:07:33,760 --> 01:07:36,239
in his seat to better face us. Both. My entire

1488
01:07:36,320 --> 01:07:38,840
force has fled or been killed, not that it was

1489
01:07:38,880 --> 01:07:42,119
that big to start with. Were the rest? Did you

1490
01:07:42,239 --> 01:07:46,039
have to? I succeeded struggle with his question, did I

1491
01:07:46,119 --> 01:07:48,760
have to kill all my people? Is that what you're wandering?

1492
01:07:49,440 --> 01:07:54,440
Red asked, Isaac nodded nervously. Most sim stool got away

1493
01:07:54,480 --> 01:07:56,679
there now. To be clear, they were dead before I

1494
01:07:56,760 --> 01:07:58,360
had to put them down, like the ones who were

1495
01:07:58,400 --> 01:08:00,440
just trying to kill you back there. I think their

1496
01:08:00,480 --> 01:08:03,440
bodies are being used, or controlled or possessed, Isac said.

1497
01:08:04,000 --> 01:08:06,880
Demonic possession of living people is a well documented phenomena

1498
01:08:06,920 --> 01:08:10,519
going back centuries millennia. Even However, I'm unaware of any

1499
01:08:10,559 --> 01:08:13,119
incident where a demon took over a dead person a

1500
01:08:13,159 --> 01:08:16,680
whole gang of demons, I said, Well, not necessarily, ask

1501
01:08:16,760 --> 01:08:20,239
replied thoughtfully. I'm wondering if this one Beuzibo, who we

1502
01:08:20,279 --> 01:08:22,359
already know has an unholy amount of power and a

1503
01:08:22,479 --> 01:08:25,079
tendency towards breaking the rules, is able to control multiple

1504
01:08:25,159 --> 01:08:27,680
human vessels at once if they are already dead. I

1505
01:08:27,760 --> 01:08:29,720
just seem it takes less focus and energy to power

1506
01:08:29,800 --> 01:08:33,399
corpse than to manipulate a living, wilful person. Well, we

1507
01:08:33,479 --> 01:08:37,359
can't exercise the whole town, can we? Red asked, No,

1508
01:08:37,760 --> 01:08:42,119
not me anyway? What about the watch, I asked, It's

1509
01:08:42,159 --> 01:08:45,079
how he got Salmon almost got me right. If I

1510
01:08:45,119 --> 01:08:47,079
had kept worrying it, it probably would have been me

1511
01:08:47,239 --> 01:08:49,319
laying face down in that creak instead of the worthing. Boy,

1512
01:08:49,359 --> 01:08:51,800
it's not a genie, Isac replied. Demons are confined to

1513
01:08:51,840 --> 01:08:53,560
objects the way you see and move as the concert

1514
01:08:53,600 --> 01:08:56,000
and the utilized physical items to concentrate their power, which

1515
01:08:56,039 --> 01:08:57,720
is what I'm guessing happened with the watch. She said.

1516
01:08:57,760 --> 01:09:01,039
Bad things happened whenever you took the watch off, right, Yeah,

1517
01:09:01,239 --> 01:09:02,560
that was the path. And and what did you do

1518
01:09:02,640 --> 01:09:05,119
about that? Well, before I brought it to you, or

1519
01:09:05,159 --> 01:09:07,600
I just started wearing it all the time, it seemed

1520
01:09:07,600 --> 01:09:09,800
to keep the bad stuff at bay, and that's what

1521
01:09:09,960 --> 01:09:12,840
it wanted. He started wearing a watch like Sam, and

1522
01:09:12,920 --> 01:09:15,119
it convinced you to bring it to me. But Sam

1523
01:09:15,199 --> 01:09:18,000
burned down the church, didn't he How was he still

1524
01:09:18,039 --> 01:09:20,399
possessed if he had given up the watch. That's what

1525
01:09:20,479 --> 01:09:23,760
I'm saying, Patrick, the demon doesn't need the physical item.

1526
01:09:23,880 --> 01:09:25,760
To just think about a magnifying glass in the sun.

1527
01:09:26,359 --> 01:09:28,720
It doesn't create sunlight. It just focuses it and makes

1528
01:09:28,760 --> 01:09:32,039
it stronger, more dangerous. By bringing that watch to me,

1529
01:09:32,319 --> 01:09:35,920
you essentially pointed a magnifying glass at the church. When Sam,

1530
01:09:36,119 --> 01:09:38,600
under the demon's control, performed his ritual. All that evil

1531
01:09:38,760 --> 01:09:41,439
energy had a perfect target. If you're right, shouldn't the

1532
01:09:41,479 --> 01:09:44,960
watch have been inside the funeral home? Red asked, going

1533
01:09:45,000 --> 01:09:48,199
along your theory, that was little Wade Worthing's target. Probably.

1534
01:09:48,960 --> 01:09:50,800
I bet if we had searched in there a little longer,

1535
01:09:51,000 --> 01:09:54,159
we would have come across it Iske said. Somewhere uphead,

1536
01:09:54,199 --> 01:09:57,640
a woman screamed her cries, peaced acquired outside and echoed

1537
01:09:57,640 --> 01:10:00,439
off the still buildings. Red pulled his seat, brought back

1538
01:10:00,439 --> 01:10:02,840
into place, and put the car and drive. He left

1539
01:10:02,880 --> 01:10:05,600
his headlights off there. We said nothing as we rushed

1540
01:10:05,600 --> 01:10:07,560
from block to block, searching for the woman who had

1541
01:10:07,600 --> 01:10:11,760
screened he spreading. Isaac muttered, Hey, Red, do you have

1542
01:10:11,800 --> 01:10:15,239
a loud speaker on this thing? Yeah? Red or bled absently.

1543
01:10:15,920 --> 01:10:18,600
All of his attention was on the windows. We need

1544
01:10:18,680 --> 01:10:21,119
to get on it and warn everyone. Maybe we can

1545
01:10:21,199 --> 01:10:23,920
still get the survivors out of here. Be My guest

1546
01:10:24,560 --> 01:10:27,279
were detached a hand held microphone from his Centa console

1547
01:10:27,439 --> 01:10:30,000
unit and handed it to me. Since Isaac was in

1548
01:10:30,039 --> 01:10:32,199
the back seat, I couldn't pass it to him. I

1549
01:10:32,319 --> 01:10:34,079
pressed a button on the side and heard the loud

1550
01:10:34,079 --> 01:10:37,079
speaker squark above us. Every one, get in your curs

1551
01:10:37,119 --> 01:10:39,720
and get out of town. You are all in serious danger.

1552
01:10:40,439 --> 01:10:43,159
To nunt talk to anyone and leave now there. Red

1553
01:10:43,239 --> 01:10:45,680
shouted as he jerked the wheel to the left. He

1554
01:10:45,760 --> 01:10:48,279
had seen a woman running for her life. He hid

1555
01:10:48,319 --> 01:10:51,000
a switch in the world outside started flashing red and blue.

1556
01:10:51,520 --> 01:10:53,720
The woman stopped running and a look of relief came

1557
01:10:53,760 --> 01:10:56,359
over her. She waved us down as Red pulled up.

1558
01:10:57,000 --> 01:10:59,199
Get in the back, he yelled through his clothes window.

1559
01:11:00,000 --> 01:11:02,279
A woman ran around the cart and opened the back door.

1560
01:11:02,960 --> 01:11:05,560
Come on, Isaac, her at her. She got one foot

1561
01:11:05,560 --> 01:11:08,560
into the car before something grand her. She screamed bloody

1562
01:11:08,640 --> 01:11:10,359
murder as she was dragged away from us, leaving the

1563
01:11:10,399 --> 01:11:13,520
back door wide open. I heard a sick, wet crunch,

1564
01:11:13,680 --> 01:11:17,119
and then the screaming stopped. Isaac shouted, Red, we got her.

1565
01:11:17,159 --> 01:11:19,199
He cut himself off with a choked shouted Bell. Naked

1566
01:11:19,239 --> 01:11:22,600
and Blooded appeared next to the door. Help me, Isaac screamed.

1567
01:11:22,640 --> 01:11:24,640
As Bill tried to get inside the cage back seat.

1568
01:11:25,399 --> 01:11:27,319
Isaac helt him off with a couple of kicks, but

1569
01:11:27,399 --> 01:11:29,479
it wasn't enough to keep the undead taxi driver out.

1570
01:11:30,159 --> 01:11:33,000
Hang on. Red grunted. He threw the car into a

1571
01:11:33,039 --> 01:11:35,960
reverse and floored it. Dal's feet went out from under

1572
01:11:36,000 --> 01:11:37,960
him and his head splattered in the inside of the door.

1573
01:11:38,560 --> 01:11:40,880
The car jolted as the front tire on Red's side

1574
01:11:40,920 --> 01:11:43,840
bounced over Bill's body. Before Red could put the car

1575
01:11:43,920 --> 01:11:46,000
back and drive, the other back door was opened from

1576
01:11:46,039 --> 01:11:49,239
the outside. The screaming woman appeared again, with half of

1577
01:11:49,279 --> 01:11:52,239
her skull bashed in within human strength, she pulled I

1578
01:11:52,319 --> 01:11:55,239
scout of the car. Red and I got out simultaneously

1579
01:11:55,319 --> 01:11:58,119
and rushed to his aid. The woman was already trottling

1580
01:11:58,199 --> 01:11:59,560
him by the time I got my hands on her

1581
01:11:59,600 --> 01:12:02,079
and tried to pull her away. Red went for her

1582
01:12:02,119 --> 01:12:05,000
hands struggling to open them so Eyaac could breathe. His

1583
01:12:05,119 --> 01:12:07,680
eyes were wide and reflected the flashing emergency lights as

1584
01:12:07,680 --> 01:12:10,079
he stared at me, begging me to save him. I

1585
01:12:10,159 --> 01:12:13,039
wrapped my own arm around the woman's throat and put

1586
01:12:13,079 --> 01:12:16,039
all my weight into dragging her down. Red finally loosened

1587
01:12:16,039 --> 01:12:17,840
a few of her fingers enough to get one hand off,

1588
01:12:17,920 --> 01:12:20,960
and she fell on top of me, thankfully. Red, though quickly,

1589
01:12:21,640 --> 01:12:23,720
he got behind the open car door and began bashing

1590
01:12:23,760 --> 01:12:26,520
against her. Three blows were enough to knock her off

1591
01:12:26,560 --> 01:12:30,239
of me. One, he shouted, Ic had already taken off.

1592
01:12:30,920 --> 01:12:32,960
I started to follow, but then I saw Bill's body.

1593
01:12:33,560 --> 01:12:35,560
He was laying with one arm beneath himself and the

1594
01:12:35,600 --> 01:12:39,760
other stretched on his wrist. I saw the watch go on,

1595
01:12:39,920 --> 01:12:42,600
I'll catch up. I yield. I crouched near Bill and

1596
01:12:42,680 --> 01:12:45,840
started removing the watch. Then I heard Ike and Red's

1597
01:12:45,840 --> 01:12:49,640
footsteps stop. I looked up. The road was blocked by

1598
01:12:49,640 --> 01:12:52,600
a wall of walking corpses. Sam was leading the pack.

1599
01:12:53,239 --> 01:12:55,359
I recognized the waitress who had served Sam, and I

1600
01:12:55,439 --> 01:12:57,680
meet Will subs Amon the dead, as well as others

1601
01:12:57,720 --> 01:12:59,800
I had only met briefy during my time in Ridgail.

1602
01:13:00,399 --> 01:13:03,439
They were all walking towards us, closing in. I stowed,

1603
01:13:03,520 --> 01:13:05,239
and I ske and Read. Both turned to run the

1604
01:13:05,239 --> 01:13:08,079
opposite direction, but that was also blocked by stupefied crowd.

1605
01:13:08,800 --> 01:13:12,079
This one was led by little Weightworthing number seventeen. The

1606
01:13:12,159 --> 01:13:14,560
three of us huddled together, unsure of what to do next.

1607
01:13:15,359 --> 01:13:17,399
You have witnessed the beginning, Sam said, in a deep

1608
01:13:17,479 --> 01:13:20,479
voice that rattled the windows around us. Give up now,

1609
01:13:20,560 --> 01:13:22,560
and I will bear you from having to witness the end.

1610
01:13:23,239 --> 01:13:26,079
All right past her, you're up. Red muttered, what do

1611
01:13:26,199 --> 01:13:28,560
we do now? I sick looked back at reds car,

1612
01:13:28,760 --> 01:13:31,439
but Wade Grip had already overtaken it. There were no

1613
01:13:31,560 --> 01:13:33,439
doors in the sides of either building. To our left

1614
01:13:33,479 --> 01:13:37,239
and right here, I said, handing Isaac the watch. Can

1615
01:13:37,359 --> 01:13:40,960
we use this? Sam saw this and laughed like a

1616
01:13:41,039 --> 01:13:44,960
magnifying glass ice it mumbled what I shouted at him.

1617
01:13:45,520 --> 01:13:51,199
It concentrates the power sunlight reflection a mirror. We can

1618
01:13:51,279 --> 01:13:53,439
turn his power against him if we can redirect it back.

1619
01:13:53,680 --> 01:13:56,319
But we need something. I Sick, spun around and reached

1620
01:13:56,319 --> 01:13:58,840
for my neck. I shoved him away, assuming he had

1621
01:13:58,880 --> 01:14:02,039
just been possessed. No, he shouted, your necklace, I need

1622
01:14:02,079 --> 01:14:04,960
your crucifix. I didn't know what he was getting at,

1623
01:14:05,119 --> 01:14:07,119
but I pulled my old necklace out from under my shirt.

1624
01:14:07,760 --> 01:14:10,159
Isac snatched it, pulling it hard enough to break the chain.

1625
01:14:10,720 --> 01:14:12,680
He clutched the little cross and the watch together in

1626
01:14:12,760 --> 01:14:16,680
one hand. Lord, hear my prayer, he said, loudly, show

1627
01:14:16,760 --> 01:14:20,800
this demon you strength. Both approaching groups halted. Suddenly. Some

1628
01:14:20,960 --> 01:14:22,960
of the body stopped in mid step and toppled over.

1629
01:14:23,640 --> 01:14:25,880
Others stood balance for a moment before they too fell.

1630
01:14:26,640 --> 01:14:29,600
Sam was the only one who remained standing. He seemed

1631
01:14:29,600 --> 01:14:33,800
to grow. His physical stature remained static, but his presence increased,

1632
01:14:34,199 --> 01:14:36,760
making it feel like he was leaming over us. All

1633
01:14:36,880 --> 01:14:39,880
the demon's energy had filled his feeble body. Let your

1634
01:14:39,960 --> 01:14:42,800
light overpower this darkness. Sam raised a hand, and a

1635
01:14:42,840 --> 01:14:46,319
glow emanated from ISAC's palm. Let your goodness overcome this evil.

1636
01:14:46,960 --> 01:14:50,000
His prayer was punctuated by an anguish fry. His hands

1637
01:14:50,000 --> 01:14:53,159
started to smoke. I clasped my own hands over his fists,

1638
01:14:53,239 --> 01:14:55,560
keeping the watch firmly enclosed and pressed against the cross.

1639
01:14:56,079 --> 01:14:58,880
The heat was nearly unbearable, even from me. I couldn't

1640
01:14:58,880 --> 01:15:01,359
imagine the pain ice must felt with the objects directly

1641
01:15:01,399 --> 01:15:03,800
on his skin. Just when I thought I couldn't hold

1642
01:15:03,840 --> 01:15:06,079
on any longer, where it clasped his hands over mine.

1643
01:15:06,600 --> 01:15:09,239
You will all burn in hell, Sam growled. He dropped

1644
01:15:09,279 --> 01:15:12,039
on to all fours and opened his mouth wide. Black

1645
01:15:12,079 --> 01:15:15,039
hair spurted from every pore on his body. A wiry

1646
01:15:15,119 --> 01:15:18,239
tail grew behind him. Before our eyes, he transformed into

1647
01:15:18,279 --> 01:15:21,159
the black dog. All of our hands burst into flames.

1648
01:15:21,840 --> 01:15:26,600
Red fell away, I stumbled back, Ia collapsed. His hand

1649
01:15:26,680 --> 01:15:29,279
hit the ground and opened the fire at that of

1650
01:15:29,319 --> 01:15:31,279
his palm flew through the air and hit the dogs

1651
01:15:31,319 --> 01:15:34,680
squarely in the mouth. Immediately, the flames turned a blinding white.

1652
01:15:35,159 --> 01:15:37,159
We all had to look away as the animal howled

1653
01:15:37,199 --> 01:15:39,640
in pain. By the time its cries faded away, the

1654
01:15:39,680 --> 01:15:43,079
fire flickered and vanished. Where the dog had stood, nothing

1655
01:15:43,119 --> 01:15:46,960
remained but the tiny steel cross, not even ash. Even

1656
01:15:47,000 --> 01:15:49,640
the necklace's chain had been burned up. We sat in

1657
01:15:49,680 --> 01:15:52,359
stun silence for what might have been a minute, maybe five.

1658
01:15:52,960 --> 01:15:56,079
Then Red laughed. The sound was so contagious I found

1659
01:15:56,119 --> 01:15:59,119
myself joining in a moment. Later, soon even Isaac was

1660
01:15:59,199 --> 01:16:02,000
laughing with relief. Tears of agony, but the laughter didn't last.

1661
01:16:02,720 --> 01:16:05,800
At some indefinable moment, it turned to sobbing. We cried

1662
01:16:05,840 --> 01:16:09,000
for ourselves, for our lost friends, and for all of Ridgeville.

1663
01:16:09,479 --> 01:16:11,399
The final had count found that out of Ridgeviell's three

1664
01:16:11,479 --> 01:16:15,600
hundred or so residents, only two dozen survived, including isoc Redemi.

1665
01:16:16,119 --> 01:16:18,600
The other survivors had all locked themselves into their homes

1666
01:16:18,640 --> 01:16:21,640
near the west end of town. Apparently the demon scourge

1667
01:16:21,640 --> 01:16:23,039
hadn't reached them yet. When I had put out the

1668
01:16:23,079 --> 01:16:25,000
message on the loudspeaker that had drawn them all back

1669
01:16:25,039 --> 01:16:27,880
to us. Isa classed his left hand to the burns.

1670
01:16:28,560 --> 01:16:30,960
His right, along with my hands and reds, were covered

1671
01:16:31,000 --> 01:16:33,760
with time and critical treatment. There was a sweeping cover

1672
01:16:33,920 --> 01:16:36,039
up to eave the fears of those nearby. Unexplained the

1673
01:16:36,079 --> 01:16:38,600
deaths of so many people in a single night. The

1674
01:16:38,680 --> 01:16:41,439
governor released the statement saying deadly chemicals from the funeral

1675
01:16:41,479 --> 01:16:43,600
home had leaped into the water supply after the water

1676
01:16:43,720 --> 01:16:46,600
main break had caused it to collapse. These chemicals were

1677
01:16:46,600 --> 01:16:48,640
said to have been consumed by almost every every one

1678
01:16:48,680 --> 01:16:51,199
in town, killing most of them. Those who know the

1679
01:16:51,239 --> 01:16:53,199
truth has stayed quiet until now, out of fear of

1680
01:16:53,279 --> 01:16:55,760
being labeled lunatic. Or having the authorities shut them up.

1681
01:16:56,359 --> 01:16:58,199
I'll admit I'm not sure what will happen to me

1682
01:16:58,279 --> 01:17:00,640
once have published this story, but the reality is whatever

1683
01:17:00,720 --> 01:17:02,399
happens won't be worse than what would have happened that

1684
01:17:02,520 --> 01:17:04,840
night if we hadn't stopped it. Now, I'm just trying

1685
01:17:04,880 --> 01:17:06,520
to tell everyone i can, to let them all know

1686
01:17:06,560 --> 01:17:09,600
how we put an end to that evil, and that

1687
01:17:09,760 --> 01:17:12,159
is the end. Thank you for listening, and I will

1688
01:17:12,159 --> 01:17:13,039
see you in the next one.