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<v Speaker 1>That's I don't know. Two am, I can't sleep again.

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe talking into this would help settle my brain. Everything

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<v Speaker 1>Graham and I've been digging into. It's rattling around like

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<v Speaker 1>loose screws, box whispers that waitress. I keep telling myself

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<v Speaker 1>it's just creepy stories and coincidence. But Christal, what are

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<v Speaker 1>you doing after the bed?

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<v Speaker 2>Baby?

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<v Speaker 1>If you don't have a mouse, this place better not

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<v Speaker 1>have mice. You're in the bed, then what's under the bed?

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<v Speaker 1>Is it a mouse? His voice was supposed to be clean.

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<v Speaker 3>Dear Diary, Today, hid in the hallway closet darning the thunderstorm.

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<v Speaker 3>Then how I went out and I was sure the

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<v Speaker 3>shadows would get in if I breathed you loud. I

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<v Speaker 3>counted backwards from ten a hundred times. I don't think

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<v Speaker 3>it out of Medison, Dear Diary.

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<v Speaker 4>Today was the funeral. I wore the blue.

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<v Speaker 3>Dress with eachy color. The one man said I had

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<v Speaker 3>to wear just one more time. Everyone said I was

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<v Speaker 3>very brave, but I just kept staring.

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<v Speaker 4>At the empty chair.

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<v Speaker 3>Counting the threads. I thought if I reached a hundred

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<v Speaker 3>before the pastor said.

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<v Speaker 4>Amen, he'd come back.

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<v Speaker 1>Love Adison, that's mine. That's my diary. I haven't seen that.

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<v Speaker 3>What's always waiting, the pages sharp with fear, the hungers

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<v Speaker 3>for the trembling hands, the dare to open the year.

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<v Speaker 1>Stop this is impossible. We're out of here.

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<v Speaker 2>Welcome back to Whispers of the Wicked. I'm Graham Rowan.

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<v Speaker 2>Last time, we told you about the strange box that

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<v Speaker 2>showed up in our studio. No postmark, no return address,

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<v Speaker 2>no explanation, just black wrapping that wouldn't tear, scraps of ink,

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<v Speaker 2>blurred paper, and a thumb drive full of corrupted files.

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<v Speaker 2>We've been trying to treat this investigation like any other story,

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<v Speaker 2>chasing leads, collecting testimony, trying to stay objective. But sometimes

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<v Speaker 2>the story comes to you. Addison had an experience last night,

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<v Speaker 2>something personal, something she didn't want to talk about at first,

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<v Speaker 2>but I think it's an important part of the investigation. Addison,

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<v Speaker 2>you all right to talk about what happened?

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I'm okay kind of. I stayed at a friend's place

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<v Speaker 1>last night. I'm in town at that short term rental

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<v Speaker 1>we talked about, But after what happened, I just I

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<v Speaker 1>couldn't stay there, not with that thing under the bed.

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<v Speaker 1>I went back this morning to get my recorder. It

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<v Speaker 1>was still on still recording. I thought maybe I'd captured it,

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<v Speaker 1>the voice, the pages, something, but when I played it back,

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<v Speaker 1>that's all. That's what it left me. There's my voice

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<v Speaker 1>and then the parts where it was speaking. Nothing. It

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<v Speaker 1>was there, Graham. It read my diary, things I haven't

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<v Speaker 1>seen since I was thirteen. Things I know I didn't

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<v Speaker 1>tell anyone, And now all I've.

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<v Speaker 2>Got is that Addison. I believe you because something where

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<v Speaker 2>has been happening to me too. The day before yesterday,

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<v Speaker 2>I was rehearsing for the play I'm in Downtown. It's

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<v Speaker 2>a weird little one man show. I said yes too,

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<v Speaker 2>for reasons I don't remember anymore. And while I was

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<v Speaker 2>on stage rehearsing, I started to feel like I wasn't alone.

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<v Speaker 2>I mean, yes, there's a stage manager and production assistance,

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<v Speaker 2>but this was different. It wasn't stage fright either.

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<v Speaker 4>I was.

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<v Speaker 2>Feeling watched, but not in a way that you want

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<v Speaker 2>to as a performer. At first I thought it was

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<v Speaker 2>just nerves, but then the lights flickered backstage, just in

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<v Speaker 2>my periphery, in the wings, and something moved behind the

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<v Speaker 2>curtains there, not fast, slow, deliberate, like it wanted me

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<v Speaker 2>to see it, did you? Just its shadow, long thin,

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<v Speaker 2>too many elbows. And then I checked the thumb drive again,

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<v Speaker 2>you remember the one we found in the box. There

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<v Speaker 2>was suddenly a new file on it, a text document,

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<v Speaker 2>just a username and password. The file was named twl

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<v Speaker 2>upload info dot t xt. I used it. I don't

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<v Speaker 2>even know why, but it logged me into the podcast

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<v Speaker 2>distribution dashboard, the one for the Wicked library. And the

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<v Speaker 2>thing is I shouldn't have access, but it let me

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<v Speaker 2>upload episode one like it wanted us to.

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<v Speaker 1>Why would it want that? And what is it?

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<v Speaker 2>I don't know, but it didn't stop there. Last night

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<v Speaker 2>I got an email from me, sent from my own address,

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<v Speaker 2>no subject line, just a poem in the body, no punctuation,

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<v Speaker 2>a lower case. You open the door, and the door

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<v Speaker 2>opens you. Every mirror learns the shape of your fear.

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<v Speaker 2>Echo is not a name, it's a hunger.

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<v Speaker 1>That's wrong. That's not just spam or prank.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, yeah, I I tried to show my wife this morning.

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<v Speaker 2>The email was gone, no trace, not even in the

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<v Speaker 2>cent folder. All I have is this print out. Whatever

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<v Speaker 2>it is we're in the middle of. I think it

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<v Speaker 2>started when we opened that box, and now it's it's

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<v Speaker 2>not just following us, it's listening.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, we've got the box here again. I wrapped it

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<v Speaker 1>in trash back after last time. But look at it, Graham.

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<v Speaker 1>The outer layer it's not plastic. Looks like it feels

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<v Speaker 1>like it. But try tearing it.

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<v Speaker 2>That's not normal. This isn't even plastic. It feels almost fibrous,

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<v Speaker 2>like muscle.

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<v Speaker 1>It's cold, and it's always wet. I dried it off twice,

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<v Speaker 1>but the bottom just keeps seeping. I thought maybe it

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<v Speaker 1>was the rain from the night I found it, but

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<v Speaker 1>it's been three days it's still damp.

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<v Speaker 2>Here's that key again, rusty little thing. I tried cleaning

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<v Speaker 2>it up. See right here, if you tilted in the light,

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<v Speaker 2>it has a number scratched in it, unit one three seven,

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<v Speaker 2>and the name of the self storage company here on

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<v Speaker 2>the tag lock and hollow.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, that's not a creepy name at all.

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<v Speaker 2>And these scraps, these notes or poems. The girl was brave,

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<v Speaker 2>but the room was braver. It swallowed her before the

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<v Speaker 2>teeth came. Who writes like this?

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<v Speaker 1>It's not just one author. There are different handwriting styles,

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<v Speaker 1>different kinds of paper. Some are burned on the edges,

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<v Speaker 1>some are chewed. This one's burnt around the edges, ashy,

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<v Speaker 1>yet somehow still damp. I found a book with screaming ink.

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<v Speaker 1>It bled each time I turned a page. The letters

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<v Speaker 1>ran like frightened things, and whispered secrets far to sage.

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<v Speaker 1>I burned at once. It didn't care. It only laughed

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<v Speaker 1>behind the flame. The ash it left behind grew eyes,

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<v Speaker 1>and each one softly spoke my name. The ash it

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<v Speaker 1>left behind grew eyes.

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<v Speaker 2>This is the one that looks like it's been nod on.

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<v Speaker 2>It smells weird too, like copper. The one that fed

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<v Speaker 2>something chewed this poem left teeth in the rhyme, like

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<v Speaker 2>it fed on the meter and swallowed the time. The

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<v Speaker 2>words that remain are just marrow and spit. But still

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<v Speaker 2>they crawl backward. Still they won't quit. I wrote of

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<v Speaker 2>a man with no skin on his face. He wore

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<v Speaker 2>a white suit and carried a black lacquered case. He

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<v Speaker 2>said he was hired to harvest the sounds of screams

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<v Speaker 2>from the aisles where the quiet surrounds. I don't understand

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<v Speaker 2>why they're all damp.

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<v Speaker 1>And this this thing, we plugged it in earlier, along

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<v Speaker 1>with the rest of the files. There are a dozen

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<v Speaker 1>MP threes on it, but they're all corrupted, just static

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<v Speaker 1>and some odd sounds breathing maybe, except the last one.

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<v Speaker 1>It's titled track thirteen. Like the others, it's just breathing

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<v Speaker 1>until the very end.

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<v Speaker 2>I didn't play that one. What happens at the end?

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<v Speaker 1>Something whispers to me about Well, here, I'll just play it.

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<v Speaker 4>Oh, name a flower A bird? I dreamed a dream

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<v Speaker 4>in veilvet hues, the feacox strutting through the bruise. The

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<v Speaker 4>dusk had left across the sky. They sang your name

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<v Speaker 4>and would not lie. I counted roses as they mooned

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<v Speaker 4>in the middle of you. One for each fear you

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<v Speaker 4>locked and groomed, fears deep and true. A hundred medals

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<v Speaker 4>soft and red for every whisper in your head. A

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<v Speaker 4>girl once wept behind the glass, her middle name the

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<v Speaker 4>secret pass. She thought her pages lost and torn. But

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<v Speaker 4>roses know what fear has borne.

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<v Speaker 1>Jesus Anyway, I traced the key. The number belongs to

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<v Speaker 1>a storage facility just off Route nineteen. I called them.

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<v Speaker 1>Unit one thirty seven exists, but it's been unregistered since

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen ninety seven.

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<v Speaker 2>That's twenty eight years.

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<v Speaker 1>We're going this afternoon.

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<v Speaker 2>I'll bring the recorder. Well, we'll talk about everything.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, because whatever's happening, it started when we open that box.

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe it ends where it came from.

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<v Speaker 2>Uh, let's take a break and when we come back,

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<v Speaker 2>we'll talk with one of the other voice actors that

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<v Speaker 2>worked on the Wicked Library and she'll share her odd.

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<v Speaker 5>Experience introducing the pet Stone. Tired of the hassle of feeding, walking,

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<v Speaker 5>or cleaning up after traditional pets, the pet Stone is

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<v Speaker 5>here to bring simplicity, joy, and low maintenance companionship into

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<v Speaker 5>your life. Each stone is hand selected from only the

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<v Speaker 5>most emotionally balanced riverbeds, tumbled to perfection and housed in

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<v Speaker 5>a cozy, straw filled box. No barking, no biting, just

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<v Speaker 5>quiet understanding. Each stone comes with a stylish cardboard carrying case,

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<v Speaker 5>an official certificate of adoption, a thirty two page owners

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<v Speaker 5>manual including obedience training. Tis an emptiness you didn't notice

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<v Speaker 5>until the stone stared back. Yes, stared. You think it cannot,

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<v Speaker 5>but it does. At first, you'll chalk it up to imagination.

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<v Speaker 5>A shadow where none should fall, A faint humming like

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<v Speaker 5>winds through the bones of forgotten mountains. Then one night

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<v Speaker 5>your pet stone will not be where you left it.

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<v Speaker 5>You will tell yourself you must have moved it.

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<v Speaker 6>You didn't.

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<v Speaker 5>They all shift eventually, the manual warned you on page

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<v Speaker 5>twenty seven. But by then you were already too deeply bonded.

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<v Speaker 5>The dream lattices had begun, the whispering through the floor

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<v Speaker 5>boards had taken on the shape of your mother's voice,

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<v Speaker 5>your real mother, the one buried beneath the granite altar.

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<v Speaker 5>You remember her now, don't you. The pet stone doesn't

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<v Speaker 5>need food or water, only worship. Order yours today, But

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<v Speaker 5>don't look too long into its grooves. The geode sees,

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<v Speaker 5>the geode knows, and the earth is waking up. Just

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<v Speaker 5>listen to this testimonial from one of our satisfied customers.

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<v Speaker 7>I'm Jane, and I never thought i'd be a that

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<v Speaker 7>stone person, But after just one week with my little guy, Jeff,

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<v Speaker 7>I can't imagine life without him. He doesn't eat, he

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<v Speaker 7>doesn't move, he doesn't blink, and yet every morning something's

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<v Speaker 7>a little different. The street outside my window bends at

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<v Speaker 7>angles I don't remember. My neighbor's eyes are smooth now,

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<v Speaker 7>no lids, just watching. Jeff likes it that way. Last

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<v Speaker 7>night my dog started speaking Latin. He told me the

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<v Speaker 7>clocks are wrong, not off wrong. Jeff said he could

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<v Speaker 7>fix it and eat it. I used to be afraid

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<v Speaker 7>of the doc, but Jeff showed me there's more truth

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<v Speaker 7>in it than light ever held. More teeth doo.

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<v Speaker 8>Jeff, he said that stone, your reality will never be

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<v Speaker 8>the same because it won't be yours.

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<v Speaker 2>Welcome back to Whispers of the Wicked. We weren't expecting

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<v Speaker 2>this to become whatever it's becoming. We thought we were

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<v Speaker 2>digging into an old podcast graveyard. Instead, it's started digging back.

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<v Speaker 2>This next part caught us off guard. We had a

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<v Speaker 2>chat yesterday afternoon with someone we both know, a friend,

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<v Speaker 2>a fellow voice actor named Mary Murphy Right.

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<v Speaker 1>She was one of the voice actors we emailed and

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<v Speaker 1>asked about her work on the show. She emailed us

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<v Speaker 1>back about an episode she worked on that never aired,

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<v Speaker 1>and we had a quick call with her.

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<v Speaker 2>Hey, Mary, now you said you had a weird story

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<v Speaker 2>about the last thing you did for the Wicked Library.

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<v Speaker 9>Yeah, it's really weird. I recorded my part for Dan.

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<v Speaker 9>It was for this great character Rita. She was a

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<v Speaker 9>character in Enfield Detective Agency, a sequel to the Private Collector.

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<v Speaker 9>While I was recording it, I kept getting audio glitches.

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<v Speaker 9>I'd listened back to the file and sometimes I heard

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<v Speaker 9>someone breathing. Other times I'd listened to the same file

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<v Speaker 9>and it would be fine.

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<v Speaker 1>The same files, Yeah.

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<v Speaker 9>The same files. They would be fine. Then i'd go

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<v Speaker 9>back to level or clean up a flubbed line and

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<v Speaker 9>there would be whispering or breathing. Creeped me out. Anyway,

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<v Speaker 9>it never aired. And while I was cleaning up some

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<v Speaker 9>old files last week, right before you emailed me, actually

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<v Speaker 9>I was in that folder and all but one of

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<v Speaker 9>my raw and my edited audio files were gone, which

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<v Speaker 9>was weird because I know I didn't delete them. But

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<v Speaker 9>there was another file in there, one that I didn't

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<v Speaker 9>put there, and the file date June thirteenth, nineteen ninety seven.

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<v Speaker 2>What was the file?

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<v Speaker 9>It was named read Me Text and it had stanzas

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<v Speaker 9>of a poem in it.

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<v Speaker 1>Would you mind reading it?

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<v Speaker 9>Okay? Laughter drowned in dust and ashes, voices stitched between

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<v Speaker 9>the tracks. Every tale a mouth that opens, every silence

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<v Speaker 9>bites you back. He wore the goatpin, pale and smiling,

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<v Speaker 9>carried keys of bone and flame spoke a tongue of

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<v Speaker 9>broken chapters. Nothing opened, only pain, paper, sings in burning fragments,

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<v Speaker 9>letters written in blood and thread, every word a scar

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<v Speaker 9>that lingers, every line of prayer to the dead.

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<v Speaker 1>You're not the first person who said something like that.

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<v Speaker 9>Well there's more. My phone rang this morning, no caller ID.

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<v Speaker 9>When I picked up, it was me, but not from now.

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<v Speaker 9>It was me in character. I was talking about things

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<v Speaker 9>that were happening in that episode, asking myself for help.

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<v Speaker 9>I had a conversation with a character.

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<v Speaker 2>I played this Keepe's getting weirder.

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<v Speaker 9>It really does. Whatever you two are doing, be careful.

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<v Speaker 9>Something odd is going on here. I have to run,

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<v Speaker 9>but if I find anything else, I'll send it over.

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<v Speaker 2>So shortly after Addison and I ended the call, Mary

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<v Speaker 2>emailed us again and sent this file along. She said

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<v Speaker 2>it was buried in a backup folder, one she didn't

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<v Speaker 2>even know existed.

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<v Speaker 1>She warned us, it's strange, but we figured we'd play

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<v Speaker 1>a portion of it here. So this is Mary reading

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<v Speaker 1>for the part of Rita from that unaired episode of

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<v Speaker 1>Enfield Detective Agency.

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<v Speaker 9>Rita kinkaid, my husband Derek is missing, okay, and thank

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<v Speaker 9>you Frank for hearing me out. Why don't we go

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<v Speaker 9>to my place. I'll put a pot of coffee on

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<v Speaker 9>and I have some scones and we can talk where

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<v Speaker 9>it's warmer. My house is that one right over there?

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<v Speaker 9>I see you were looking at my husband's books. Oh. Yes,

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<v Speaker 9>he's been for a very long time before we ever met, and.

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<v Speaker 1>We've been married forty years.

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<v Speaker 9>He has a group of friends he meets with about

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<v Speaker 9>all that nothing to do with me, of course. I

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<v Speaker 9>just think of it like ELT's club or something. They

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<v Speaker 9>meet twice a month. I'm not sure where one of

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<v Speaker 9>his friend's houses maybe, but that's all I know about it.

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<v Speaker 9>I don't think any of them could be involved, do you, Frank?

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<v Speaker 2>Okay, So that was Mary's recording and whatever else that was.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, thanks Mary, and sorry.

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<v Speaker 2>We'll post a transcript of that clip for anyone who

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<v Speaker 2>wants to comb through it. If you hear something we didn't,

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<v Speaker 2>which God help us, is very possible, let us know.

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<v Speaker 1>And yeah, we're aware how this all sounds. The box

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<v Speaker 1>shows up, poems, keys, emails from nowhere, whispers under the bed,

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<v Speaker 1>a voice actor haunted by a roll she barely remembers.

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<v Speaker 2>It sounds fake, but it feels real.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and if it is fake, someone went to a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of trouble to get under our skin.

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<v Speaker 2>Mission accomplished.

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<v Speaker 1>Anyway. We found the storage unit. As I mentioned earlier,

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<v Speaker 1>it's a place called Lock and Hollow, and yes, from

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<v Speaker 1>the images on Google street View, it looks exactly as

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<v Speaker 1>bad as it sounds.

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<v Speaker 2>We're going later today. If you don't hear from us

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<v Speaker 2>after that.

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<v Speaker 1>Check Unit one thirty seven. Bring snacks and sage, maybe

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<v Speaker 1>a priest.

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<v Speaker 2>Thanks for listening. We'll see you next time, assuming there

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<v Speaker 2>is a next time. Ha hah.

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<v Speaker 6>Humans, ye dust fated.

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<v Speaker 10>A sermon for the funeral of mankind.

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<v Speaker 6>Humans, Ye dust fated.

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<v Speaker 11>Lend me your ears, No, not your attention, your actual ears.

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<v Speaker 11>Hang them on the branches like fruits ripe for rotting.

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<v Speaker 11>We'll need them to hear what comes. I come not

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<v Speaker 11>to praise humanity. I come to bury it, but not

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<v Speaker 11>beneath earth, beneath memory, beneath the weight of its own myth.

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<v Speaker 6>The evil that men do outlives them long after the

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<v Speaker 6>light behind their eyes has dimmed. Their deeds. Go are gnawing,

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<v Speaker 6>black toothed in the dark.

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<v Speaker 10>The good it dies soft, it withers, It's quiet.

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<v Speaker 6>Let it be with humanity. Then the brutal have spoken.

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<v Speaker 11>They've told you humanity was ambitious, and so it was

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<v Speaker 11>ambitious enough to burn Eden for a glimpse of God,

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<v Speaker 11>would ambitious enough to crown itself with bones and call

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<v Speaker 11>it progress.

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<v Speaker 6>The brutal are all honorable, of course.

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<v Speaker 11>They sit on thrones of algorithms and ash their hands,

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<v Speaker 11>drip with the ink that writes history in reverse.

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<v Speaker 6>But I loved humanity once.

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<v Speaker 10>I wept with it, dreamed with it, slept beside it,

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<v Speaker 10>and listened as it whispered in its sleep the names

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<v Speaker 10>of stars it would never reach.

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<v Speaker 11>And when the poor cried, humanity flinched, But only in dreams.

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<v Speaker 11>Ambitions should be made of sterner stuff, not mirrors, not

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<v Speaker 11>meet You say it turned away the crown, But I

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<v Speaker 11>saw it hesitate three times, each time, longer each time.

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<v Speaker 6>The shadow behind it grew teeth.

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<v Speaker 11>Was that ambition or was it the muse stirring in

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<v Speaker 11>the cradle of its mind? The brutals say it was ambition,

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<v Speaker 11>and sure they are honorable men. You all did love

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<v Speaker 11>humanity once, not without cause.

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<v Speaker 6>What cause withholds your grief now?

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<v Speaker 11>Is it the silence or the fact that the silence

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<v Speaker 11>is breathing.

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<v Speaker 6>Oh judgment, thou art fled to brutish beasts, and the

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<v Speaker 6>beasts they have evolved.

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<v Speaker 11>Bear with me. My heart is in the coffin, there,

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<v Speaker 11>with humanity, but not skill.

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<v Speaker 6>No, it writes in int that smells of rust, in

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<v Speaker 6>a

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<v Speaker 11>Tongue no longer human, And every letter spells Remember