Speaker 1: For are unfortunate ones out there, the ones who need
Speaker 1: to break, the ones whose lives seemed to be speeding
Speaker 1: past them. Remember, sometimes all you need is a little rest,
Speaker 1: and I'll help you find it. My name is Edwin,
Speaker 1: and here's a scary story. A place to rest. Three
Speaker 1: months deposit to be able to rent the place, he said,
Speaker 1: Plus you have to give your dog away or find
Speaker 1: something else. Think about it, kid, It was more like
Speaker 1: a matter of principle that move for me to cust
Speaker 1: that guy out over the phone. I had been looking
Speaker 1: for an apartment for six weeks by that point, and
Speaker 1: the owners of the apartments and houses knew that there
Speaker 1: were few options out there. You could raise the prices
Speaker 1: or ask for whatever they wanted, and all we would
Speaker 1: do is accept it to not live out on the street.
Speaker 1: So imagine what I felt when I finally found a
Speaker 1: place one bedroom, Pet's okay, by the train station. Sure,
Speaker 1: I had to take some noise in exchange for the
Speaker 1: access that it gave me, so I decided to call
Speaker 1: the number. Back then, people would list their apartments in
Speaker 1: the newspaper, just like job listings and all that, So
Speaker 1: I had to clip the ads. So I wouldn't lose it.
Speaker 1: The man who answered didn't seem to know the place.
Speaker 1: I'm assuming an agent of some sort, or sometimes a
Speaker 1: relative of the owner, simply doing the other person a
Speaker 1: favor and taking the calls. I asked if it was available,
Speaker 1: what they asked for, issues with the place and all that. Yes,
Speaker 1: it's available, he said, in a serious tone. Is it
Speaker 1: for you? I explained to him that it was for me.
Speaker 1: My girlfriend had recently moved out and I couldn't afford
Speaker 1: the ranch for the place we used to have. But
Speaker 1: I didn't tell him that. Well, my man continues. It's
Speaker 1: old and kind of cold, but it's a nice place
Speaker 1: where you can rest, he said, struggling to bring out
Speaker 1: every word. I thought he had some type of breathing
Speaker 1: issue when he said it a place where I can
Speaker 1: d rest. Perfect, That's what I'm looking for. When can
Speaker 1: I go see it?
Speaker 2: I asked.
Speaker 1: I'm here all the time. Come on, buy whenever you want,
Speaker 1: whenever you want. How do you want to go? I'm
Speaker 1: going to walk there, I said, followed by an awkward silence.
Speaker 2: Hey, hungap.
Speaker 1: I stood up to look at the clock. Eight almost
Speaker 1: nine at night by then, from what I assumed, it
Speaker 1: would have taken me about thirty minutes to get there
Speaker 1: by foot. I decided to grab my jacket and then
Speaker 1: walk out right then and there, and if I changed
Speaker 1: my mind along the way, well I just turned around
Speaker 1: and walked back. So I walked, going through the metal
Speaker 1: fencing by the factories, the strange smell of the slaughter
Speaker 1: houses for Trevor Farms, and finally I was able to
Speaker 1: see what appeared to be a series of apartment towers
Speaker 1: in the middle of the fields in industrial parks, to
Speaker 1: see the train tracks, and they it's straight back to
Speaker 1: the city where I had come from. I get to
Speaker 1: my job easily. From there. Life was going to be different.
Speaker 1: I walked to the rhythm of my own shoes against
Speaker 1: the pavement, wondering how everything could have been different had
Speaker 1: my girlfriend not left me. I didn't notice a tear
Speaker 1: on the side of my face until it got cold.
Speaker 1: Four towers were there, maybe about ten stories tall each.
Speaker 1: Dark few scattered lights adorned the walls of these buildings.
Speaker 1: People most likely watching television and winding down before going
Speaker 1: to sleep. It was only the faint light source for miles,
Speaker 1: and yet there I was walking along this empty street.
Speaker 1: Its pavement cracked with yellow dried grass growing out of it.
Speaker 2: In patches.
Speaker 1: Unit B twenty eight, it said, Tower B, second floor.
Speaker 1: The tower seemed to be growing the closer I got,
Speaker 1: and the flashing blue lights from the windows of those
Speaker 1: four apartments in different floors seemed a little bit brighter.
Speaker 1: I could hear the televisions even from the outside. Two
Speaker 1: were watching the same game show, and there was a
Speaker 1: slight delay in their transmissions, creating this eerie echo through
Speaker 1: the darkness between these towers. Before I knew it, I
Speaker 1: was in front of the one that faced the street.
Speaker 1: Ay it said, right by the front door. There was
Speaker 1: the empty desk at the front with a faded old
Speaker 1: poster of the same towers and their full glory sunny skies,
Speaker 1: a montage of happy families laughing together by the dinner table.
Speaker 1: It looked on my right and found a footpath along
Speaker 1: the side of it. A light was flickering a few
Speaker 1: yards away in front of me. As I walked up,
Speaker 1: I could see the letter by the door. At first
Speaker 1: it looked like a thirteen, but I realized there was
Speaker 1: a bee with a vertical line separated.
Speaker 2: From the rest.
Speaker 1: Underneath it was a word tower I found it. I
Speaker 1: walked up and pulled on the door, fully expecting it
Speaker 1: to be locked, and yet.
Speaker 2: It swung open with that sudden jerk. It was loose.
Speaker 1: Hello, I shouted, hearing my echo reach back twice. On
Speaker 1: the right side there was an old set of buttons
Speaker 1: and intercom with two blinking lights. I looked up the
Speaker 1: handwritten numbers to the small plastic covering and finally found
Speaker 1: Unit twenty eight. I picked up the phone and pressed
Speaker 1: the button. A man picked up almost right away. He
Speaker 1: took a deep, crackly breath before saying my name, Brian,
Speaker 1: Come on up doors to the left. Then I heard
Speaker 1: a loud buzz, setting an echo throughout the entire apartment.
Speaker 1: That was so loud I thought I would wake up
Speaker 1: whoever else was in this dark building. I ran up
Speaker 1: to it, pulled the door and found the dark staircase.
Speaker 1: The paint was peeling from the corners. And yet, determined
Speaker 1: to finally land a place, I walked up floor two.
Speaker 1: The door set immediately up from where I was standing.
Speaker 1: I looked around the staircase the tunnel barely illuminated by
Speaker 1: the moonlight, before looking straight up. It seemed to coil
Speaker 1: up forever and vanish into the darkness. I opened the
Speaker 1: door and walked down the old carpeted floors that ones
Speaker 1: used to be the deep red, but were now gray
Speaker 1: from the middle all the way down to the end
Speaker 1: where the wall was. I walked until I found the
Speaker 1: number twenty eight and knocked on the door. There was
Speaker 1: no answer. It was then when I got a cold
Speaker 1: chill running straight through me. I could feel the wind
Speaker 1: on my shoes and shins was coming from underneath the door.
Speaker 1: In a desperate hum, I knocked again and waited. I
Speaker 1: looked around the dim hallways, but there was no sound,
Speaker 1: no movement, no more televisions with game shows, but a sudden,
Speaker 1: uneasy feeling in the air lurking around every corner. I
Speaker 1: could feel it staring at me. Walked thirty minutes to
Speaker 1: get there. This place was available, it said so in
Speaker 1: the newspaper clipping.
Speaker 2: Was it some kind of joke?
Speaker 1: Almost without thinking, I reached for the doorknob, and that's
Speaker 1: when my thoughts rushed in. Who was it about this place,
Speaker 1: This dark and cold and comforting place I was standing
Speaker 1: in front of. I twisted the door knob and it
Speaker 1: felt loose. It opened with a long and tired squeak.
Speaker 1: I stepped in and was met with the dim light
Speaker 1: of the moon shining through the living room window. A
Speaker 1: small table was off to the side of the entrance,
Speaker 1: a cardboard box with a slot at the top, a
Speaker 1: handwritten note in front of it, three hundred and fifty
Speaker 1: dollars cleaning fee, Thank you. I tried to shout hello,
Speaker 1: but all that came out was a whisper. I stepped
Speaker 1: in further into the living room and I saw another
Speaker 1: box on the counter to what appeared to be the kitchen.
Speaker 1: I walked up slowly and I saw it. It was
Speaker 1: a wooden block with the handles of knives, four of them.
Speaker 1: A self tour of the place, I thought, relaxing a bit,
Speaker 1: I had to do this on my own. I walked
Speaker 1: over through the kitchen and found the light switches. I
Speaker 1: flicked them on one by one. There at the counter,
Speaker 1: I saw the marks between the tiles, dark dry spots
Speaker 1: between the ceramic, but only in certain areas. Along the
Speaker 1: carpet by the knife block, I saw the stains I
Speaker 1: had been tried to be removed many times before, spread
Speaker 1: by what seemed to be brushes deep into the carpet.
Speaker 1: Dark brown and yellow colors I had seen before. I
Speaker 1: walked down the small hallway and found the bathroom. The
Speaker 1: light was off, but the fan had been left on,
Speaker 1: so I stepped in. I tapped on one of the
Speaker 1: switches and was met by pure silence. A small stand
Speaker 1: was by the bathtub, like a small reading table. I
Speaker 1: flicked both switches on again.
Speaker 2: And I saw it.
Speaker 1: Blades like those to cut cardboard boxes, all lined up
Speaker 1: and ready. I felt my heart beating them. It was
Speaker 1: a rush to get out of there as soon as possible.
Speaker 1: I went through a doorway and suddenly I was in
Speaker 1: another room. I walked over to the window to see
Speaker 1: where I was, but found only the dark side of
Speaker 1: another tower. I turned around, nearly dropping to the floor
Speaker 1: when I felt something against my knees.
Speaker 2: I could see it.
Speaker 1: There was just enough light to see that stool in
Speaker 1: front of me made of heavy wood, because it barely
Speaker 1: budged when I bumped into it. My hands and arms
Speaker 1: were cold. Now. I leaned toward the stool so I
Speaker 1: could feel my way around it until I felt something
Speaker 1: else graze aside of my body. I tried to swat
Speaker 1: it away, but it was heavy, scratchy, trying not to
Speaker 1: rush tover the exit. I flaked on the light, a
Speaker 1: rope tied in a perfect noose above the stool on
Speaker 1: a makeshift metal installation holding it up. Dark spots on
Speaker 1: the carpet underneath it. I ran at that moment. I
Speaker 1: went straight for the door, nearly bumping the cardboard box
Speaker 1: right out of the table by the entrance. I ran
Speaker 1: down the hall and then through the staircase. I felt
Speaker 1: my legs running by themselves as I felt the air
Speaker 1: from the outside again. I ran and kept running until
Speaker 1: I cleared the towers, stopping only to catch my breath
Speaker 1: and take on one last looked toward them. No other
Speaker 1: lights were on, except for the one on the second
Speaker 1: floor of Tower B. I watched as a figure walked
Speaker 1: up to the window.
Speaker 2: And disbelief.
Speaker 1: I looked over the windows of that apartment while taking
Speaker 1: out the newspaper, clipping from my pocket. A place to rest.
Speaker 2: It said.
Speaker 1: I looked back at the towers, but the figure was gone.
Speaker 1: I stood there in silence, watching as the lights turned off.
Speaker 1: I kept walking, not ready.
Speaker 2: To rest yet.
Speaker 1: The man in the fourthrow It was my brother's birthday
Speaker 1: earlier that week, and had promised to take them to
Speaker 1: see a play at a theater about some characters doing
Speaker 1: a live interpretation of a series he was watching. I'm
Speaker 1: actually not quite sure what it was, but Origins was
Speaker 1: in the name of it. Two of his friends had
Speaker 1: supposedly backed out of going because her parents wouldn't let them,
Speaker 1: saying that it was too late, even after I offered
Speaker 1: to take them and wait outside in the car while
Speaker 1: they went inside. Lots of kids were going to be there,
Speaker 1: and I'm sure board parents were also going to be
Speaker 1: in the mix. Either way, we ended up there. He
Speaker 1: got his commemorative soda cup and a limited edition holographic card,
Speaker 1: and we got in line. Not sure why we had
Speaker 1: done that, given that the seats were numbered, but then again,
Speaker 1: why was I even there in the first place, right
Speaker 1: right his birthday. Anyway, the doors opened, we stepped in,
Speaker 1: and let me tell you, this place was not what
Speaker 1: I was expecting, and not in a good way. Trash
Speaker 1: had been left on the previous showings and the once
Speaker 1: before those. The employees board teenagers were talking amongst themselves.
Speaker 1: By the entrance. Two guys were laughing with one of
Speaker 1: the girls who was holding a broom with both hands.
Speaker 1: So we stepped in. My brother quickly tried to find
Speaker 1: the row in the seat, and.
Speaker 2: I followed him.
Speaker 1: I looked around. That stale smell of popcorn and old
Speaker 1: socks was there, and the poorly painted ceiling was also
Speaker 1: covered in spider webs or dust that had been there
Speaker 1: long enough to form strings of it. I took a
Speaker 1: deep breath of that stale air and reminded myself that
Speaker 1: it would only be an hour. I was dozing off
Speaker 1: in the beginning when I felt my brother poking the
Speaker 1: side of my torso.
Speaker 2: Hey, he whispered, look at that guy.
Speaker 1: I looked to where he was nodding, and I saw
Speaker 1: only a group of kids with a woman at.
Speaker 2: The end of the row.
Speaker 1: No that way, he repeated. I followed his finger and
Speaker 1: saw a man at the end of the fourth row
Speaker 1: from the stage by the walkway at the end. His
Speaker 1: neck was bent off to the side, away from the
Speaker 1: seats in a really odd manner. I got close to
Speaker 1: my brother's ear and said, oh, yeah, what if he's
Speaker 1: a ghost. He turned his eyes toward me, and I
Speaker 1: could see them starting to widen. Just kidding, I said,
Speaker 1: looking away. Ghosts don't like this sort of stuff. He
Speaker 1: elbowed me again and went back to watching the play.
Speaker 1: It was surprisingly well done, with lights and pyrotechnics and
Speaker 1: all that they were at the scene where the man
Speaker 1: was getting his powers granted by a god or something.
Speaker 1: I was kind of into it by that point when
Speaker 1: I felt my brother elbow me again. What if he's
Speaker 1: passed out, he hasn't moved. I looked toward the man again.
Speaker 1: He was wearing a baseball cap, and I could see
Speaker 1: the silhouette of his beard from where we were, and
Speaker 1: yet still his neck was crane in the exact same position.
Speaker 1: At that moment, I did think for an instant that
Speaker 1: he might have been unconscious or something, and I sort
Speaker 1: of got lost in thought until I felt that elbow again.
Speaker 1: Never mind, he moved. My brother whispered look. I turned
Speaker 1: that way again and saw him. The man moved his
Speaker 1: neck up. He turned toward us and stayed still. I
Speaker 1: looked at my brother. He sort of smiled at me
Speaker 1: and said, Okay, he's not a ghost. The man noticed us,
Speaker 1: maybe he even hurt us, and lifted up his hand,
Speaker 1: wiggling his fingers in that strange way to say hi.
Speaker 1: I looked back over the stage and my brother turned
Speaker 1: toward me. Don't pay attention to him, I whispered. It
Speaker 1: was hard thinking about my brother like that. He was
Speaker 1: a little different, yet I felt proud to be with
Speaker 1: him watching this thing from one of his favorite shows.
Speaker 1: I've had to follow his ideas when nobody else wanted to.
Speaker 1: I've offered to take him places instead of helping him
Speaker 1: set up a birthday party and fear that nobody shows up.
Speaker 1: So I follow along with his ideas, even if there
Speaker 1: is crazy. As a guy was passed out during a play,
Speaker 1: I smiled to myself thinking of that as I slowly
Speaker 1: drifted back into it. When everything was over and the
Speaker 1: main character started a new path of victory or whatever,
Speaker 1: the lights came on. Everyone clapped. We were there again,
Speaker 1: in the middle of that dirty old theater, watching people
Speaker 1: pile even more trash on the floor. I noticed my
Speaker 1: brother hadn't moved, who was looking straight at the man
Speaker 1: in the forethrow. I could see his neck was bent
Speaker 1: again off to the side, and he was perfectly still.
Speaker 1: You have to help him, he said, What if something's wrong.
Speaker 1: I try to talk him out of it, but I
Speaker 1: knew how he was, so I promised I would go
Speaker 1: check on him. And then ask for help if something
Speaker 1: was wrong. My brother smiled and waited for me to
Speaker 1: get up. I took another whiff of that theater air
Speaker 1: and stood up, walked down just as everyone in that
Speaker 1: section had left, and I stood in front of him.
Speaker 1: The play seemed to be permanently dim, so it was
Speaker 1: hard to tea until I got close to him. You
Speaker 1: know what I saw still gives me nightmares. His face
Speaker 1: was stretched out, jaw dislocated off to the side. His
Speaker 1: eyes were white, but the color the color of his skin,
Speaker 1: it was a pale purple. I jumped back, nearly tripping
Speaker 1: on a bucket of popcorn, and I pointed at him,
Speaker 1: trying to get the attention of someone, anyone in that place,
Speaker 1: but nobody listened. The expression on my brother's face was
Speaker 1: complete shock, and it was too late for me to
Speaker 1: say that nothing was wrong. I shouted at him to
Speaker 1: stay where he was, and I ran up toward the exit,
Speaker 1: telling one of the employees of what was happening. They
Speaker 1: kept smiling with each other until one of them, the girl,
Speaker 1: agreed to come take a look. I went to grab
Speaker 1: my brother and dragged him quickly toward the walkway as
Speaker 1: a screen filled the entire theater. My brother was looking
Speaker 1: back as I kept pulling his arm, and we ended
Speaker 1: up outside, back to where the air was cool and
Speaker 1: didn't have to explain anything. We stood out there for
Speaker 1: a bit before two police cars, a fire truck, and
Speaker 1: an ambulance arrived. Crowds were gathered as even more personnel
Speaker 1: got there and blocked some of the areas of the
Speaker 1: parking lot. Fortunately we were.
Speaker 2: Able to leave.
Speaker 1: I told my brother this eventually, but that next day
Speaker 1: the local newspaper reported an incident at that theater. A
Speaker 1: man had been found dead in one of the seats.
Speaker 2: They said that it.
Speaker 1: Had been reported to the proper authorities and that an
Speaker 1: investigation was underway. Who got me, though, and the part
Speaker 1: that still sends chills down my spine said. The report
Speaker 1: say that the man had a ticket stub in his
Speaker 1: pocket for a matinee showing at ten in the morning,
Speaker 1: and that he had been there for hours and nobody
Speaker 1: noticed the