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Speaker 1: I live in a mountainous enforested region on the border

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of Canada and the US. I pretty frequently go for

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hikes and sometimes even camp a night or two, and

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usually I go in with no real plan in mind.

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I'll search up an uncommon trail and just see where

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it takes me. I think it's the thrill of not

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knowing what I'll see that makes it so enjoyable. In

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case of emergencies, though, I always go prepared with multiple

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methods of navigation, because you just never know. Anyway. I

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was out on a hike in early summer this year.

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It was, just as I said, some random trail in

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the middle of the forest near my cabin. I'd never

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been on it before, but I'd initially found it intersecting

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a trail that I was on several weeks prior. This

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one was very faint, just as most of them were

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out here, but this one often had me wondering if

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it was even a trail at all, or if I

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was just imagining a path didn't actually exist. About two

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hours in, though, I started to recognize shoe prints along

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some of the more muddy parts of the trail. There

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would only be a few at a time, and most

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of them didn't seem to actually follow the path. They

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would be going across it or sometimes walking along it

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for a minute, then abruptly turning off. Then after an hour,

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I came across a section of the trail that was

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a bit more defined, having tons of shoe prints scattered across,

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and threw it as if someone constantly came across this part.

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I looked up and just ahead was a cabin. I

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put two and two together, assuming someone had set up

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an off grid place. But as I looked at the

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cabin more closely, something about it didn't look right. All

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of the shoe prints I'd seen had to be less

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than a few days old, but this cabin seemed to

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have not been lived in for years. The door was

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wide open, barely hanging from its hinges, and some parts

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at the bottom of the cabin were so weathered it

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was sinking into the ground. I got a closer look,

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entering the area around it that had been cleared of trees.

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I don't know what it was about this place, but

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it really intrigued me, and I almost felt like I

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needed to see if someone needed help. Because the recent

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shoe prins and the rundown cabin didn't add up. I

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stepped up to the open door, and right away I

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caught a whiff of a horrible odor, almost indescribable, and

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as I peered inside, it was clear that this place

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was not lived in. There were signs of wild animals

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nesting inside, and the forest was growing through the floorboards.

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I walked in carefully and tried to see what I could,

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but the smell was so bad I just couldn't continue

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past a few feet. I turned around to leave, and

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I'd instantly felt my stomach drop as a figure was

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staring at me from the forest. They immediately took off, running,

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hiding in the density of the trees. I did the same,

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running through the trees somewhat along the path, going as

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far as I could until I felt safe. When I

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got home, I called it in to report the strange

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behavior and creepy abandoned cabin. I knew that something was

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going on there. It took several days for a party

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to go out and investigate, with my help and showing

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them the way, but when we arrived, all that was

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left of the cabin were black ashes and charred wood.

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It had been burned down. To this day, there's been

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nothing to show from the creepy nature of that cabin

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and the man I'd seen in the forest, but it's

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pretty clear he had something to hide, something that he

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was covering up, and that if I had stayed any

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longer or had gone further into the cabin, I would

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have not made it out. I'm an officer for our

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local police department. Shifts in our department are always switching around,

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having people work ten to twelve hours on a different

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schedule every week, sometimes overnight, followed by early morning, and

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then overnight again. On this day, I was working ten

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pm to ten am and was at the office when

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a dispatcher notified me of a call about a group

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of teenagers trespassing on private property. Specifically, it was a

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hospital on the outskirts of town that had been deserted

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for the last decade. This was a commonplace for groups

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to hang out and do various illegal activities at and

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the whole department I knew about this, and most of

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us had been there several times before. This was my

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fourth time having gone there, and I was sure it

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would be a quick and typical case of walking in

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and either escorting a group of friends out or watching

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them run off. I was tired, so either was good

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enough for me. I honestly didn't care too much to

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arrest and charge them. I just needed them to leave

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the property. When I got there, I was quickly aware

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of a flashlight shining through the windows of the second story.

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What was strange about it was that it was moving

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really fast across multiple windows, like someone was running through

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the hallway. I got out of my vehicle and prepped

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my flashlight, then entered the building. First thing I did

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was call out, requesting everyone to show themselves and whatnot,

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but of course no one did. I listened at the

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entrance for any noises to hopefully give me an idea

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of where to look, but it was dead silent enough

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so to wake me up and get my nerves going,

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having me keep my right hand on the holster of

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my gun. I think it was always a slight fear

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that it could be a trap to lead in an

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officer and attempt something, but I kept my cool and

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walked through the old hallway and up the flight of stairs.

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It was as I reached the top that a thud

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echoed through the building. It sounded like someone hitting a

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wall and was definitely from the second floor. I entered

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the hallway and shined my flashlight all the way down,

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not seeing anyone or even a sign of anyone, I

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called out again, very aggressively, knowing that the stairs I

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was by were the only way up and down from

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the second story. I stayed there and listened again, but

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heard nothing more than the creaking of the building. I

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walked slowly through the hallway, looking through each door and

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scanning the rooms with my flashlight, but there was nothing

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more than old hospital beds and graffiti. When I got

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to the last room, the door was closed, so I

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called out one more time before swinging and open. I

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cleared the room, but nobody was inside. However, there were

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signs of recent activity, being cigarettes on the ground with

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smoke still rising from them. This was extremely concerning, knowing

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that they hadn't left the second floor through the stairs,

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and the only other way was if they had jumped

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out a broken window. Before I could even check, the

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door behind me slammed shut, followed by something smashing against

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it and footsteps departing down the hallway. Luckily, I was

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able to forcefully push the door open enough to slide

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through the opening. Seeing that a large hospital bed was

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pressed against it. By the time I got out, who

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ever was there was long gone. Back up came and

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we did a more thorough investigation, also checking in with

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the one who originally called in the two teenagers. What

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was odd about this was that there was only one

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clear set of footsteps I heard, and only one flashlight

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in the window. The cigarettes still burning also showed that

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they had left in a hurry, which could have been

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from me arriving, But then why would one of them

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have stayed behind. In the morning, we got a report

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from a mother on her missing teenage son, followed soon

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after by an identical report by another mother on her

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teenage son. After looking into it for days and them

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weeks and them months, it was almost definite that they

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were not going to show up, and now six years later,

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they still haven't. Their disappearance is an unlikely one, and

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that's what makes it so difficult. It isn't certain whether

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or not the person in the hospital with me was

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one of the two kids, but the current most stable

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theory is that it was someone else, and unless something

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more comes up, it's not likely that we will ever know.

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I live in a really small countryside town. The population

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is only a few thousand in the nearest city is

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a couple hours away, but most of the people that

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live here are close. With there being so few people,

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everyone knew everyone, and everyone knew everything that was going

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on in the town. At the time, I was in

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high school and had a best friend, Chris, that I'd

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hang out with pretty much every day. During mid fall,

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there was a lot of talk about an empty farmhouse

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in the town that people were exploring. I was never

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one to do these sorts of things, but Chris was,

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and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious. Supposedly,

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this farmhouse had been left behind by the owners years ago,

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left to rot on the edge of town for the

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past five years. Being in high school now, the rumors

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of it spread like a wildfire as people were telling

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stories about it and daring others to explore it. And

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it was on one weekend night that Chris brought it

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up to me. We had nothing else to do, and

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Chris seemed really excited to see what everyone was talking about,

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and after finding a couple flashlights, we got in the

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car and drove to the farmhouse. We only knew which

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road it was on, but it wasn't very hard to find.

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From the road. You could see the rotting house in

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the distance, but we couldn't find the driveway. It was

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likely that it had been overgrown and might have not

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even existed anymore, so we parked on the road and

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started walking through the field the house. It was almost

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one am, so the moon was lighting up the field

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just enough for us to navigate through it. As we

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got closer, it almost felt like the night got quieter

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and quieter until we reached it. The house had weeds

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infesting the whole yard and vines growing through the wooden

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panels on the outside. Chris led the way, walking around

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to the front, where the door was missing, giving us

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easy access inside. We stepped in and started walking through

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the rooms, looking at the trash on the ground and

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the decaying interior, making both of us wonder why it

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was even abandoned to begin with. After a minute or two, though,

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we'd seen everything on the first floor and moved up

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to the second. It was much darker upstairs, almost like

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there were no windows to let in the moonlight. We

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both turned on our flashlights and shine them around. There

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were only two rooms up there, one on the left

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side of the hallway and the other on the right.

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Chris went up to the left, finding that the door

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was locked. While he was struggling with that door, I

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went into the other room that happened to be unlocked.

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It was entirely empty, having moled on the ceiling and

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nothing more. But there was a single window with slabs

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of wood nailed to it. Curious by it, I went

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up to it and wondered why they needed to block

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an upstairs window. I crouched down to investigate and looked

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in between two of the slabs to see what was

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outside the window, thinking maybe it had access to the

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roof or something, but it didn't. This window was just

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facing the field we came from, and as I looked

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out into the moonlit grass, I saw a figure walking

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toward the farmhouse not too far away. I quickly left

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the window and whispered to Chris that someone was coming here.

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My heartbeat was already speeding up. I think it was

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seeing the figure being alone that really freaked me out,

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knowing it wasn't just some other kids exploring the place.

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Chris looked nervous too, walking over to the window to

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see for himself, but we immediately stopped at the sound

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of footsteps entering the house downstairs, We frozen place, standing

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in the middle of the empty room, too scared to

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even take a step and risk being found. The person

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walked slowly through the first floor, going to the stairs

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and beginning to walk up. Both Chris and I just

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stared at the open doorway, listening to the footsteps. Reached

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the top and start coming even closer until the large

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figure of a man appeared in front of us. He

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was facing the other way, unlocking the locked door as

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he stood in the dark hallway, just four or five

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feet from us. I was holding my breath, just hoping

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he wouldn't turn around, but when he opened the door,

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I locked eye contact with another other man who was

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standing on the far side of the other room. Our

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gaze was broken when the man went into the room

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and closed the door behind him, but we heard them

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whispering immediately after. Chris and I made our move, sprinting

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into the hallway and down the stairs, hearing the door

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swing open in footsteps charging behind us. As we fled

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the house and ran for the field. We didn't stop

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until we got to the car, driving away. The whole

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ride back to my house neither of us said a word.

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We were both just in shock and taking everything in.

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We had no idea what was going on in that

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house or who those two men were, but out of

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fear of getting in trouble for trespassing, we didn't call

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the police. We were stupid to have even gone there,

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and I won't defend any of my actions, but I

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feel like there was something more going on at that farmhouse.

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A month after that incident, the house was bought and

243
00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:04,759
torn down with no reason given, and whether or not

244
00:15:04,919 --> 00:15:07,679
something was going on in there will probably never be

245
00:15:07,799 --> 00:15:18,080
known for sure