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Speaker 1: When I found what was left with my grandfather. He

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didn't look like he was any closer to God, his

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flesh creaking like the bows of a tree. I might

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not have recognized what I was looking at if he

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hadn't whimpered at my light. I'd only met him once

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before that I was about ten or so. I had

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no idea about this strange man who turned up claiming

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he was my grandfather. For someone who believed cavemen rode dinosaurs,

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Elijah wasn't as weird as you might think. He tracked

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us down when I was thirteen and came over to

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Britain to visit us. Dad had never mentioned his biological father,

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and while the old man seemed regretful about the lost time,

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he didn't sit around crying about it either. He was

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courteous but distant throughout and in Dad parted ways after

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those two days and never spoke again, at least not

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in person. He did invite us to see him some

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day in Texas as he left, but it never happened

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Other than that. I remember that he sat me down

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one night that talked me through my maths textbook, told

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me about imaginary numbers and string theory. Heavy stuff, but

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he made it accessible through his simple yet earnest passion.

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It was only after he'd gone that Dad told me

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the Old Man was a young Earth creationist, believed the

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Earth was around six thousand years old, and that every

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last solemn word in the Bible was meant to be

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taken literally. Twenty eight years later, and I was standing

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in the lobby of Elijah's privately owned museum that had

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passed to me after my father's death. Dad had never

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told me about either the museum or Elijah's own passing,

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but going through his estate turned it up, and I

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was as surprised as anyone to find out I was

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now the owner of sixty acres on the other side

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of the world. The whole place was dedicated to teaching

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biblical science of the world's creation. I saw stone slabs

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with human footprints displayed like great treasures, some of them

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sixteen inches healed to toe and with little placards explaining

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that the rocks were proof of humans coexisting with dinosaurs.

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There was a whole jungle room with plastic caveman versions

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of Adam and Eve crouched over paper cut out fire,

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while on the opposite side of the room a badly

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made stegosaurus watched cane push Abel to the ground. Although

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the most ludicrous was the one where two generic looking

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caves men used raptor clause the harvest wheat. It was imaginative,

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I'll give him that, but it was an especially convincing

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How or why Elijah was so obsessed with creationism was

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something of a puzzle to me. He'd begun his career

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with a pH d in mathematics and a short stint

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teaching at a local college, and part of the reason

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I spent so much time in that museum packing up

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his things was to try and figure him out. During

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that time I learned three key things. First, Elijah argued

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furiously with every other creationist he could find, and burned

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every bridge there was. Without their support, he had almost

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no visitors during the thirty years the museum was open.

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The second was a cutout of a newspaper I found

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on Elijah's desk, showing him him grinning next to a

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dinosaur footprint. The article talked about how he'd gotten lost

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in the wilderness and taken refuge in a cave full

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of old fossils. I recognized the land in that photo

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as the place he'd later built his museum on, so

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it must have been important to him. I hadn't seen

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any cave in my wonderings, though, but I figured if

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I kept looking, i'd come across it sooner or later.

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The final piece of the puzzle was Elijah's letter to

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my grandmother. I never knew he'd reached out to her.

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All we knew was she slept with some American gi

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and never wanted to see or speak to him again.

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The letter was a proposal. Then I was initially surprised

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she'd shown no interest. Elijah was wealthy, intelligent, hard working, and,

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based on his photos, a good looking and athletic man.

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But then I got to the last page or so

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ethel I can offer you more than just a good life.

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I can offer you an eternal one. I'm sure I

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told you by the time I hurt my leg hiking

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in the wilderness and was forced to take shelter in

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a cave until the storm passed. There, I found many

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strange and curious fossils, and I took the first steps

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on this strange hobby of mine. But what I haven't

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told the others is that I saw more than just

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a few old rocks I found a way, down, Down, down, down, Ethel.

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I went deep in the earth, and there I found

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a paradise, a peace of the world that had been

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preserved as it was before the great flood. And I

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saw early Man still living as he did in the

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days of Eden, ten feet tall and a thousand years old,

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and speaking the tongue of God handed down before the

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fall of Babel. One of these great men sat me

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down and told me the secret histories of the world.

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I've kept this knowledge to myself for so long, but

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I know I can change the world, and it begins

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with this new book I'm writing. After that, a museum

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to display all the proof I've gathered. It isn't just

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about history, Ethel, it's the future that's at stake. Down there,

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I learned how to put a stop to it. All

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the wars and the fighting, hunger and deprivation, it can

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all be a thing of the past. And I believe

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it's God's will I do this. I can change the world, Ethel.

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I want you by my side when I do it.

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There it is, I muttered quietly to myself as I

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read the letter by the dim light of Elijah's old

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desk lamp. That was why my grandmother had not responded

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to his letters, and why my father did not meet

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his father until Elijah tracked him down decades later, six

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weeks in the dusty ruins of Elijah's seldom visited museum,

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and I finally felt like I understood my grandfather, intelligent, stubborn,

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possibly mentally ill. Over the next few days, I continued

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to pack up his things and found myself often feeling

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sorry for him. It was lonely out there, and it

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made me uncomfortable to think of how an old man

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painstakingly painted little plaques no one wanted to read, or

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planning the best place to build public toilets for field

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trips that never came, and he just kept at it

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right until the end. It was like I was walking

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around the physical manifestation of someone's delusions. But then I

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found the door behind the bookcase, and I discovered that

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Elijah had built two museums. Whole time i'd been in

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that place, i'd felt a kind of quieter ease, but

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I'd put it down to the circumstances packing up a

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dead man's things, or so I thought. But as soon

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as I pulled on that little locking mechanism, and the

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shelf popped free with a puff of stale air. I

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understood I'd been sensing something else entirely. It was the

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darkness that stood out to me, or maybe the smell.

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Hard to say, since I'd never breathed air like it

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before or since, and looking back, I think I might

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be overstating just how black the darkness at the bottom

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of those stairs really was. But just the sight of

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it made something inside me want to turn and run,

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not just out of the building, but out of the

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damned country, back to the airport and home again. I

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had no idea what was going to be down there,

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but for some reason I was scared witless. Just the dark,

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I told myself, before forcing one foot in front of

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the other and making my way down. Wasn't far before

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the plaster chipped away and there was nothing but bare

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rock for walls. Turns out I hadn't been able to

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find the cave on Elijah's land because he'd build the

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museum on top of it. And down there, in a

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large chamber bigger than most school gyms, was a whole

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other set of displays, eight large glass tanks, each one

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bigger than a car. I quickly realized what I'd been

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smelling the whole time was from aldehyde, and it had

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turned those glass tanks into green and murky pits where

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my light revealed only the occasional glimpse of what lay within.

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Whatever Elijah was planning on showing off down here, it

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wasn't fossilized rocks. There was flesh and bone in there,

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exposed muscle, all white and wriggly. I moved quickly at first,

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shining my light into each one and squinting. I was

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skittish and in a hurry, not sure what I was

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going to find. But then I looked into one and

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saw a fist sized eyeball staring back at me, and

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I cried out in terror. It was the suddenness of

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it that got me that, And it was housed in

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a socket of rotting flesh, unfamiliar in color and shape.

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Couldn't have told you if it belonged to something that slithered,

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swam or flew. But as I walked around the case,

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I did find a hand curled up in one corner,

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with fingers all different lengths and shapes. What was Elijah

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planning to do down there? In that hidden room? There

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were no plaques, no explanations, only those eight tanks that

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took up most of the enormous space, each one raised

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so the bottom was about chest height, ready for someone

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to wander around and marvel a god knows what. The

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floor had been covered in marble, so he clearly had

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grand ambitions. Now there was only dust and sandy pebbles

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littering the floor, but everything upstairs had been hooky and cheap,

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the kind of evidence that was going to convince the

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already convinced. But down there, there in the dark, where

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I could just make out the great shapes floating in

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the murky dark, there was the sense of something electric

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in the air, a feeling of revelation that wormed its

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way up through the ground, through my feet, and into

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my chest, where it settled like a kind of slow panic.

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I couldn't stop myself wondering about Elijah's belief and how

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it factored into that strange place. What had he preserved

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for decades in that chemical filth. I left after only

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ten minutes and returned to the normal world above, where

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I spent a good hour sitting in the sun, hoping

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that tex and warmth would purge the dirty feeling that

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dark room had left me with. I briefly made arrangements

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to return home, but quickly canceled. Elijah was insane, so

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I told myself. But there was something down there, and

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it was a damned sight, more compelling than a bunch

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of cheap forgeries. That night, I stayed in the same

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room I always had, and lay tossing and turning beneath

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the moonlight, unable and unwilling to simply let the thoughts

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of that room fade away. I was wide awake when

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I heard the sound of something moving around the rooms below.

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I was alone out there, far from civilization. The sheriff

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had spoken to me a fair bit about trying to

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get a hotel, and for the first time I wished

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i'd taken his advice. He was mainly concerned about squatters,

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and that's what I told myself. Must be out there,

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despite the danger, I got up to check on it. Anyway,

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the thought of a whole night spent hold up in

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that room waiting for some crack addict to come stumbling

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in didn't seem much better than going out there and

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confronting them. But of course there was more to it

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than that. I had strange ideas floating in my head,

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left over from the short time I'd spent wondering those

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great glass displays. Every time I closed my eyes, I

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saw images of strange, shadowed things floating within. I wanted

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to bury those thoughts as quickly as possible and put

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an end to fancy notions of monsters lurking in the dark.

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At first, the museum looked much like it always had.

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There were boxes of artifacts and books I'd spent the

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last few weeks putting away, and quite a few displays

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still left standing from where I'd yet to get to them.

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In the jungle room, I walked past those funny looking

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cavemen and plastic dinosaurs hiding behind find fake ferns, and

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stopped briefly to examine the serpent that tented passers by

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with an apple in its child sized fist. It was

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a cheap looking creation, with a strange childlike face rendered

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in fiberglass scales and beady yellow eyes. I disliked it

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from day one, and catching it in the dark that

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night made me hate it even more. But this time

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I stopped and re read the plaque beneath I remembered

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the words Elijah had written for it. And at the

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time I dismissed them, but some strange feeling made me

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revisit them. In that moment, Creatures alive to day, such

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as snakes and lizards, looked very different under conditions of

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the pre flood world, where the air was alive with

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powerful static, and water did not fall from the sky

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but seeped upwards from the ground as a kind of

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conduct insation. The serpent was probably not like any snake

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we'd see today, but perhaps an altogether different creature whose

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bones continued to confound the non believer scientists who studied them.

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Only through the Bible can we realize what such fossils

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truly represent. This is only one interpretation of what the

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serpent that tempted Eve may have looked like. When I

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looked up, another pair of eyes were gazing at me

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from over the mannekin's shoulder. I could not see the

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face that hid behind the fake plant, but there was

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no denying the two yellow reflective points that fixed me

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momentarily before blinking one at a time. I froze, terrified

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by such primal sight as a pair of predatory eyes

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gazing at me from the dark, and watched in terror

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as they slinked away, disappeared entirely. There followed the sounds

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of a few rapid and wet footfalls across the tile floor,

240
00:17:09,279 --> 00:17:14,079
as something in that room crawled quietly into the shadows.

241
00:17:14,799 --> 00:17:19,559
That night, I barricaded my bedroom door, and come morning,

242
00:17:20,039 --> 00:17:23,319
when I felt a little braver in the daylight, I

243
00:17:23,400 --> 00:17:27,440
checked the jungle room and found wet and slimy tracks

244
00:17:27,839 --> 00:17:32,039
leading to Elijah's office, where they disappeared behind the bookcase

245
00:17:32,880 --> 00:17:38,240
and into the cave below. It was crazy, I told myself,

246
00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:43,440
all of it was madness, but I couldn't shake my curiosity,

247
00:17:44,880 --> 00:17:47,680
and if you were me, you wouldn't have been able

248
00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:51,599
to either. This was like seeing the ice wall in

249
00:17:51,640 --> 00:17:56,319
the Arctic, proof of some mad conspirital gibberish that we've

250
00:17:56,400 --> 00:17:59,920
all been peddled for years through rapid fire YouTubers who

251
00:18:00,119 --> 00:18:04,359
talk about flat earths and giants under the pyramids. It

252
00:18:04,480 --> 00:18:07,039
was as if I'd felt what Elijah had spoken of.

253
00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:12,720
The air really was electric down there. The ground was different.

254
00:18:13,640 --> 00:18:15,920
But as much as I hated to even give his

255
00:18:16,039 --> 00:18:20,160
beliefs the tiniest iota of credit, I could think of

256
00:18:20,240 --> 00:18:23,160
no other way to describe it than I had briefly

257
00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:29,039
stood in the conditions of another older world. I had

258
00:18:29,079 --> 00:18:32,839
to make sense of it. I'd spent weeks putting away

259
00:18:32,960 --> 00:18:37,440
badly made fakes and forgeries, footprints with visible tool marks,

260
00:18:37,880 --> 00:18:42,480
badly arranged dinosaur bones, and direrharmis of raptors in Noah's ark.

261
00:18:43,759 --> 00:18:47,799
Elijah had found something, all right, but I was certain

262
00:18:48,279 --> 00:18:52,400
it wasn't proof of his worldview. I just had to

263
00:18:52,519 --> 00:18:58,880
understand it on my own terms. Despite every bit of apprehension,

264
00:18:59,799 --> 00:19:03,920
I went back down the staircase. This time I took

265
00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:07,480
a crowbar and slipped a claw hammer in one belt loop,

266
00:19:08,039 --> 00:19:12,000
just in case. I also brought a few wired floodlights

267
00:19:12,319 --> 00:19:15,079
and set about lighting that main room up so I

268
00:19:15,079 --> 00:19:18,759
could get a proper look. It didn't help me see

269
00:19:18,799 --> 00:19:22,759
what was in those cases any better. If anything, the

270
00:19:22,759 --> 00:19:26,400
bright lights scattered even harder in the filth, and it

271
00:19:26,440 --> 00:19:30,640
all looked like a kind of pale green jelly. But

272
00:19:31,119 --> 00:19:34,279
I did find two doors I hadn't noticed the last time.

273
00:19:35,559 --> 00:19:38,480
One was a simple wooden one that led into a

274
00:19:38,519 --> 00:19:43,240
small closet full of old journals and cassettes. The other

275
00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:47,039
was like a metal bulkhead, the kind that would be

276
00:19:47,119 --> 00:19:51,640
used on a ship to seal a flooding hallway. I

277
00:19:51,759 --> 00:19:54,680
know at some point I was going behind that door,

278
00:19:55,519 --> 00:19:58,519
but for the time being I settled for reading some

279
00:19:58,559 --> 00:20:03,240
of Elijah's ol anals. It seemed like the easier of

280
00:20:03,279 --> 00:20:10,200
the two options. Specimen one rat failure. Died after only

281
00:20:10,240 --> 00:20:14,400
a few hours. Preserved and put aside for further investigation.

282
00:20:16,039 --> 00:20:22,240
Specimen two sheep partial failure. The wool continued to grow

283
00:20:22,240 --> 00:20:29,799
at unusual pace, small buds flowers we'll see. Preserved and

284
00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:38,359
put aside for further investigation. Specimen three cow failure. If

285
00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:41,480
size is anything to go by, the ark must have

286
00:20:41,519 --> 00:20:45,319
been colossal. Perhaps these creatures are the origins of the

287
00:20:45,359 --> 00:20:50,680
fossils so many scientists attribute to wooly mammoths. Attempted dissection

288
00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:55,319
but proved too difficult. Specimen has been preserved and put

289
00:20:55,359 --> 00:21:04,559
aside for further investigation. Specimen four spider successful. A truly

290
00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:09,319
prehistoric creature. It returned to its aquatic roots and lived

291
00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:12,680
for many days in its tank before dying during an escape.

292
00:21:12,680 --> 00:21:16,799
Attempt to think these creatures once swam in the oceans.

293
00:21:17,799 --> 00:21:23,680
I have preserved the specimen for further investigation. Specimen five

294
00:21:24,359 --> 00:21:30,240
lizard success. The primitive attempts at speech were a promising sign.

295
00:21:31,160 --> 00:21:36,599
Euthanizing it proved difficult, but ultimately necessary. The things it

296
00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:39,839
said could not have been permitted in a god fearing society.

297
00:21:40,880 --> 00:21:49,960
Reserved for further investigation. Specimen six cactus house plant success.

298
00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:56,200
Question marks relatively unchanged in outward appearance, but dissection revealed

299
00:21:56,200 --> 00:22:00,200
the insights it developed to meet like appearance, continued use

300
00:22:00,240 --> 00:22:04,119
to grow despite best efforts. Preserved in the hopes the

301
00:22:04,119 --> 00:22:07,720
formeldehyde will kill it, but must keep a close eye

302
00:22:07,799 --> 00:22:16,480
on its display. Specimen seven blue catfish success. The origins

303
00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:19,799
of the Great Leviathan perhaps lie within creatures such as this.

304
00:22:20,839 --> 00:22:24,319
Its growth was extraordinary, and it will be a struggle

305
00:22:24,359 --> 00:22:28,079
to fit the beast inside one of the displays. I

306
00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:30,799
do not envy the ancient sailors who encountered one of

307
00:22:30,839 --> 00:22:39,799
these in open waters. Specimen eight sparrow failure, dreadful mistake.

308
00:22:40,359 --> 00:22:45,000
Euthanize itself while screaming obscenities. The things is said were

309
00:22:45,039 --> 00:22:54,359
extremely blasphemous. Preserved and put aside for further investigation. Specimen nine.

310
00:22:54,559 --> 00:22:58,960
Despite my best efforts, exposure to pre flood conditions has

311
00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:02,440
begun to affect me. I'll have to join the Great

312
00:23:02,480 --> 00:23:06,200
men below. If they will have me, I will not

313
00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:09,880
be able to continue my great work, and that saddens

314
00:23:09,920 --> 00:23:14,920
me deeply. Not a success, but not a failure either.

315
00:23:16,119 --> 00:23:18,839
At least I can take solace in knowing this will

316
00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:24,960
bring me closer to God. I looked at the tanks

317
00:23:25,079 --> 00:23:30,559
and suppressed a shudder. With these Elijah's failed experiments, and

318
00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:34,519
if so, what on earth had he been doing to them?

319
00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:38,759
There was no scientific equipment down there, no mad scientist

320
00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:43,680
laboratory with bubbling vials and buzzing tesla coils. That I

321
00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:46,839
had been the size of a cantelope and could not

322
00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:50,519
have belonged to anything on that list, at least not

323
00:23:50,680 --> 00:23:55,599
in its natural state. But Elijah's notes hinted strongly at

324
00:23:55,680 --> 00:24:00,599
him having changed them somehow, a kind of mutation, I wondered,

325
00:24:01,359 --> 00:24:06,559
perhaps even a form of radiation. For a moment, I

326
00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:10,160
considered going through the rest of the notes, but that

327
00:24:10,319 --> 00:24:16,519
was just delaying the inevitable. I was impatient, curious, and

328
00:24:16,680 --> 00:24:20,920
desperate to make sense of these things. So I approached

329
00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:24,519
the great metal door and reached for the lock, but

330
00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:28,119
hesitated when I heard a sound on the other side,

331
00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:35,200
a gentle suscration. I leaned forward and listened intently as

332
00:24:35,240 --> 00:24:43,240
I could. Jacob opened the door. It was not a sound.

333
00:24:44,039 --> 00:24:47,559
It wasn't I could not tell you the tombre of

334
00:24:47,599 --> 00:24:52,119
the voice, the volume, or language. It had none of

335
00:24:52,119 --> 00:24:58,039
those things. It was inside me, and it hurt like hell,

336
00:24:59,319 --> 00:25:03,079
a hammers to my cortex that left my mind ringing.

337
00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:07,839
My sight turned into a slide show. Blood sprayed from

338
00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:11,480
my nose and mouth. The floor was suddenly inches from

339
00:25:11,519 --> 00:25:14,519
my face, and then my hands were reaching for the

340
00:25:14,559 --> 00:25:18,920
locking wheel. I dragged myself to my feet and gripped

341
00:25:18,960 --> 00:25:24,279
it steadily. I was going to open it, even as

342
00:25:24,319 --> 00:25:27,440
my mind finally caught up and I was flooded with

343
00:25:27,519 --> 00:25:31,440
a terrible panic, a desperate, feral need to get out

344
00:25:31,440 --> 00:25:36,960
of there. But I couldn't stop myself. Resisting became a

345
00:25:37,039 --> 00:25:41,400
kind of physical impossibility, as out of bounds as flying

346
00:25:41,599 --> 00:25:46,319
or walking on the ceiling. The loss of control was haunting,

347
00:25:47,359 --> 00:25:49,599
and I would have opened that door were it not

348
00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:54,519
for the sound of splashing water behind me. Something about

349
00:25:54,559 --> 00:25:58,039
it scared me enough that the spell was broken, and

350
00:25:58,079 --> 00:26:01,880
I regained some of my senses. I managed the glance

351
00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:04,960
behind me, and my light caught a glimmer of something

352
00:26:05,039 --> 00:26:09,599
black and oily slithering in one of the tanks. That

353
00:26:09,799 --> 00:26:14,000
sight alone turned my blood towicce, but it still paled

354
00:26:14,039 --> 00:26:18,039
in comparison to the force radiating from beyond that door.

355
00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:22,200
I could feel it still there on the other side,

356
00:26:22,880 --> 00:26:27,039
a white hot aura of domination that threatened to unravel

357
00:26:27,119 --> 00:26:31,920
me like a piece of thread. I'd never experienced anything

358
00:26:32,079 --> 00:26:35,559
like it before, the kind of terror that nearly had

359
00:26:35,599 --> 00:26:40,519
me mewing like a beaten child. Before the thing could

360
00:26:40,519 --> 00:26:45,559
speak again, I ran screaming from that room and out

361
00:26:45,759 --> 00:26:49,000
into the open air with a shock finally hit my

362
00:26:49,079 --> 00:26:54,079
nervous system like a freight train, and I passed out.

363
00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:07,200
When I woke up, my mouth was gummy with dried blood,

364
00:27:07,599 --> 00:27:10,359
and the sun had burned me badly. On one side,

365
00:27:10,839 --> 00:27:14,960
A black boot was nudging me gently in the side.

366
00:27:15,160 --> 00:27:19,559
You're okay down there, I looked up, and a policeman

367
00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:22,920
I had once spoken to not long after arriving in Texas,

368
00:27:23,400 --> 00:27:26,920
was squinting down at me. I'd just about managed to

369
00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:31,119
remember that Wheeler was his name. You need help, well,

370
00:27:31,920 --> 00:27:35,640
he repeated, and I tried to answer. We got a

371
00:27:35,680 --> 00:27:40,599
mouthful of dust. It wasn't until I sat upright and

372
00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:43,799
coughed most of the dust back up that I managed

373
00:27:43,839 --> 00:27:50,200
some kind of response. No, I'm not okay, no sign

374
00:27:50,240 --> 00:27:53,799
of a break in. I looked over to see another

375
00:27:53,880 --> 00:27:59,240
officer step out of the museum. Someone attack. Wheeler asked,

376
00:27:59,759 --> 00:28:03,000
who was it? Crackhead sheriff told you it was a

377
00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:06,480
bad ideas to stay out here all alone. We gotta

378
00:28:06,519 --> 00:28:10,319
get out of here. The deputy put a hand on

379
00:28:10,400 --> 00:28:14,759
his holster and unclipped it. Don't you worry. You're safe now,

380
00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:19,680
he said, Rifle through your things. The second officer added,

381
00:28:19,799 --> 00:28:22,839
as he arrived beside Wheeler, we'll need you to come

382
00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:27,759
look and see if anything's missing. No, no, no, I said,

383
00:28:27,960 --> 00:28:32,200
stumbling to my feet. No, we gotta go. We gotta leave.

384
00:28:32,440 --> 00:28:37,279
Take me to the airport. Calm down now, Wheeler said,

385
00:28:37,519 --> 00:28:40,519
as the two men exchanged the funny. Look, you ain't

386
00:28:40,559 --> 00:28:43,440
even got your passport. Why don't we go in and

387
00:28:43,480 --> 00:28:47,480
take a moment. Maybe let us get a statement. Besides,

388
00:28:47,799 --> 00:28:50,119
Taylor and Keen here have done a thorough sweep of

389
00:28:50,200 --> 00:28:55,920
the place, right yep, the other man smiled. I think

390
00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:59,759
he was trying to reassure me Taylor's just finishing up

391
00:28:59,799 --> 00:29:03,400
in that basement. Elijah Shaw was a funny fella hiding

392
00:29:03,440 --> 00:29:07,759
all that down there. No, no, no, I stammered, le

393
00:29:07,759 --> 00:29:11,119
moving towards the parking lot. We gotta leave, we gotta

394
00:29:11,200 --> 00:29:15,240
leave now, there's something you plan on walking out of here.

395
00:29:15,880 --> 00:29:19,680
Wheeler's hand was on my arm, looking concerned more than angry,

396
00:29:20,039 --> 00:29:23,920
which gave me pause. Whoever left you in the dirt

397
00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:27,640
smash the hell out of your car, he added, that

398
00:29:27,799 --> 00:29:31,599
thing ain't going nowhere. Look, we'll give you a ride,

399
00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:35,359
but first things first, let's go inside and get a

400
00:29:35,359 --> 00:29:39,759
couple of your things. Dejected and let them lead me

401
00:29:39,880 --> 00:29:42,839
back inside. Before I made a bee line to my room,

402
00:29:44,279 --> 00:29:48,039
I didn't do much, packing a single suitcase with everything

403
00:29:48,039 --> 00:29:50,359
I needed to get out of that damn place and

404
00:29:50,440 --> 00:29:54,200
back home. I also took a minute to call my

405
00:29:54,279 --> 00:29:58,200
wife and let her know I was fine. My failure

406
00:29:58,279 --> 00:30:00,640
to call her at the regular time had led her

407
00:30:00,720 --> 00:30:04,960
to phoning the police. Without that, I don't know how

408
00:30:05,039 --> 00:30:08,839
things would have panned out. At the time, I was

409
00:30:08,880 --> 00:30:11,519
deeply thankful just to have her looking out for me,

410
00:30:12,359 --> 00:30:14,640
and all I wanted in the world was to get

411
00:30:14,720 --> 00:30:17,039
back to her and put an end to the whole

412
00:30:17,079 --> 00:30:21,759
weird episode. As soon as I was packed, I ran

413
00:30:21,839 --> 00:30:25,079
back downstairs, where I found Wheeler, who was ready to

414
00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:29,319
enter Elijah's office. Keene went to get Taylor a short

415
00:30:29,359 --> 00:30:33,640
while ago. He said, getting tired of waiting, so you

416
00:30:33,839 --> 00:30:37,759
just stay here while I go round him up. Before

417
00:30:37,759 --> 00:30:41,079
I could beg him to stop, he stepped inside and

418
00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:46,680
I raced after him, but I was too late. By

419
00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:49,440
the time I reached the stairs, the only sign of

420
00:30:49,519 --> 00:30:54,200
him was the light of his torch, already fading. With

421
00:30:54,359 --> 00:30:57,079
him went the keys to the only working car in

422
00:30:57,160 --> 00:31:02,880
that place. I had no choice but to follow. As

423
00:31:02,960 --> 00:31:05,720
soon as I took the first step down, I felt

424
00:31:05,720 --> 00:31:10,640
that strange but familiar energy, only this time it seemed

425
00:31:10,680 --> 00:31:15,000
a thousand times more powerful. It run through the air

426
00:31:15,319 --> 00:31:20,240
like a kind of vibration. Sound seemed both muted and amplified.

427
00:31:21,440 --> 00:31:25,160
My footsteps were silent, but my breath was like thunder.

428
00:31:26,359 --> 00:31:30,359
The effect was claustrophobic, like the world was closing in

429
00:31:30,400 --> 00:31:34,240
on me. By the time I arrived at the bottom,

430
00:31:35,160 --> 00:31:37,200
I had already felt like it was too late to

431
00:31:37,240 --> 00:31:42,000
turn back. I nearly cried out when I saw that

432
00:31:42,079 --> 00:31:47,400
the great metal door was already open, no sign of

433
00:31:47,480 --> 00:31:51,720
the men. For Meldehyde lay pooling on the floor where

434
00:31:51,720 --> 00:31:56,160
it mixed slowly with a puddle of fresh blood, although

435
00:31:56,480 --> 00:31:59,920
I had no idea who it belonged to. The tank

436
00:32:00,160 --> 00:32:04,119
remained intact, which I was thankful for, But it troubled

437
00:32:04,119 --> 00:32:07,079
me to think of how that fluid got splashed around

438
00:32:07,119 --> 00:32:10,640
so violently. And the lights I set up had been

439
00:32:10,720 --> 00:32:14,240
knocked over in what must have been some kind of struggle,

440
00:32:15,200 --> 00:32:20,559
and now they cast long and frightening shadows. Wheeler had

441
00:32:20,599 --> 00:32:22,880
never been more than a couple seconds ahead of me,

442
00:32:23,880 --> 00:32:27,559
and yet he was nowhere to be seen in that room.

443
00:32:28,200 --> 00:32:31,440
But I already knew that every question racing through my

444
00:32:31,519 --> 00:32:36,319
mind could be traced to a single place. Where had

445
00:32:36,359 --> 00:32:39,839
the men gone, What had caused such violence and mayhem?

446
00:32:40,119 --> 00:32:43,160
Why are my ears ringing? Why are my feet moving

447
00:32:43,200 --> 00:32:47,079
of their own accord? What had Elijah found in the wilderness?

448
00:32:47,519 --> 00:32:50,839
What had changed those animals? What had spoken to me

449
00:32:50,920 --> 00:32:54,039
from the other side of a foot thick steel doorway.

450
00:32:54,720 --> 00:32:57,759
What had compelled me to be drawn helplessly towards the

451
00:32:57,880 --> 00:33:01,680
strange and corpulent mist that rolled out of the black

452
00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:05,039
abyss and beckoned me deeper into the depths of the earth.

453
00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:10,279
The answer to every one of those questions was the same,

454
00:33:11,559 --> 00:33:14,400
and it was all due to the force that lived

455
00:33:14,720 --> 00:33:19,839
on the other side of that door. It must have

456
00:33:20,000 --> 00:33:22,599
surely affected the policeman in the same way it had

457
00:33:22,599 --> 00:33:26,319
affected me. I was no more than half way across

458
00:33:26,359 --> 00:33:29,480
the room when it felt like I was actually falling

459
00:33:29,559 --> 00:33:34,960
towards an open vault. After I crossed the threshold, I

460
00:33:35,039 --> 00:33:39,359
seemed to lose all sense of time and self. God

461
00:33:39,440 --> 00:33:42,000
knows what it must have been like for Elijah, all

462
00:33:42,079 --> 00:33:47,279
those years ago, lost in the wilderness. I don't know

463
00:33:47,359 --> 00:33:50,240
what it was he found, but I still think he

464
00:33:50,400 --> 00:33:54,319
was mad and naive to genuinely think it was anything

465
00:33:54,319 --> 00:33:58,759
to do with God. Even now, glimpses of the journey

466
00:33:58,839 --> 00:34:01,799
down echo in my mind like snapshots in the dark.

467
00:34:03,039 --> 00:34:07,160
I remember heat and light. I remember pale mist that

468
00:34:07,319 --> 00:34:11,360
curled around my feet, lit within by some impossible light.

469
00:34:12,639 --> 00:34:18,119
I remember wandering vast caves larger than any stadium. But

470
00:34:18,239 --> 00:34:21,840
most of all, I remember the air and the way

471
00:34:21,880 --> 00:34:27,400
it crackled with skittish electricity. I could feel it across

472
00:34:27,440 --> 00:34:33,159
my skin like a gentle sunburn. There were buildings down there,

473
00:34:34,199 --> 00:34:37,119
and as I went deeper, over what might have been

474
00:34:37,280 --> 00:34:41,599
hours or maybe even days, I saw the air filled

475
00:34:41,639 --> 00:34:45,320
with glowing mists so bright it was more like day

476
00:34:45,360 --> 00:34:49,639
than night. And it was in one of those buildings

477
00:34:50,840 --> 00:34:57,239
I found my long lost grandfather, or what was left

478
00:34:57,239 --> 00:35:02,039
of him. I guess, of course, I say that, but

479
00:35:02,159 --> 00:35:06,000
he was alive. He made noises, so he must have

480
00:35:06,079 --> 00:35:11,199
been alive. The building was enormous, larger than even the

481
00:35:11,280 --> 00:35:15,400
cave above, but poor Elijah had still grown to take

482
00:35:15,480 --> 00:35:19,880
up nearly a third of it. He'd grown taller, like

483
00:35:19,960 --> 00:35:23,679
he believed what happen, and I bet he was longer

484
00:35:23,719 --> 00:35:27,800
lived too. But I don't think the conditions of that

485
00:35:27,960 --> 00:35:33,079
cave had made him into something divine. If anything, he

486
00:35:33,159 --> 00:35:36,519
looked to me like he was breaking down, melting in

487
00:35:36,639 --> 00:35:41,039
slow motion. Made me think of the elephant's foot in Chernobyl.

488
00:35:42,440 --> 00:35:46,960
Someone or something had also staked bits of him into place,

489
00:35:47,480 --> 00:35:50,119
and tied some of his limbs to the vast rocky

490
00:35:50,159 --> 00:35:54,679
beams that supported the building ceiling. There was a touch

491
00:35:54,719 --> 00:35:57,679
of cruelty about it that I couldn't quite place at

492
00:35:57,679 --> 00:36:01,480
the time, but would later attribute to the brands burned

493
00:36:01,519 --> 00:36:06,519
into his flesh at semi regular intervals. If he had

494
00:36:06,519 --> 00:36:09,880
a mouth, I've no doubt he would have begged me

495
00:36:10,000 --> 00:36:13,239
to kill him. But my mind was not my own

496
00:36:13,280 --> 00:36:16,400
at that time, and I left that place and went

497
00:36:16,480 --> 00:36:19,599
back to wondering the mist in search of something I

498
00:36:19,639 --> 00:36:24,480
could not understand. I was merely compelled to go deeper

499
00:36:24,840 --> 00:36:29,119
towards some strange force that beckoned me onwards, working my

500
00:36:29,199 --> 00:36:34,920
feet and body like I was nothing more but a puppet. Eventually,

501
00:36:35,400 --> 00:36:40,480
during my journey, I heard a voice. He was wailing

502
00:36:40,519 --> 00:36:43,800
and sobbing, and he came screaming out of the mist

503
00:36:44,039 --> 00:36:48,400
and ran right into me. Something about the collision shocked

504
00:36:48,440 --> 00:36:50,800
both of us enough that it seemed to break the

505
00:36:50,880 --> 00:36:54,400
cave's effect on us. He looked as surprised to see

506
00:36:54,440 --> 00:36:57,639
me as I was to see him, and for a

507
00:36:57,639 --> 00:37:01,440
brief moment, we both lay in the law and stammered

508
00:37:01,480 --> 00:37:07,199
desperately in an attempt to speak. Eventually I managed to

509
00:37:07,280 --> 00:37:10,280
ask what the hell had happened, but he jumped on

510
00:37:10,360 --> 00:37:12,639
top of me and climbed a hand around my mouth.

511
00:37:14,280 --> 00:37:17,400
He held me there for a few seconds, his wide,

512
00:37:17,559 --> 00:37:25,280
terrified eyes imploring me to stay quiet. And then I

513
00:37:25,400 --> 00:37:30,519
heard the footfalls of a giant, and I felt its

514
00:37:30,639 --> 00:37:34,840
mind looking for us, and I caught glimpses of the

515
00:37:34,880 --> 00:37:39,159
world as remembered by that man shaped creature, the contents

516
00:37:39,199 --> 00:37:43,239
of his mind spilling outwards into me. I saw the

517
00:37:43,239 --> 00:37:47,840
great flood, the ark a world with wondering Seraphim, and

518
00:37:47,880 --> 00:37:53,679
the great Tannin, the Behemoth and Leviathan. But more than that,

519
00:37:54,719 --> 00:37:58,119
I felt a kind of seething contempt in his feelings

520
00:37:58,159 --> 00:38:02,679
towards us, burning disdain for the lesser race that had

521
00:38:02,719 --> 00:38:08,039
inherited the surface. I don't know how to fully describe it,

522
00:38:08,920 --> 00:38:12,800
But whatever that thing was, I don't know how Elijah

523
00:38:12,840 --> 00:38:17,920
could have possibly mistaken it for benevolent. Perhaps he had

524
00:38:17,960 --> 00:38:21,599
seen only what he wanted to. Perhaps it had read

525
00:38:21,639 --> 00:38:24,840
within him a desperate need to believe and used that

526
00:38:24,920 --> 00:38:29,239
to manipulate him. God knows what would have happened if

527
00:38:29,280 --> 00:38:32,480
Elijah had actually managed to fill that hidden room with

528
00:38:32,599 --> 00:38:37,840
people and open the door. Whatever lived within that cave

529
00:38:38,360 --> 00:38:40,599
would have had ten times the number of victims it

530
00:38:40,639 --> 00:38:45,639
had claimed so far. Only Elijah's arrogance and obstinence had

531
00:38:45,679 --> 00:38:51,159
saved him from playing right into its hands. Eventually, the

532
00:38:51,239 --> 00:38:55,119
creature moved away from us. I'm not sure how or

533
00:38:55,159 --> 00:38:58,559
why it couldn't find us. The spelled cast seemed to

534
00:38:58,599 --> 00:39:02,400
come and go, and in that moment, the only thing

535
00:39:02,480 --> 00:39:05,920
I could be sure of was that, once free, I

536
00:39:05,920 --> 00:39:09,000
had every intention of getting the hell out of there.

537
00:39:10,199 --> 00:39:13,719
Wheeler and I seemed to share this understanding, because as

538
00:39:13,760 --> 00:39:16,280
soon as it was saved to he let me go,

539
00:39:16,719 --> 00:39:20,039
and the two of us wordlessly began to skulk back

540
00:39:20,199 --> 00:39:24,239
the way we came. It wasn't as long back as

541
00:39:24,239 --> 00:39:27,239
I feared it might be, Although it's still hard to

542
00:39:27,280 --> 00:39:30,639
be sure of the time. What I can be sure

543
00:39:30,679 --> 00:39:33,880
of is that it was a special kind of nightmare

544
00:39:33,920 --> 00:39:38,280
to leave that place. The mist made it impossible to navigate,

545
00:39:39,039 --> 00:39:41,119
and if it wasn't for the tracks we'd left in

546
00:39:41,159 --> 00:39:44,880
the strange wet ground, we would have been lost forever

547
00:39:45,000 --> 00:39:49,840
down there. Even then, we often got waylaid and had

548
00:39:49,840 --> 00:39:52,360
to take hours just to find our way back to

549
00:39:52,440 --> 00:39:56,320
the track, and more than once we found ourselves forced

550
00:39:56,320 --> 00:39:59,920
to hide in crevices and caves as terrible things drift

551
00:40:00,280 --> 00:40:04,280
close in the fog, drawn perhaps by our scent or

552
00:40:04,320 --> 00:40:10,039
some other strange force. But eventually we found ourselves hiking

553
00:40:10,159 --> 00:40:14,199
upwards at a steep and familiar incline, where the mist

554
00:40:14,320 --> 00:40:19,400
thinned out almost entirely. By the time we were finally

555
00:40:19,440 --> 00:40:23,360
stumbling back out into the hidden room with the class tanks.

556
00:40:24,079 --> 00:40:26,360
I had managed to grow a fair bit of stubble,

557
00:40:27,079 --> 00:40:30,400
and I noticed that what was once fresh blood had

558
00:40:30,400 --> 00:40:35,079
now congealed into a dark, rust colored brown. And I

559
00:40:35,159 --> 00:40:38,599
guess we were down there for a good two or

560
00:40:38,719 --> 00:40:43,800
three days. I'm only thankful our memories of it were

561
00:40:43,920 --> 00:40:49,840
so broken. Wheeler almost immediately made a beeline for the exit,

562
00:40:50,360 --> 00:40:53,880
but I grabbed him and pulled him back the door.

563
00:40:54,400 --> 00:40:57,280
I gasped while grabbing the locking wheel and trying to

564
00:40:57,320 --> 00:41:01,840
push it shut, but I was and he took both

565
00:41:01,880 --> 00:41:05,360
of us, trying with all our might to finally swing

566
00:41:05,400 --> 00:41:10,400
it closed. Once the mechanism clicked into place, I tried

567
00:41:10,440 --> 00:41:13,519
to turn and run, with something in me gave out,

568
00:41:14,079 --> 00:41:17,000
and I collapsed to my knees, where I began to

569
00:41:17,119 --> 00:41:21,719
heave and cry. Wheeler placed one hand on my shoulder

570
00:41:22,199 --> 00:41:26,440
and slowly pulled me back to my feet. What the

571
00:41:26,480 --> 00:41:29,960
hell was your grandfather up to out here, he moaned,

572
00:41:30,079 --> 00:41:35,000
as we both limped towards the exit. God knows, I muttered,

573
00:41:36,079 --> 00:41:38,519
and as I placed my foot on the first step up,

574
00:41:39,360 --> 00:41:43,880
I felt the deepest relief I've ever known flood through

575
00:41:43,920 --> 00:41:53,320
my body. Wake Up. The voice was as clear as

576
00:41:53,400 --> 00:41:59,400
day this time, there was no pain. I looked a

577
00:41:59,400 --> 00:42:02,599
Wheeler to go confirmed that he'd heard it too, and

578
00:42:02,719 --> 00:42:06,760
sure enough, he was staring at me with a horrified expression.

579
00:42:08,719 --> 00:42:11,960
But the command made no sense, and it seemed to

580
00:42:11,960 --> 00:42:16,960
be distant, almost thinned. Was it the distance, I wondered,

581
00:42:17,360 --> 00:42:20,840
or the door. Elijah must have put the barrier there

582
00:42:20,880 --> 00:42:24,360
for a reason, but I couldn't be sure. That was

583
00:42:24,400 --> 00:42:29,000
the only reason. That the voice felt different somehow. But

584
00:42:29,039 --> 00:42:32,440
then I heard the sound behind me, and I realized

585
00:42:32,519 --> 00:42:40,519
why those words had been so strange. The command wasn't

586
00:42:40,679 --> 00:42:46,800
meant for us. The glass tankers broke one by one,

587
00:42:47,519 --> 00:42:50,480
and Wheeler and I both turned to see the room

588
00:42:50,559 --> 00:42:55,920
flood with formaldehyde and slick, oily flesh. The smell alone

589
00:42:56,079 --> 00:43:00,159
was enough to make me recoil and cry out. But

590
00:43:00,199 --> 00:43:06,480
then I saw them, the creatures within God, most of

591
00:43:06,519 --> 00:43:10,119
them merely thrust around. I don't know what that was.

592
00:43:10,559 --> 00:43:16,320
I simply don't know. Something fish like, I suppose, screamed

593
00:43:16,360 --> 00:43:19,320
in an almost human voice and rolled around in the

594
00:43:19,400 --> 00:43:23,920
slick waters. Another thing was pulling apart its face with

595
00:43:24,039 --> 00:43:28,039
a starfish shaped hand. One was just a pile of

596
00:43:28,119 --> 00:43:32,280
legs that wrapped around the central mass, but one of

597
00:43:32,320 --> 00:43:37,280
them was rising to its feet, two yellow eyes glaring

598
00:43:37,320 --> 00:43:40,800
back at me from the dark, the irises glowing with

599
00:43:40,880 --> 00:43:48,400
a sickly rage. It almost looked human. Before I had

600
00:43:48,400 --> 00:43:51,320
time to react, the creature leaped up both of us

601
00:43:51,559 --> 00:43:54,159
and sent us both sprawling onto the steps, where I

602
00:43:54,239 --> 00:43:58,880
hit my head. For a few terrifying moments, I felt

603
00:43:58,880 --> 00:44:04,480
myself being dragged slowly down into that disgusting liquid, where

604
00:44:04,519 --> 00:44:09,079
strange tentacles and insectile legs threshed violently for some kind

605
00:44:09,079 --> 00:44:14,440
of purchase. I remember something hairy and kiteness brushing against

606
00:44:14,440 --> 00:44:18,480
my cheek, and the disgusting sensation was enough to bring

607
00:44:18,519 --> 00:44:22,119
me back to my senses. When I looked over to

608
00:44:22,119 --> 00:44:25,440
where Wheeler was being pulled right beside me. It was

609
00:44:25,480 --> 00:44:29,800
semi conscious and groaning, and I realized it was up

610
00:44:29,800 --> 00:44:32,159
to me to try and get us out of there.

611
00:44:34,039 --> 00:44:37,719
I kicked violently at the strange thing pulling us. It

612
00:44:37,880 --> 00:44:41,400
was smaller than I thought, a bit bigger than most children,

613
00:44:42,119 --> 00:44:45,360
but it held onto my leg with an iron grip.

614
00:44:46,039 --> 00:44:50,079
But my movement woke Wheeler, who finally coming around, began

615
00:44:50,159 --> 00:44:54,199
to fight back. Both of us kicked as violently as

616
00:44:54,239 --> 00:44:57,480
we could and seemed to enrage the monster that was

617
00:44:57,559 --> 00:45:02,039
fighting to pull us towards the door. With a strange hiss,

618
00:45:02,239 --> 00:45:05,400
he let go and turned towards Wheeler, lashing out with

619
00:45:05,480 --> 00:45:09,920
a single swipe of his hand. Almost immediately, there was

620
00:45:09,960 --> 00:45:13,320
an arterial spray of blood and a death rattle from

621
00:45:13,360 --> 00:45:17,719
the officer's lips that made my blood run cold. For

622
00:45:17,800 --> 00:45:21,320
a few desperate seconds, the dying man seemed to fumble

623
00:45:21,360 --> 00:45:25,159
towards his belt and grab something in his fist. I

624
00:45:25,199 --> 00:45:29,199
hoped it was a gun, but instead his limp hand

625
00:45:29,280 --> 00:45:34,280
fell open and revealed a beaten old zippo lighter and

626
00:45:34,360 --> 00:45:38,440
his car keys. I don't know if he meant to,

627
00:45:39,599 --> 00:45:46,960
but in that moment, Wheeler saved my life. I grabbed

628
00:45:47,039 --> 00:45:50,800
both items and ran as quickly as I could, reaching

629
00:45:50,840 --> 00:45:54,480
the steps and refusing to look back for even a second.

630
00:45:55,519 --> 00:45:58,679
I lit the zippo and tossed it behind me, praying

631
00:45:58,719 --> 00:46:03,199
to God that this fire no gambit would work. Something

632
00:46:03,239 --> 00:46:06,639
took a swipe at my back, a hot, burning sensation,

633
00:46:07,079 --> 00:46:09,760
followed by a warm trickle that ran down my legs.

634
00:46:10,639 --> 00:46:13,920
My final memory before I stumbled face first and hit

635
00:46:14,000 --> 00:46:18,360
my head again was one of light and heat, A

636
00:46:18,440 --> 00:46:22,440
blinding flash and a terrible warmth that pushed the last

637
00:46:22,480 --> 00:46:27,079
glimse of my consciousness aside and left me drifting in

638
00:46:27,159 --> 00:46:33,519
the dark. I never recovered from my time in Elijah's museum,

639
00:46:34,679 --> 00:46:37,679
and I never even made it to the car. Please

640
00:46:37,760 --> 00:46:41,519
found me, having crawled just outside while the entire place

641
00:46:41,679 --> 00:46:45,239
went up in flames. The plume of smoke was what

642
00:46:45,280 --> 00:46:48,800
caught their attention, and when they arrived, I was soon

643
00:46:48,920 --> 00:46:53,920
rushed after hospital. The death of Wheeler was attributed to

644
00:46:53,960 --> 00:46:57,360
a violent attacker, mainly an account of the damage to

645
00:46:57,440 --> 00:46:59,960
his body, and they pulled it out of the fire,

646
00:47:01,280 --> 00:47:04,639
not just burns, of course, but the slash throat and

647
00:47:04,719 --> 00:47:10,639
damaged vertebrae. Taylor and Keen, all never recovered, were both

648
00:47:10,679 --> 00:47:16,079
considered victims of the same attacker. For my part, I

649
00:47:16,119 --> 00:47:20,199
never contradicted this theory, but I never could quite bring

650
00:47:20,280 --> 00:47:23,920
myself to outright say some crazy addict was the reason

651
00:47:23,960 --> 00:47:29,639
for the fire and the men's deaths. Besides, I had

652
00:47:29,639 --> 00:47:33,800
my own issues to deal with, third degree burns over

653
00:47:33,880 --> 00:47:36,880
most of my back and damaged to my spine that

654
00:47:37,000 --> 00:47:41,239
left me with severe nerve damage. It'd be a lifetime

655
00:47:41,280 --> 00:47:44,400
of work just to get back at my feet, so

656
00:47:44,639 --> 00:47:50,679
the doctor said back then. As for the museum, I'm

657
00:47:50,679 --> 00:47:53,679
glad it went up in smoke, and I'm glad the

658
00:47:53,760 --> 00:47:58,199
explosion caused the caving down there. My memories of the

659
00:47:58,239 --> 00:48:02,440
cave itself are still quite fuzzy. Of course, I've relayed

660
00:48:02,440 --> 00:48:06,639
as much as I can. We went down, we saw things,

661
00:48:07,199 --> 00:48:11,280
then came back. The images the giants pushed into my mind.

662
00:48:12,400 --> 00:48:17,559
I'm still not sure how trustworthy they are. I still

663
00:48:17,599 --> 00:48:21,880
don't believe Elijah's interpretation of that cave was correct. I

664
00:48:21,920 --> 00:48:24,519
don't think the Earth is only six thousand years old,

665
00:48:24,960 --> 00:48:27,440
or that the Bible is meant to be taken literally.

666
00:48:28,880 --> 00:48:32,960
But they say humans evolved over a million years ago.

667
00:48:33,159 --> 00:48:35,519
I guess there's a lot of history that got lost

668
00:48:35,559 --> 00:48:40,119
along the way. As for Elijah's theory that the conditions

669
00:48:40,159 --> 00:48:44,719
of the cave would cause some divine change in humans, well,

670
00:48:45,639 --> 00:48:49,159
I can remember him clearly enough to know there was

671
00:48:49,239 --> 00:48:54,119
nothing godly about what happened to him. And as for me,

672
00:48:55,679 --> 00:49:00,000
the doctors keep scanning me. It was once every six months,

673
00:49:00,559 --> 00:49:04,920
then three, then one. Then I was being called into

674
00:49:05,000 --> 00:49:08,679
the hospital damn near every other day. And now they

675
00:49:08,719 --> 00:49:12,559
won't even let me out of my room. They won't

676
00:49:12,599 --> 00:49:16,119
tell me what's wrong? Why I sometimes wake up to

677
00:49:16,239 --> 00:49:19,760
find my back itching like it's covered in a thousand ants.

678
00:49:20,599 --> 00:49:22,800
Why the last nurse who gave me a sponge bath

679
00:49:23,199 --> 00:49:27,119
ran out sobbing half way through. They took me in

680
00:49:27,159 --> 00:49:30,719
for surgery a few days ago, and when I woke up,

681
00:49:31,320 --> 00:49:35,079
they'd amputated something from my leg, but they wouldn't tell

682
00:49:35,119 --> 00:49:39,280
me what. I'm lucky my wife managed to sneak this

683
00:49:39,440 --> 00:49:42,599
phone in. It's the only communication I have with the

684
00:49:42,639 --> 00:49:47,239
outside world. I'd like to see her again, but I'm

685
00:49:47,239 --> 00:49:51,320
not sure I will. I guess I was down in

686
00:49:51,360 --> 00:49:54,800
that cave for too long, but I know it's getting

687
00:49:54,880 --> 00:50:00,440
worse and that I don't have much longer. The last

688
00:50:00,440 --> 00:50:04,519
doctor who came in wore a hazmat suit, and I'm

689
00:50:04,519 --> 00:50:11,519
pretty sure when he left he was still coughing out blood.

690
00:50:20,800 --> 00:50:26,480
I wouldn't say we were evil, just bored. Eighteen years old,

691
00:50:26,920 --> 00:50:30,320
first semester of college. Two cocky for our own good.

692
00:50:31,559 --> 00:50:35,519
Me and Derek mostly kept to ourselves. We weren't jocks

693
00:50:35,599 --> 00:50:40,480
or frat types. We just liked messing with people. And

694
00:50:40,639 --> 00:50:46,880
Jeremy was easy. He sat in the front row every class,

695
00:50:47,320 --> 00:50:52,480
always took perfect notes, didn't talk to anyone, like, literally,

696
00:50:53,039 --> 00:50:55,400
not once did I hear the guy make small talk,

697
00:50:55,760 --> 00:51:00,559
even with professors. Just walked in with that same weird

698
00:51:00,599 --> 00:51:06,360
little leather notebook, eyes forward, no phone, no earbuds. Who

699
00:51:06,440 --> 00:51:09,599
does that? It was like he was LARPing as a

700
00:51:09,679 --> 00:51:14,199
nineteen fifties honors student. Plus, there was something about him

701
00:51:14,199 --> 00:51:17,480
that rubbed people the wrong way, not that they ever

702
00:51:17,559 --> 00:51:21,039
said it out loud, but everyone knew he was off,

703
00:51:21,920 --> 00:51:26,480
like he didn't understand how other people worked. He never

704
00:51:26,519 --> 00:51:30,880
got sarcasm, never reacted to jokes. If you bumped into

705
00:51:30,920 --> 00:51:34,920
him in the hallway and said my bad, he'd just

706
00:51:34,960 --> 00:51:37,320
stare at you like he was trying to decide what

707
00:51:37,519 --> 00:51:43,960
species you were. He was rich, too, That didn't help.

708
00:51:45,159 --> 00:51:49,599
His parents owned Heartly Biologics, this huge farmer lab that

709
00:51:49,719 --> 00:51:54,760
basically funded half the scholarships on campus. They'd billboards all

710
00:51:54,760 --> 00:51:59,039
over town with pictures of babies and smiling doctors, clean

711
00:51:59,119 --> 00:52:06,960
white font, soft lighting, innovation from molecule to miracle. Jeremy

712
00:52:06,960 --> 00:52:10,719
didn't act like a rich kid though, No flashy clothes,

713
00:52:10,920 --> 00:52:14,639
no car. He wore the same beat up brown hoodie

714
00:52:14,639 --> 00:52:20,079
almost every day. Derek and I started off small, just

715
00:52:20,199 --> 00:52:24,719
dumb things swapping out his pens, hiding his bag during lunch,

716
00:52:25,280 --> 00:52:30,159
calling him weird and embarrassing nicknames. He never said a

717
00:52:30,199 --> 00:52:33,639
word back. He didn't even look at us half the time,

718
00:52:34,880 --> 00:52:38,599
just kept walking, notebook clutched to his chest like it

719
00:52:38,719 --> 00:52:43,440
was worth more than his spine. That annoyed Derek more

720
00:52:43,480 --> 00:52:47,639
than anything. The way Jeremy acted like we weren't even there.

721
00:52:49,760 --> 00:52:53,079
It was Derek's idea to check his locker. Said it

722
00:52:53,239 --> 00:52:58,320
was a social service, whatever the hell that meant. Mostly

723
00:52:58,599 --> 00:53:01,800
we were just bored between class asses, and Jeremy was

724
00:53:01,840 --> 00:53:05,800
always gone for lunch, probably hiding somewhere with that stupid

725
00:53:05,840 --> 00:53:10,519
notebook of his scribbling equations or drawing alchemy symbols or

726
00:53:10,559 --> 00:53:15,199
whatever weird stuff he was into. The lockers weren't even locked.

727
00:53:16,039 --> 00:53:18,599
They were those old metal ones with a padlock loop,

728
00:53:19,119 --> 00:53:23,119
but most people just use the built in latch. Jeremy's

729
00:53:23,239 --> 00:53:26,519
was witch shut with a pencil of razor, like he

730
00:53:26,679 --> 00:53:30,760
really thought that would keep anyone out. Derek popped it

731
00:53:30,800 --> 00:53:40,280
open with a single pull. Inside books all stacked perfectly notebooks,

732
00:53:40,639 --> 00:53:44,920
a couple of protein bars in a zip lock, no decorations,

733
00:53:44,960 --> 00:53:47,639
nothing to allude to the fact that a human was

734
00:53:47,760 --> 00:53:52,199
using this locker. It looked more like a filing cabinet.

735
00:53:52,960 --> 00:53:56,599
What kind of psycho keeps the locker this clean, Derek muttered,

736
00:53:56,920 --> 00:54:00,159
flipping through a binder. Does he sleep in it? Who?

737
00:54:03,400 --> 00:54:06,840
I was the one who found the paper folded and

738
00:54:06,920 --> 00:54:11,840
tucked behind a textbook. Looked like a grocery list at first,

739
00:54:12,639 --> 00:54:15,760
but then I opened it up and realized it was

740
00:54:15,840 --> 00:54:21,960
directions Turn left at the red house into the tree line,

741
00:54:22,599 --> 00:54:25,599
walk until you see the broken fence, past the creek

742
00:54:26,039 --> 00:54:31,239
wooden cap in north facing door. Just that, and at

743
00:54:31,239 --> 00:54:36,119
the bottom scribbled several times, make sure not to forget.

744
00:54:38,719 --> 00:54:43,760
Derek leaned over my shoulder and squinted. Dude, what the

745
00:54:43,800 --> 00:54:48,719
hell I grinned? Told you it was up to something.

746
00:54:51,000 --> 00:54:54,000
Derek took the paper and held it like it was radioactive.

747
00:54:55,199 --> 00:54:57,440
You think this is like where he goes to play

748
00:54:57,480 --> 00:55:00,679
wizard or something. Who knows what that kind of kid

749
00:55:00,719 --> 00:55:03,199
gets up to in his little hideout in the woodsman,

750
00:55:04,639 --> 00:55:10,239
Derek snorted, weird little freak. We were still laughing about

751
00:55:10,280 --> 00:55:14,639
it when we walked into Kem lecture. Jeremy was already

752
00:55:14,679 --> 00:55:19,199
there front row has always writing something in that ugly

753
00:55:19,280 --> 00:55:25,280
brown note book. We slid into the row behind him. Hey, Jeremy,

754
00:55:26,000 --> 00:55:33,960
Derek whispered, no response. You forget something. Jeremy didn't turn around,

755
00:55:34,719 --> 00:55:38,679
just kept writing. I tapped the back of his chair

756
00:55:38,719 --> 00:55:42,639
with my foot. We found your directions, man. You know

757
00:55:42,960 --> 00:55:47,519
red house, broken, vence, secret helf cabin. What's out there?

758
00:55:47,760 --> 00:55:56,039
Your moon crystal? He froze pen midstroke. His shoulders locked up,

759
00:55:57,119 --> 00:56:00,480
and for a second I thought he might actually say something.

760
00:56:02,599 --> 00:56:06,400
Derek leaned in, voice louder. What do you even have

761
00:56:06,519 --> 00:56:10,760
in there that's so important? He reached over and snatched

762
00:56:10,760 --> 00:56:15,920
the notebook out of Jeremy's hands. Jeremy spun around, eyes wide,

763
00:56:17,000 --> 00:56:22,800
don't he started, but Derek already had opened it. He

764
00:56:22,840 --> 00:56:30,119
flipped to a random page and squinted. This hum hummun dude,

765
00:56:30,159 --> 00:56:36,480
what is this? This hrmunculus has shone from it? Jeremy screamed,

766
00:56:37,440 --> 00:56:43,119
not yelled, screamed high and sharp, like we just lit

767
00:56:43,199 --> 00:56:47,119
him on fire. He lunged forward and ripped the notebook

768
00:56:47,119 --> 00:56:50,400
from Derek's hands so fast and nearly tore in half.

769
00:56:51,559 --> 00:56:54,760
Derek toppled over, and Jeremy just turned and ran out

770
00:56:54,800 --> 00:56:57,280
of the room, clutching it to his chest like a

771
00:56:57,280 --> 00:57:04,519
wounded animal. Everyone in the room went silent. I felt

772
00:57:04,519 --> 00:57:09,039
the heat in my face. Jeremy had, by all means,

773
00:57:09,800 --> 00:57:15,920
just embarrassed us. Derek sat there for a second, jaw slack.

774
00:57:17,320 --> 00:57:21,199
Then he blinked and said, did he seriously just do

775
00:57:21,360 --> 00:57:26,119
that to us? I shrugged, Guess we had a nerve.

776
00:57:27,360 --> 00:57:29,880
He looked at me, then at the door. Jeremy had

777
00:57:29,960 --> 00:57:35,760
vanished through. Dude. I said, let's go to his little hideout.

778
00:57:37,800 --> 00:57:42,320
Derek frowned, what, Yeah, let's see what he was so

779
00:57:42,480 --> 00:57:49,400
adamant to hide from us, I said confidently. The walk

780
00:57:49,639 --> 00:57:53,760
started off easy once we spotted the Red House, a

781
00:57:53,840 --> 00:57:57,400
little squat place with peeling paint and a rusted mailbox.

782
00:57:58,159 --> 00:58:01,599
We turned left like the directions said, and stepped into

783
00:58:01,639 --> 00:58:08,800
the tree line. Branches curled overhead, thin and brittle. Everything

784
00:58:08,920 --> 00:58:13,000
underfoot was damp, patches of old leaves and broken twigs,

785
00:58:13,480 --> 00:58:18,280
all softened by rot. It wasn't raining, but the air

786
00:58:18,360 --> 00:58:23,880
had weight to it, heavy with moisture, cold too, an

787
00:58:23,920 --> 00:58:29,079
early autumn kind of cold. We followed the directions carefully,

788
00:58:29,840 --> 00:58:34,719
as carefully as we could. From my memory and Derek's groans,

789
00:58:35,800 --> 00:58:40,440
the path got clearer the deeper we went. At first,

790
00:58:40,840 --> 00:58:44,360
I thought we were just making good time, But then

791
00:58:44,400 --> 00:58:48,800
I realized the ground had been worn down. Something or

792
00:58:48,880 --> 00:58:53,559
someone had been walking this way a lot. The grass

793
00:58:53,639 --> 00:59:00,599
was crushed flat, no fresh prints, but the path was obvious.

794
00:59:02,400 --> 00:59:07,760
Fifteen minutes in we spotted it through the trees. The cabin.

795
00:59:09,400 --> 00:59:11,920
It sat hunched at the edge of a shallow clearing,

796
00:59:12,760 --> 00:59:17,480
small weathered croked just enough to make your head tiled,

797
00:59:18,480 --> 00:59:22,480
a single square window at the front, clouded with grime.

798
00:59:24,480 --> 00:59:30,559
Derek slowed down behind me. This the place I didn't hesitate.

799
00:59:31,800 --> 00:59:37,320
You see any other cabins nearby. The door wasn't locked.

800
00:59:38,639 --> 00:59:41,280
I pushed on it and the hinges gave a low,

801
00:59:41,599 --> 00:59:47,400
drawn out creak. Inside it was dark, no windows on

802
00:59:47,440 --> 00:59:51,599
the sides, or if there were any, they were blocked off.

803
00:59:53,000 --> 00:59:58,440
We clicked on our flashlights and stepped in. Jeremy Derek

804
00:59:58,559 --> 01:00:07,360
called no response. The air was stale, and the cabin

805
01:00:07,519 --> 01:00:11,840
was one room, mostly empty. There was a wooden shelf

806
01:00:11,880 --> 01:00:15,679
against the left wall, lined with a few closed boxes,

807
01:00:16,800 --> 01:00:21,480
a workbench beneath the window, scratched and stained but white clean,

808
01:00:22,760 --> 01:00:25,639
an old sink in the corner, the kind with a

809
01:00:25,679 --> 01:00:31,679
hand pump. Well, nothing in air looks fun. Derek muttered,

810
01:00:32,079 --> 01:00:37,760
shining his light across the floorboards. I was about to

811
01:00:37,800 --> 01:00:41,199
respond when my beam landed on something at the back

812
01:00:41,239 --> 01:00:46,119
of the room. A square cut into the floor, barely

813
01:00:46,199 --> 01:00:49,320
visible from the way the boards lined up, and a

814
01:00:49,400 --> 01:00:54,280
heavy iron runged trapdoor set within the hinges and a

815
01:00:54,320 --> 01:01:00,360
recessed handbill. I stepped closer. There were scuff marks around

816
01:01:00,360 --> 01:01:04,599
the edge, some smudges of dirt, and other details that

817
01:01:04,719 --> 01:01:08,679
made it easy to assume that this hatch was used frequently.

818
01:01:10,480 --> 01:01:15,159
Derek stepped up beside me and whistled, low, guess this

819
01:01:15,280 --> 01:01:19,880
is where the real free show starts. I reached down

820
01:01:20,119 --> 01:01:24,199
and pulled the handle and listened as the door opened.

821
01:01:26,039 --> 01:01:32,079
Cold air drifted up from below. The hatch opened with

822
01:01:32,159 --> 01:01:36,119
more effort than I expected. My arms shook by the

823
01:01:36,199 --> 01:01:40,400
time it finally gave. The air that came up wasn't foul,

824
01:01:41,440 --> 01:01:44,559
but it was cold and dry, with a faint hint

825
01:01:44,599 --> 01:01:49,320
of chemicals I couldn't name. We stared down into the

826
01:01:49,440 --> 01:01:57,280
narrow stairwell, wood at first, then concrete, no railing. The

827
01:01:57,360 --> 01:02:01,199
flashlight beams stretched just far enough to catch the bottom steps.

828
01:02:02,880 --> 01:02:07,280
Derek hesitated behind me. Are we even sure this is

829
01:02:07,320 --> 01:02:11,840
his cabin? He asked, you really gonna act scared? Now?

830
01:02:12,320 --> 01:02:15,199
Who else would it belong to? I said? As I

831
01:02:15,239 --> 01:02:20,360
stepped down, each step creaked and flexed under my weight.

832
01:02:21,679 --> 01:02:26,000
Once we had the concrete section, the sound changed, less

833
01:02:26,039 --> 01:02:31,599
groaning wood, more hollow echo. At the bottom, the passage

834
01:02:31,639 --> 01:02:35,840
flattened out. We stopped in front of a steel door,

835
01:02:36,519 --> 01:02:39,840
tall and wide enough to belong in a fallout shelter.

836
01:02:41,119 --> 01:02:44,400
It had no markings, just a bolt lock across the

837
01:02:44,440 --> 01:02:50,159
center and a long horizontal handle beneath it. I slid

838
01:02:50,199 --> 01:02:56,639
the bolt free, The metal resisted. It squeaked halfway, then

839
01:02:56,719 --> 01:03:04,840
gave I raised my voice, Jeremy, come out freak. It

840
01:03:04,960 --> 01:03:09,800
echoed down the hall behind us and disappeared. No reply.

841
01:03:11,719 --> 01:03:14,239
I looked at Derek, and the best words he could

842
01:03:14,360 --> 01:03:18,840
muster rop were a shrug and a dumb expression. I

843
01:03:18,920 --> 01:03:23,960
gripped the handle and pulled. The space beyond wasn't big,

844
01:03:24,679 --> 01:03:30,079
but it was dense, maybe twenty feet across, maybe more.

845
01:03:31,280 --> 01:03:37,480
The flashlight beams skated over cold surfaces, steel counters, scuffed tile, tall,

846
01:03:37,519 --> 01:03:42,280
metal shelving units, pack tied with containers and glassware. Beakers

847
01:03:42,280 --> 01:03:46,719
and clips adorned the area. None of it looked abandoned.

848
01:03:47,480 --> 01:03:52,039
The dust was minimal, the floor was clean. This place

849
01:03:52,079 --> 01:03:57,400
had been used recently, maybe even today. There were two

850
01:03:57,480 --> 01:04:02,079
doors at the far end of the room, plain no labels.

851
01:04:03,320 --> 01:04:06,440
My eye caught a set of glass cylinders built into

852
01:04:06,440 --> 01:04:12,480
the side wall, some empty, others too murky to see inside.

853
01:04:12,760 --> 01:04:16,519
One of them held something pale, or maybe just sediment.

854
01:04:18,480 --> 01:04:22,760
Derek stepped beside me. Does this not look like a

855
01:04:22,880 --> 01:04:28,480
lab he said, and nodded slowly. I guess it kind

856
01:04:28,519 --> 01:04:34,159
of does. We walked further in boots, soft on the tile,

857
01:04:34,679 --> 01:04:41,599
flashlights cutting through the dim and still no sign of

858
01:04:41,719 --> 01:04:47,840
Jeremy anywhere. We approached the two doors on the other

859
01:04:47,960 --> 01:04:52,559
side and chose the door on the right. It wasn't locked,

860
01:04:53,480 --> 01:04:57,239
just the push plate and handle. The hinges groaned as

861
01:04:57,239 --> 01:05:00,480
it opened, and the lights fell into the room beyond.

862
01:05:02,119 --> 01:05:05,480
It was colder in there. In the center of the

863
01:05:05,559 --> 01:05:11,320
room stood a surgical table, stainless steel, tilted slightly, fitted

864
01:05:11,360 --> 01:05:15,559
with shoulder restraints and a dark drain. Beneath it, A

865
01:05:15,639 --> 01:05:19,320
folded towel sat at the edge, stiff with something dry

866
01:05:19,519 --> 01:05:27,440
and reddish brown. To my left was a tray of instruments, scalpels, clamps, scissors,

867
01:05:27,480 --> 01:05:33,960
neatly arranged. All clean IV bags hung from an aluminium

868
01:05:34,000 --> 01:05:38,199
stand in the corner. Two of them were full. Another

869
01:05:38,360 --> 01:05:42,440
lay collapse on the floor. Above the table was a

870
01:05:42,440 --> 01:05:47,840
surgical lamp with three segmented arms frozen mid adjustment, aimed

871
01:05:47,920 --> 01:05:53,039
down as if expecting someone. At this point, we both

872
01:05:53,079 --> 01:05:56,079
knew we were in a place we had no business

873
01:05:56,079 --> 01:05:59,280
being in there, but we had gone too far to

874
01:05:59,360 --> 01:06:05,559
turn back. Neither of us wanted to wuss out. Derek

875
01:06:05,679 --> 01:06:10,280
moved closer to the stack of boxes. His parents really

876
01:06:10,320 --> 01:06:15,280
let him play scientists in the woods. I looked around

877
01:06:15,320 --> 01:06:18,440
the room and said, it does look like some extreme

878
01:06:18,559 --> 01:06:22,400
kind of role play to me. Derek went quiet for

879
01:06:22,440 --> 01:06:26,599
a second. Then dude, I can't wait to tell everybody

880
01:06:26,639 --> 01:06:31,400
about this, especially now that I said as I moved

881
01:06:31,440 --> 01:06:34,480
closer to the stack of boxes Derek was standing next to.

882
01:06:36,679 --> 01:06:42,079
They were cardboard and stamped in blue, hardly by logics.

883
01:06:43,719 --> 01:06:47,760
Derek saw them too. His flashlight hovered over the logo

884
01:06:47,880 --> 01:06:51,519
for a second. We know we have the right person.

885
01:06:53,960 --> 01:06:57,199
Derek gave out a half hearted chuckle and turned back

886
01:06:57,199 --> 01:07:01,519
to the hallway. Let's check the other maybe that's where

887
01:07:01,519 --> 01:07:06,679
he is. The second door was heavier than the first

888
01:07:07,519 --> 01:07:09,559
I had to lean my shoulder into it to get

889
01:07:09,559 --> 01:07:15,280
it moving. The hinges protested the wholeway. We stepped in.

890
01:07:18,519 --> 01:07:23,679
The first thing I noticed was the glow, a soft

891
01:07:23,719 --> 01:07:28,199
green light humming from the far wall. It cast everything

892
01:07:28,360 --> 01:07:34,400
in a low aquatic haze, flickering faintly with movement. Rows

893
01:07:34,400 --> 01:07:38,639
of tall cylindrical pods lined the walls, maybe eight feet

894
01:07:38,679 --> 01:07:43,400
in height, two feet across. Each one was filled with

895
01:07:43,440 --> 01:07:51,239
a thick liquid, not water, something heavier, slightly viscous, almost gelatinous.

896
01:07:51,320 --> 01:07:57,119
The way it moved, shapes floated inside them, some small,

897
01:07:57,360 --> 01:08:02,159
some large, all of them in the distinct bloated silhouettes.

898
01:08:03,519 --> 01:08:06,920
I couldn't tell if they were alive or just suspended there.

899
01:08:07,960 --> 01:08:13,440
Some were curled in on themselves, others just hung. A

900
01:08:13,480 --> 01:08:19,199
few parts were empty, one was cracked. I stepped closer,

901
01:08:19,640 --> 01:08:22,920
watching the surface of the liquid as it rippled faintly

902
01:08:23,000 --> 01:08:30,000
beneath the green light. Derek stood behind me, silent. I muttered,

903
01:08:30,479 --> 01:08:35,640
more to myself than anything. Now, this doesn't look like

904
01:08:35,800 --> 01:08:41,199
role play. Maybe this actually belongs to his parents, Derek quipped.

905
01:08:43,159 --> 01:08:47,119
We didn't hear it right away. The room hummed with

906
01:08:47,199 --> 01:08:52,079
low power, not machinery, exactly, just the background noise of

907
01:08:52,119 --> 01:08:59,640
a system still alive, shuffling from the far end, just

908
01:08:59,720 --> 01:09:04,960
beyond the last row of pods, slow at first, like

909
01:09:05,000 --> 01:09:10,520
something dragging across the floor, a wet movement, almost muffled.

910
01:09:12,600 --> 01:09:19,119
We stopped, Jeremy. Derek called out, his voice echoed against

911
01:09:19,159 --> 01:09:27,119
metal and glass. We know you're there. No response. The

912
01:09:27,199 --> 01:09:32,319
shuffling continued, like it knew where it was going, accompanied

913
01:09:32,359 --> 01:09:37,520
by a low, rustling, almost moist sound, something between breathing

914
01:09:37,720 --> 01:09:42,840
and licking. We began walking toward it, running on nothing

915
01:09:42,880 --> 01:09:48,359
but pure, unadulgerted confidence. A flashlight shook a little in

916
01:09:48,399 --> 01:09:55,119
our hands. Derek's being flickered, stuttered, then steadied again. The

917
01:09:55,199 --> 01:09:59,680
sound grew clearer. Now it was easy to identify the

918
01:09:59,760 --> 01:10:06,479
sound of scratching, licking, and breathing. I stopped walking. My

919
01:10:06,600 --> 01:10:12,279
throat was dry. I could sense something was wrong. Jeremy,

920
01:10:13,079 --> 01:10:20,439
I whispered. Still nothing, but the noise didn't stop. It

921
01:10:20,560 --> 01:10:27,000
was coming closer. Still no footsteps. I raised my flashlight

922
01:10:27,079 --> 01:10:30,760
a little, focusing toward the back row of pods, where

923
01:10:30,760 --> 01:10:38,760
the green glow was weakest. Then something moved. It came

924
01:10:38,800 --> 01:10:41,760
from around the far side of one of the large cylinders.

925
01:10:43,039 --> 01:10:45,239
I thought it was a person crouched low to the

926
01:10:45,279 --> 01:10:52,279
ground crawling, but then it rose. My flashlight caught the

927
01:10:52,319 --> 01:10:56,560
shape full on. I froze, and it did as well.

928
01:10:58,159 --> 01:11:03,399
It stood upright, but bare. Its spine bowed forward, forcing

929
01:11:03,399 --> 01:11:07,760
the thing into a permanent hunch. The legs were too long,

930
01:11:08,319 --> 01:11:12,800
digiti grayed like a dog's, with tendons visible under paper,

931
01:11:12,880 --> 01:11:20,079
thin skin, feets, blade wide, four toes, clawed, human in

932
01:11:20,159 --> 01:11:25,640
shape but not in function. The arms hung low, longer

933
01:11:25,680 --> 01:11:29,560
than they should have been, fingers ending in nails. They

934
01:11:29,560 --> 01:11:34,720
looked more like cracked hoofs than claws. Its skin was uneven,

935
01:11:35,359 --> 01:11:39,319
mottled gray and pale brown, dry in some spots and

936
01:11:39,479 --> 01:11:42,600
slick in others, like parts of it had dried out

937
01:11:42,800 --> 01:11:47,079
while the rest kept growing. Tufts of coarse hair clung

938
01:11:47,159 --> 01:11:50,840
to the back of its neck, and spine patchy and unclean.

939
01:11:52,239 --> 01:11:57,920
One shoulder looked almost normal human muscle familiar shape, but

940
01:11:58,039 --> 01:12:02,800
the other was swollen, lunched with a symmetrical tissue, a

941
01:12:02,840 --> 01:12:07,600
mass that pulls slightly when it moved. Its face was pointed,

942
01:12:08,079 --> 01:12:12,000
stretched forward into a narrow snout, but not quite long

943
01:12:12,159 --> 01:12:16,840
enough to be animal. The skin there was tight, almost

944
01:12:16,920 --> 01:12:21,119
translucented pulled too hard across a skull that didn't match.

945
01:12:22,359 --> 01:12:26,279
Its eyes were white set and cloudy, rimmed in red.

946
01:12:27,279 --> 01:12:32,960
There were no eyelids, and then the jaw opened, not

947
01:12:33,159 --> 01:12:38,520
down but out. The skin around its mouth split in

948
01:12:38,560 --> 01:12:42,560
four directions, revealing a dark gullet and rows of teeth

949
01:12:42,600 --> 01:12:47,840
that spiraled inward rather than back. It sniffed the air once,

950
01:12:48,560 --> 01:12:57,520
quick and shallow. Then it came at us. Derek screamed

951
01:12:57,560 --> 01:13:00,520
as it collided with him, knocking him backwards into the

952
01:13:00,560 --> 01:13:05,039
side of the table. He hit the floor hard, flashlights

953
01:13:05,079 --> 01:13:09,239
scattering across the tiles. The thing dropped on top of him,

954
01:13:09,680 --> 01:13:13,439
hands slapping the ground for balance. Mouth opened wide enough

955
01:13:13,680 --> 01:13:17,520
to split the skin at the corners. I didn't think.

956
01:13:18,520 --> 01:13:21,600
I just grabbed the nearest thing I could find, a

957
01:13:21,640 --> 01:13:25,000
metal rod, leaned against the wall and swung it at

958
01:13:25,039 --> 01:13:30,439
the creature's side. The hit landed, and it shrieked, not

959
01:13:30,600 --> 01:13:36,159
high pitched deep. It rolled off deeric and stumbled sideways,

960
01:13:36,520 --> 01:13:40,039
knocking into one of the pods as if flailed. The

961
01:13:40,079 --> 01:13:46,239
glass cracked then gave way. Green liquid spilled across the floor,

962
01:13:46,800 --> 01:13:51,039
thick and slow. Something inside the pod hit the ground

963
01:13:51,079 --> 01:13:57,399
with a heavy slap, curled pale, twitching. It looked like

964
01:13:57,439 --> 01:14:01,920
a combination of an anteater and a human. It twitched again,

965
01:14:02,439 --> 01:14:06,439
then moved arms, dragging its body forward like it didn't

966
01:14:06,520 --> 01:14:11,439
understand how joints were supposed to work. Derek scrambled to

967
01:14:11,479 --> 01:14:17,239
his feet. His shirt was torn, shoulder bleeding. We turned

968
01:14:17,239 --> 01:14:23,279
toward the hallway, but another pod cracked, then another hairline

969
01:14:23,319 --> 01:14:26,680
fractures spied a web to cross the glass, and one

970
01:14:26,720 --> 01:14:30,479
of the smaller ones burst outright, releasing something lean and

971
01:14:30,600 --> 01:14:33,840
fast that landed in a crouch and snapped his head

972
01:14:33,880 --> 01:14:42,239
toward us. Then it sprinted. We ran. The first one

973
01:14:42,319 --> 01:14:46,720
grabbed at Derek's ankles, nearly dragging him down. I turned

974
01:14:46,720 --> 01:14:49,319
and swung the rod again, catching its arm with a

975
01:14:49,359 --> 01:14:54,279
solid thud. It didn't scream that time, almost like it

976
01:14:54,319 --> 01:14:59,680
was getting used to the sensation. Derek kicked himself free

977
01:15:00,000 --> 01:15:04,000
and we bolted across the room, knocking over trays, kicking carts,

978
01:15:04,479 --> 01:15:09,840
anything to slow them down. Behind us, another part exploded,

979
01:15:10,760 --> 01:15:15,319
more liquid, more movement. Derek tripped as we hit the

980
01:15:15,439 --> 01:15:18,800
edge of the room. His foot caught on a cable

981
01:15:18,960 --> 01:15:22,560
or a pipe I couldn't tell, and he went down

982
01:15:22,640 --> 01:15:27,800
hard arms out to catch himself. I spun around, grabbed

983
01:15:27,800 --> 01:15:31,920
his jacket and started yanking him up. But one of

984
01:15:31,960 --> 01:15:36,720
the things was already there. It came from the side,

985
01:15:37,239 --> 01:15:41,800
fast and low, hands slapping the tile. Its skin had

986
01:15:41,800 --> 01:15:45,680
a stretched, waxy look to it, thin hair spouting from

987
01:15:45,680 --> 01:15:49,800
its scalp in random clumps. It didn't look at me,

988
01:15:50,720 --> 01:15:54,319
just grabbed Derek's leg and started pulling backward with sharp

989
01:15:54,600 --> 01:15:58,239
jerking motions, like a dog trying to tear off a limb.

990
01:16:00,119 --> 01:16:04,840
Derek howled. I dropped the flashlight, gripped the rod in

991
01:16:04,920 --> 01:16:08,039
both hands and slammed it down across the thing's arm.

992
01:16:09,359 --> 01:16:13,439
It didn't let go. It just hissed, turned its head

993
01:16:13,479 --> 01:16:17,279
to me with that split, schored grin. We were right

994
01:16:17,399 --> 01:16:21,640
next to the door. I dropped the rod and grabbed

995
01:16:21,680 --> 01:16:25,159
Derek with both arms, dug my heels in and pulled.

996
01:16:26,920 --> 01:16:31,079
Removed maybe a foot, but that was all we needed.

997
01:16:32,479 --> 01:16:34,800
I let go of Derek, then grabbed the door and

998
01:16:34,960 --> 01:16:39,479
shoved it open. The creature's grip didn't loosen, so I

999
01:16:39,520 --> 01:16:42,960
did the only thing I could. I grabbed the edge

1000
01:16:42,960 --> 01:16:49,199
of the door and slammed it into its arm once twice.

1001
01:16:49,920 --> 01:16:54,000
On the third hit I felt something give a crunch

1002
01:16:54,039 --> 01:16:58,439
of bone and cartilage. It let out a gurgling wheeze

1003
01:16:58,640 --> 01:17:03,199
and retracted fast, skittering back into the shadows and all fours.

1004
01:17:04,920 --> 01:17:10,039
Derreck crawled through. I followed, grabbed the handle and pulled

1005
01:17:10,079 --> 01:17:14,359
the door shut behind us. The bolt barely slid in

1006
01:17:14,840 --> 01:17:19,279
before something slammed into the other side. We ran up

1007
01:17:19,279 --> 01:17:25,239
the stairs, boots slapping against concrete, lungs burning behind us.

1008
01:17:25,520 --> 01:17:31,119
The pounding started again, dull thuds against the steel. By

1009
01:17:31,159 --> 01:17:34,239
the time we stumbled back onto the road, the sun

1010
01:17:34,399 --> 01:17:38,359
was nearly gone. The light was turning that strange color

1011
01:17:38,399 --> 01:17:42,760
it gets right before dusk. Everything was washed in gray,

1012
01:17:43,720 --> 01:17:48,319
the trees casting long shadows across the pavement. I couldn't

1013
01:17:48,319 --> 01:17:52,720
feel my legs any more. Derrec was limping holding his side,

1014
01:17:53,279 --> 01:17:56,800
and both of us were covered in dirt, blood, and

1015
01:17:56,840 --> 01:18:02,000
something that smelled sour and metallic. We didn't say anything.

1016
01:18:02,920 --> 01:18:06,720
There was nothing to say. I didn't even know which

1017
01:18:06,800 --> 01:18:09,840
road we were on, just that it wasn't the one

1018
01:18:09,920 --> 01:18:14,479
we came in on. A hundred yards later, a small

1019
01:18:14,640 --> 01:18:17,920
one story house sat tugged behind a split rail fence.

1020
01:18:19,000 --> 01:18:21,439
There was a man out front pushing a rusted mower

1021
01:18:21,479 --> 01:18:26,159
across the patch of grass. He stopped when he saw us.

1022
01:18:27,960 --> 01:18:32,479
At first, he didn't move, just stared. Then he turned

1023
01:18:32,479 --> 01:18:36,520
the mow off and came towards us. You boys, all right,

1024
01:18:37,119 --> 01:18:40,840
he asked. Then he took a better look at us.

1025
01:18:41,399 --> 01:18:45,880
Come on. He brought us inside, sat us down at

1026
01:18:45,880 --> 01:18:50,520
his kitchen table. Clean place, smell like burnt coffee and

1027
01:18:50,640 --> 01:18:55,119
old wood. He handed us a towel, then her phone.

1028
01:18:56,680 --> 01:19:00,640
When the despatcher answered, I didn't tell them about it creatures.

1029
01:19:01,279 --> 01:19:05,279
I didn't mention green fluid or split jaws. I just

1030
01:19:05,359 --> 01:19:09,439
gave the address, told them we'd been attacked, told them

1031
01:19:09,479 --> 01:19:13,199
someone needed to come fast. They said help was on

1032
01:19:13,279 --> 01:19:17,479
the way. I hung up and finally looked at Derek.

1033
01:19:18,880 --> 01:19:24,079
He hadn't stopped shaking. They came in under an hour,

1034
01:19:24,760 --> 01:19:27,960
two cruisers at first, then a full team. Once the

1035
01:19:28,000 --> 01:19:31,840
officers got a good look at the place, we didn't

1036
01:19:31,880 --> 01:19:35,239
go back to them, They told us to stay put

1037
01:19:35,840 --> 01:19:40,680
EMTs checked us over while more cars arrived, unmarked ones.

1038
01:19:40,720 --> 01:19:46,960
This time waiter. I saw the footage on the news.

1039
01:19:47,880 --> 01:19:50,800
They showed the cabin from the outside, lit up in

1040
01:19:50,880 --> 01:19:55,479
blue and red, officers moving in and out. The anchor

1041
01:19:55,560 --> 01:20:00,359
called it a disturbing discovery. Said authorities were looking into

1042
01:20:00,399 --> 01:20:07,720
a suspected unauthorized research facility connected to Hardly Biologics. What

1043
01:20:07,840 --> 01:20:13,760
they didn't show was the basement. I heard about it

1044
01:20:13,880 --> 01:20:18,560
later during questioning. The steel door had been forced open.

1045
01:20:19,680 --> 01:20:25,279
Inside they found the lab just like we described, operating table,

1046
01:20:25,479 --> 01:20:32,880
surgical equipment, dozens of shattered pods, but no creatures. They

1047
01:20:32,960 --> 01:20:38,560
questioned us for hours, separately, then together, and back and forth.

1048
01:20:39,680 --> 01:20:45,319
Eventually someone confirmed what we already knew. Jeremy had been

1049
01:20:45,359 --> 01:20:50,960
picked up that night, found at home calm cooperative. Said

1050
01:20:51,039 --> 01:20:55,760
he didn't know anything about a cabin. He was arrested,

1051
01:20:56,640 --> 01:21:00,720
but no charges stuck, and everybody in the town knew why.

1052
01:21:03,079 --> 01:21:08,479
His family was already spinning the story before sunrise. I

1053
01:21:08,520 --> 01:21:11,279
was in a hospital briefly, but they let me out

1054
01:21:11,319 --> 01:21:16,359
the next morning. No broken bones, just bruises, a gash

1055
01:21:16,399 --> 01:21:21,000
across my arm and a mild concussion. I walked out

1056
01:21:21,119 --> 01:21:25,479
under my own power, but I didn't feel right. Couldn't

1057
01:21:25,520 --> 01:21:30,000
tell if it was shock or something else. I didn't

1058
01:21:30,039 --> 01:21:34,399
hear from Derek for days. He was still in the hospital.

1059
01:21:35,399 --> 01:21:39,439
Puncture wounds, fractured wrist, some nerve damage, and a messed

1060
01:21:39,520 --> 01:21:44,319
up ankle. He couldn't stand without help. They said it

1061
01:21:44,399 --> 01:21:47,720
might take months for him to walk properly again, might

1062
01:21:47,760 --> 01:21:53,000
not ever be the same. I visited him once. He

1063
01:21:53,039 --> 01:21:56,439
wouldn't look at me, just stared out the window and

1064
01:21:56,560 --> 01:21:59,720
kept clicking the morphine button, even when I knew the

1065
01:21:59,800 --> 01:22:05,199
door who had already maxed out. After that, I didn't

1066
01:22:05,279 --> 01:22:11,039
go back. A few days later, I got a call

1067
01:22:11,119 --> 01:22:14,760
from the detective who'd interviewed me the night of the raid.

1068
01:22:15,640 --> 01:22:21,560
His tone was clipped, professional, almost tired. He told me

1069
01:22:21,640 --> 01:22:26,119
the charges against Jeremy weren't moving forward, said the family

1070
01:22:26,159 --> 01:22:30,319
had lawyers already working over time. Claimed we broke into

1071
01:22:30,359 --> 01:22:34,479
private property, roffed of their son, trast a remote site

1072
01:22:34,600 --> 01:22:39,600
used for authorized research. Jeremy's statement said he'd been targeted,

1073
01:22:40,079 --> 01:22:45,399
that we were jealous, that we fabricated everything. The official

1074
01:22:45,439 --> 01:22:50,840
report mentioned structural damage and chemical residue, but no mention

1075
01:22:51,319 --> 01:22:55,880
of anything that breathed. Nothing about the pods, nothing about

1076
01:22:55,920 --> 01:23:02,319
the bodies, not even a word about the meta. They

1077
01:23:02,479 --> 01:23:16,199
buried it all. I found the ad while half asleep,

1078
01:23:16,680 --> 01:23:20,439
hunched over a greasy diner booth, stealing Wi Fi from

1079
01:23:20,479 --> 01:23:25,199
the subway next door. I've been scrolling through Craigslist for hours,

1080
01:23:25,800 --> 01:23:28,840
past the usual flood of make five hundred dollars a

1081
01:23:28,880 --> 01:23:32,560
day from home scams, and I need a strong man

1082
01:23:32,640 --> 01:23:37,560
to lift my mattress posts. That night, my bank account

1083
01:23:37,600 --> 01:23:41,479
was sitting at thirty two dollars and eleven cents. Rent

1084
01:23:41,600 --> 01:23:45,199
was due in four days. The ad was buried between

1085
01:23:45,239 --> 01:23:49,079
someone offering tower readings and another listing that just said

1086
01:23:49,640 --> 01:23:57,600
free dirt caretaker needed seventy two hours only, no experience necessary,

1087
01:23:58,239 --> 01:24:04,800
five thousand dollars flat, no fluff, just that single line

1088
01:24:04,920 --> 01:24:09,960
followed by patient must not fall asleep under any circumstances,

1089
01:24:10,560 --> 01:24:18,279
all equipment provided. Do not contact us after the job ends.

1090
01:24:19,239 --> 01:24:22,600
I read it three times. I even closed the tab

1091
01:24:22,640 --> 01:24:25,960
and reopened it, expecting it to vanish or change into

1092
01:24:26,000 --> 01:24:32,000
something ordinary, but it stayed exactly the same. There was

1093
01:24:32,039 --> 01:24:36,920
an email address, nothing more. I clicked reply and sent

1094
01:24:37,000 --> 01:24:44,800
a message with one line, I'm interested. The man told

1095
01:24:44,840 --> 01:24:47,159
me to meet him at a small cafe off a

1096
01:24:47,239 --> 01:24:50,720
quiet corner of town. It was one of those places

1097
01:24:50,720 --> 01:24:55,079
with mismatched mugs, hand painted tables, and coffee that tasted

1098
01:24:55,159 --> 01:24:59,000
burned no matter what blend you ordered. He sat at

1099
01:24:59,039 --> 01:25:02,279
the far end, near the window, a black note book

1100
01:25:02,319 --> 01:25:04,560
in front of him, and a cup of tea that

1101
01:25:04,640 --> 01:25:09,079
had already gone cold. He stood up when I approached

1102
01:25:09,079 --> 01:25:14,640
and shook my hand. He introduced himself as Raymond. He

1103
01:25:14,680 --> 01:25:18,239
wore a dark, well fitted suit with a coughlin shaped

1104
01:25:18,239 --> 01:25:21,439
like a spiral. I couldn't tell if it was a

1105
01:25:21,479 --> 01:25:26,760
symbol or just a rich person. Flourish you came quickly,

1106
01:25:27,640 --> 01:25:32,640
he said, motioning for me to sit. I asked who

1107
01:25:32,640 --> 01:25:40,560
I'd be caring for. He hesitated before answering, my mother, Marjorie.

1108
01:25:41,079 --> 01:25:45,479
She's very ill. He stared at me for a long

1109
01:25:45,520 --> 01:25:51,039
time after saying a name, then continued. She has an

1110
01:25:51,159 --> 01:25:57,800
unusual condition. Nothing contagious, I assure you, but it's neurological.

1111
01:25:58,880 --> 01:26:02,479
You won't have to feed a bather or administer medicine.

1112
01:26:03,720 --> 01:26:10,079
Just keep her awake, engage her talk, play music, whatever

1113
01:26:10,159 --> 01:26:16,880
it takes. The moment she falls asleep it could worsen.

1114
01:26:19,760 --> 01:26:24,359
I nodded, and he exhaled. She was a brilliant woman,

1115
01:26:24,880 --> 01:26:28,920
he added, taught literature, used to run a little bookshop

1116
01:26:29,000 --> 01:26:33,000
downtown before it burned down. She is not herself anymore.

1117
01:26:33,640 --> 01:26:39,279
She has these spells, fugues, hallucinations, night terrors, they come

1118
01:26:39,359 --> 01:26:44,640
for her in asleep. He slid a heavy Manila envelope

1119
01:26:44,680 --> 01:26:50,359
across the table. Inside was a thick binder titled Protocol,

1120
01:26:50,680 --> 01:26:54,399
a black key fob, a prepaid visa card, and a

1121
01:26:54,479 --> 01:26:59,560
separate envelope with the address scribbled in sharp handwriting. He

1122
01:26:59,600 --> 01:27:02,680
also included a list of items that had already been

1123
01:27:02,720 --> 01:27:08,880
delivered to the property blackout curtains, noise machines, stimulant supplements,

1124
01:27:08,920 --> 01:27:14,000
and a medical grade led therapy light. I asked why

1125
01:27:14,039 --> 01:27:18,159
he couldn't be there himself. Raymond looked out of the

1126
01:27:18,159 --> 01:27:23,600
window for a few moments before speaking. She didn't want

1127
01:27:23,640 --> 01:27:26,159
me to be the one, said, it would be too

1128
01:27:26,239 --> 01:27:30,640
hard on me. I've watched the suffer for years. I

1129
01:27:30,720 --> 01:27:37,199
agreed to honor that. He turned back toward me. Three days.

1130
01:27:37,880 --> 01:27:41,640
You'll stay in the house the entire time, No visitors,

1131
01:27:42,000 --> 01:27:49,600
no calls. She has sensitive reactions that outside stimuli. Everything

1132
01:27:49,640 --> 01:27:55,199
you need is in the binder. Follow it exactly. He

1133
01:27:55,239 --> 01:27:59,079
slid a phone across the table, cheap and prepaid with

1134
01:27:59,119 --> 01:28:05,239
one contact saved. AH. Only use this if things go

1135
01:28:05,399 --> 01:28:11,399
completely wrong, he said, Otherwise you won't hear from me again.

1136
01:28:13,720 --> 01:28:18,439
After the conversation, I had my doubts, but Raymond had

1137
01:28:18,479 --> 01:28:21,600
already given me a debit card and a phone, so

1138
01:28:22,159 --> 01:28:26,720
I didn't have much to lose. My first destination was

1139
01:28:26,760 --> 01:28:31,079
the local grocery store. I'd never even tried staying up

1140
01:28:31,159 --> 01:28:34,640
seventy two hours, so I was in dire need of

1141
01:28:34,680 --> 01:28:38,760
some energy drinks. The house sat at the top of

1142
01:28:38,800 --> 01:28:42,039
a steep hill on the edge of town, which between

1143
01:28:42,159 --> 01:28:47,000
two long abandoned properties. I wouldn't have noticed it if

1144
01:28:47,039 --> 01:28:50,079
not for the number painted faintly on the mailbox in

1145
01:28:50,199 --> 01:28:55,399
flaking gold. The path up was cracked, grass growing through

1146
01:28:55,479 --> 01:28:59,640
every seam. A row of wind chimes hung silently from

1147
01:28:59,680 --> 01:29:05,800
the poor much, though there wasn't a breeze inside Inside,

1148
01:29:06,359 --> 01:29:10,920
everything was quieter than i'd anticipated, no birds on through

1149
01:29:10,960 --> 01:29:15,680
the windows. I noticed that every clock in the house

1150
01:29:15,720 --> 01:29:19,640
had stopped, one at twelve o three, one at three

1151
01:29:19,640 --> 01:29:25,239
point fifteen, another at four twenty four. The windows had

1152
01:29:25,279 --> 01:29:29,039
thick boarded nails over them from the inside sealed tight.

1153
01:29:30,399 --> 01:29:34,119
Light came from tall standing lamps in every room, all

1154
01:29:34,159 --> 01:29:40,159
of them humming faintly. Marjorie sat in a faded recliner

1155
01:29:40,279 --> 01:29:43,319
in the living room, beneath the painting of a forest

1156
01:29:43,600 --> 01:29:47,239
that in no path through it. Her body looked smaller

1157
01:29:47,279 --> 01:29:50,920
than it should have been, curled in on itself, skin

1158
01:29:51,159 --> 01:29:56,399
like parchment pulled tight over brittle bone. Her hands trembled

1159
01:29:56,439 --> 01:30:01,399
and her lap, but her eyes were sharp, vivid, and

1160
01:30:01,560 --> 01:30:08,159
almost too aware. She didn't speak at first. Just watch

1161
01:30:08,239 --> 01:30:10,960
me cross the room the way you might watch someone

1162
01:30:11,000 --> 01:30:15,239
approach your hospital bed with a needle in hand. I

1163
01:30:15,319 --> 01:30:20,560
introduced myself and explained why I was there. Her mouth

1164
01:30:20,640 --> 01:30:25,640
moved a little, but no sound came out. I assumed

1165
01:30:25,760 --> 01:30:31,399
she was mute. I was halfway through unsipping my duffel

1166
01:30:31,399 --> 01:30:38,119
bag when I heard her voice, quiet, dry, but laced

1167
01:30:38,159 --> 01:30:43,199
with something that caught in my chest. I heard about

1168
01:30:43,279 --> 01:30:47,560
you from Raymond, she said. I hope I won't be

1169
01:30:47,600 --> 01:30:53,479
too much of a bother for you. Her voice didn't

1170
01:30:53,520 --> 01:30:59,399
match her body. It wasn't weak, not completely. It had

1171
01:30:59,479 --> 01:31:07,319
something else in it, resignation, maybe loneliness. I stood there

1172
01:31:07,359 --> 01:31:11,560
for a second, not sure what to say. Then I

1173
01:31:11,680 --> 01:31:16,479
just nodded and smiled. It's no bother, I told her.

1174
01:31:17,119 --> 01:31:24,119
I'm here to help. She smiled back. The next seventy

1175
01:31:24,159 --> 01:31:30,560
two hours would be the longest of my life. The

1176
01:31:30,600 --> 01:31:34,359
first few hours passed, I set up the equipment. Just

1177
01:31:34,399 --> 01:31:38,239
as the binder instructed, one of the tall lamps flickered

1178
01:31:38,319 --> 01:31:41,079
at the edge of the living room, but I didn't

1179
01:31:41,119 --> 01:31:45,800
touch it. Raymond had underlined several warnings in the protocol.

1180
01:31:47,079 --> 01:31:51,760
Do not move the lights, do not unplug anything, do

1181
01:31:51,840 --> 01:31:55,760
not let her close her eyes for more than fifteen seconds.

1182
01:31:57,079 --> 01:32:00,039
I double checked the countdown timer I taped above the

1183
01:32:00,119 --> 01:32:05,079
kitchen threshold. Seventy one hours and forty four minutes to go.

1184
01:32:07,479 --> 01:32:13,840
Marjorie surprised me. She was sharper than I expected, thoughtful,

1185
01:32:14,159 --> 01:32:18,439
sometimes even funny. She told me about a book she

1186
01:32:18,520 --> 01:32:22,159
tried to write in her thirties, something about a lighthouse

1187
01:32:22,199 --> 01:32:25,920
that only appeared in dreams. She asked where I grew up,

1188
01:32:26,079 --> 01:32:29,720
what music I liked, if I believed in anything after death.

1189
01:32:31,399 --> 01:32:35,600
She didn't speak constantly, but when she did, she spoke

1190
01:32:35,640 --> 01:32:40,800
with a stillness that made every word feel chosen. She

1191
01:32:40,880 --> 01:32:43,479
didn't complain when I read out loud or when I

1192
01:32:43,520 --> 01:32:48,640
played soft music. Her favorite was the cello, said it

1193
01:32:48,680 --> 01:32:54,319
reminded her of something not sad, exactly, more worn out.

1194
01:32:57,079 --> 01:33:01,680
As midnight approached, I noticed her start to fidget. Her

1195
01:33:01,720 --> 01:33:05,319
hands wrung the blanket across her knees, Her gaze darted

1196
01:33:05,359 --> 01:33:09,880
to all the corners of the room. Do you mind

1197
01:33:09,920 --> 01:33:13,640
turning that one on, too, she asked, pointing to a

1198
01:33:13,720 --> 01:33:19,000
lamp I hadn't noticed, tuck behind a dusty bugshelf. I

1199
01:33:19,079 --> 01:33:25,560
turned it on. She nodded, but didn't thank me. After

1200
01:33:25,640 --> 01:33:31,000
a while, she started whispering under a breath. I leaned closer,

1201
01:33:31,439 --> 01:33:35,880
thinking she was asking for water, but it wasn't that.

1202
01:33:37,279 --> 01:33:41,159
Her voice moved through the same sentence again and again,

1203
01:33:41,960 --> 01:33:47,960
barely audible. Stay with me, Stay with me, Stay with me.

1204
01:33:50,279 --> 01:33:55,000
It started around two am. I had stepped into the

1205
01:33:55,079 --> 01:33:59,279
kitchen for just a second to heat up water. When

1206
01:33:59,279 --> 01:34:05,159
I came back, Marjorie's eyes were closed, her head tilted

1207
01:34:05,199 --> 01:34:11,319
toward her shoulder, breathing slow. I panicked, rushed over, clapped

1208
01:34:11,359 --> 01:34:15,199
my hands, called a name. She jolted upright with a

1209
01:34:15,279 --> 01:34:18,840
gasp that echoed through the room. Her eyes were wide

1210
01:34:19,359 --> 01:34:24,600
filled with fresh panic. I didn't mean to, she said.

1211
01:34:24,880 --> 01:34:28,800
I didn't mean to. I just please don't let it out.

1212
01:34:31,760 --> 01:34:34,760
Before I could ask what she meant, I noticed the

1213
01:34:34,880 --> 01:34:41,359
lamp beside the bugshelf had gone out completely dead. I

1214
01:34:41,479 --> 01:34:44,560
touched it and felt a thin line of heat coming

1215
01:34:44,600 --> 01:34:52,039
off the base. Something else caught my eye. The shadows

1216
01:34:52,039 --> 01:34:55,720
in the corners had shifted. They seemed to ripple ever

1217
01:34:55,800 --> 01:34:59,960
so slightly when I looked directly at them. They didn't

1218
01:35:00,039 --> 01:35:05,199
retreat with the light. They moved when Marjorie blinked. When

1219
01:35:05,239 --> 01:35:08,960
she closed her eyes again, even for a moment, the

1220
01:35:09,039 --> 01:35:12,319
darkest part of the room pulsed like they were breathing

1221
01:35:12,439 --> 01:35:16,960
with her. I lifted the edge of the rug beneath

1222
01:35:16,960 --> 01:35:21,880
her recliner to fix a frayed corner. That was when

1223
01:35:21,920 --> 01:35:27,199
I saw them, thin black streaks burned into the hardwood,

1224
01:35:28,119 --> 01:35:34,079
curving into spirals. It wasn't smoke damage. It looked older

1225
01:35:34,079 --> 01:35:40,000
than the wood itself, buried into the grain. Marjorie reached

1226
01:35:40,000 --> 01:35:45,800
out and grabbed my wrist. Don't look too long, she said.

1227
01:35:46,560 --> 01:35:53,279
It notices when you pay attention. I wanted to leave

1228
01:35:53,319 --> 01:35:58,520
the room, just to breathe, but I stayed. I pulled

1229
01:35:58,520 --> 01:36:01,479
a stool closer to her chair and sat beside her,

1230
01:36:01,920 --> 01:36:06,159
rubbing my face with both hands. She leaned her head

1231
01:36:06,199 --> 01:36:11,399
back and stared at the ceiling. If I fall asleep,

1232
01:36:11,960 --> 01:36:16,520
she whispered, it gets out. It's always been with me

1233
01:36:17,039 --> 01:36:20,600
since I was a child. It waits until I slip,

1234
01:36:21,560 --> 01:36:27,439
and then it starts cloring. She didn't say much for

1235
01:36:27,479 --> 01:36:32,000
the next hour, just stared, glassy eyed toward the blank

1236
01:36:32,079 --> 01:36:37,439
television screen. I tried to distract her with conversation, but

1237
01:36:37,600 --> 01:36:44,960
she ignored me. Then, out of nowhere, she began speaking again,

1238
01:36:45,800 --> 01:36:50,560
this time to herself more than to me. My mother

1239
01:36:50,720 --> 01:36:55,239
died in that same chair, she said. She told me

1240
01:36:55,319 --> 01:36:58,800
the truth right before she passed, said it lived in

1241
01:36:58,840 --> 01:37:01,800
her dreams, that it would move up to me. Next,

1242
01:37:02,600 --> 01:37:07,279
said I would understand when it happened, and I did.

1243
01:37:08,000 --> 01:37:11,800
I woke up screaming that night. I couldn't even remember

1244
01:37:11,880 --> 01:37:16,279
what I dreamed, but it was there in my head,

1245
01:37:16,680 --> 01:37:19,399
at the foot of my bed, in the seams of

1246
01:37:19,439 --> 01:37:26,760
the walls. Her voice wavered, but she kept talking. I

1247
01:37:26,880 --> 01:37:30,359
never had children. I never wanted to pass this thing on.

1248
01:37:31,359 --> 01:37:34,119
I thought if I just stayed alone, if I just

1249
01:37:34,319 --> 01:37:38,800
endured it, then it would die with me. But I

1250
01:37:38,920 --> 01:37:43,399
was wrong. It grows stronger. I feel it every time

1251
01:37:43,439 --> 01:37:50,319
I close my eyes. Her hands trembled, not from age,

1252
01:37:50,600 --> 01:37:55,840
from fear. I could feel it in the air. I've

1253
01:37:55,960 --> 01:37:59,680
kept it trapped by never really sleeping, never letting it

1254
01:37:59,840 --> 01:38:04,199
rose itself deep. But I'm no longer the young, strong

1255
01:38:04,279 --> 01:38:09,239
person I was before. I've grown old and weak, and

1256
01:38:09,479 --> 01:38:16,560
it knows it's watching me lose. She looked up at me, then,

1257
01:38:17,159 --> 01:38:21,920
her eyes shining with tears. I just do not want

1258
01:38:21,960 --> 01:38:27,520
this to curse anybody else. I didn't know what to say.

1259
01:38:28,600 --> 01:38:31,800
I reached out, unsure if she would take my hand,

1260
01:38:32,880 --> 01:38:38,279
but she did. Her grip was frail but steady. She

1261
01:38:38,319 --> 01:38:44,880
wept out of grief and exhaustion. I stayed quiet. I

1262
01:38:44,920 --> 01:38:50,119
haven't known peace in so long, she said, just the

1263
01:38:50,199 --> 01:38:56,640
waiting and the struggling. She didn't ask for comfort, didn't

1264
01:38:56,640 --> 01:38:58,760
want to be told who was going to be all right.

1265
01:39:00,239 --> 01:39:05,479
She knew better than I did. Outside, the wind picked

1266
01:39:05,560 --> 01:39:08,880
up for the first time since I arrived. One of

1267
01:39:08,920 --> 01:39:12,279
the boards on the window creaked. Something in the walls

1268
01:39:12,319 --> 01:39:18,800
shifted too slow to be the house settling. Marjorie didn't flinch.

1269
01:39:20,159 --> 01:39:29,359
She just whispered again, stay with me, and I did.

1270
01:39:33,920 --> 01:39:38,039
The following day passed without a hitch. The energy drinks

1271
01:39:38,039 --> 01:39:41,560
were working, but I could tell sleep was starting to

1272
01:39:41,640 --> 01:39:46,920
creep in. However, the second night was worse in every way.

1273
01:39:48,359 --> 01:39:51,159
My head throbbed from the constant buzz of the standing

1274
01:39:51,239 --> 01:39:55,479
lamps and caffeine. My vision swam in and out of clarity.

1275
01:39:56,880 --> 01:40:00,079
Every blink felt heavier than the last, like my Her

1276
01:40:00,079 --> 01:40:05,479
own body was rooting for failure. Marjorie hadn't slept either,

1277
01:40:06,399 --> 01:40:08,920
not for more than a few seconds at a time.

1278
01:40:10,079 --> 01:40:14,000
Her eyes were bloodshot, her voice more brittle than before.

1279
01:40:15,199 --> 01:40:19,880
She had started to mutter nonsense. Sometimes it sounded like poetry.

1280
01:40:20,720 --> 01:40:24,239
Other times her words strung together with a logic that

1281
01:40:24,359 --> 01:40:29,239
made my stomach tighten. She spoke in voices that weren't hers.

1282
01:40:30,119 --> 01:40:34,000
A deep, gutural tone slipped out once, so low I

1283
01:40:34,159 --> 01:40:38,600
felt it in my bones. Then later her mouth twisted

1284
01:40:38,680 --> 01:40:41,720
into a white grin, and she giggled with the voice

1285
01:40:41,720 --> 01:40:47,840
of a little girl. Are you scared yet? She asked,

1286
01:40:48,359 --> 01:40:53,079
or what I thought was her. She didn't remember saying it.

1287
01:40:55,479 --> 01:40:58,600
By three thirty a m. I had started to hear

1288
01:40:58,680 --> 01:41:03,880
things upstairs. There was no second floor, just an attic.

1289
01:41:04,159 --> 01:41:08,399
I had not dared to check. The footsteps weren't hurried

1290
01:41:08,600 --> 01:41:13,760
or loud, but they paced back and forth. I knew

1291
01:41:13,760 --> 01:41:20,199
better than to call out. Three minutes later, every light

1292
01:41:20,239 --> 01:41:24,359
in the house shut off at once, the bus died,

1293
01:41:25,039 --> 01:41:32,560
the air turned cold. I didn't move, couldn't The only

1294
01:41:32,640 --> 01:41:37,479
sound left was Marjorie's breathing, slow and uncertain, and the

1295
01:41:37,640 --> 01:41:42,640
soft creak of wood under something heavy. She looked at

1296
01:41:42,680 --> 01:41:46,520
me through the darkness. Her face glowed faintly in the

1297
01:41:46,560 --> 01:41:51,359
absence of light, not from any lamp or candle. Her

1298
01:41:51,399 --> 01:41:56,039
eyes had taken on a sheen, faintly reflective, barely visible,

1299
01:41:56,880 --> 01:42:02,720
like something was seeing through her. Marjorie closed her eyes

1300
01:42:02,760 --> 01:42:05,840
for a single moment, and before I could think to

1301
01:42:05,880 --> 01:42:12,039
wake her up, something caught my attention. The thing appeared

1302
01:42:12,079 --> 01:42:15,600
above us, clinging to the ceiling like it had always

1303
01:42:15,640 --> 01:42:19,239
been there. Its limbs didn't bend in the way they

1304
01:42:19,279 --> 01:42:23,880
should have. There were too many of them, long and thin,

1305
01:42:24,600 --> 01:42:27,920
like someone had built it out of smoke and bone.

1306
01:42:28,800 --> 01:42:32,800
It watched Marjorie with a stillness I couldn't match. It

1307
01:42:32,840 --> 01:42:37,520
didn't breathe, it didn't twitch. Its head tilted slowly as

1308
01:42:37,520 --> 01:42:41,520
her eyelids began to droop. The edges of its body

1309
01:42:41,560 --> 01:42:46,319
glimmered faintly in the dark, a suggestion of shape, a

1310
01:42:46,479 --> 01:42:51,359
ripple through the air. I tried to shout, but the

1311
01:42:51,399 --> 01:42:54,880
air caught in my throat. All I could do was

1312
01:42:54,960 --> 01:43:00,800
reach for her hand and squeeze. She gasped away, eyes

1313
01:43:00,880 --> 01:43:04,119
wide and wet, and the thing above us twitched once,

1314
01:43:04,800 --> 01:43:10,680
then receded slightly. It didn't disappear, it just shrank back

1315
01:43:10,760 --> 01:43:13,800
toward the corner where the ceiling met the far wall.

1316
01:43:15,600 --> 01:43:19,119
Mardrie stared into the black with me, watching it crawl

1317
01:43:19,239 --> 01:43:25,239
higher into the dark. That's what it does, she whispered,

1318
01:43:26,359 --> 01:43:31,520
though I'm surprised you can see it. Her voice was

1319
01:43:31,560 --> 01:43:35,520
her own again. We sat like that for a long time,

1320
01:43:36,319 --> 01:43:41,600
silent except for our breath. The air felt thick, heavy,

1321
01:43:41,680 --> 01:43:46,479
with a presence I couldn't name. The shadows were heavier now.

1322
01:43:47,279 --> 01:43:50,439
The floor beneath my feet pulsed faintly with the rhythm.

1323
01:43:52,520 --> 01:43:58,760
Around four a m. The house changed again. I dozed

1324
01:43:58,800 --> 01:44:03,359
off only for a second. My head dipped forward and

1325
01:44:03,439 --> 01:44:08,239
snapped up with a jolt. Marjorie was still awake, but

1326
01:44:08,359 --> 01:44:13,159
her expression had changed. Her eyes were unfocused, and her

1327
01:44:13,199 --> 01:44:19,479
lips moved slowly. I can give you peace, she said,

1328
01:44:20,000 --> 01:44:24,199
no more pain, no more nights alone. You want out,

1329
01:44:24,359 --> 01:44:31,079
don't you. I can get you out. I didn't reply,

1330
01:44:31,960 --> 01:44:37,479
I just shook my head. Her face contorted again. You've

1331
01:44:37,520 --> 01:44:42,279
always wanted more, she said, more than what life gave you.

1332
01:44:43,640 --> 01:44:47,439
I could make people listen. I could make you known.

1333
01:44:49,279 --> 01:44:55,279
The voice was wrong. It wasn't Marjorie anymore. It was deeper, older,

1334
01:44:55,960 --> 01:44:59,239
and filled with something that didn't understand what it meant

1335
01:44:59,239 --> 01:45:06,319
to be human. You want money done, you want fame easy,

1336
01:45:07,359 --> 01:45:10,640
you want to be remembered. I can make you the

1337
01:45:10,840 --> 01:45:19,000
only name they speak. I stood up. I felt sick, dizzy.

1338
01:45:19,279 --> 01:45:21,840
The room was spinning, but I grabbed the edge of

1339
01:45:21,880 --> 01:45:26,800
the chair and forced myself steady. Mardre's hands shout out

1340
01:45:26,800 --> 01:45:33,880
towards me again. I didn't pull away. I knelt beside her. No,

1341
01:45:34,760 --> 01:45:40,920
I said, she stays awake. She finishes this, we both do.

1342
01:45:44,600 --> 01:45:48,039
The shadows writhed at the edge of the room, recoiling

1343
01:45:48,159 --> 01:45:53,199
like a tide. Forced to retreat, I stayed beside her,

1344
01:45:53,239 --> 01:45:57,920
holding her hand, reading anything I could find. I told

1345
01:45:57,920 --> 01:46:00,520
her about my mother, about the first last time I

1346
01:46:00,560 --> 01:46:03,319
snuck out of school, about the time I broke my

1347
01:46:03,479 --> 01:46:08,760
arm falling out of a tree. I didn't stop when

1348
01:46:08,840 --> 01:46:11,960
my voice gave out. I played music through my phone

1349
01:46:12,279 --> 01:46:16,359
and let her rest ahead on my shoulder. She didn't

1350
01:46:16,359 --> 01:46:20,560
speak for hours, but as the sun crawled toward the horizon,

1351
01:46:21,760 --> 01:46:28,000
she smiled, a real smile. A tired one, but real.

1352
01:46:30,239 --> 01:46:34,479
No one's ever helped me carry it before. She said

1353
01:46:36,760 --> 01:46:40,640
that smile broke me more than anything else in that house,

1354
01:46:41,520 --> 01:46:46,159
because I knew how rare it had to be. She

1355
01:46:46,239 --> 01:46:49,399
closed her eyes for a second. I nudged her gently.

1356
01:46:50,399 --> 01:46:58,279
She stirred, still with me for now. On the last day,

1357
01:46:58,800 --> 01:47:02,680
Marjorie's body had started to give up. There was no

1358
01:47:02,840 --> 01:47:07,159
other way to describe it. Her words slurred and dragged.

1359
01:47:07,840 --> 01:47:12,039
Half a sentences faded out before they ended. Her hands

1360
01:47:12,079 --> 01:47:16,479
clenched and unclenched. The blanket draped over her legs, each

1361
01:47:16,600 --> 01:47:20,920
movement slower than the last. She coughed hard enough to

1362
01:47:21,000 --> 01:47:24,920
double over, and when she wiped her mouth, a thick

1363
01:47:24,960 --> 01:47:28,399
streak of black fluid clung to the back of her hand.

1364
01:47:29,600 --> 01:47:34,199
It smelled like iron and burnt oil. I moved to

1365
01:47:34,199 --> 01:47:37,840
help her sit upright again, but her eyes caught mine

1366
01:47:37,920 --> 01:47:44,520
with a quiet, trembling urgency. In the drawer, she said,

1367
01:47:44,880 --> 01:47:52,239
barely more than a breath. Hallway table, right side bottom.

1368
01:47:52,680 --> 01:47:56,000
I did what she said. My legs were trembling under

1369
01:47:56,000 --> 01:48:00,399
me as I crossed to the hallway. The shadows shifted again.

1370
01:48:00,439 --> 01:48:04,920
When I moved. They didn't follow me, but they watched.

1371
01:48:05,960 --> 01:48:10,079
I could feel it behind my ears, the quiet judgment

1372
01:48:10,439 --> 01:48:15,359
of something waiting for the final piece to fall. The

1373
01:48:15,439 --> 01:48:19,800
drawer stuck, a little, swollen from age. I yanked it

1374
01:48:19,880 --> 01:48:25,640
harder and it came loose. Inside was a dusty leather

1375
01:48:25,720 --> 01:48:30,520
photo album, cracked down the spine. I carried it back

1376
01:48:30,560 --> 01:48:33,279
to her and sat on the floor beside her chair.

1377
01:48:35,239 --> 01:48:41,479
We opened it together. The pictures were faded but intact,

1378
01:48:42,439 --> 01:48:45,079
black and white shots of a young woman in a

1379
01:48:45,119 --> 01:48:52,520
flowered dress standing near a broken fence, Marjorie. Her eyes

1380
01:48:52,560 --> 01:48:58,239
were brighter than her mouth, softer the edges. She stood

1381
01:48:58,399 --> 01:49:02,680
with a woman I assumed be a mother, tall and stiff,

1382
01:49:03,279 --> 01:49:08,279
a distant look edged permanently across her face. The two

1383
01:49:08,319 --> 01:49:13,239
of them stood apart in every photo, never touching, the mother,

1384
01:49:13,680 --> 01:49:18,680
always near the shadows. There were no children in any

1385
01:49:18,680 --> 01:49:23,399
of the images, no friends, no wedding dress, just the

1386
01:49:23,439 --> 01:49:31,640
same woman, aging slowly across decades, always alone. She pointed

1387
01:49:31,680 --> 01:49:35,439
to one photo with a shaking finger. It showed her

1388
01:49:35,600 --> 01:49:38,439
sitting on the floor in front of a boarded up window.

1389
01:49:40,239 --> 01:49:43,960
There was a shape behind her, just barely visible through

1390
01:49:43,960 --> 01:49:49,880
the gap in the slats. Long fingers stretched vertically holding

1391
01:49:49,920 --> 01:49:55,640
on from the outside. No face, nobody, just the idea

1392
01:49:55,880 --> 01:50:01,479
of someone watching it showed up after this was taken,

1393
01:50:02,399 --> 01:50:06,600
she whispered. I tore the film up that night, buried

1394
01:50:06,640 --> 01:50:12,600
the negatives, but it didn't matter. I stared at the

1395
01:50:12,600 --> 01:50:17,199
photo and felt my jaw tighten. My voice cracked when

1396
01:50:17,199 --> 01:50:22,079
I spoke. How did you live like this for so long?

1397
01:50:24,000 --> 01:50:30,479
She smiled with her eyes closed. I didn't live. I waited.

1398
01:50:31,520 --> 01:50:37,319
I've almost made it to the end. I'm almost. Her

1399
01:50:37,399 --> 01:50:42,560
voice faltered again, her jaw trembled, her wet sound gurgled

1400
01:50:42,560 --> 01:50:46,479
deep in her throat. She tilted her head back and

1401
01:50:46,600 --> 01:50:51,399
drew in a sharp, rattling breath. The countdown in the

1402
01:50:51,479 --> 01:50:56,880
kitchen time I hit fifty nine minutes, twelve seconds. I

1403
01:50:57,000 --> 01:51:02,600
think it's time, she said. I feel it in my ribs.

1404
01:51:04,239 --> 01:51:08,640
I knelt beside her, my hands wrapped around hers, cold

1405
01:51:08,720 --> 01:51:15,680
and papery. Thank you, she whispered, I can feel it coming.

1406
01:51:17,159 --> 01:51:21,279
Her head leaned back and her eyes fluttered shut for

1407
01:51:21,359 --> 01:51:27,880
the last time. The house went still, not just quiet,

1408
01:51:28,439 --> 01:51:33,880
but completely still. The air stopped moving, the walls no

1409
01:51:33,960 --> 01:51:39,720
longer creaked, even the wind outside held its breath. I

1410
01:51:39,800 --> 01:51:43,800
reached for my phone, hands shaking and dialed nine one one.

1411
01:51:45,039 --> 01:51:47,840
I gave the address, said there had been a death.

1412
01:51:48,640 --> 01:51:53,079
Tried to explain, but couldn't find the words. They asked

1413
01:51:53,079 --> 01:52:00,000
if I was alone. That was when a body cracked.

1414
01:52:02,279 --> 01:52:04,760
It started with a small pop at the base of

1415
01:52:04,760 --> 01:52:09,359
her neck. Then a spine shifted. Her shoulder blades rolled

1416
01:52:09,479 --> 01:52:15,359
unnaturally forward. Her wrists twisted sideways and bent backward. Her

1417
01:52:15,439 --> 01:52:19,520
jaw fell open too far, her head lolling as if

1418
01:52:19,560 --> 01:52:24,479
disconnected from the rest of her I dropped the phone.

1419
01:52:24,680 --> 01:52:28,319
The operator kept talking. I heard her asking me to respond,

1420
01:52:28,359 --> 01:52:38,039
but I couldn't. I was frozen. Then Marjorie moved. She

1421
01:52:38,279 --> 01:52:43,279
rose slowly, joined snapping as her limbs unfolded the wrong way.

1422
01:52:44,479 --> 01:52:47,199
She dropped to all fours and stayed there for a moment,

1423
01:52:47,640 --> 01:52:51,680
her breath low and rattling. Her face curled into something

1424
01:52:51,720 --> 01:52:56,800
that looked like a smile, but had no warmth. She

1425
01:52:56,920 --> 01:53:00,880
launched forward. I barely rolled out of the way in time.

1426
01:53:01,840 --> 01:53:04,359
I hit the floor hard and scrambled to my feet.

1427
01:53:05,359 --> 01:53:09,119
She moved faster than I thought possible, limbs jerking as

1428
01:53:09,119 --> 01:53:13,199
if pulled by strings. Her nails clawed across the hardwood,

1429
01:53:13,640 --> 01:53:17,560
tearing through the rug and into the boards beneath. I

1430
01:53:17,680 --> 01:53:20,680
ran down the hallway, and the door slammed behind me.

1431
01:53:22,079 --> 01:53:25,680
One by one, every door in the house slam shut

1432
01:53:25,840 --> 01:53:30,399
with a thunderous bang. The walls groaned and seemed to stretch.

1433
01:53:31,000 --> 01:53:33,840
A hallway that had once led to a linen closet

1434
01:53:34,159 --> 01:53:38,960
now spiraled to the right, deeper into the house. I

1435
01:53:39,000 --> 01:53:42,560
stumbled into a bedroom I didn't remember being there. The

1436
01:53:42,600 --> 01:53:46,720
furniture inside was nailed to the ceiling. Gravity had twisted

1437
01:53:48,479 --> 01:53:55,880
behind me. Marjorie laughed, not with their own voice, with several,

1438
01:53:57,920 --> 01:54:03,880
some shrieked, some crooned. One voice matched mine exactly, calling

1439
01:54:03,920 --> 01:54:09,119
out in a perfect imitation, help me, She said, in

1440
01:54:09,199 --> 01:54:12,920
my own voice, I'm still here. Please don't leave me.

1441
01:54:14,680 --> 01:54:18,159
I slammed the door and backed away. The floor thudded

1442
01:54:18,279 --> 01:54:21,840
as she crept closer. Her feet didn't land with weight,

1443
01:54:22,680 --> 01:54:28,800
they landed with intent. I shoved myself into the closet

1444
01:54:28,960 --> 01:54:32,680
and pressed the door shut. My breath tore in and

1445
01:54:32,800 --> 01:54:36,760
out of my lungs. I could hear us sniffing outside

1446
01:54:37,560 --> 01:54:44,439
as slow, deep and hail. Then another closer. I bit

1447
01:54:44,479 --> 01:54:49,359
my tongue to keep from sobbing. Then I remembered the phone,

1448
01:54:49,560 --> 01:54:54,239
The cheap prepaid phone Raymond had given me. I dug

1449
01:54:54,279 --> 01:54:58,880
through my pocket, fingers slipping, and pulled it out. The

1450
01:54:58,920 --> 01:55:05,960
screen was dim, the contact still read AH. My thumb

1451
01:55:06,039 --> 01:55:12,399
hovered over the button. Then I pressed it. The closet

1452
01:55:12,439 --> 01:55:16,239
door creaked open a few inches. Her fingers curled around

1453
01:55:16,279 --> 01:55:21,800
the frame. They weren't hands anymore. The bones had shifted

1454
01:55:21,880 --> 01:55:26,640
under the skin, forming long, hooked points that scraped softly

1455
01:55:26,720 --> 01:55:31,760
across the wood. I couldn't breathe. I pressed my back

1456
01:55:31,840 --> 01:55:35,079
to the far corner of the closet, phone still clutched

1457
01:55:35,079 --> 01:55:40,960
in my hand. The line went silent, no voice, no answer.

1458
01:55:42,920 --> 01:55:46,680
Then the sound of breaking glass filled the house. A

1459
01:55:46,760 --> 01:55:51,119
window shattered from inside the room, not splintered or cracked

1460
01:55:51,760 --> 01:55:57,800
completely obliterated wood crunched. A gust of air swept through

1461
01:55:57,840 --> 01:56:02,920
the walls and pulled the shadows back. Heavy footsteps echoed

1462
01:56:02,920 --> 01:56:06,640
across the floor, not the skittering limbs of whatever Marjorie

1463
01:56:06,640 --> 01:56:11,399
had become. I shoved the closet door open and stumbled out.

1464
01:56:13,760 --> 01:56:17,880
Raymond stood in the middle of the hallway, shoulders squared,

1465
01:56:18,560 --> 01:56:23,199
dressed in the same dark suits from the cafe. There

1466
01:56:23,279 --> 01:56:26,600
wasn't a scratch on him. His eyes were locked under

1467
01:56:26,640 --> 01:56:30,319
the thing wearing Marjorie's body as it came, bounding through

1468
01:56:30,359 --> 01:56:35,960
the hallway ceiling, limbs bending around the corners. He raised

1469
01:56:35,960 --> 01:56:39,399
the weapon that I had no words for. He didn't

1470
01:56:39,399 --> 01:56:44,960
look forged or manufactured. He looked grown, smooth and bone white,

1471
01:56:45,359 --> 01:56:49,920
with grooves that shifted and rotated along the barrel. Each

1472
01:56:50,000 --> 01:56:57,920
ring pulsed as if alive. He fired once. The sound

1473
01:56:57,960 --> 01:57:01,840
it made didn't belong to this world. It was soft

1474
01:57:01,840 --> 01:57:06,960
at first, like someone dragging stone across wet cloth. Then

1475
01:57:07,119 --> 01:57:11,359
it expanded into a shriek, deeper then sound, something that

1476
01:57:11,439 --> 01:57:15,880
made my ears ache and my eyes blur. The creature

1477
01:57:15,960 --> 01:57:20,800
twisted in mid air. Marjorie's body convulsed and peeled backward,

1478
01:57:21,359 --> 01:57:26,840
limbs retracting, face collapsing into itself. The thing inside her

1479
01:57:26,960 --> 01:57:30,560
screamed as it pulled away from her skin, unraveling in

1480
01:57:30,680 --> 01:57:35,199
ribbons of smoke and bone. It dissolved into thick black

1481
01:57:35,279 --> 01:57:41,640
mist that clung to the ceiling before vanishing into the boards.

1482
01:57:43,359 --> 01:57:49,800
Silence followed, real silence, not the kind we had suffered

1483
01:57:49,800 --> 01:57:57,640
through all night. This was absence. The room exhaled. I

1484
01:57:57,720 --> 01:58:01,760
collapsed against the wall, my legs unable to hold me.

1485
01:58:03,119 --> 01:58:08,960
Raymond approached calmly and knelt beside me. You did well,

1486
01:58:09,640 --> 01:58:15,279
he said, his voice steady, almost tired. We needed her exhausted,

1487
01:58:15,840 --> 01:58:23,079
fully exposed. It can't hide anymore. You weakened it. I

1488
01:58:23,159 --> 01:58:27,760
stared at him, throat raw, body trembling. He upened his

1489
01:58:27,920 --> 01:58:34,319
jacket and pulled out a sealed envelope, thick heavy. He

1490
01:58:34,439 --> 01:58:40,560
handed it to me, the full five, as promised, no taxes.

1491
01:58:42,399 --> 01:58:45,560
I didn't take it right away. My hands shook as

1492
01:58:45,560 --> 01:58:49,239
I reached for it. My eyes drifted to the hallway

1493
01:58:49,279 --> 01:58:53,359
behind him, when nothing remained of what had been Marjorie,

1494
01:58:54,479 --> 01:59:01,640
not even ash. This wasn't just about mercy, Raymond said, standing,

1495
01:59:02,720 --> 01:59:09,560
it was containment. He turned toward the broken window, already

1496
01:59:09,600 --> 01:59:13,880
reaching into his pocket for something else, a small metallic

1497
01:59:13,960 --> 01:59:20,239
object that blinked red once before going still. I pushed

1498
01:59:20,239 --> 01:59:29,000
myself up. Who are you, I asked. He paused at

1499
01:59:29,000 --> 01:59:33,760
the edge of the frame, silhouetted against the dark outside.

1500
01:59:34,000 --> 01:59:37,479
He looked back over his shoulder, and for the first

1501
01:59:37,479 --> 01:59:44,039
time I thought I saw something behind his expression. You

1502
01:59:44,239 --> 01:59:58,039
should get some sleep, he said. I've been driving for

1503
01:59:58,119 --> 02:00:01,239
a food delivery app for a little over two years now.

1504
02:00:02,439 --> 02:00:05,680
Nothing glamorous, just one of those apps, so you tap

1505
02:00:05,720 --> 02:00:08,920
a few buttons, grab a paper bag, and drop it

1506
02:00:09,000 --> 02:00:12,800
off at someone's door step. Quick money if you don't

1507
02:00:12,800 --> 02:00:16,600
mind the gas prices and the occasional stress induced ulcer.

1508
02:00:18,359 --> 02:00:22,279
I treated it like a side hustle, deliver a few burritos,

1509
02:00:22,680 --> 02:00:26,000
maybe a boba tie or two, and be home by midnight.

1510
02:00:27,479 --> 02:00:30,479
But after I got laid off from my last real job,

1511
02:00:31,359 --> 02:00:36,239
it became my main gig. The shift never technically ends.

1512
02:00:37,279 --> 02:00:39,960
You just drive until your body gives out while your

1513
02:00:40,000 --> 02:00:45,600
tank hits empty. Most of it's what you'd expect, fighting

1514
02:00:45,680 --> 02:00:49,319
for decent tips, cursing at building numbers that don't exist,

1515
02:00:49,840 --> 02:00:52,199
or walking up five flights of stairs for an order

1516
02:00:52,199 --> 02:00:55,479
that says leave at the door, do not knock in

1517
02:00:55,600 --> 02:01:01,000
all caps. Some instructions get stranger than others, and once

1518
02:01:01,000 --> 02:01:03,880
had a guy ask me to leave a sushi quote

1519
02:01:04,399 --> 02:01:08,279
in the shadow of the mail box. Someone else left

1520
02:01:08,279 --> 02:01:11,560
a note that said, if the front door opens by itself,

1521
02:01:12,079 --> 02:01:15,840
just leave the food and walk away. Do not acknowledge her.

1522
02:01:17,199 --> 02:01:20,039
I left that one on the welcome mat and didn't

1523
02:01:20,039 --> 02:01:23,800
even look back. I wasn't about to find out if

1524
02:01:23,840 --> 02:01:28,000
it was a prank. Or not. A lot of us

1525
02:01:28,079 --> 02:01:33,960
drivers talk. There's an unofficial group chat we use. Nothing huge,

1526
02:01:34,560 --> 02:01:38,680
just a few hundred regulars who post about traffic, bad restaurants,

1527
02:01:39,159 --> 02:01:43,560
and weirdest stuff. The app doesn't warn you about loose dogs,

1528
02:01:43,720 --> 02:01:47,239
fake addresses, customers who try to pay cash and then

1529
02:01:47,279 --> 02:01:51,600
grab the food and bolt. Some drivers even swap screenshots

1530
02:01:51,600 --> 02:01:57,760
of creepy houses or instructions that feel off. Most of

1531
02:01:57,840 --> 02:02:01,720
us chalk it up to trolls alone people looking for attention.

1532
02:02:04,359 --> 02:02:07,399
But there are certain addresses that come up in conversation

1533
02:02:08,000 --> 02:02:14,359
more than others, ones that make everyone go quiet. You

1534
02:02:14,560 --> 02:02:18,760
learn pretty quickly which places the skip and which ones

1535
02:02:18,920 --> 02:02:24,399
to never ask about at all. There's one address that

1536
02:02:24,560 --> 02:02:29,239
kept showing up more than any other. Same house, same street,

1537
02:02:30,119 --> 02:02:36,680
always boosted, always ignored. Every time I opened the app

1538
02:02:36,800 --> 02:02:41,279
late at night, there it was highlighted like some cursed

1539
02:02:41,319 --> 02:02:46,319
loot drop, promising three times the usual payout. Ten bucks

1540
02:02:46,399 --> 02:02:54,680
turned into thirty, thirty into fifty, and still no takers.

1541
02:02:56,319 --> 02:02:58,800
The first time I noticed it, I asked in the

1542
02:02:58,840 --> 02:03:03,760
group chat. I dropped the pin, said something like any

1543
02:03:03,760 --> 02:03:08,960
one know what's up with this place? A reply came through.

1544
02:03:10,800 --> 02:03:17,800
Don't seriously. The message came from a guy named Craig,

1545
02:03:19,000 --> 02:03:21,039
and met him once when we both happened to be

1546
02:03:21,119 --> 02:03:26,000
picking up from the same Chipotle. Nice, sky bit twitchy.

1547
02:03:27,159 --> 02:03:30,039
I remembered him because shortly after I'd seen him there,

1548
02:03:30,479 --> 02:03:35,560
he stopped posting altogether, quit delivery work completely. According to

1549
02:03:35,560 --> 02:03:38,239
some one else in the chat said the job was

1550
02:03:38,319 --> 02:03:42,680
frying his nerves. I figured he was just burned out.

1551
02:03:43,680 --> 02:03:49,399
We all get there eventually. Then one night it was slow,

1552
02:03:50,399 --> 02:03:55,520
dead slow. My tank was half empty, my wallet even worse.

1553
02:03:56,439 --> 02:03:58,920
Rent was due at the end of the week, and

1554
02:03:59,000 --> 02:04:05,000
I was already rationing breakfast into two day intervals. The

1555
02:04:05,039 --> 02:04:10,159
address popped up again, triple pay, only a few miles

1556
02:04:10,199 --> 02:04:21,479
out clean order. I stared and tapped, except I told myself,

1557
02:04:21,920 --> 02:04:24,279
if Craig did it and lived the tell the tale,

1558
02:04:24,760 --> 02:04:30,479
however cryptic, then so could I. The guy was clearly

1559
02:04:30,520 --> 02:04:33,840
a little paranoid. There's no way that a house that

1560
02:04:33,960 --> 02:04:36,520
is on this app and has been on there for

1561
02:04:36,600 --> 02:04:40,520
as long as it has is dangerous. You spend enough

1562
02:04:40,520 --> 02:04:43,359
time dropping off food to people who treat you the

1563
02:04:43,399 --> 02:04:46,319
way you would treat a vending machine with legs, and

1564
02:04:46,439 --> 02:04:50,600
it starts to mess with your head. The order came

1565
02:04:50,640 --> 02:04:54,000
from a local burger spot I knew well. I'd picked

1566
02:04:54,039 --> 02:04:58,520
up from there a dozen times before. No issues, fries,

1567
02:04:58,640 --> 02:05:03,800
double cheeseburger, large drink. Everything was backed up tight in

1568
02:05:03,840 --> 02:05:07,800
a stable brown bag. I almost didn't think about it

1569
02:05:07,840 --> 02:05:11,319
again until I was walking out the door and one

1570
02:05:11,319 --> 02:05:15,600
of the lion cooks called out behind me. Did someone

1571
02:05:15,680 --> 02:05:21,479
finally take it? The cashier looked at the receipt, then

1572
02:05:21,560 --> 02:05:30,119
looked at me. Be safe, man, he muttered. I delivered

1573
02:05:30,119 --> 02:05:33,359
to a lot of weird places over the years, half

1574
02:05:33,399 --> 02:05:37,479
finished basements that smelled of mold, aves parked illegally behind

1575
02:05:37,520 --> 02:05:40,760
gas stations, one guy who made me leave a pizza

1576
02:05:40,880 --> 02:05:44,920
on top of a tree stump. But this place felt

1577
02:05:44,960 --> 02:05:51,119
different for whatever reason. The neighborhood looked like it had

1578
02:05:51,159 --> 02:05:53,439
be intact on to the edge of the city as

1579
02:05:53,479 --> 02:05:58,439
an afterthought. The road was clean and newly paved, but

1580
02:05:58,520 --> 02:06:02,239
once I turned off it, the ashphalt gave way to gravel,

1581
02:06:02,960 --> 02:06:08,840
then cracked concrete. The street signs were faded, barely legible.

1582
02:06:09,960 --> 02:06:12,960
Every mail box I passed looked like it hadn't seen

1583
02:06:13,000 --> 02:06:18,920
a delivery in years, tilted ross streeked, one even dangling

1584
02:06:18,960 --> 02:06:23,960
by a single screw. My GPS stopped giving turn by

1585
02:06:24,000 --> 02:06:28,840
turns and just dropped a pin. No house number, just

1586
02:06:28,920 --> 02:06:33,520
a blinking blue dot and a note that said you've arrived.

1587
02:06:36,399 --> 02:06:40,359
I slowed the car to a crawl and finally spotted

1588
02:06:40,359 --> 02:06:44,800
it whitged tightly between two larger houses, like it had

1589
02:06:44,840 --> 02:06:49,560
been squeezed in after the fact. It was narrow, with

1590
02:06:49,720 --> 02:06:52,960
pealing siding and no numbers on the door or curb.

1591
02:06:53,920 --> 02:06:58,119
The porch like blinked in a lazy, irregular pattern. A

1592
02:06:58,159 --> 02:07:01,039
set of wind chimes hung from the above the door,

1593
02:07:01,560 --> 02:07:07,399
clinging together even though the air was completely still. No

1594
02:07:07,600 --> 02:07:13,800
visible motion inside, no shapes behind the curtains. But I

1595
02:07:13,840 --> 02:07:16,880
had that prickling sensation in the back of my neck,

1596
02:07:17,800 --> 02:07:20,520
the kind you get when someone staring at you from

1597
02:07:20,520 --> 02:07:26,199
a second story window. I scanned the house once, then again.

1598
02:07:27,760 --> 02:07:35,640
The windows were dark, the blinds drawn tight. I sat

1599
02:07:35,640 --> 02:07:39,239
in my car for another moment. I would be lying

1600
02:07:39,439 --> 02:07:41,640
if I said that all those messages in the group

1601
02:07:41,720 --> 02:07:45,680
chat hadn't done a number on me. I was definitely

1602
02:07:45,720 --> 02:07:50,399
feeling anxious, but I grabbed the bag and stepped out

1603
02:07:50,560 --> 02:07:58,119
into the silence. The instructions were blunt and impersonal. Leave

1604
02:07:58,199 --> 02:08:02,119
on the porch, do not knock, do not wait for acknowledgment.

1605
02:08:05,319 --> 02:08:09,000
I had seen worse. I set the bag just to

1606
02:08:09,079 --> 02:08:11,760
the left of the welcome mat, careful not to block

1607
02:08:11,840 --> 02:08:16,760
the door, took the confirmation photo, uploaded it, and marked

1608
02:08:16,800 --> 02:08:21,920
the order as delivered. As I turned to leave, I

1609
02:08:22,000 --> 02:08:28,239
half expected something to happen. But nothing did. No creak

1610
02:08:28,319 --> 02:08:32,079
behind me, or so much as a breath, just the

1611
02:08:32,119 --> 02:08:37,399
wind chimes tapping lightly above my head. I walked back

1612
02:08:37,439 --> 02:08:41,079
to the car, slid into the driver's seat, and waited

1613
02:08:41,119 --> 02:08:47,000
for the payment notification. It came through, clean, full fare

1614
02:08:47,119 --> 02:08:54,479
and tip included more than I expected. Honestly, I pulled away, relieved,

1615
02:08:55,199 --> 02:08:58,399
drove a few blocks, parked near a gas station and

1616
02:08:58,479 --> 02:09:03,159
cracked the window, planning to eat something before taking another order.

1617
02:09:05,479 --> 02:09:08,560
And that's when the appinged a new delivery on the

1618
02:09:08,640 --> 02:09:17,920
same address, triple pay again. I hesitated, thumb hovering over

1619
02:09:17,960 --> 02:09:25,600
the screen. Then I accepted it. If I had done

1620
02:09:25,600 --> 02:09:29,760
it once, I figured I could do it again. It

1621
02:09:29,840 --> 02:09:34,119
wasn't like anything bad had happened. The house was weird, yeah,

1622
02:09:35,000 --> 02:09:40,399
but weird didn't pay rent and I was behind. The

1623
02:09:40,399 --> 02:09:45,119
pickup was fast, one neatly packed brown bag. I made

1624
02:09:45,119 --> 02:09:49,319
sure not to forget anything. Checked twice, the receipt was

1625
02:09:49,359 --> 02:09:52,359
stable to the top of the new instructions printed in

1626
02:09:52,479 --> 02:09:57,960
bold leave at back door, do not use front entrance.

1627
02:10:00,119 --> 02:10:06,439
So I drove back, same street, same dying street lights,

1628
02:10:06,680 --> 02:10:11,319
same wind chimes knocking together in the still air. I

1629
02:10:11,399 --> 02:10:14,359
followed the gravel driveway around the side of the house.

1630
02:10:15,199 --> 02:10:18,800
The grass was knee high and busted. Plastic chair laying

1631
02:10:18,880 --> 02:10:22,520
its side near the back porch, half sunken into the ground,

1632
02:10:23,159 --> 02:10:26,439
making it clear that it had been there for years.

1633
02:10:27,119 --> 02:10:30,800
The back door was unpainted and had no handle, just

1634
02:10:30,840 --> 02:10:34,119
a latch on the inside, akin to something from an

1635
02:10:34,159 --> 02:10:38,920
old cellar. I set the back down, gently, snapped the

1636
02:10:38,920 --> 02:10:45,279
photo and hit complete. The payment came through almost instantly,

1637
02:10:46,159 --> 02:10:50,880
tip concluded more than the last one. I got back

1638
02:10:50,920 --> 02:10:55,319
in the car and drove off. I was getting tired

1639
02:10:56,039 --> 02:11:01,800
and it was already way too late. That night, I

1640
02:11:01,880 --> 02:11:05,920
went to bed without overthinking it, slept harder than I

1641
02:11:06,000 --> 02:11:12,760
had in weeks. The next morning, I rolled over, checked

1642
02:11:12,760 --> 02:11:15,760
my phone as always and opened the app out of

1643
02:11:15,880 --> 02:11:22,880
habit and the address was there again, no driver assigned

1644
02:11:22,920 --> 02:11:26,560
to it. It had already been sitting in queue for

1645
02:11:26,640 --> 02:11:34,479
twenty minutes. Double pay this time, no takers, so I

1646
02:11:34,560 --> 02:11:39,920
took it. The hours in that day blurred together real fast.

1647
02:11:41,119 --> 02:11:46,079
Each time the address popped up, I accepted it. Sometimes

1648
02:11:46,079 --> 02:11:49,840
the pay was higher, and sometimes it was the normal amount.

1649
02:11:51,479 --> 02:11:56,239
Yet still it was so easy and uncomplicated that I

1650
02:11:56,319 --> 02:12:01,039
felt like I had just struck gold. But the instructions

1651
02:12:01,079 --> 02:12:06,520
also kept changing. Do not ring doorbell, do not make

1652
02:12:06,640 --> 02:12:11,319
eye contact, place food and porch, and step back six feet,

1653
02:12:11,760 --> 02:12:18,239
use gloves, say nothing. I started joking with myself about it.

1654
02:12:19,039 --> 02:12:22,600
I told myself it was some eccentric shut in, maybe

1655
02:12:22,640 --> 02:12:26,720
an older person who didn't trust the outside world. The

1656
02:12:26,800 --> 02:12:31,359
bags were never moved. However, every time I came back,

1657
02:12:31,840 --> 02:12:35,840
the food I'd left earlier was still there, the containers

1658
02:12:35,920 --> 02:12:40,600
still sealed, the receipts still stabled. Some of them had

1659
02:12:40,640 --> 02:12:45,199
gone soggy from the morning dew. I counted eleven bags

1660
02:12:45,239 --> 02:12:48,439
stacked on the front porch, all of them from me.

1661
02:12:50,760 --> 02:12:55,720
That was when something in misshifted. Then I started wondering,

1662
02:12:57,239 --> 02:13:00,199
what if the person inside was dead. What if the

1663
02:13:00,279 --> 02:13:04,159
app was just said to auto order schedule meals nobody

1664
02:13:04,239 --> 02:13:07,520
ever canceled. What if they had family who didn't check

1665
02:13:07,520 --> 02:13:10,720
on them. What if I'd been delivering to a corpse.

1666
02:13:12,520 --> 02:13:17,760
The idea borrowed into me that night. When the order

1667
02:13:17,800 --> 02:13:22,039
came through, I didn't hesitate and didn't really care how

1668
02:13:22,119 --> 02:13:25,239
much they were paying. I had to check if the

1669
02:13:25,279 --> 02:13:30,560
person inside was okay. When I stepped onto the porch

1670
02:13:30,800 --> 02:13:34,920
and placed the bag beside the others, I didn't walk away.

1671
02:13:36,439 --> 02:13:39,399
I reached for the front door as anxiety was trying

1672
02:13:39,439 --> 02:13:43,640
to borrow a hole into my stomach. I knocked three

1673
02:13:43,720 --> 02:13:52,119
times food delivery, I shouted. No answer came, and so

1674
02:13:52,520 --> 02:13:56,640
I decided to take matters into my own hands. I

1675
02:13:56,720 --> 02:14:01,199
opened the door with a painful groan and stepped inside.

1676
02:14:01,399 --> 02:14:04,640
The door clicked shut behind me the moment I stepped through.

1677
02:14:06,319 --> 02:14:09,720
I didn't even touch it, didn't hear wind or pressure

1678
02:14:10,079 --> 02:14:13,880
or anything that might have caused it. It just closed,

1679
02:14:14,640 --> 02:14:19,760
smooth and silent. Then I heard the dead bolt slide

1680
02:14:19,840 --> 02:14:26,079
into place with a low mechanical clunk. I turned around immediately,

1681
02:14:26,600 --> 02:14:31,399
heart jumping into my throat. I tried the knob nothing,

1682
02:14:32,199 --> 02:14:36,159
it didn't even rattle. I jiggled it harder, then put

1683
02:14:36,199 --> 02:14:40,119
my weight into it to no avail. I also tried

1684
02:14:40,119 --> 02:14:43,319
getting the dead bolt unlocked at least, but I failed

1685
02:14:43,479 --> 02:14:50,319
every time, I tried, are you serious, and muttered, half laughing,

1686
02:14:50,439 --> 02:14:55,520
but with no humor behind it. I pulled out my phone.

1687
02:14:55,840 --> 02:14:59,880
No bars, not a single one. The little spinning so

1688
02:15:00,000 --> 02:15:02,479
circle on the screen felt like it was mocking me.

1689
02:15:04,279 --> 02:15:09,239
Of course, hey, I called out, raising my voice a

1690
02:15:09,239 --> 02:15:19,159
little hello food delivery silence. You would think every single

1691
02:15:19,239 --> 02:15:23,119
home would have some sort of ambient noise, but this

1692
02:15:23,159 --> 02:15:28,960
one didn't. Just dead air and a deafening silence. I

1693
02:15:29,039 --> 02:15:32,079
waited for a few more seconds, trying to listen out

1694
02:15:32,119 --> 02:15:35,439
for any movement or maybe even someone calling out to

1695
02:15:35,479 --> 02:15:41,760
me from deep inside the house. There was nothing. I

1696
02:15:41,800 --> 02:15:45,119
didn't want to go any farther, but I told myself

1697
02:15:45,479 --> 02:15:48,920
who was probably an old person, someone hard of hearing.

1698
02:15:49,960 --> 02:15:54,399
Maybe they fell, maybe they had a stroke, whenever the case,

1699
02:15:55,039 --> 02:15:57,640
all I wanted to do was leave and call the

1700
02:15:57,680 --> 02:16:03,279
police or the ambulance. So I stepped forward with a

1701
02:16:03,319 --> 02:16:08,800
full intention of getting out as soon as possible. The

1702
02:16:09,000 --> 02:16:13,439
entryway opened into a short hallway carpeted in a faded

1703
02:16:13,479 --> 02:16:18,359
brown that was matted down in uneven patches, like certain

1704
02:16:18,439 --> 02:16:22,079
spots had been stepped on too many times and others

1705
02:16:22,119 --> 02:16:27,000
not at all. The walls were yellowed, maybe from smoke,

1706
02:16:27,439 --> 02:16:31,520
maybe just time. And the air smelled faintly of ammonia

1707
02:16:31,760 --> 02:16:35,799
laid over something harder to name, like meat left out

1708
02:16:35,840 --> 02:16:40,399
too long in a warm room. The ceiling looked weird,

1709
02:16:41,200 --> 02:16:45,040
Strange marks had been left in the material, Circular holes

1710
02:16:45,120 --> 02:16:51,399
dotted the entire surface. I took another step, shoes sinking

1711
02:16:51,479 --> 02:16:56,319
slightly into the carpet. The floor creaked beneath me, slow

1712
02:16:56,399 --> 02:17:02,399
and high pitched hullo. I tried again. I don't mean

1713
02:17:02,440 --> 02:17:08,600
to intrude, I just your door locked behind me. I

1714
02:17:08,639 --> 02:17:11,479
reached the end of the hallway and leaned slightly to

1715
02:17:11,559 --> 02:17:19,079
peek into the kitchen. Pale tile, mostly clean, a few

1716
02:17:19,159 --> 02:17:23,280
dark stains near the sink. The fridge was humming, and

1717
02:17:23,319 --> 02:17:26,280
the little green light on the microwave was blinking twelve

1718
02:17:26,319 --> 02:17:31,959
o'clock like it had never been set. The place wasn't messy,

1719
02:17:32,680 --> 02:17:36,600
but it didn't feel lived in either. It had the hollow,

1720
02:17:36,799 --> 02:17:40,680
too quiet energy of a model home, something built to

1721
02:17:40,760 --> 02:17:44,879
look like someone was there. I offered there for a second,

1722
02:17:45,559 --> 02:17:48,879
right at the edge of where tyle met carpet, trying

1723
02:17:48,879 --> 02:17:54,040
to figure out what to do next. That's when I

1724
02:17:54,079 --> 02:17:59,280
heard it, A noise from deeper in the house, a

1725
02:17:59,399 --> 02:18:04,520
sort of raspy breathing. I leaned in just enough to

1726
02:18:04,600 --> 02:18:10,680
get a clearer view down the hall that when something moved,

1727
02:18:11,559 --> 02:18:16,360
it wasn't loud, definitely not a crash, but I felt

1728
02:18:16,399 --> 02:18:20,680
it more than heard it. A sudden, fast shift low

1729
02:18:20,760 --> 02:18:24,639
to the floor. I caught just the briefest flicker of

1730
02:18:24,719 --> 02:18:28,799
pale skin sliding out of sight around the corner, like

1731
02:18:28,920 --> 02:18:34,040
something had darted across on all fours. I jerked back instinctively,

1732
02:18:34,799 --> 02:18:39,000
a cold jolt ripping through my chest. My heel slid

1733
02:18:39,000 --> 02:18:43,440
across the linonium, and I nearly went down. I caught

1734
02:18:43,479 --> 02:18:47,079
myself against the wall, palm slapping into the dry wall

1735
02:18:47,159 --> 02:18:52,319
with a dull thud, but I barely noticed. My heart

1736
02:18:52,360 --> 02:18:55,680
was pounding so hard it felt like it might choke me.

1737
02:18:57,760 --> 02:19:02,360
For a second, I didn't move, just stood there, frozen

1738
02:19:02,399 --> 02:19:05,360
in place, the air in my lungs too tight to

1739
02:19:05,479 --> 02:19:12,000
let out. Something was here and it wasn't sick, and

1740
02:19:12,159 --> 02:19:18,719
it wasn't human. I started backing toward the front door

1741
02:19:18,760 --> 02:19:24,040
without thinking, each step light careful, like I didn't want

1742
02:19:24,079 --> 02:19:28,000
the floor to know I was leaving. My eyes stayed

1743
02:19:28,040 --> 02:19:33,479
locked on the hallway. I didn't even blink The doorknob

1744
02:19:33,600 --> 02:19:38,000
was slick under my hand. I twisted it hard. I

1745
02:19:38,040 --> 02:19:40,920
felt like a kid checking the fridge every five minutes

1746
02:19:41,159 --> 02:19:45,479
to see if anything has changed. I kept tugging and pulling,

1747
02:19:46,000 --> 02:19:51,159
each tug making a sound that pierced the silence. Then

1748
02:19:52,360 --> 02:19:57,840
I heard it again, that sound, but this time it

1749
02:19:57,959 --> 02:20:03,719
was softer, wetter, the steady drag of something moving along

1750
02:20:03,719 --> 02:20:08,559
the floor. It wasn't coming from the hallway anymore. It

1751
02:20:08,680 --> 02:20:13,760
was coming from the kitchen, right behind me. I turned

1752
02:20:13,760 --> 02:20:18,079
around slowly and saw it. It was crouched low behind

1753
02:20:18,120 --> 02:20:22,120
the kitchen island, half shadowed, but close enough now that

1754
02:20:22,200 --> 02:20:26,120
I could make out its shape. The thing was down

1755
02:20:26,159 --> 02:20:31,399
on all fours, bare chalk white skin, stretched tight over

1756
02:20:31,440 --> 02:20:35,479
a long, rail thin frame. Its limbs were too long

1757
02:20:35,559 --> 02:20:39,120
for its torso, and they bowed slightly like they had

1758
02:20:39,159 --> 02:20:43,719
too many joints. Its fingers, if that's what they were,

1759
02:20:44,280 --> 02:20:48,879
scraped along the floor in slow, deliberate arcs, each tipped

1760
02:20:48,879 --> 02:20:54,639
with yellowed, cracked nails that curved like splinters. Its head

1761
02:20:54,680 --> 02:20:58,239
moved slowly, swaying side to side, like it was sniffing,

1762
02:20:58,959 --> 02:21:02,639
But it had no nose, no eyes, just the sunken

1763
02:21:02,719 --> 02:21:07,280
face with a slack, wet mouth hung wide open, as

1764
02:21:07,280 --> 02:21:10,239
if it had been caught mid scream and then forgotten

1765
02:21:10,319 --> 02:21:14,440
how to close it. I froze for half a second,

1766
02:21:15,120 --> 02:21:20,360
maybe less. It didn't lunge or make any aggressive gestures.

1767
02:21:21,239 --> 02:21:25,840
It just inch forward with that same awful calm, dragging

1768
02:21:25,840 --> 02:21:28,799
its body across the tile, with a sound like wet

1769
02:21:28,840 --> 02:21:33,959
towels sliding through broken glass. It was close enough to

1770
02:21:34,000 --> 02:21:41,959
reach me if I hesitated. I didn't. I sprinted, angled

1771
02:21:41,959 --> 02:21:45,120
my shoulder and drove straight into the kitchen window with

1772
02:21:45,399 --> 02:21:51,799
everything I had. But it didn't give. It cracked, spied

1773
02:21:51,799 --> 02:21:56,600
a webbing beneath the impact, but held My arm folded wrong,

1774
02:21:57,159 --> 02:22:01,920
pain shooting through it like an electric wire. I dropped hard,

1775
02:22:02,479 --> 02:22:05,639
the breath knocked out of me, my back slamming against

1776
02:22:05,680 --> 02:22:10,520
the cabinet with a dull, wooden bang. I gasped for air,

1777
02:22:10,959 --> 02:22:15,479
vision swimming, and when I looked up, it was already there.

1778
02:22:16,879 --> 02:22:21,040
The thing was crawling toward me fast, now, fast than

1779
02:22:21,040 --> 02:22:25,040
it had any right to move. Its limbs clacked against

1780
02:22:25,040 --> 02:22:29,200
the tile, one of its arms flailed blindly, catching the

1781
02:22:29,239 --> 02:22:33,639
helm of my jacket. The sound it made somewhere between

1782
02:22:33,639 --> 02:22:38,399
a gurgle and a rattle was directed at me. It

1783
02:22:38,479 --> 02:22:41,959
didn't just want to hurt me. He wanted to feed.

1784
02:22:43,280 --> 02:22:45,840
Nobody had stepped foot in this house for god knows

1785
02:22:45,879 --> 02:22:49,000
how long, and I was the first one it had seen.

1786
02:22:50,799 --> 02:22:55,040
I kicked hard, my boot connecting with his chest. His

1787
02:22:55,120 --> 02:23:00,520
skin felt soft, almost spongy, but underneath was something solid.

1788
02:23:01,559 --> 02:23:05,799
The thing recoiled slightly but didn't stop. Its hand lashed

1789
02:23:05,840 --> 02:23:09,760
out again, skimming my knee, this time, nails grazing skin.

1790
02:23:10,959 --> 02:23:15,600
I felt warmth, but I didn't check. I pushed myself

1791
02:23:15,680 --> 02:23:18,479
up with a grunt, got my hands under me, and

1792
02:23:18,520 --> 02:23:22,879
searched forward with everything I had. I slammed into it,

1793
02:23:23,000 --> 02:23:27,120
head on, my weight, driving into its chest, and for

1794
02:23:27,159 --> 02:23:31,040
a moment I thought it might hold its ground. Its

1795
02:23:31,079 --> 02:23:34,639
limbs curled around me like cables, one of them wrapped

1796
02:23:34,639 --> 02:23:39,920
around my forearm, pulling tight. Adrenaline surged through me as

1797
02:23:39,959 --> 02:23:43,680
I pulled against it with everything I had. My elbow

1798
02:23:43,799 --> 02:23:48,520
smashed into what passed for its neck once twice, until

1799
02:23:48,520 --> 02:23:51,479
it let go just enough for me to shove its sideways.

1800
02:23:52,760 --> 02:23:56,200
It crumpled onto the floor, limbs tangling beneath it like

1801
02:23:56,239 --> 02:24:01,200
a sack of broken sticks, still run on whatever adrenaline.

1802
02:24:01,239 --> 02:24:04,079
I hadn't burned out in the scuffle. I doubled back

1803
02:24:04,120 --> 02:24:08,280
toward the window. The crack I'd made earlier was still there,

1804
02:24:08,719 --> 02:24:13,479
spidered across the glass like a frozen explosion. This time,

1805
02:24:13,600 --> 02:24:17,520
I didn't brace myself, I didn't aim. I threw my

1806
02:24:17,600 --> 02:24:21,520
whole body into it. The glass gave with a sharp,

1807
02:24:21,559 --> 02:24:26,280
staccato burst. It came apart all at once, not with

1808
02:24:26,399 --> 02:24:29,440
a clean breake, but in a thousand small shards that

1809
02:24:29,520 --> 02:24:32,920
cut through my sleeves, my forearms, the side of my neck.

1810
02:24:33,920 --> 02:24:37,200
I didn't feel it right away, just the sensation of

1811
02:24:37,280 --> 02:24:40,799
air hitting exposed skin as I spilled through the frame

1812
02:24:41,120 --> 02:24:46,159
and landed hard in the patchy, uneven grass outside. The

1813
02:24:46,239 --> 02:24:48,760
fall knocked the wind out of me again, but I

1814
02:24:48,840 --> 02:24:52,680
scrambled to my feet without thinking. Blood was running down

1815
02:24:52,719 --> 02:24:56,360
my arms in thin, erratic lines, and my shirt stuck

1816
02:24:56,399 --> 02:25:00,440
wet against my ribs. But I didn't stop. I didn't

1817
02:25:00,520 --> 02:25:07,680
check behind me. I just ran. I don't remember the

1818
02:25:07,760 --> 02:25:12,879
drive home, not really, just fragments, my hands slipping on

1819
02:25:12,920 --> 02:25:15,879
the wheel from blood. The street lights looked brighter than

1820
02:25:15,879 --> 02:25:19,639
the sun as I drove in the daze. By the

1821
02:25:19,719 --> 02:25:22,600
time I made it back home. My hands were shaking

1822
02:25:22,680 --> 02:25:25,760
so badly I could barely open the first aid kit

1823
02:25:25,879 --> 02:25:30,360
under the sink. I tore it apart, trying to find gauze, tape,

1824
02:25:30,959 --> 02:25:35,200
anything to make the bleeding slow down. I didn't try

1825
02:25:35,200 --> 02:25:39,959
to explain it to myself, not anymore. I wasn't going

1826
02:25:40,000 --> 02:25:42,879
to sit there and rationalize what I saw or what

1827
02:25:43,040 --> 02:25:48,040
it tried to do. I called the police, not nine

1828
02:25:48,079 --> 02:25:51,680
one one, just the local station. I told them I

1829
02:25:51,760 --> 02:25:56,120
delivered to a house and found someone inside, maybe someone dangerous.

1830
02:25:57,079 --> 02:25:58,680
I said. I thought they might be a break in

1831
02:25:59,200 --> 02:26:02,760
or someone in need of medical help. I didn't know

1832
02:26:02,799 --> 02:26:05,959
what I was saying. I just needed someone else to

1833
02:26:06,000 --> 02:26:12,159
go there. They sent a car. I waited by my

1834
02:26:12,239 --> 02:26:15,760
phone for over an hour, hands bandaged in layers of

1835
02:26:15,799 --> 02:26:20,600
gauze and paper towels. When the call came, the officer

1836
02:26:20,760 --> 02:26:27,639
sounded annoyed. He told me the resident was an elderly

1837
02:26:27,680 --> 02:26:31,520
woman lived alone. The cop asked me if this was

1838
02:26:31,559 --> 02:26:34,680
some sort of internet trend. This house has been called

1839
02:26:34,680 --> 02:26:37,639
in for things for months now, yet the police never

1840
02:26:37,719 --> 02:26:41,159
find anything. He asked me why I felt the need

1841
02:26:41,200 --> 02:26:44,639
to make a false report. Warned me that filing again

1842
02:26:44,719 --> 02:26:51,360
without cause could result in charges suggested maybe I was overworked.

1843
02:26:52,360 --> 02:26:57,520
I didn't argue. I just apologized, hung up, and sat

1844
02:26:57,559 --> 02:27:04,319
there in the dark. The next morning, I did what

1845
02:27:04,399 --> 02:27:10,120
I always did. I opened the app and there it was,

1846
02:27:11,760 --> 02:27:18,200
same address, no number, just the pin, same block behind

1847
02:27:18,200 --> 02:27:21,680
the strip mall, same flickering porch light in the preview

1848
02:27:21,719 --> 02:27:38,920
photo triple pay order waiting to be picked up. I've

1849
02:27:38,959 --> 02:27:42,079
been homeless for a while now, long enough to know

1850
02:27:42,319 --> 02:27:46,200
which places are safe, and which ones aren't, and which

1851
02:27:46,200 --> 02:27:49,680
ones will get you stabbed in your sleep. I move

1852
02:27:49,719 --> 02:27:53,440
around a lot, keep to myself, and never stay anywhere

1853
02:27:53,479 --> 02:27:59,280
too long. That's how you survive. The city is full

1854
02:27:59,319 --> 02:28:04,200
of tens cities, makeshift little neighborhoods of the forgotten and unlucky.

1855
02:28:05,440 --> 02:28:08,840
Some are worse than others. You don't stay in the

1856
02:28:08,879 --> 02:28:12,079
ones run by the guys with glassy eyes and twitchy fingers.

1857
02:28:12,799 --> 02:28:16,040
You don't set foot in the ones that stink of chemicals, urine,

1858
02:28:16,079 --> 02:28:20,319
and death. But every now and then you hear whispers

1859
02:28:20,319 --> 02:28:27,159
about a place that's different. There's one under the overpass

1860
02:28:27,200 --> 02:28:30,639
on the outskirts of town. I heard about it a

1861
02:28:30,639 --> 02:28:37,479
few weeks back. No fights, no cops, no trouble. Nobody

1862
02:28:37,559 --> 02:28:42,280
knows why. But people who stay there don't leave. They

1863
02:28:42,280 --> 02:28:45,719
don't come back into the city looking for change. They

1864
02:28:45,799 --> 02:28:51,680
just settle into that little, tense city and that's it. Supposedly,

1865
02:28:52,440 --> 02:28:58,319
they're all happy there. I wasn't planning on going. I

1866
02:28:58,360 --> 02:29:02,239
don't like places I can't walk away from, but that

1867
02:29:02,440 --> 02:29:07,959
night I didn't have a choice. The rain came fast,

1868
02:29:08,399 --> 02:29:11,879
thick and freezing, soaking me to the bone. Within minutes,

1869
02:29:13,040 --> 02:29:16,600
I've been hanging around downtown, near one of the busiest streets,

1870
02:29:16,879 --> 02:29:19,479
keeping my head down and hoping for scraps. When they

1871
02:29:19,479 --> 02:29:25,079
came out of the bar, a group of them, loud, drunk, laughing.

1872
02:29:26,120 --> 02:29:29,520
Those kinds of people don't take kindly to people like me.

1873
02:29:31,719 --> 02:29:36,559
They started with insworts, Hey, get a job, asshole, that

1874
02:29:36,760 --> 02:29:40,639
kind of thing. I kept my head down and kept walking.

1875
02:29:41,760 --> 02:29:46,840
Don't engage, don't make eye contact. It's a rule. But

1876
02:29:46,920 --> 02:29:49,680
when you're the weakest thing on the street, there's always

1877
02:29:49,680 --> 02:29:54,360
someone looking to prove something. One of them shoved me

1878
02:29:54,399 --> 02:29:59,719
from behind hard. I hit the pavement, gravel dug into

1879
02:29:59,719 --> 02:30:04,000
my head. I could have stayed down, maybe they'd have

1880
02:30:04,120 --> 02:30:08,000
laughed and walked away, but I made the mistake of

1881
02:30:08,159 --> 02:30:12,840
trying to get up. The first kick caught my ribs,

1882
02:30:13,280 --> 02:30:17,399
the second my shoulder, The third I don't even remember.

1883
02:30:18,920 --> 02:30:23,600
Everything blurred together, a boot, the taste of blood, the

1884
02:30:23,639 --> 02:30:26,840
sound of rain hammering the street, drowning out my own

1885
02:30:26,920 --> 02:30:33,920
ragged breath. Then a voice, enough, man, let's go, And

1886
02:30:34,120 --> 02:30:38,920
just like that it was over. They were gone, back

1887
02:30:38,959 --> 02:30:43,639
to their warm bar and soft beds, their lives, and

1888
02:30:43,840 --> 02:30:47,040
I was left in the street, bleeding into the gutter,

1889
02:30:47,600 --> 02:30:53,399
shivering like a dying dog. I pulled myself up, one

1890
02:30:53,520 --> 02:30:57,440
arm wrapped around my ribs. I needed to find shelter.

1891
02:30:59,200 --> 02:31:02,879
The usual spot were taken under the bridge near Maine,

1892
02:31:03,000 --> 02:31:06,799
the alcove behind the abandoned gas station, the empty warehouse

1893
02:31:07,000 --> 02:31:10,239
there still had half a roof left. Even the beat

1894
02:31:10,319 --> 02:31:14,280
up places, the ones with the rats biteunia sleep, were full.

1895
02:31:16,280 --> 02:31:22,600
That's when I remembered the tense city. I hesitated, rain

1896
02:31:22,719 --> 02:31:27,319
pouring down on my face. Something about it felt wrong,

1897
02:31:28,360 --> 02:31:33,840
but I was out of options. My ribs ached with

1898
02:31:33,920 --> 02:31:37,159
every step, and by the time I made it, I

1899
02:31:37,280 --> 02:31:40,079
was light headed from the cold and the steady loss

1900
02:31:40,120 --> 02:31:47,079
of blood. The first thing I noticed was how neat

1901
02:31:47,120 --> 02:31:55,040
it was. Tense cities aren't usually this organized. The messy

1902
02:31:55,559 --> 02:31:59,920
thrown together from whatever scraps people can find, TARPSTI defense

1903
02:32:00,159 --> 02:32:05,120
his cardboards, stacked into walls. This place wasn't like that.

1904
02:32:06,600 --> 02:32:10,479
The tents were perfectly spaced, set up in even rows,

1905
02:32:11,000 --> 02:32:15,280
all facing the same direction, like soldiers standing at attention.

1906
02:32:16,200 --> 02:32:19,479
No signs of fight or scrawled out warnings on the ground.

1907
02:32:21,040 --> 02:32:24,399
I stood at the edge of the camp, unsure whether

1908
02:32:24,479 --> 02:32:29,719
to step forward. I felt eyes on me, not unfriendly,

1909
02:32:29,879 --> 02:32:38,319
just watching. Then a woman, thin, middle aged, bundled in

1910
02:32:38,399 --> 02:32:42,760
a ragged coat, stepped toward me, pulling something from a sleeve.

1911
02:32:44,399 --> 02:32:48,680
She pressed the dirty dry cloth into my hand for

1912
02:32:48,840 --> 02:32:53,120
the bleeding, she muttered, then walked away. Before I could

1913
02:32:53,120 --> 02:32:59,079
thank her. A man followed, silent as a shadow. He

1914
02:32:59,200 --> 02:33:02,559
handed me a bottle of water, gave me a single

1915
02:33:02,639 --> 02:33:08,760
slow nod, then turned and disappeared into his tent. No

1916
02:33:08,799 --> 02:33:11,680
one asked me who I was. No one asked what

1917
02:33:11,799 --> 02:33:19,360
happened to me. They just helped. I sat down near

1918
02:33:19,440 --> 02:33:23,000
the entrance of an unclaimed tent, pressing the cloth against

1919
02:33:23,000 --> 02:33:27,280
my split lip. The pain was dull, now, a steady

1920
02:33:27,319 --> 02:33:31,200
throb beneath my bruised ribs. I tipped the water bottle

1921
02:33:31,319 --> 02:33:34,360
against my mouth and drank half of it in one go.

1922
02:33:35,159 --> 02:33:40,879
My body grateful for something clean rough night, I turned

1923
02:33:40,879 --> 02:33:44,879
my head. A man in his mid forties was sitting

1924
02:33:44,879 --> 02:33:48,799
on the ground a few feet away watching me. He

1925
02:33:48,840 --> 02:33:51,799
had a half smoked cigarette in one hand, rolling it

1926
02:33:51,879 --> 02:33:57,840
between his fingers. I hesitated before answering. I was in

1927
02:33:58,000 --> 02:34:02,239
use to people talking to me. You could say that,

1928
02:34:02,719 --> 02:34:09,959
I muttered. He nodded, took a drag, exhaled slow. Yeah,

1929
02:34:10,360 --> 02:34:18,920
same here read That was his name. I learned it

1930
02:34:19,000 --> 02:34:22,360
a few minutes later, after he scooted a little closer

1931
02:34:22,799 --> 02:34:26,159
and offered me half of a protein bar he'd scavenged earlier.

1932
02:34:27,600 --> 02:34:31,639
I took it. We sat there chewing in silence for

1933
02:34:31,680 --> 02:34:36,360
a bit, just listening to the rain pattering against the tents.

1934
02:34:37,120 --> 02:34:40,399
We were both new here, both sizing up the place.

1935
02:34:42,440 --> 02:34:47,360
Where are you from? He asked. Eventually I swallowed a bite,

1936
02:34:47,639 --> 02:34:53,239
white to my mouth. Know where that matters? Reid gave

1937
02:34:53,280 --> 02:34:59,719
a dry chuckle. Yeah, that sounds about right. I didn't

1938
02:34:59,760 --> 02:35:05,360
push for details, but he told me anyway, medical debt,

1939
02:35:06,120 --> 02:35:08,840
and that's what did him in. He had a wife,

1940
02:35:09,000 --> 02:35:13,360
a daughter. Then his wife got sick, the bills piled up.

1941
02:35:14,239 --> 02:35:17,639
He took out loans, maxed out credit cards, tried everything.

1942
02:35:19,920 --> 02:35:23,799
She still died, and the debt didn't die with her.

1943
02:35:26,239 --> 02:35:29,840
His daughter was better off without him, he said, staying

1944
02:35:29,879 --> 02:35:34,760
with family. He hadn't seen her in years. I told

1945
02:35:34,799 --> 02:35:38,680
him a little about myself, but not much, just that

1946
02:35:38,760 --> 02:35:43,360
I ran from a bad situation, no family, no real ties,

1947
02:35:44,360 --> 02:35:50,440
just surviving. Neither of us felt sorry for the other.

1948
02:35:51,440 --> 02:35:55,479
That's not how it works out here. We just got it.

1949
02:35:58,520 --> 02:36:02,479
Relapsed into silence, watching the people around us move between

1950
02:36:02,479 --> 02:36:07,879
the tents. The people here are weird. Huh, Reid muttered

1951
02:36:08,760 --> 02:36:16,280
and nodded, Yeah, real weird. The rain finally let up

1952
02:36:16,360 --> 02:36:21,360
some time after midnight, leaving the camp eerily quiet. The

1953
02:36:21,440 --> 02:36:24,639
only sounds were the occasional shovel of feet and the

1954
02:36:24,680 --> 02:36:28,639
distant hum of the city. Read and I sat near

1955
02:36:28,680 --> 02:36:32,840
our tents, watching the camp move in its strange, silent rhythm.

1956
02:36:34,280 --> 02:36:37,559
It wasn't just their behavior that unsettled me. It was

1957
02:36:37,600 --> 02:36:41,559
the way they navigated around the center of camp, avoiding

1958
02:36:41,600 --> 02:36:45,879
it without looking like they were avoiding it. I looked

1959
02:36:45,920 --> 02:36:49,920
at the center of the camp. At first glance, it

1960
02:36:50,000 --> 02:36:54,120
looked like any other patch of ground, dark packed earth,

1961
02:36:54,520 --> 02:36:58,920
damp from the rain. But the longer I stared, the

1962
02:36:58,959 --> 02:37:04,719
more I realized something was off. The soil was loose, uneven,

1963
02:37:04,799 --> 02:37:08,239
in a way that suggested it had been recently disturbed.

1964
02:37:09,280 --> 02:37:15,159
No weeds, no scattered trash, nothing settled into it. I

1965
02:37:15,239 --> 02:37:19,319
nudged Read with my elbow and nodded toward it. You

1966
02:37:19,440 --> 02:37:25,719
noticed that he squinted at the dirt, brow furring like

1967
02:37:26,719 --> 02:37:29,760
I don't know, like something that was put there or

1968
02:37:29,840 --> 02:37:36,239
taken out. A quiet rustling made me glance up. An

1969
02:37:36,239 --> 02:37:41,680
older woman stood a few feet away, just watching us. Well,

1970
02:37:41,879 --> 02:37:45,040
I thought she was watching us, but it turns out

1971
02:37:45,799 --> 02:37:51,399
she was looking at Reed. She didn't say anything then,

1972
02:37:51,719 --> 02:37:55,159
as if deciding we weren't worth the effort, she turned

1973
02:37:55,280 --> 02:38:02,760
and walked away. Neither of us spoke for a long time,

1974
02:38:03,600 --> 02:38:07,719
but I knew Reed felt it too. Her behavior was

1975
02:38:07,760 --> 02:38:14,440
the clear sign of an unspoken warning. I woke to

1976
02:38:14,520 --> 02:38:18,200
the sound of movement. The camp was in full motion.

1977
02:38:19,000 --> 02:38:23,680
Shapes emerged from tents, figures stepping into the cold, heads bowed.

1978
02:38:24,680 --> 02:38:30,040
They moved with purpose, but without urgency. Reed stirred beside me,

1979
02:38:30,479 --> 02:38:34,520
sitting up and rubbing his face. His breath was visible

1980
02:38:34,639 --> 02:38:39,200
in the cold air. The hearl is this, he muttered.

1981
02:38:41,040 --> 02:38:45,239
I didn't have an answer. People were gathered around the

1982
02:38:45,239 --> 02:38:48,680
fire pit in the center of camp, the same spot

1983
02:38:48,719 --> 02:38:54,319
we'd been staring at earlier. The flames flickered weakly, barely alive,

1984
02:38:55,079 --> 02:38:58,280
but no one made a move to stoke them. They

1985
02:38:58,319 --> 02:39:03,719
simply knelt his angle toward the smoldering embers, hands resting

1986
02:39:03,760 --> 02:39:09,879
in their laps. Read gave me a look. What do

1987
02:39:09,920 --> 02:39:15,000
we do, he whispered. But if we left now, they'd

1988
02:39:15,040 --> 02:39:19,399
notice we were the only ones still sitting near the tents.

1989
02:39:20,559 --> 02:39:23,719
If this was some kind of tradition, we should at

1990
02:39:23,799 --> 02:39:27,920
least try to fit in. I don't know, man, I

1991
02:39:27,959 --> 02:39:30,719
whispered back, but I'm not about to be the only

1992
02:39:30,760 --> 02:39:37,520
one sitting this out. Reid exhaled through his nose, clearly frustrated,

1993
02:39:38,399 --> 02:39:43,840
but after a moment he followed my lead. We shoveled

1994
02:39:43,879 --> 02:39:47,799
closer and knelt with the rest of them, lowering our heads,

1995
02:39:48,280 --> 02:39:54,799
doing our best to blend in. Then the muttering started.

1996
02:39:57,879 --> 02:40:01,760
At first I thought it was the wind, a low

1997
02:40:01,920 --> 02:40:07,000
vibration rolling through the air, but as it grew I

1998
02:40:07,079 --> 02:40:12,000
realized it wasn't coming from above. It was coming from

1999
02:40:12,040 --> 02:40:17,319
the people. A low rhythmic humming pulsed from their throats,

2000
02:40:18,319 --> 02:40:22,680
just a single deep note, stretched out for long, breathless

2001
02:40:22,719 --> 02:40:29,879
moments before shifting into another. I didn't understand it, but

2002
02:40:29,959 --> 02:40:34,120
I could feel it. The sound buzzed in my chest,

2003
02:40:34,719 --> 02:40:39,120
unsettling in a way I couldn't explain. Read and I

2004
02:40:39,319 --> 02:40:44,040
exchanged glances. Neither of us spoke, but I could see

2005
02:40:44,079 --> 02:40:49,479
the question in his eyes. I did the only thing

2006
02:40:49,520 --> 02:40:53,000
that made sense to me at the time. I opened

2007
02:40:53,000 --> 02:40:58,879
my mouth and mimicked the sound. The fire pit shuddered.

2008
02:41:00,559 --> 02:41:02,719
I thought it was my eyes plain tricks on me,

2009
02:41:03,440 --> 02:41:08,600
the glow of the dying embers warping the ground. But

2010
02:41:08,680 --> 02:41:16,040
then the dirt moved. It sank. A deep, wet grown

2011
02:41:16,200 --> 02:41:20,280
rolled from beneath the soil, like the earth itself was exhaling.

2012
02:41:21,479 --> 02:41:27,000
The pit caved inward, not suddenly, but slowly, collapsing in

2013
02:41:27,079 --> 02:41:31,799
on itself, like something deep below was pulling it down.

2014
02:41:32,280 --> 02:41:38,120
Read stiffened beside me, his breath going shallow. I didn't

2015
02:41:38,200 --> 02:41:49,840
dare move. Then something broke. The surface bloated, wet and shuddering,

2016
02:41:50,719 --> 02:41:54,479
the thing pushed itself free from the sinking dirt. Its

2017
02:41:54,479 --> 02:41:58,760
surface was slick and glistening with patches of dark, wiry

2018
02:41:58,840 --> 02:42:03,559
hair or fur clung to it in irregular clusters, sprouting

2019
02:42:03,639 --> 02:42:09,559
like weeds from raw, ruptured skin. Beneath it, veins bulged

2020
02:42:09,600 --> 02:42:14,959
and throbbed, pulsing in a low, sick way. As it

2021
02:42:15,040 --> 02:42:19,000
expanded and pulsed, the smell radiating from it made its

2022
02:42:19,000 --> 02:42:24,479
way to us. It was overwhelming, a putrid wave that

2023
02:42:24,639 --> 02:42:30,200
clawed its way up my throat. A gagged reed's body

2024
02:42:30,360 --> 02:42:34,639
jergged beside me. He covered his mouth, his eyes wide

2025
02:42:34,680 --> 02:42:40,200
and horrified. The thing quivered, then split, like meat being

2026
02:42:40,239 --> 02:42:49,600
pulled apart by invisible hands, and inside something moved. The

2027
02:42:49,680 --> 02:42:54,319
shape within was rising, twisting against the tight, fleshy walls,

2028
02:42:54,799 --> 02:42:59,879
trying to push free. A slick tensil slithered out, glis

2029
02:43:00,399 --> 02:43:04,920
in the firelight, dripping with some thick amber colored fluid,

2030
02:43:06,239 --> 02:43:12,319
then another, then another. My breath caught in my throat,

2031
02:43:13,079 --> 02:43:17,000
My body locked up, every muscle screaming at me to move,

2032
02:43:17,360 --> 02:43:20,239
to run, to tear my way out of this nightmare.

2033
02:43:22,479 --> 02:43:26,440
The thing in the pit continued to unfold itself, slick

2034
02:43:26,559 --> 02:43:30,040
tendrils sliding out, curling in the air like they were

2035
02:43:30,079 --> 02:43:36,879
testing it. The stench was unbearable, heavy and rotten. My

2036
02:43:37,000 --> 02:43:41,120
vision blurred as nausea hit, bile rising in my throat.

2037
02:43:43,040 --> 02:43:47,680
I stumbled back, hands digging into the dirt. My legs

2038
02:43:47,680 --> 02:43:51,840
felt like lead, but I pushed myself up, heart hammering.

2039
02:43:53,399 --> 02:43:59,360
A hand climbed around my fist. I turned and there

2040
02:43:59,440 --> 02:44:04,040
she was, the old woman, the one who had been

2041
02:44:04,079 --> 02:44:09,120
watching read earlier. Her eyes were cloudy, but there was

2042
02:44:09,200 --> 02:44:16,000
no blindness in them. Stay, she murmured, her fingers tightened

2043
02:44:16,040 --> 02:44:23,680
round my wrist. It only takes one. A shiver shot

2044
02:44:23,719 --> 02:44:31,600
through me, my stomach twisting into knots. Everyone was looking

2045
02:44:31,760 --> 02:44:37,440
at Reed. I lost my breath. I turned my head

2046
02:44:37,559 --> 02:44:42,239
just enough to see him, still kneeling. He saw it too,

2047
02:44:42,479 --> 02:44:48,799
all those eyes locked onto him. His lips parted slightly. Wait,

2048
02:44:50,760 --> 02:44:58,239
confusion flickered across his face, then fear. Reid scrambled back

2049
02:44:58,280 --> 02:45:01,520
on his hands. His eyes dared between the people kneeling

2050
02:45:01,559 --> 02:45:07,479
around their pit, their faces unreadable, not participating. The thing

2051
02:45:07,520 --> 02:45:13,360
in the ground pulsed again, its mass shifting and stretching. Wait, Wait,

2052
02:45:14,159 --> 02:45:18,479
what the hell is this? I just got here, read, stammered,

2053
02:45:19,079 --> 02:45:23,520
voice cracking under the weight of sheer panic. His hands

2054
02:45:23,520 --> 02:45:27,159
were raised, shaking as if to show them he wasn't

2055
02:45:27,159 --> 02:45:32,840
a threat, as if that mattered. His gaze locked onto mine,

2056
02:45:33,319 --> 02:45:37,840
desperation in his wide, bloodshot eyes, silently begging me to

2057
02:45:37,920 --> 02:45:46,920
do something, say something, stop this. I couldn't. The moment

2058
02:45:47,040 --> 02:45:51,959
stretched silent except for the soft, wet noises coming from

2059
02:45:51,959 --> 02:45:59,440
the pit. Then, with terrifying speed, the tendrils lashed forward.

2060
02:46:00,280 --> 02:46:04,040
Two large, burly men stood up and made their presence known.

2061
02:46:05,319 --> 02:46:10,680
Reid tried running, but they caught him. I watched as

2062
02:46:10,719 --> 02:46:13,959
they dragged him toward the creature and pinned him down

2063
02:46:14,159 --> 02:46:18,719
right next to it. The tendril punged through his shoulder,

2064
02:46:19,159 --> 02:46:21,760
sinking deep with a sound that was both a rip

2065
02:46:21,840 --> 02:46:27,719
and a squelch, like wet fabric being torn apart. Reed screamed,

2066
02:46:28,399 --> 02:46:32,319
body jerking violently as the muscle around the wound convulsed,

2067
02:46:32,559 --> 02:46:35,920
trying to force the thing out, but he was already

2068
02:46:35,959 --> 02:46:41,920
borrowing deeper. His legs kicked against the dirt, twisting his

2069
02:46:42,079 --> 02:46:45,559
free hand clawing at the tendril embedded in him, trying

2070
02:46:45,559 --> 02:46:51,360
to pry it loose. The second one wrapped around his

2071
02:46:51,440 --> 02:46:58,120
throat the moment it tightened, his scream cut off, replaced

2072
02:46:58,120 --> 02:47:02,959
by a grotesque, bubbling whease. His hands clawed at the slick,

2073
02:47:03,319 --> 02:47:08,360
pulsing coil, strangling him, his nails dragging across its surface,

2074
02:47:08,799 --> 02:47:13,799
but finding no grip, nothing to hold onto. The thing

2075
02:47:13,920 --> 02:47:17,719
lifted him slightly off the ground, his feet scraping against

2076
02:47:17,719 --> 02:47:21,399
the dirt, his body shuddering like his brain was firing

2077
02:47:21,440 --> 02:47:26,760
off every last desperate command to escape, but the tendrils

2078
02:47:27,079 --> 02:47:33,520
just kept pulling. He dragged him forward into itself, his

2079
02:47:33,639 --> 02:47:37,280
clothes stuck to its wet, pulsing mass the second he

2080
02:47:37,360 --> 02:47:41,440
made contact, as if something beneath the surface had latched

2081
02:47:41,479 --> 02:47:45,639
onto him. He tried to kick off, tried to push away,

2082
02:47:46,280 --> 02:47:50,319
but the creature's flesh was sticky, sucking him in, pressing

2083
02:47:50,360 --> 02:47:53,520
against him with a crushing force that made his ribs

2084
02:47:53,559 --> 02:47:58,200
groan under the pressure. His lips peeled back, baring his

2085
02:47:58,319 --> 02:48:02,799
teeth in an agonized grins as he felt it starting

2086
02:48:02,799 --> 02:48:10,920
to take him. He was being absorbed. His skin started

2087
02:48:10,959 --> 02:48:14,639
to pull, to stretch, to sink into the folds of

2088
02:48:14,680 --> 02:48:18,840
the thing's body. It didn't eat him, didn't consume him

2089
02:48:18,879 --> 02:48:23,399
the way an animal would devour prey. Instead, the flesh

2090
02:48:23,440 --> 02:48:26,639
of the thing in the fire pit parted and pulled

2091
02:48:26,680 --> 02:48:30,840
around him, pressing in on all sides, smothering him in

2092
02:48:30,920 --> 02:48:36,399
a thick, pulsing mass. His body began to fold, not

2093
02:48:36,520 --> 02:48:40,159
in the way a person collapses, but like those animations

2094
02:48:40,200 --> 02:48:42,879
people made of what it would look like being pulled

2095
02:48:42,879 --> 02:48:47,959
into a black hole, his back arching unnaturally, his ribs

2096
02:48:48,000 --> 02:48:52,440
cracking apart, his joints popping one after the other as

2097
02:48:52,440 --> 02:48:58,520
his limbs twisted at horrific angles. His eyes were still moving,

2098
02:48:59,120 --> 02:49:05,079
his mouth was open. His body was breaking apart, but

2099
02:49:05,200 --> 02:49:11,799
he was still there. The smell changed, The acred stench

2100
02:49:11,799 --> 02:49:16,040
of rock grew thicker, but there was something else underneath it,

2101
02:49:16,079 --> 02:49:22,879
now something worse. It was the unmistakable, cut, wrenching stench

2102
02:49:23,440 --> 02:49:27,840
of meat cooking from the inside out. Something inside the

2103
02:49:27,879 --> 02:49:32,479
thing was heating him, boiling him alive beneath its bloated surface.

2104
02:49:34,319 --> 02:49:38,959
Reid started making a noise, a bubbling sound, thick and wet,

2105
02:49:39,639 --> 02:49:43,280
rising from deep inside his chest, like his lungs were

2106
02:49:43,319 --> 02:49:47,360
filling with liquid. His head jerked forward as if he

2107
02:49:47,440 --> 02:49:51,639
was trying to cough, but instead of air, a thick

2108
02:49:51,680 --> 02:49:56,840
stream of ambered colored fluid dribbled past his lips. His

2109
02:49:56,920 --> 02:50:01,079
lips moved, but no words came out, just more of

2110
02:50:01,159 --> 02:50:07,799
that wet bubbling sound, and then with a final sickening crack,

2111
02:50:08,639 --> 02:50:13,079
his head tilted all the way back. His face disappeared

2112
02:50:13,120 --> 02:50:23,200
beneath the thing's pulsing flesh, and red was gone. The

2113
02:50:23,200 --> 02:50:27,200
thing retreated back into the ground, and people started making

2114
02:50:27,239 --> 02:50:31,040
their way back to their tents. The woman from earlier

2115
02:50:31,200 --> 02:50:38,760
approached me. This time she showed proper emotion. She apologized,

2116
02:50:39,159 --> 02:50:43,879
but said that now I had no choice and I

2117
02:50:43,920 --> 02:50:50,200
could never leave again, but the camp would take care

2118
02:50:50,239 --> 02:51:03,319
of me. The next morning, the camp was unchanged. The

2119
02:51:03,360 --> 02:51:07,559
sun rose over the overpass, washing everything in dull gray light.

2120
02:51:08,920 --> 02:51:13,719
People moved about their routines, stretching stiff limbs, adjusting their tents,

2121
02:51:14,200 --> 02:51:19,360
heating scraps of food over makeshift stoves. A few murmured quietly,

2122
02:51:20,000 --> 02:51:25,799
but their voices were flat, absent of emotion. No one

2123
02:51:26,840 --> 02:51:32,319
spoke of Reed. His tent was gone, his belongings were missing.

2124
02:51:33,200 --> 02:51:35,639
His spot by the fire pit where we had talked

2125
02:51:36,079 --> 02:51:39,879
was just bare ground. There was no sign he had

2126
02:51:39,959 --> 02:51:45,840
ever existed. The fire bit itself sat cold and undisturbed.

2127
02:51:46,520 --> 02:51:49,920
The ashes from the night before were still there, untouched.

2128
02:51:50,719 --> 02:51:53,799
The earth with a monster had surfaced where Reed had

2129
02:51:53,840 --> 02:52:00,719
been pulled in, crushed folded into something unrecognizable, now smooth,

2130
02:52:01,319 --> 02:52:06,959
packed tight. I sat by my tent, staring at it.

2131
02:52:08,360 --> 02:52:13,879
I barely slept, maybe an hour, maybe less. Every time

2132
02:52:13,959 --> 02:52:18,280
I closed my eyes, I saw it. Read's body twisting,

2133
02:52:18,879 --> 02:52:23,440
his mouth open, bubbling sounds rising from deep inside his chest,

2134
02:52:23,799 --> 02:52:26,559
The way his bones had cracked, how his body had

2135
02:52:26,600 --> 02:52:30,959
been swallowed whole. I pressed my knuckles to my mouth,

2136
02:52:31,440 --> 02:52:36,079
swallowing back nausea. The stench of burnt flesh and wet

2137
02:52:36,120 --> 02:52:40,159
decay still clung to my senses. I could smell it,

2138
02:52:40,760 --> 02:52:47,840
taste it, like it had embedded itself inside me. That night,

2139
02:52:48,120 --> 02:52:53,159
I lay awake, staring at the fire pit. Memories looked

2140
02:52:53,319 --> 02:52:58,280
over and over in my mind. Reid's face, his voice,

2141
02:52:58,399 --> 02:53:03,760
his screams. My hands clenched, nails dug into my palms.

2142
02:53:04,959 --> 02:53:08,520
I needed to do something, but if I tried now,

2143
02:53:09,600 --> 02:53:16,959
they'd stop me. I stayed, not because I believed in it,

2144
02:53:17,600 --> 02:53:20,280
but I needed to stay long enough to figure out

2145
02:53:20,440 --> 02:53:24,000
how to escape this place, long enough to understand what

2146
02:53:24,120 --> 02:53:27,520
I was up against, to learn their patterns, to see

2147
02:53:27,559 --> 02:53:34,120
if they were vulnerable. So I watched, I listened. I

2148
02:53:34,200 --> 02:53:38,920
learned their rituals, their quiet way of moving, their unspoken rules.

2149
02:53:39,600 --> 02:53:42,479
When they knelt at the fire pit, I knelt too.

2150
02:53:43,319 --> 02:53:47,319
When they hummed their strange rhythmic tones, I mimicked them,

2151
02:53:47,799 --> 02:53:53,079
forcing my voice into the same lifeless melody. At first,

2152
02:53:53,520 --> 02:53:57,840
my presence was tolerated, a stray dog, lingering where it

2153
02:53:57,920 --> 02:54:03,159
didn't belong. The longer I stayed, the more they accepted me,

2154
02:54:04,280 --> 02:54:11,120
and soon I found myself inside the inner circle. They

2155
02:54:11,159 --> 02:54:15,559
gave me tasks. Starting small, I was assigned to collect

2156
02:54:15,600 --> 02:54:20,920
supplies ration, out water ment the fragile structure of the camp.

2157
02:54:21,360 --> 02:54:25,200
They watched how I followed orders without question. I never

2158
02:54:25,280 --> 02:54:29,000
hesitated when something was asked of me. I let them

2159
02:54:29,000 --> 02:54:32,600
believe I was sinking into it, that I was dissolving

2160
02:54:32,920 --> 02:54:38,639
into the same mindless devotion they all carried. So to them,

2161
02:54:40,159 --> 02:54:45,639
I was no longer a risk. The older ones began

2162
02:54:45,719 --> 02:54:50,639
to notice. I caught them watching, murmuring in approval when

2163
02:54:50,680 --> 02:54:54,600
I followed orders without question. A few of them even

2164
02:54:54,639 --> 02:55:01,200
started speaking to me, Not much, but enough. I started

2165
02:55:01,239 --> 02:55:04,559
speaking with the elders, the ones who had been here

2166
02:55:04,600 --> 02:55:07,879
the longest. They spoke of time as though it had

2167
02:55:07,959 --> 02:55:11,200
no meaning, as if this place had always been here.

2168
02:55:12,319 --> 02:55:15,360
One of them told me that the city above was young,

2169
02:55:16,000 --> 02:55:18,799
that the steel and concrete were just a thin layer

2170
02:55:18,840 --> 02:55:23,239
of something much older. The land beneath had existed long

2171
02:55:23,280 --> 02:55:26,879
before men had carved roads into it, long before they

2172
02:55:26,879 --> 02:55:30,479
built towers of glass and metal and pretended they were

2173
02:55:30,520 --> 02:55:35,559
in control. The thing beneath the dirt was older than

2174
02:55:35,639 --> 02:55:40,520
all of it. They didn't call it a guard. They

2175
02:55:40,559 --> 02:55:43,479
didn't even have a name for it. The part we

2176
02:55:43,520 --> 02:55:46,719
saw in the pit was only a fragment, a piece

2177
02:55:46,760 --> 02:55:50,799
of something buried deep, something stretched out beneath the land.

2178
02:55:51,559 --> 02:55:55,559
Its body sprawled like a great root system. What we

2179
02:55:55,639 --> 02:55:59,120
fed it was enough to keep it satisfied here, But

2180
02:55:59,159 --> 02:56:02,280
there were other places like this across the world, doing

2181
02:56:02,319 --> 02:56:08,280
the same things we did. I was given roles in

2182
02:56:08,360 --> 02:56:13,719
the ceremonies, first as an observer, standing at the edge

2183
02:56:13,719 --> 02:56:16,959
of the fire pit as they conducted their nightly rituals.

2184
02:56:17,959 --> 02:56:22,360
Then I was made an assistant. I played my role well.

2185
02:56:23,319 --> 02:56:26,840
I helped choose the sacrifices, walking the camp in the

2186
02:56:26,920 --> 02:56:30,280
days before a ritual, feeling the weight of their silent

2187
02:56:30,360 --> 02:56:33,360
gazes as I picked the ones who would not wake

2188
02:56:33,479 --> 02:56:37,639
up in their beds the next morning. Sometimes they knew.

2189
02:56:38,319 --> 02:56:41,360
Sometimes I could see it in the way they carried themselves,

2190
02:56:41,879 --> 02:56:44,879
the way their hands trembled when they reached for their food,

2191
02:56:45,479 --> 02:56:48,600
the way their shoulders hunched inward like they were trying

2192
02:56:48,639 --> 02:56:55,600
to disappear. It didn't matter, no one ran. They all

2193
02:56:55,639 --> 02:57:00,760
went to the pit the same way. I try my

2194
02:57:00,799 --> 02:57:02,799
best not to be the one that would drag the

2195
02:57:02,879 --> 02:57:07,120
victims out to the pit, but sometimes that duty was

2196
02:57:07,159 --> 02:57:14,360
handed to me. I gathered what I needed in pieces,

2197
02:57:14,399 --> 02:57:19,120
spread out over months. A sturdy can, old and thick,

2198
02:57:19,760 --> 02:57:23,600
something that would shatter, and sharp pieces scraps of metal,

2199
02:57:24,000 --> 02:57:28,719
jagged and sharp meant to tear through flesh, scavenged chemicals,

2200
02:57:30,280 --> 02:57:35,920
and makeshift grenade. Crude but functional. It wasn't perfect, but

2201
02:57:36,959 --> 02:57:43,719
it would do the job. That night, a woman had

2202
02:57:43,760 --> 02:57:47,360
been chosen. I'd seen it in her before they even

2203
02:57:47,479 --> 02:57:51,280
told me. The small shift in her breathing, the way

2204
02:57:51,280 --> 02:57:55,040
her hands barely touched her food, the vacant focus in

2205
02:57:55,079 --> 02:58:01,879
her eyes. She knew she was lucky. That way she

2206
02:58:02,000 --> 02:58:05,520
reminded me of Reed, not in the way she looked.

2207
02:58:06,239 --> 02:58:09,879
Red had been hard edged, years of suffering chiseled into

2208
02:58:09,920 --> 02:58:14,079
his face, while she was younger, softer, like she had

2209
02:58:14,120 --> 02:58:18,120
once belonged somewhere else. But it was in her eyes,

2210
02:58:18,639 --> 02:58:24,040
the way she stared through me, past me. She didn't fight.

2211
02:58:25,000 --> 02:58:28,399
No one ever fought. When I volunteered to be the

2212
02:58:28,440 --> 02:58:31,920
one to take her to the pit, no one questioned it.

2213
02:58:33,520 --> 02:58:35,799
I'd been here too long for them to doubt me.

2214
02:58:35,879 --> 02:58:39,920
Now I had done my part, played my role, led

2215
02:58:40,000 --> 02:58:44,799
enough people into the pit without hesitation. I stood beside

2216
02:58:44,840 --> 02:58:48,040
them in the dark, humming their song, feeding the thing

2217
02:58:48,120 --> 02:58:57,920
beneath us. They trusted me completely. She breathed, shallow and

2218
02:58:58,000 --> 02:59:02,000
steady as they took her arm in my hand. The

2219
02:59:02,079 --> 02:59:06,719
skin was warm, pulse light, and steady beneath my fingers.

2220
02:59:07,280 --> 02:59:10,319
She didn't pull away. She walked where I led her,

2221
02:59:10,799 --> 02:59:16,079
quiet and obedient, just like the others before her. The

2222
02:59:16,159 --> 02:59:19,920
camp gathered around us. We walked through them, through the

2223
02:59:19,959 --> 02:59:22,920
ones i'd knelt beside, the ones who had stood with

2224
02:59:23,000 --> 02:59:26,399
me as the fire burned low, the ones who had

2225
02:59:26,440 --> 02:59:31,239
whispered the old stories into my ears. My breath felt

2226
02:59:31,280 --> 02:59:33,920
thick in my chest. The weight of the grenade in

2227
02:59:33,959 --> 02:59:38,520
my pocket was heavy, burning against my skin. My heartbeat

2228
02:59:38,639 --> 02:59:44,440
thudded in my skull. This was it. There was no

2229
02:59:44,559 --> 02:59:50,200
backing out now. My fingers wrapped around the fuse up

2230
02:59:50,239 --> 02:59:52,840
close The thing in the pit was worse than I'd

2231
02:59:52,879 --> 02:59:57,000
ever let myself see. There were mouths, or things that

2232
02:59:57,079 --> 03:00:02,600
almost resembled them, gaping slashed open gorges, lined with pulsing

2233
03:00:02,719 --> 03:00:06,760
ridges of flesh, but no teeth, just folds of wet,

2234
03:00:07,120 --> 03:00:11,120
sucking muscle layed over one another, like the gills of

2235
03:00:11,280 --> 03:00:18,360
rotting fish. They twitched, flaring open, and its eyes, if

2236
03:00:18,479 --> 03:00:23,120
they were eyes, were scattered unevenly across its surface, shifting

2237
03:00:23,159 --> 03:00:29,520
slightly as they swayed, never focusing, but always aware. With

2238
03:00:29,639 --> 03:00:36,920
one violent shove, I threw the woman aside. Gasps rippled

2239
03:00:36,920 --> 03:00:39,920
through the crowd, a sharpened hail that cut through the

2240
03:00:39,959 --> 03:00:43,680
heavy quiet of the night. She hit the ground hard,

2241
03:00:43,920 --> 03:00:48,479
rolling to a side. Her face twisted in confusion, But

2242
03:00:48,600 --> 03:00:51,959
I was already reaching into my pocket, yanking out the grenade,

2243
03:00:53,000 --> 03:00:57,920
my fingers tightening around my lighter. The pit reacted instantly.

2244
03:00:58,799 --> 03:01:03,000
The ground pulled apart like splitting skin. A thick, wet

2245
03:01:03,040 --> 03:01:07,120
noise rolled from the darkness beneath as the creature reared up,

2246
03:01:07,520 --> 03:01:12,680
sensing something was wrong. The thing in the pit wasn't mindless.

2247
03:01:13,280 --> 03:01:18,360
The tendrils lasted forward, fast as striking vipers. I lit

2248
03:01:18,399 --> 03:01:22,360
the fuse. My breath, ragged sweat rolling down my back.

2249
03:01:24,719 --> 03:01:28,479
I was too slow. I knew it in the same

2250
03:01:28,520 --> 03:01:32,280
moment I saw them come in for me. There was

2251
03:01:32,319 --> 03:01:37,200
only one way to make sure this worked. I lunged

2252
03:01:37,200 --> 03:01:41,200
forward and thrust my arm, my entire arm, into the

2253
03:01:41,319 --> 03:01:45,959
largest of its gaping mouths. Grenades still clenched my fist.

2254
03:01:47,120 --> 03:01:49,680
The second I made contact, it latched on to me.

2255
03:01:50,680 --> 03:01:54,520
The flesh around the mouth sucked inward as suffocating, muscle

2256
03:01:54,559 --> 03:01:58,440
bound vice wrapping around my arm, locking it in place.

2257
03:02:00,360 --> 03:02:04,840
It burned, not like fire, but like something alive was

2258
03:02:05,040 --> 03:02:10,760
crawling into my skin, burrowing, spreading. I felt it move

2259
03:02:10,799 --> 03:02:14,799
inside me. Veins surged outward from where it held me,

2260
03:02:15,479 --> 03:02:19,200
black tendrils creeping beneath my skin, forcing the way up

2261
03:02:19,200 --> 03:02:24,200
my forearm, boring into the spaces between muscle and bone.

2262
03:02:24,559 --> 03:02:29,559
I screamed as it pulled harder, yanking me toward its body,

2263
03:02:29,600 --> 03:02:35,000
trying to make me whole. My fingers locked around the grenade.

2264
03:02:35,639 --> 03:02:40,959
My bones started to bend, joints popped, My elbow snapped backward.

2265
03:02:41,559 --> 03:02:45,879
My wrist buckled under the impossible pressure. The pain was

2266
03:02:46,000 --> 03:02:51,239
all consuming, a raw, electric agony that tore through every nerve.

2267
03:02:52,479 --> 03:02:55,959
I lost the part of my vision. My body convulsed,

2268
03:02:56,280 --> 03:02:59,760
my legs nearly gave out. Beneath me. It was trying

2269
03:02:59,799 --> 03:03:04,879
to crushed me into something small enough to fit inside.

2270
03:03:05,120 --> 03:03:12,120
Then the grenade exploded. A shockwave ripped through my body,

2271
03:03:12,559 --> 03:03:16,399
sending blinding heat up my arm or what was left

2272
03:03:16,399 --> 03:03:20,639
of it, tearing through flesh and muscle, shattering bone. In

2273
03:03:20,680 --> 03:03:25,520
an instant, the force tore me away, sent me hurtling backward,

2274
03:03:25,920 --> 03:03:30,719
crashing into the dirt, my body skidding across the ground.

2275
03:03:31,399 --> 03:03:35,840
The creature shrieked, not in sound, not in anything I

2276
03:03:35,879 --> 03:03:40,639
could hear with my ears, but inside my skull, a

2277
03:03:40,840 --> 03:03:45,639
raw wail that shattered my thoughts, a wordless, agonized scream

2278
03:03:46,000 --> 03:03:49,520
that was neither human, nor animal, nor anything that should

2279
03:03:49,559 --> 03:03:54,399
have existed in this world. I couldn't breathe, but I

2280
03:03:54,479 --> 03:04:00,479
felt it dying. The pit convulsed, buckling inward, flesh rupturing,

2281
03:04:00,799 --> 03:04:06,040
splitting open, sprang thick black fluid in every direction. The

2282
03:04:06,120 --> 03:04:10,200
mouths gaped wide, sucking, had the air trying to cling

2283
03:04:10,280 --> 03:04:14,680
to life, trying to pull something, anything, into itself, to

2284
03:04:14,799 --> 03:04:21,000
stop what was happening. It was collapsing. The earth cracked

2285
03:04:21,040 --> 03:04:26,280
beneath it, the pit caving in, the body, deteriorating, turning

2286
03:04:26,399 --> 03:04:31,959
to something wet and broken and undone. I tried to move,

2287
03:04:32,600 --> 03:04:38,879
but I couldn't. Everything went black. The world came back

2288
03:04:40,079 --> 03:04:47,159
in pieces, A steady rhythmic beep, the distant murmur of voices,

2289
03:04:47,879 --> 03:04:51,399
white light pressing against the backs of my eyelids, the

2290
03:04:51,479 --> 03:04:55,600
sterile weight of blankets tucked around my body, pinning me down,

2291
03:04:56,000 --> 03:05:03,639
holding me in place, the unmistakable smell of fantiseptic. I

2292
03:05:03,799 --> 03:05:09,000
was alive. I tried to move, but my body refused.

2293
03:05:09,639 --> 03:05:13,680
My limbs felt heavy, A deep, dull ache pulsed through

2294
03:05:13,680 --> 03:05:19,440
my side, my chest, my skull radiating outward. My throat

2295
03:05:19,479 --> 03:05:22,520
was raw, my ribs tight like they had been wrapped

2296
03:05:22,520 --> 03:05:27,479
in iron. I turned my head, and that's when I

2297
03:05:27,559 --> 03:05:35,399
felt it, or rather didn't. My right arm was gone.

2298
03:05:37,040 --> 03:05:40,440
I couldn't see it, couldn't feel it, but the pain

2299
03:05:40,600 --> 03:05:44,959
was still there, A deep, phantom weight, like something was

2300
03:05:45,040 --> 03:05:49,399
still holding onto it, still digging into my bones, still

2301
03:05:49,440 --> 03:05:54,000
trying to pull me back down. The sensation crawled at

2302
03:05:54,040 --> 03:05:59,440
my shoulder, a hollow, twisting emptiness, nerves firing into nothing,

2303
03:06:00,120 --> 03:06:05,479
reaching for a limb that no longer existed. My left

2304
03:06:05,520 --> 03:06:11,440
eye wasn't there either. I lifted my remaining hand, fingers trembling,

2305
03:06:11,879 --> 03:06:15,120
and felt the rough edges of a thick bandage covering

2306
03:06:15,159 --> 03:06:22,680
half my face underneath. My skin pulsed, tender, stitched, swollen.

2307
03:06:24,120 --> 03:06:30,239
The socket was empty. The room was silent, except for

2308
03:06:30,280 --> 03:06:34,159
the beeping of machines, the sound of fabric rustling. As

2309
03:06:34,200 --> 03:06:38,120
I tried to shift my weight. I could hear footsteps

2310
03:06:38,159 --> 03:06:43,280
outside the door, voices too low to make out. Somewhere

2311
03:06:43,319 --> 03:06:49,440
in the distance, someone laughed, normal life, the world continuing.

2312
03:06:52,239 --> 03:06:57,440
I should have felt relieved, I should have felt something. Instead,

2313
03:06:58,840 --> 03:07:03,719
I just felt tired. I let my head sink back

2314
03:07:03,760 --> 03:07:08,760
into the pillow. Nurses passed by the door, their voices

2315
03:07:08,879 --> 03:07:13,239
drifting through the half open gap. I forced myself to listen,

2316
03:07:13,840 --> 03:07:18,280
let the words seep in. They said it was an accident,

2317
03:07:18,680 --> 03:07:24,479
a fire, some kind of explosion out by the overpass. Yeah.

2318
03:07:24,799 --> 03:07:28,280
No one found anybodies, no traces of anyone living there,

2319
03:07:28,840 --> 03:07:37,200
just a a pause, just the whole. My fingers curled

2320
03:07:37,239 --> 03:07:42,760
into the sheets. The tense city was gone, The people,

2321
03:07:43,040 --> 03:07:49,639
the elders, the silent, faithful, vanished without a trace. Her

2322
03:07:49,719 --> 03:07:54,719
slow exhale left my lungs long and steady. I let

2323
03:07:54,719 --> 03:07:59,479
my eye drift shut, exhaustion pressing me deeper into the mattress,

2324
03:08:00,040 --> 03:08:05,840
pulling me under. For now it was over in our

2325
03:08:05,879 --> 03:08:12,360
part of the world. But if it wasn't someone else,

2326
03:08:13,920 --> 03:08:25,799
we'll have to stop it. I moved to New Maple

2327
03:08:26,079 --> 03:08:30,040
in early spring, right as the snowbanks along the curbs

2328
03:08:30,319 --> 03:08:34,079
turned a slush and the neighborhood kids started trading sleds

2329
03:08:34,120 --> 03:08:37,959
for bikes. The place was filled with people who waved

2330
03:08:38,000 --> 03:08:43,440
from their porches and jogged with dogs that didn't need leashes. Quiet,

2331
03:08:43,840 --> 03:08:50,079
unbothered and polite, I told myself I was ready for quiet.

2332
03:08:52,360 --> 03:08:55,520
I'd taken a job teaching art at the local high school,

2333
03:08:55,719 --> 03:08:59,760
and the rental, an aging two bedroom with creaky stairs

2334
03:08:59,760 --> 03:09:04,159
and yellow siding, was the best I could afford without roommates.

2335
03:09:05,079 --> 03:09:07,879
I told people I'd moved to focus on my work

2336
03:09:08,280 --> 03:09:11,959
to get out of the city. That part was true.

2337
03:09:13,479 --> 03:09:16,879
The part I didn't talk about was the slow disintegration

2338
03:09:17,159 --> 03:09:21,079
of a relationship I'd spent too many years in, and

2339
03:09:21,239 --> 03:09:27,520
how silence had started to feel safer than conversation. The

2340
03:09:27,600 --> 03:09:31,680
Avery's lived two doors down. I noticed them on my

2341
03:09:31,760 --> 03:09:36,120
first walk around the neighborhood. The house had blue shutters

2342
03:09:36,239 --> 03:09:40,840
and a deep green lawn already trimmed to perfection. Two

2343
03:09:40,920 --> 03:09:43,600
lips lined the path to their front porch in a

2344
03:09:43,639 --> 03:09:48,520
single even row. I saw missus Avery trimming them with

2345
03:09:48,639 --> 03:09:52,360
garden chairs one morning, her white sun hat covering most

2346
03:09:52,399 --> 03:09:56,520
of her face. She didn't look up when I passed,

2347
03:09:56,959 --> 03:10:01,079
only nodded. It took a week before she spoke to me.

2348
03:10:02,840 --> 03:10:05,680
You're the one who moved into two on four, aren't you?

2349
03:10:06,680 --> 03:10:10,520
She asked? As I carried in groceries the old Duncan house.

2350
03:10:13,040 --> 03:10:15,959
She stood on the sidewalk with her hands clasped in

2351
03:10:15,959 --> 03:10:20,600
front of her, her voice soft but precise. Her smile

2352
03:10:20,760 --> 03:10:24,520
stayed on her face the whole time we talked. She

2353
03:10:24,559 --> 03:10:28,319
introduced herself as Marian, and when I gave her my name,

2354
03:10:28,840 --> 03:10:34,159
she repeated it twice. Then she invited me over for lemonade.

2355
03:10:36,040 --> 03:10:39,159
I said yes because it felt easier than saying no.

2356
03:10:42,000 --> 03:10:44,799
The inside of the home smiled faintly of lemons and

2357
03:10:44,840 --> 03:10:50,600
wood polish. It was spotless. The cleanliness in there felt permanent.

2358
03:10:51,799 --> 03:10:57,399
Every surface had been dusted, every frame perfectly aligned. I

2359
03:10:57,479 --> 03:11:02,239
noticed photographs, small ones lining the mantle, larger ones on

2360
03:11:02,319 --> 03:11:06,280
the wall near the stairs. A girl with brown hair

2361
03:11:06,600 --> 03:11:13,520
and a bright, wide smile. That's our daughter, Emily, Marian said.

2362
03:11:13,719 --> 03:11:20,959
When she caught me looking. She disappeared last year. She

2363
03:11:21,040 --> 03:11:23,799
placed the glass of lemonade in my hand and asked

2364
03:11:23,840 --> 03:11:28,799
if I wanted a cookie. Mister Avery, whose name, looking back,

2365
03:11:29,079 --> 03:11:32,719
I realized I never learned, joined us a few minutes later.

2366
03:11:34,159 --> 03:11:37,399
He was taller than his wife, thin, with a neatly

2367
03:11:37,440 --> 03:11:41,360
pressed collared shirt and an easy practiced way of folding

2368
03:11:41,360 --> 03:11:46,000
into conversation. They were charming in the way that old

2369
03:11:46,000 --> 03:11:51,879
couples are. I stayed for over an hour. When I left,

2370
03:11:51,920 --> 03:11:55,399
Marian pressed the tupperware container of cookies into my hands

2371
03:11:55,840 --> 03:12:01,639
and told me to stop by any time. I didn't

2372
03:12:01,680 --> 03:12:05,159
plan on going back, but the next week she appeared

2373
03:12:05,159 --> 03:12:09,000
on my porch with a pie. Then came the dinner invitation,

2374
03:12:09,959 --> 03:12:15,319
then another. Over the next month, the visits turned into tradition.

2375
03:12:16,639 --> 03:12:20,040
They always served too much food and insisted I'd take

2376
03:12:20,120 --> 03:12:24,200
home the leftovers. We played cards or watched an odd

2377
03:12:24,280 --> 03:12:29,200
movie on DVD. Sometimes I'd find myself helping mister Avery

2378
03:12:29,280 --> 03:12:32,319
move something into the garage or fix a loose shutter.

2379
03:12:33,760 --> 03:12:37,159
I didn't mind it. Felt good to be wanted somewhere.

2380
03:12:38,680 --> 03:12:41,559
They had a way of making me feel needed without

2381
03:12:41,600 --> 03:12:47,360
ever saying it outright. Then the small comments began. You

2382
03:12:47,600 --> 03:12:51,680
have a laugh, Marian said one night as we finished

2383
03:12:51,840 --> 03:12:56,360
washing dishes. Emily's laugh used to carry through the whole house.

2384
03:12:58,200 --> 03:13:01,760
Another time, mister Avery handed me a book from their shelf.

2385
03:13:03,319 --> 03:13:06,000
She loved this one used to read it out loud

2386
03:13:06,000 --> 03:13:11,200
on the porch. I smiled, said thank you, and took

2387
03:13:11,239 --> 03:13:16,120
the book home. I told myself it was harmless. A

2388
03:13:16,120 --> 03:13:19,360
grieving family seeing pieces of their daughter and a young

2389
03:13:19,399 --> 03:13:26,680
woman nearby. It was a compliment, that's all. Then after

2390
03:13:26,719 --> 03:13:31,719
dinner one night, Marian handed me a folded sweater. I

2391
03:13:31,799 --> 03:13:35,120
found this while going through the linen closet. She said.

2392
03:13:35,639 --> 03:13:38,280
It used to be Emily's. I think it would look

2393
03:13:38,559 --> 03:13:43,399
just perfect on you. It was soft, cream colored with

2394
03:13:43,520 --> 03:13:47,319
slightly stretched sleeves. The scent of lavender clung to it.

2395
03:13:48,959 --> 03:13:52,159
I hesitated for half a second, but she was already

2396
03:13:52,239 --> 03:13:56,479
draping it over my arm. Her hands stayed there, resting

2397
03:13:56,559 --> 03:14:00,520
lightly on my wrist. You don't have to wear it now,

2398
03:14:00,799 --> 03:14:08,120
just keep it. It'd make me happy. I nodded and

2399
03:14:08,200 --> 03:14:13,840
thanked her. Told myself. I'd return it later. I never

2400
03:14:13,879 --> 03:14:17,479
wore it, just folded it into the back of my closet,

2401
03:14:17,840 --> 03:14:23,040
where it sat behind a box of winter scarves. By then,

2402
03:14:23,399 --> 03:14:26,079
I had already stopped telling people how often I was

2403
03:14:26,120 --> 03:14:30,840
seeing the averies. I'm not sure why. Maybe I was

2404
03:14:30,879 --> 03:14:33,799
afraid of how it would sound, or maybe part of

2405
03:14:33,840 --> 03:14:39,360
me already knew something wasn't quite right. I just didn't

2406
03:14:39,399 --> 03:14:44,200
know how far it would go. It was a Sunday

2407
03:14:44,280 --> 03:14:48,639
evening when they asked. Dinner had been roast chicken, peas,

2408
03:14:48,959 --> 03:14:52,120
and soft bread rolls that Marin brushed with melted butter.

2409
03:14:53,200 --> 03:14:56,000
I'd brought over a cheap bottle of red wine and

2410
03:14:56,079 --> 03:14:59,479
we drank it in mismatched glasses while the sun dipped

2411
03:14:59,479 --> 03:15:03,879
behind the trees outside their living room window. They weren't

2412
03:15:03,879 --> 03:15:07,920
watching anything on TV. Marian had turned on an old

2413
03:15:07,959 --> 03:15:12,040
stereo that played instrumental jazz at a volume just low

2414
03:15:12,159 --> 03:15:17,440
enough to barely notice. She waited until I had finished eating,

2415
03:15:18,159 --> 03:15:23,079
then reached for my hand. Her fingers were cool and dry,

2416
03:15:23,719 --> 03:15:29,639
but steady. Across the table, Mister Avery cleared his throat.

2417
03:15:31,079 --> 03:15:35,600
We wanted to ask you for a favor, she said.

2418
03:15:36,440 --> 03:15:41,319
I looked between them, unsure of what they meant. Tomorrow,

2419
03:15:41,799 --> 03:15:47,079
it is Emily's birthday, she continued, She would have turned seventeen.

2420
03:15:49,520 --> 03:15:53,879
Mister Avery nodded, his hands folded in front of him.

2421
03:15:54,799 --> 03:15:58,520
We started a tradition just last year, just a quiet

2422
03:15:58,559 --> 03:16:04,840
evening timbrance ritual. I suppose you could call it. Marian

2423
03:16:04,920 --> 03:16:08,040
gave a small smile, then, the kind that didn't reach

2424
03:16:08,120 --> 03:16:13,559
the eyes. We thought, if you were willing, maybe you'd

2425
03:16:13,639 --> 03:16:19,120
help us with it this year. I didn't answer at first.

2426
03:16:19,959 --> 03:16:24,479
She kept holding my hand. It wouldn't be much. Just

2427
03:16:24,520 --> 03:16:27,200
sit in a place at the table, read a passage

2428
03:16:27,200 --> 03:16:30,520
from a journal, Maybe wear one of her favorite dresses,

2429
03:16:31,200 --> 03:16:35,959
That's all. Mister Avery reached the cross and rested a

2430
03:16:36,040 --> 03:16:41,200
hand on his wife's shoulder. She began to cry, not loudly,

2431
03:16:41,959 --> 03:16:46,600
which made it even sadder. It would mean so much

2432
03:16:46,680 --> 03:16:52,680
to us, he said, People do strange things when they grieve.

2433
03:16:54,239 --> 03:16:59,760
I said yes. The next day they dressed me in

2434
03:17:00,000 --> 03:17:04,639
a blue the fabric thin and neatly pressed. It was

2435
03:17:04,680 --> 03:17:08,200
already laid out in Emily's room when I arrived, draped

2436
03:17:08,239 --> 03:17:12,200
over a bed like it had been waiting. I changed

2437
03:17:12,280 --> 03:17:18,879
in silence. The dress fit me perfectly. Downstairs The table

2438
03:17:19,040 --> 03:17:22,799
was set for three, one plate at the head, one

2439
03:17:22,840 --> 03:17:26,360
at the left, and one at the right. A single

2440
03:17:26,399 --> 03:17:31,079
white candle burned in the center. Marian stood by my chair,

2441
03:17:31,639 --> 03:17:34,399
smoothing the shoulders of the dress as I sat down.

2442
03:17:36,079 --> 03:17:41,079
On my plate was a folded piece of paper. I

2443
03:17:41,159 --> 03:17:44,639
read the words out loud. It was a passage from

2444
03:17:44,680 --> 03:17:49,239
Emily's journal, something about a favorite season, the way the

2445
03:17:49,319 --> 03:17:54,120
air smelled before rain. I read it twice, at Marian's request.

2446
03:17:56,000 --> 03:18:01,520
After that we held hands. Mister Avery began to a slow,

2447
03:18:01,719 --> 03:18:08,760
droning melody. Marian joined in, barely above a whisper. There

2448
03:18:08,760 --> 03:18:12,360
were no words, only the sound of their voices moving

2449
03:18:12,520 --> 03:18:16,799
in and out of tune with each other. They stopped

2450
03:18:16,840 --> 03:18:24,159
humming and began eating. I followed their lead. The food

2451
03:18:24,280 --> 03:18:28,319
was thick and oddly sweet, some sort of casserole I

2452
03:18:28,360 --> 03:18:32,639
didn't recognize. The texture was soft, but not in a

2453
03:18:32,680 --> 03:18:38,440
pleasant way. My stomach tightened after a few bites, still

2454
03:18:38,840 --> 03:18:44,879
to be polite, and I cleaned the plate. Afterward, they

2455
03:18:44,920 --> 03:18:49,600
insisted I stay a little longer, just to talk. I

2456
03:18:49,639 --> 03:18:53,159
nodded along with their stories, most of which seemed pulled

2457
03:18:53,159 --> 03:18:58,000
for moments that no longer belonged to anyone. Mister Avery

2458
03:18:58,120 --> 03:19:01,760
kept referring to things we'd all done together, times I

2459
03:19:01,840 --> 03:19:06,000
knew for certain I hadn't been there. He spoke with

2460
03:19:06,120 --> 03:19:11,639
such conviction that I stopped correcting him. Marian stood and

2461
03:19:11,719 --> 03:19:16,840
clasped her hands together. You've been such a light for us,

2462
03:19:17,479 --> 03:19:21,920
she said. We've been thinking maybe you'd be easier for

2463
03:19:21,959 --> 03:19:27,479
everyone if you stayed the night. She gestured toward the stairs.

2464
03:19:28,440 --> 03:19:33,159
We already made up a room for you. I didn't respond.

2465
03:19:33,879 --> 03:19:37,760
I stood, forcing a smile and told them I had

2466
03:19:37,760 --> 03:19:43,959
an early morning. I walked toward the door. Neither of

2467
03:19:44,000 --> 03:19:49,799
them followed. They only watched Marian, still smiling, mister Avery,

2468
03:19:49,879 --> 03:19:54,879
with his head slightly tilted. I reached for the doorknob.

2469
03:19:56,040 --> 03:20:03,479
The world tilted sideways. The last thing I remember is

2470
03:20:03,520 --> 03:20:07,040
the taste of metal in my mouth and the floor

2471
03:20:07,600 --> 03:20:19,040
rushing up toward me. I woke to the sound of

2472
03:20:19,120 --> 03:20:23,479
birds song. For a moment, I thought I was home.

2473
03:20:24,520 --> 03:20:27,600
Not my new place, but the apartment i'd shared with

2474
03:20:27,600 --> 03:20:31,040
my sister before the move, the one with the crooked

2475
03:20:31,079 --> 03:20:35,799
blinds and the peeling wallpaper. In the kitchen, the morning

2476
03:20:35,920 --> 03:20:39,959
light had that same watery yellow hue stretched across the

2477
03:20:40,040 --> 03:20:44,280
floor like someone had poured it from a glass, but

2478
03:20:44,360 --> 03:20:48,040
the room smelled different. There was no scent of old

2479
03:20:48,079 --> 03:20:54,159
coffee or laundry detergent. Instead, the air was stale, perfumed

2480
03:20:54,200 --> 03:20:58,799
with something powdery and floral. I turned my head and

2481
03:20:58,879 --> 03:21:04,680
saw the wallpaper soft pink, with tiny green leaves printed

2482
03:21:04,799 --> 03:21:09,479
and even rows. The bookshelves sat beneath the window, filled

2483
03:21:09,479 --> 03:21:14,000
with worn paperbacks and dusty trophies. There were doors on

2484
03:21:14,040 --> 03:21:17,760
a wooden rocking chair in the corner, a small white desk,

2485
03:21:18,360 --> 03:21:21,559
a full length mirror with a lay shawl draped over

2486
03:21:21,639 --> 03:21:27,879
the top, and on every wall photographs and a child's drawing,

2487
03:21:29,600 --> 03:21:35,159
dozens of them, framed and arranged with obsessive precision. They

2488
03:21:35,159 --> 03:21:40,200
were all of her, Emily. Her face stared back at

2489
03:21:40,200 --> 03:21:46,000
me from every angle. School portraits, birthday parties, candid shots

2490
03:21:46,000 --> 03:21:49,559
in the yard, her eyes always locked with the camera,

2491
03:21:50,440 --> 03:21:57,799
always smiling. I sat up. The sheets tangled around my legs.

2492
03:21:58,440 --> 03:22:02,639
I was still wearing the dress, my skin itched beneath

2493
03:22:02,680 --> 03:22:06,600
a fabric. I reached for my phone out of fabit,

2494
03:22:07,639 --> 03:22:14,079
my pocket was empty. I checked the nightstand nothing no phone,

2495
03:22:14,239 --> 03:22:18,879
no charger, no keys. My coat was draped over the

2496
03:22:18,920 --> 03:22:22,239
desk chair, but the pockets had been turned inside out.

2497
03:22:23,719 --> 03:22:27,000
There was no clock in the room. The silence crawled

2498
03:22:27,000 --> 03:22:31,200
in behind the bird song and pressed down on my shoulders.

2499
03:22:32,120 --> 03:22:38,239
I opened the door. Mister Avery stood on the other side,

2500
03:22:38,799 --> 03:22:41,959
holding a tray with toast and a glass of orange juice.

2501
03:22:43,079 --> 03:22:48,040
He didn't flinch. His face was smooth, his expression unreadable.

2502
03:22:49,840 --> 03:22:55,879
Good morning, sweetheart, he said, We thought you might be hungry.

2503
03:22:56,479 --> 03:22:59,959
I stepped back into the room, heart pounding, trying to

2504
03:23:00,200 --> 03:23:04,360
keep my breath steady. He followed, placing the tray in

2505
03:23:04,440 --> 03:23:08,559
the desk beside the glass lamp. I wanted to ask

2506
03:23:08,600 --> 03:23:11,360
what happened. I wanted to ask why I had woken

2507
03:23:11,440 --> 03:23:15,600
up there, why I couldn't remember falling asleep, why I

2508
03:23:15,639 --> 03:23:20,360
was still in Emily's clothes. But when I opened my mouth,

2509
03:23:21,280 --> 03:23:26,399
nothing came out. Mister Avery folded his hands in front

2510
03:23:26,440 --> 03:23:30,840
of him and gave a small nod. Your mother thought

2511
03:23:30,920 --> 03:23:34,159
you might need a little extra rest after everything last night.

2512
03:23:35,079 --> 03:23:38,520
You always get a little overwhelmed when things get emotional.

2513
03:23:40,719 --> 03:23:43,079
He looked at the wall, at one of the pictures.

2514
03:23:44,360 --> 03:23:52,159
We understand. I forced the words out, where's my phone?

2515
03:23:52,920 --> 03:23:57,680
What are you people doing? He didn't answer at first,

2516
03:23:58,559 --> 03:24:03,280
just looked at me with that sticked, practiced gaze. You

2517
03:24:03,440 --> 03:24:07,079
know you're grounded, Emily. No phone until we talk about

2518
03:24:07,079 --> 03:24:13,559
what happened, until you're honest with us. My skin went cold.

2519
03:24:15,000 --> 03:24:18,879
He turned and walked to the door. Before stepping out,

2520
03:24:19,559 --> 03:24:24,719
he said, almost absently, we'll be downstairs when you're ready.

2521
03:24:25,639 --> 03:24:28,559
Just come sit with us when you're feeling more like yourself.

2522
03:24:31,360 --> 03:24:35,360
He closed the door softly behind him. I rushed to

2523
03:24:35,399 --> 03:24:40,760
grab it, grabbed a knob, twisted hard. It wasn't locked,

2524
03:24:41,479 --> 03:24:45,000
but I wasn't ready to leave yet, not without a

2525
03:24:45,040 --> 03:24:50,120
plane at least. I checked the window next. The latch

2526
03:24:50,120 --> 03:24:53,319
had been painted over. When I tried to slide the

2527
03:24:53,319 --> 03:24:57,959
pane open, it didn't move. I sat on the edge

2528
03:24:57,959 --> 03:25:00,239
of the bed and stared at the door for a

2529
03:25:00,280 --> 03:25:05,360
long time. There was no yelling, no threads, no locked

2530
03:25:05,440 --> 03:25:11,799
chains or screaming alarms, just that suffocating sense of stillness.

2531
03:25:12,840 --> 03:25:16,639
I could hear Marian's voice echoing through the walls. She

2532
03:25:16,719 --> 03:25:23,719
was humming a tune. She sounded happy. I was wirded

2533
03:25:23,719 --> 03:25:27,399
out and scared, and frankly, I couldn't wait to report

2534
03:25:27,440 --> 03:25:30,840
them to the police. I'd spent a lot of time

2535
03:25:30,879 --> 03:25:34,280
with the averies. So I knew what they did and

2536
03:25:34,440 --> 03:25:40,319
when they did it, and so I waited until the

2537
03:25:40,360 --> 03:25:46,600
mower started. There was an old push model, loud, uneven,

2538
03:25:47,200 --> 03:25:50,879
and it took a minute to warm up. From the window,

2539
03:25:51,319 --> 03:25:55,120
I watched mister Avery roll it across the backyard, the

2540
03:25:55,159 --> 03:25:58,319
blades chewing up patches of tall grass he had let

2541
03:25:58,360 --> 03:26:02,959
grow just long enough to look natural. His back was turned,

2542
03:26:04,000 --> 03:26:11,520
Marian wasn't in sight. I moved fast, quiet at first,

2543
03:26:11,879 --> 03:26:16,120
then reckless. I slipped out the room and crept down

2544
03:26:16,120 --> 03:26:20,120
the stairs bare foot. My shoes were gone, so I

2545
03:26:20,159 --> 03:26:23,959
wore Emily's flats from the closet. They pinched my toes,

2546
03:26:24,000 --> 03:26:29,399
but I didn't stop. The house was still. No clocks ticked,

2547
03:26:29,799 --> 03:26:33,879
no footsteps echoed, just the rising whir of the mower,

2548
03:26:34,520 --> 03:26:39,399
steady and sharp. At the front door, I reached for

2549
03:26:39,479 --> 03:26:43,799
the lock. It clicked open easily. The dead bolt hadn't

2550
03:26:43,840 --> 03:26:48,440
been set. For a second. I thought, maybe this would

2551
03:26:48,479 --> 03:26:53,399
be easy, Maybe they'd let their guard down. I opened

2552
03:26:53,440 --> 03:26:58,239
the door and stepped out into the sunlight. The grass

2553
03:26:58,239 --> 03:27:02,280
felt cold through the thin soles and my shoes. I

2554
03:27:02,319 --> 03:27:06,239
didn't look back. I moved quickly past the porch, through

2555
03:27:06,280 --> 03:27:09,040
the side yard, past the rose bushes that edged the

2556
03:27:09,079 --> 03:27:19,319
Avery striveway. I heard the mower stop, then his voice Emily.

2557
03:27:21,559 --> 03:27:26,840
I didn't answer. I broke into a run. I made

2558
03:27:26,840 --> 03:27:29,799
it half way across the lawn before he tackled me

2559
03:27:29,840 --> 03:27:34,559
from behind. My niece slammed into the ground. One shoe

2560
03:27:34,600 --> 03:27:38,159
flew off. His arms wrapped around my waist, and he

2561
03:27:38,239 --> 03:27:41,799
dragged me backward, his breath hot and uneven in my ear.

2562
03:27:43,120 --> 03:27:47,680
I screamed in hopes anyone would hear me enough. He

2563
03:27:47,760 --> 03:27:54,040
snapped enough of this, I screamed again, raw and useless.

2564
03:27:55,079 --> 03:27:57,680
He pulled me through the doorway and up the stairs.

2565
03:27:58,280 --> 03:28:01,239
My hands clawed of the walls, trying to find something

2566
03:28:01,280 --> 03:28:05,280
to grab, anything that might catch. He threw open the

2567
03:28:05,319 --> 03:28:09,879
bedroom door and shoved me inside. I hid the floor hard,

2568
03:28:10,399 --> 03:28:14,799
my shoulder cracking against the leg of the bed. You

2569
03:28:14,959 --> 03:28:19,079
don't get to run away from us, he said. He

2570
03:28:19,120 --> 03:28:23,600
stood over me, chest heaving, face flush. I could smell

2571
03:28:23,639 --> 03:28:27,959
the sweat on him, mixed with something sour. He raised

2572
03:28:27,959 --> 03:28:32,319
his hand. The slap rang in my ears for a

2573
03:28:32,399 --> 03:28:36,360
long time after he left. When he shut the door again,

2574
03:28:37,000 --> 03:28:40,680
the light seemed to change. The sun had begun to

2575
03:28:40,760 --> 03:28:44,760
set and the room filled with shadows that stretched toward

2576
03:28:44,799 --> 03:28:51,079
the corners like stains. I stood, legs shaking, and picked

2577
03:28:51,159 --> 03:28:55,040
up the night's end. It was heavier than I expected,

2578
03:28:55,600 --> 03:28:59,840
painted white, with floral knobs, one drawer still filled with

2579
03:29:00,120 --> 03:29:04,719
old birthday cards and dried out pens. I dragged it

2580
03:29:04,760 --> 03:29:08,879
to the window, raised it above my head, and slammed

2581
03:29:08,879 --> 03:29:13,760
it against the glass. The first it only left a

2582
03:29:13,879 --> 03:29:17,719
mark that was nothing but cosmetic. The second didn't even

2583
03:29:17,760 --> 03:29:22,399
do that much. By the fourth strike, my arms burned.

2584
03:29:23,520 --> 03:29:26,000
I let the night stand fall to the floor and

2585
03:29:26,159 --> 03:29:30,879
sank beside it, chest rising and falling too fast, the

2586
03:29:30,920 --> 03:29:35,440
glass mocking me from above. I didn't hear anyone approach.

2587
03:29:36,479 --> 03:29:43,040
The door creaked open behind me. Emily Marian said gently.

2588
03:29:44,719 --> 03:29:49,000
I turned a facer. She stepped into the room in

2589
03:29:49,040 --> 03:29:52,760
a pale blue sweater and slacks. Her hair was pin

2590
03:29:52,840 --> 03:29:56,559
needly behind her ears. She held a silver brush in

2591
03:29:56,600 --> 03:30:01,680
one hand and a smile, never wavered. I thought we

2592
03:30:01,799 --> 03:30:07,440
could spend some time together, she said. Before I could speak,

2593
03:30:08,399 --> 03:30:13,639
I saw movement behind her. Mister Avery stood in the hallway.

2594
03:30:15,079 --> 03:30:18,600
He wasn't sweating any more, his face had gone still

2595
03:30:19,399 --> 03:30:27,360
calm again. In his right hand was a pistol. He

2596
03:30:27,360 --> 03:30:30,520
held it with both hands low against his stomach, but

2597
03:30:30,680 --> 03:30:35,760
aimed in my direction. I opened my mouth, but Marian

2598
03:30:36,040 --> 03:30:40,639
was already crossing the room. Why don't you come sit,

2599
03:30:41,719 --> 03:30:46,079
she asked. She sat on the bed and patted the

2600
03:30:46,159 --> 03:30:51,680
space beside her. Mister Avery gestured with his pistol, and

2601
03:30:51,840 --> 03:30:57,159
so I sat. Marian reached out and began to run

2602
03:30:57,200 --> 03:31:00,479
the brust through my hair. The bristles snaw. I've done not,

2603
03:31:01,799 --> 03:31:06,319
she hummed softly under her breath, something tuneless and repetitive.

2604
03:31:07,920 --> 03:31:12,000
You always loved this, she said. You used to sit

2605
03:31:12,360 --> 03:31:17,000
just like this when you were little. Remember. I felt

2606
03:31:17,000 --> 03:31:19,520
the first tear slipped down my cheek before I could

2607
03:31:19,559 --> 03:31:23,959
stop it. I tried to hold back, but they came fast,

2608
03:31:24,479 --> 03:31:29,799
soaking into the collar of the dress. Marian kept brushing.

2609
03:31:30,319 --> 03:31:35,440
Her voice crooned, You're going to feel better soon. All

2610
03:31:35,520 --> 03:31:39,639
that confusion is going to melt away. We'll take care

2611
03:31:39,680 --> 03:31:45,200
of you like we always have. She kissed the top

2612
03:31:45,239 --> 03:31:50,159
of my forehead and kept brushing, even as my shoulders shook.

2613
03:31:53,479 --> 03:31:57,479
Days passed like this. Missus Avery came into my room

2614
03:31:57,639 --> 03:32:03,280
every night, accompanied by mister Avery, always the same routine.

2615
03:32:04,639 --> 03:32:07,520
She came into the room every evening, with mister Avery

2616
03:32:07,600 --> 03:32:11,200
right behind her, always carrying the same pistol tucked into

2617
03:32:11,280 --> 03:32:14,840
his arm or slipped into the waistband of his jeans.

2618
03:32:15,559 --> 03:32:18,360
He never raised it again, but he never put it

2619
03:32:18,399 --> 03:32:22,719
away either. It was there to keep the lines drawn,

2620
03:32:23,520 --> 03:32:26,559
to make sure I didn't forget who I was supposed

2621
03:32:26,600 --> 03:32:30,559
to be. She would talk about memories I didn't have,

2622
03:32:31,280 --> 03:32:35,200
cry over milestones I'd never reached. Sometimes she'd sing to

2623
03:32:35,280 --> 03:32:39,440
me in a low breathy voice, humming half finished laullabies

2624
03:32:39,840 --> 03:32:44,600
and whispering that I'd always be her baby. I didn't

2625
03:32:44,680 --> 03:32:49,319
argue any more. I played along. I smiled when I

2626
03:32:49,360 --> 03:32:52,159
was supposed to. I held her hand when she offered it,

2627
03:32:52,959 --> 03:32:58,319
I responded to Emily. It was the only way to

2628
03:32:58,399 --> 03:33:04,360
stay safe. Until the night I reached my breaking point.

2629
03:33:06,559 --> 03:33:09,120
I had been staring at the wall across from the bed,

2630
03:33:09,479 --> 03:33:13,079
where they'd hung a frame I hadn't noticed before. Must

2631
03:33:13,120 --> 03:33:15,799
have been slipped in when I was in the bathroom,

2632
03:33:16,159 --> 03:33:19,760
A drawing done in pencil of a small white house

2633
03:33:19,840 --> 03:33:23,280
with a porch and two stick figures standing in the yard.

2634
03:33:24,520 --> 03:33:33,360
At the bottom the signature Emmy, aged seven. Something about

2635
03:33:33,399 --> 03:33:36,239
it opened the door in my chest I hadn't closed

2636
03:33:36,319 --> 03:33:39,799
fast enough. I stood and tore it from the wall.

2637
03:33:40,440 --> 03:33:45,360
Then the next photo, then another. I didn't stop. I

2638
03:33:45,440 --> 03:33:48,440
tore the bed sheet apart and kicked the rocking chair over.

2639
03:33:49,120 --> 03:33:51,360
I pulled open the drawers of the desk and dumped

2640
03:33:51,399 --> 03:33:56,319
them onto the floor. I had destroyed most of the room.

2641
03:33:57,079 --> 03:34:00,520
The mattress had been flipped, the curtains torn from the rod.

2642
03:34:01,159 --> 03:34:03,920
I had kicked open the closet doors and thrown every

2643
03:34:04,000 --> 03:34:08,360
hanger to the floor. My arms ached, my throat burned

2644
03:34:08,360 --> 03:34:11,440
from yelling, though no one had come to stop me.

2645
03:34:12,479 --> 03:34:15,760
Maybe they were letting me tire myself out, or maybe

2646
03:34:15,799 --> 03:34:18,000
they were waiting to see what I would do next.

2647
03:34:19,440 --> 03:34:22,319
I sank to the floor beside the bed frame, hearts

2648
03:34:22,319 --> 03:34:27,479
still pounding, tears dried on my face. I didn't know what.

2649
03:34:27,520 --> 03:34:30,719
I was hoping to find, some crack in the walls,

2650
03:34:31,000 --> 03:34:33,920
some hidden clue that would explain what had happened here

2651
03:34:33,959 --> 03:34:41,399
before me. I didn't expect anything real. That's when I

2652
03:34:41,440 --> 03:34:46,840
found the notes. They'd been tucked behind the desk, whiched

2653
03:34:46,920 --> 03:34:50,719
between the back panel and the wall. The corner of

2654
03:34:50,760 --> 03:34:54,799
the paper had just barely peeked out, visible only from

2655
03:34:54,799 --> 03:34:58,639
where I'd collapsed. It wasn't hidden in the way someone

2656
03:34:58,719 --> 03:35:04,959
might hide a secret. It was forgotten. I crawled toward it.

2657
03:35:05,920 --> 03:35:09,559
The notes were thick and worn, the pages soft from handling.

2658
03:35:10,719 --> 03:35:14,959
A floral cover faded around the edges, with the name

2659
03:35:15,120 --> 03:35:19,719
Becker written across the front in blooming, not the loopy,

2660
03:35:19,879 --> 03:35:23,719
curated signature I had seen of her old schoolwork. This

2661
03:35:23,760 --> 03:35:29,680
one had been written fast, probably while crying. The first

2662
03:35:29,840 --> 03:35:35,239
entry was dated fourteen months ago. I wanted to start

2663
03:35:35,239 --> 03:35:39,000
this off by saying that my name is Becker, not Emily.

2664
03:35:40,079 --> 03:35:42,959
Marian gave me this journal, told me to write down

2665
03:35:43,000 --> 03:35:46,319
whatever she told me to. When she left the room,

2666
03:35:46,639 --> 03:35:49,719
I ripped a couple of pages out. I needed to

2667
03:35:49,760 --> 03:35:54,879
get my real thoughts across somewhere they took me. I

2668
03:35:54,920 --> 03:35:57,639
don't know how to write that any other way. I

2669
03:35:57,719 --> 03:36:00,600
keep waiting to wake up to hear my alarm and

2670
03:36:00,680 --> 03:36:06,680
crawled back into real life. But it's not coming. I

2671
03:36:06,719 --> 03:36:10,399
went to see my old piano teacher. That's how it started.

2672
03:36:11,280 --> 03:36:14,879
I'd posted about it on Facebook and Marian must have

2673
03:36:14,959 --> 03:36:19,239
seen it. She was there when I came out, smiling,

2674
03:36:19,559 --> 03:36:23,879
saying it had been too long, and mister Avery showed up.

2675
03:36:24,520 --> 03:36:27,959
I thought it was weird, but I didn't panic, not

2676
03:36:28,120 --> 03:36:31,680
until I got into the car, not until the door's locked.

2677
03:36:34,280 --> 03:36:38,360
My hands trembled as I turned the page. They told

2678
03:36:38,360 --> 03:36:41,280
me my parents didn't want me anymore, that the world

2679
03:36:41,319 --> 03:36:44,319
outside was dangerous and they were the only ones who

2680
03:36:44,399 --> 03:36:48,840
could protect me. I screamed. I cried so much I

2681
03:36:48,840 --> 03:36:52,120
couldn't see straight. They started keeping me in the room

2682
03:36:52,159 --> 03:36:55,079
for days at a time, said I needed to calm

2683
03:36:55,159 --> 03:36:59,959
down before I earned privileges. Entry after entry blurred into

2684
03:37:00,159 --> 03:37:04,200
each other. Weeks of isolation. Meil slipped through the door.

2685
03:37:05,120 --> 03:37:10,120
The silence, the slow removal of her name. They started

2686
03:37:10,120 --> 03:37:14,840
calling me Emily. That's their daughter's name. She died when

2687
03:37:14,879 --> 03:37:17,879
I was little. I think I found a photo once

2688
03:37:18,000 --> 03:37:21,079
in a box in the closet. The girl in the

2689
03:37:21,120 --> 03:37:25,200
picture wasn't me, but they said it was. I told

2690
03:37:25,239 --> 03:37:29,239
him no, but they didn't listen. The more I argued,

2691
03:37:29,600 --> 03:37:34,120
the more time they kept me locked away. Mister Avery

2692
03:37:34,200 --> 03:37:37,559
hit me for the first time three weeks ago. He

2693
03:37:37,639 --> 03:37:41,760
apologized after said he didn't want to, but I provoked him.

2694
03:37:42,959 --> 03:37:45,479
Marian gave me ice and a dish towel and told

2695
03:37:45,559 --> 03:37:49,200
me to stop resisting. She said the sooner I accepted

2696
03:37:49,200 --> 03:37:55,639
that I was home, the easier everything would be. Some

2697
03:37:55,840 --> 03:37:59,120
entries were scribbled and hard to read, with the pen

2698
03:37:59,239 --> 03:38:03,200
pressed so deep it tore the paper. Others were neat

2699
03:38:03,520 --> 03:38:06,799
and almost detached, like she had given up on being

2700
03:38:06,879 --> 03:38:11,879
heard and wanted to leave a record. One in particular

2701
03:38:12,200 --> 03:38:18,120
caught in my throat. I miss who I was, my name,

2702
03:38:18,319 --> 03:38:22,079
my friends, my real mom. I think I'm forgetting what

2703
03:38:22,159 --> 03:38:25,600
a voice sounded like. I keep trying to say my

2704
03:38:25,680 --> 03:38:29,120
own name out loud when I'm alone, but it sounds fake.

2705
03:38:29,280 --> 03:38:33,879
Now they keep telling me I'm Emily. They tell me

2706
03:38:34,280 --> 03:38:40,920
I was never anyone else. The final entries were short.

2707
03:38:42,559 --> 03:38:45,399
They said we're going to the lake soon to start

2708
03:38:45,479 --> 03:38:49,719
over somewhere quiet. I think they're going to kill me.

2709
03:38:51,639 --> 03:38:56,040
If anyone somehow finds this, please tell the truth. I

2710
03:38:56,159 --> 03:39:01,079
was Becca Harper. I was sixteen. They made everything up.

2711
03:39:04,840 --> 03:39:07,719
I clutched the notes to my chest and sat there

2712
03:39:07,760 --> 03:39:10,360
in the wreckage of the room they had once given her,

2713
03:39:11,200 --> 03:39:14,520
a shell of a bedroom, meant to raise someone and

2714
03:39:14,600 --> 03:39:18,799
replace her with a better version, a more obedient version.

2715
03:39:20,360 --> 03:39:26,760
They were doing it again. I was still staring at

2716
03:39:26,799 --> 03:39:29,600
the notes when I heard a knock at the front door.

2717
03:39:30,879 --> 03:39:35,079
I immediately perked up. In all my time spent here

2718
03:39:35,120 --> 03:39:38,079
as a prisoner, I hadn't heard someone knock on the

2719
03:39:38,120 --> 03:39:42,280
front door a single time. It was a hard knock,

2720
03:39:42,760 --> 03:39:47,159
not Marian's gentle tap, not mister Avery's soft call for dinner,

2721
03:39:48,239 --> 03:39:53,600
A firm practiced fist against wood. My door swung open.

2722
03:39:54,680 --> 03:39:58,799
It was Marian. Before she could even question me about

2723
03:39:58,840 --> 03:40:01,399
the state the room was in, she ushered me to

2724
03:40:01,440 --> 03:40:05,959
come to the front door, claiming we had visitors. Mister

2725
03:40:06,000 --> 03:40:09,559
Avery was already there, gunn tightly bound to his waist.

2726
03:40:10,920 --> 03:40:15,000
He was always ready now. He opened the door with

2727
03:40:15,040 --> 03:40:21,760
a smile. Two officers stood outside, one older, square George,

2728
03:40:22,200 --> 03:40:27,319
the other younger, sharper eyes. The older one spoke, first,

2729
03:40:28,760 --> 03:40:32,040
we're falling up on a missing person report. Young woman

2730
03:40:32,280 --> 03:40:36,399
mid twenties moved into two one four last month. You

2731
03:40:36,520 --> 03:40:42,719
know anything about that? Marian beamed, Oh my, We thought

2732
03:40:42,760 --> 03:40:46,799
we hadn't seen her in a while. Mister Avery turned

2733
03:40:46,840 --> 03:40:50,680
to me, Emily, you are quite well acquainted with her.

2734
03:40:51,120 --> 03:40:56,360
Come say helo. I walked to the doorway. Marian reached

2735
03:40:56,360 --> 03:40:58,760
for my hand and held it in both of hers.

2736
03:41:00,000 --> 03:41:07,239
Introduce yourself first, sweetie, my mouth opened, nothing came out.

2737
03:41:08,639 --> 03:41:12,200
The order officer tilted his head slightly studied my face.

2738
03:41:12,719 --> 03:41:15,920
His eyes narrowed just enough to suggest he saw more

2739
03:41:16,000 --> 03:41:23,639
than he was letting on. I tried again. I'm she

2740
03:41:23,799 --> 03:41:26,639
was gone for a year. She just recently came back,

2741
03:41:26,680 --> 03:41:31,399
and mister Avery said quickly, it's been a hard week.

2742
03:41:33,639 --> 03:41:38,239
The officer didn't move. I'd like to speak with her alone,

2743
03:41:38,520 --> 03:41:44,680
if that's all right. There was a pause. Marian blinked.

2744
03:41:45,040 --> 03:41:50,680
Mister Avery didn't speak, but his smile faltered. Of course,

2745
03:41:51,159 --> 03:41:56,600
she said, she just needs some air. He led me

2746
03:41:56,680 --> 03:42:00,520
down the walkway. We stood at the end of they

2747
03:42:01,639 --> 03:42:04,840
I leaned in and whispered, barely able to push the

2748
03:42:04,879 --> 03:42:11,559
words out. It's it's me. They kidnapped me. He has

2749
03:42:11,600 --> 03:42:15,360
a gun. Please don't make a scene. I think you'll

2750
03:42:15,440 --> 03:42:21,360
kill us if you do. The officer didn't flinch. He

2751
03:42:21,479 --> 03:42:28,040
only nodded very slowly. Then he smiled. Thank you, Emily,

2752
03:42:28,799 --> 03:42:32,799
he said, loud enough for the others to hear. Everything

2753
03:42:32,799 --> 03:42:38,159
seems fine here. He walked back to the porch. The

2754
03:42:38,239 --> 03:42:45,680
door shut and they left. Marian and mister Avery seemed

2755
03:42:45,680 --> 03:42:49,120
to be satisfied. They must have assumed that I had

2756
03:42:49,120 --> 03:42:53,280
told them I was their daughter or something equally as sick,

2757
03:42:53,920 --> 03:42:58,159
falling for their own delusions, I went back to the

2758
03:42:58,280 --> 03:43:01,360
room and sat on the edge of the bed, waiting

2759
03:43:01,559 --> 03:43:07,159
for what would come next. That night, I didn't sleep,

2760
03:43:08,079 --> 03:43:13,879
or rather couldn't. The raid came late into the night.

2761
03:43:15,319 --> 03:43:18,159
There were no red and blue lights flashing through the windows,

2762
03:43:18,959 --> 03:43:23,840
only doors being broken and voices shouting. A battering ram

2763
03:43:23,959 --> 03:43:27,760
cracked the front door in half. Footsteps thundered through the house.

2764
03:43:29,120 --> 03:43:31,600
I huddled in the corner of Emily's room with a

2765
03:43:31,680 --> 03:43:36,280
lamp still on, waiting for it to end. One officer

2766
03:43:36,399 --> 03:43:39,520
rushed straight to my room, helping me up and escorting

2767
03:43:39,559 --> 03:43:44,959
me outside. They dragged mister Avery out after he screamed

2768
03:43:45,000 --> 03:43:50,000
and fought wild eyes flashing onto the hallway light. She

2769
03:43:50,120 --> 03:43:56,159
is mine, he shouted. You don't understand, she's mine. Then

2770
03:43:56,239 --> 03:44:03,719
Marian sobbing, her sweater stained and a handsh shaking Emily. Emily,

2771
03:44:03,920 --> 03:44:07,000
tell them, tell them the truth. Don't let them take

2772
03:44:07,079 --> 03:44:12,360
us from you, don't let them hurt your family. I

2773
03:44:12,399 --> 03:44:16,280
didn't answer. I watched as they were taken from the house,

2774
03:44:16,719 --> 03:44:20,479
kicking and wailing. She reached for me as she passed

2775
03:44:20,520 --> 03:44:24,559
the bedroom door. I took a step back in disgust.

2776
03:44:27,040 --> 03:44:31,760
Later at the station, I told the officers everything I

2777
03:44:31,840 --> 03:44:36,360
told them about the notes and everything I'd read, And

2778
03:44:36,440 --> 03:44:41,440
with that Becker's case was reopened and her family finally

2779
03:44:41,479 --> 03:44:47,319
got the closure they so desperately needed. As for me,

2780
03:44:48,920 --> 03:44:54,280
I never quite recovered. People imagine that once the danger ends,

2781
03:44:54,799 --> 03:44:57,879
you can breathe again, that the worst part is over

2782
03:44:58,040 --> 03:45:04,319
and done with. That's not how it works. You leave

2783
03:45:04,399 --> 03:45:09,760
the place, but it doesn't leave you. I still shower

2784
03:45:09,840 --> 03:45:13,040
with the door cracked open. I still flinch when I

2785
03:45:13,079 --> 03:45:17,559
hear that name. I still dream in that room, the

2786
03:45:17,600 --> 03:45:22,040
pink wall paper, the pressed dress, the soft brushing of

2787
03:45:22,040 --> 03:45:27,120
a voice behind me telling me I'll be better soon,