Speaker 1: I don't know how many of you will believe this story,
Speaker 1: but till today, when I think about it, I feel
Speaker 1: a cold shiver rushing down my spine.
Speaker 2: I was about ten or eleven years old. Back then.
Speaker 1: The winter holidays were about to begin, and I was
Speaker 1: getting excited about the yearly family trip that I always
Speaker 1: took with my parents. But unfortunately, my dad got an
Speaker 1: urgent order from his company. He had to go to
Speaker 1: Chicago for some serious business meeting. I got very upset
Speaker 1: as our winter tour got postponed. Seeing me make an
Speaker 1: owl face, my mom came up with the idea of
Speaker 1: visiting my granny and uncle, living in a small town
Speaker 1: in Oregon. My uncle was a fun loving bachelor who
Speaker 1: never believed in the idea of marriage. No matter how
Speaker 1: many people in our neighborhood mocked him for staying with
Speaker 1: his old mother in his forties, he never seemed too
Speaker 1: bothered by them. He always answered back, as he is
Speaker 1: happy to take ahead of the family business of fish
Speaker 1: selling while taking care of his old mother. I spend
Speaker 1: hours with him doing all kinds of adventures whenever I
Speaker 1: visited Grannie, so going to their place sounded more lucrative
Speaker 1: to me. Than staying home and doing nothing the entire
Speaker 1: winter holiday. My mom and I boarded onto the flight
Speaker 1: right after the day Dad left for Chicago. When we
Speaker 1: arrived there, I got extremely happy to see my Grannie's
Speaker 1: beautiful house. I got out of the car and my
Speaker 1: uncle opened the door, shouting, here comes Bud. Happy Buzzo
Speaker 1: came running towards me while barking loudly in joy. Buzzo
Speaker 1: is a Golden Retriever who has been living with my
Speaker 1: uncle for the last three years.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: In a few words, he is my uncle's best friend.
Speaker 1: Grannie came out and we all greeted each other and
Speaker 1: went inside the house. Being the spoiled kid already, my
Speaker 1: Grannie and uncle started to pamper me even more. The
Speaker 1: dining table got filled with all my favorite dishes and
Speaker 1: also my most favorite of them all apple pie. Uncle
Speaker 1: served me a huge piece of pie and said, eat
Speaker 1: as much as you want, Bud. I'm so happy to
Speaker 1: see you. I smiled and hugged him, saying I miss
Speaker 1: you all too. After dinner, we played uno, laughed and
Speaker 1: joked about my mom's and uncle's childhood incidents.
Speaker 2: Then she tucked me in bed, and that night I
Speaker 2: got three good night kisses.
Speaker 1: I was happy, thinking my winter holiday is going to
Speaker 1: be even more fun this year, but things didn't go
Speaker 1: as per my expectations.
Speaker 2: My uncle used to.
Speaker 1: Leave for work early in the morning, naturally, he was
Speaker 1: the one who always woke up first. One winter morning,
Speaker 1: a heavy storm took place. My granny requested my uncle
Speaker 1: do go.
Speaker 2: To work today and snowing heavily outside, but.
Speaker 1: My uncle was a headstrong person when it came to
Speaker 1: his work. He ignored her as usual and left for work.
Speaker 2: In his small truck.
Speaker 1: The storm grew wilder and heavier after he left, and
Speaker 1: my granny started to become worried sick about him.
Speaker 2: She kept on calling him, but my uncle didn't pick up.
Speaker 1: When after six hours he didn't come back, we all
Speaker 1: got worried and decided to call the cops to go.
Speaker 2: And look for him.
Speaker 1: The cops searched the entire town looking for him, and
Speaker 1: around five a m. The next morning, they found my
Speaker 1: uncle's upside down pickup truck crashed under a tree.
Speaker 2: He was found in the driver's seat dead.
Speaker 1: There was a big bruise on his forehead with clotted
Speaker 1: blood underneath. All my memories of him started to flash
Speaker 1: in front of my eyes, and I couldn't hold myself
Speaker 1: any more. As a matter of fact, that in the
Speaker 1: last hours of his life he didn't get to see
Speaker 1: his loved ones was way worse than all of our
Speaker 1: accumulated suffering. A holiday turned into an abyss of sorrow
Speaker 1: after this shocking incident. The next day, we arranged his
Speaker 1: funeral and my dad arrived to support all of us.
Speaker 1: One by one, the town people walked up to his
Speaker 1: open casket and put flowers on the stand near him.
Speaker 2: My grandma was.
Speaker 1: The last one to go, as she could barely face
Speaker 1: this harsh truth. My mom and I held her hand
Speaker 1: and we walked to his lying, pale, dead body. As
Speaker 1: my grandma stretched out her hand to touch his cheek
Speaker 1: for one last time, something terribly crazy took.
Speaker 2: Place, scaring the hell out of all of us.
Speaker 1: My uncle sat up in his coffin and started to
Speaker 1: stare at everyone's face who came for his funeral. My
Speaker 1: mom fainted screaming, and my grandma yelled in joy.
Speaker 2: Oh my son, you came back. You're alive. God heard
Speaker 2: my prayer. God gave me my son bag.
Speaker 1: This was truly a miracle to all of us and
Speaker 1: accepted that sometimes this does happen. We thought maybe his
Speaker 1: heart stopped somehow and then started again. Labeling this under
Speaker 1: fate and luck. We happily brought him back home. But
Speaker 1: after coming home from this absurd situation, my uncle changed
Speaker 1: into a different person.
Speaker 2: He kept to himself and barely talked to anyone.
Speaker 1: He would have just sit in his room, turning off
Speaker 1: the lights and stare outside the window for hours. Not
Speaker 1: just that, Butz's behavior towards him changed the tea. The dog,
Speaker 1: who was ready to die for his master, suddenly feared
Speaker 1: to go near him, even for a second. Whenever Uncle
Speaker 1: came near him, Buzzo would bark and growl like he
Speaker 1: was some kind of stranger to him. What surprised me
Speaker 1: even more was that my uncle also started disliking Buzzo
Speaker 1: and often avoided him. The bruise on his forehead also
Speaker 1: stayed the same, like a birthmark. One evening, I was
Speaker 1: sitting in the living room and watching TV. Mom and
Speaker 1: Dad went out and Grandma was asleep in her room.
Speaker 1: My uncle came to me and said, hey, can you
Speaker 1: make me a cup of coffee? It's on an important level.
Speaker 1: Why don't you make it? No, no, no, I am
Speaker 1: scared to go light up the stove. What why I
Speaker 1: can't go near fire?
Speaker 2: I'm scared of fire.
Speaker 1: For the first time I heard the word scared for
Speaker 1: my uncle, who never feared anything in this world. That night,
Speaker 1: I woke up around one thirty am to go to
Speaker 1: the bathroom. The bathroom is downstairs at the end of
Speaker 1: the corridor, located at the back side of the house.
Speaker 1: I was doing my business when I heard a low
Speaker 1: moaning sound that dogs make when they get scared. Turning around,
Speaker 1: I saw Buzzo standing near the bathroom door and staring
Speaker 1: at me with wide, fearful eyes. What what is it, boy,
Speaker 1: he moaned once again in a very low voice. I
Speaker 1: could feel he was trying to tell me something, so
Speaker 1: I started following him. Buzzo took me to my uncle's
Speaker 1: room and then ran away. I have never seen him
Speaker 1: behave this way, so I got a bit startled. The
Speaker 1: door of my uncle's room was slightly open, A dim
Speaker 1: yellow light was coming from that gap, and I could
Speaker 1: hear a weird sound. There's no way I can describe
Speaker 1: it till today. But as I peeked in to take
Speaker 1: a look inside. In my uncle's bedroom, the blood in
Speaker 1: my veins turned cold.
Speaker 2: My uncle was standing.
Speaker 1: Near the window. He is an average height guy, but
Speaker 1: that night he seemed very tall. He was standing there
Speaker 1: with a small cutter knife in his hand. What he
Speaker 1: did next still gives me nightmares. He made a small
Speaker 1: cut on his own wrist and started to suck.
Speaker 2: His own blood.
Speaker 1: His eyes widened in excitement as his tongue felt the
Speaker 1: taste of blood. At that moment, I realized, whoever came
Speaker 1: back that day of the funeral is not my uncle anymore.
Speaker 1: I wanted to scream, but I also wanted others to
Speaker 1: see exactly what I was seeing.
Speaker 2: I tiptoed to my parents' room and woke them up.
Speaker 1: I then brought them downstairs and showed them the same
Speaker 1: monstrosity that I witnessed a few moments back.
Speaker 2: My uncle's face was all red with blood and his
Speaker 2: eyeballs were red.
Speaker 1: To I couldn't take this sight anymore and screamed when
Speaker 1: my uncle looked back at us and let out a
Speaker 1: demonic round.
Speaker 2: He then shattered his glass window and escaped, like.
Speaker 1: A creature from a different dimention. That was the last
Speaker 1: time I saw my uncle. Last winter, I took a
Speaker 1: trip to the Alps in Switzerland. I have a huge
Speaker 1: neck for traveling, so whenever I happened to save time
Speaker 1: and money from work, I set out on the roads.
Speaker 1: Being an American, I had zero knowledge of German or French,
Speaker 1: which are officially spoken in Switzerland. Luckily, I managed to
Speaker 1: find a B and B that belonged to an Indian guy,
Speaker 1: hence I had no trouble communicating. The house I rented
Speaker 1: was a small wooden bungalow, perfect for a solo traveler.
Speaker 1: The owner told me his watchman lives nearby, so I
Speaker 1: won't be having any issue staying there. I was very
Speaker 1: excited about this trip, and going to Switzerland had always.
Speaker 2: Been my dream.
Speaker 1: After a long drive, when I finally made it to
Speaker 1: the location, my heart and mind started to dance in joy.
Speaker 1: The place was beautiful. There was a house in the
Speaker 1: distance on the foothills of the mountain. In front of
Speaker 1: the snow covered wooden bung stood a lake that was
Speaker 1: frozen like an iceberg.
Speaker 2: There was another house bigger than mine.
Speaker 1: That sat on the opposite side of me, so the
Speaker 1: frozen lake was like a division between these two houses.
Speaker 1: Hearing the sound of the cab a short slightly overweighted
Speaker 1: man came out of the house with a big smile
Speaker 1: on his face. I understood he is the watchman. He
Speaker 1: introduced himself to me and we exchanged greetings. He then
Speaker 1: picked up my luggage and went inside the house. I
Speaker 1: was about to follow him when I noticed the window
Speaker 1: of the house on the other side of the lake.
Speaker 1: It happened in a fraction of a second, but I
Speaker 1: surely felt someone move away from the window, drawing the curtains,
Speaker 1: so I was being watched from the moment I stepped
Speaker 1: down from the cab, I uttered to myself, Welcome to
Speaker 1: the neighborhood. Even though the bungalow seemed simple from the outside,
Speaker 1: it was like a charm from the inside. The living
Speaker 1: room had a fireplace with antique designs carved on its mantle.
Speaker 1: A revolving wooden staircase led to the bedrooms upstairs. It
Speaker 1: seemed like a pile of cotton, and I immediately wanted
Speaker 1: to jump in for a long needed nap. A small
Speaker 1: balcony was also attached to the bedroom to enjoy the
Speaker 1: view outside with a hot cup of coffee in the
Speaker 1: winter morning. In a few words, I was in love
Speaker 1: with the place. The moment I entered, the watchman was helpful.
Speaker 1: He started the fireplace and took me to the storage
Speaker 1: to show me the amount of food and groceries stocked
Speaker 1: for my stay. I always loved cookie my food, and
Speaker 1: that's why I preferred be and be'es to hotel. He
Speaker 1: made me some hot chocolate and handed me over the
Speaker 1: keys to leave for home. Out of curiosity, I asked
Speaker 1: him who lives in the house opposite me, to which
Speaker 1: he replied an old man in his late fifties. It
Speaker 1: took me by a little surprise that an old man
Speaker 1: lives alone in that big house, but then I thought
Speaker 1: it's none of my business.
Speaker 2: So I better let it be. The watchman had bit
Speaker 2: me good night, and I locked the door.
Speaker 1: Once he left, I took a hot shower that washed
Speaker 1: off my stress, and then came down to the living
Speaker 1: room with my laptop and a pack of cigarettes. I
Speaker 1: poured him myself a glass of whiskey and set on
Speaker 1: a big arm chair near the fireplace to work on
Speaker 1: my article. I worked for an hour or so, and
Speaker 1: then had dinner and went to bed early. I was
Speaker 1: really tired, so once my head hit the soft pillow,
Speaker 1: sleep fell into my eyes like a sweet dream. Around
Speaker 1: two in the morning, I woke up hearing noises outside.
Speaker 1: In my drowsy state of mind, it took me some
Speaker 1: time to figure out these noises, but after paying attention,
Speaker 1: it sounded like a little girl's laughter and a dog barking.
Speaker 1: I got up and walked to the window to look outside,
Speaker 1: but I didn't see anyone. I thought maybe it was
Speaker 1: a drunken dream, so I came back to bed and
Speaker 1: went to sleep again. The next morning, when I woke up,
Speaker 1: the valley looked even snowier. It seemed like there had
Speaker 1: been heavy snowfall last night. I made myself a brewing
Speaker 1: cup of coffee and came out to the balcony to
Speaker 1: enjoy it like it supposed to. I must have taken
Speaker 1: two or three steps when I saw two tiny figures
Speaker 1: approaching behind a snow covered pine tree. Their cackles could
Speaker 1: be heard even from quite a distance. A little girl
Speaker 1: dressed in winter clothes came running near the frozen lake
Speaker 1: with her dog. The dog was so fluffy that it
Speaker 1: almost tumbled down the snow trying to.
Speaker 2: Make its way. The little girl laughed like a ray
Speaker 2: of sunshine watching her dog. Is so funny.
Speaker 1: A smile came to my face as well as witnessing
Speaker 1: these two playing in the snow. The dog was chasing
Speaker 1: the girl, barking loudly as she was dodging him.
Speaker 2: Laughing like a pretty Barbie doll.
Speaker 1: I was thinking to join them when my eyes went
Speaker 1: to the window of the neighboring house and I saw
Speaker 1: a weird looking old man sitting on his balcony with
Speaker 1: binoculars and staring at that kid. I mean, she was
Speaker 1: completely visible with naked eyes, so I didn't see any
Speaker 1: reason why this old man would be using binoculars like
Speaker 1: a creep. It could have been an issue of his eyesight,
Speaker 1: but the look on his face and the anxiety in his.
Speaker 2: Movement disturbed me a bit.
Speaker 1: He suddenly looked at me and immediately rushed inside in
Speaker 1: a hurry, as I caught him red handed in a crime.
Speaker 1: His behavior gave me the creep, so I decided to
Speaker 1: watch over this kid and her dog until her parents
Speaker 1: come for her. I yelled from my balcony, Hey, what's
Speaker 1: your name, kiddo, But she was so busy playing that
Speaker 1: she didn't look at me once. I came downstairs, thinking
Speaker 1: to join them, but as soon as I came out,
Speaker 1: they were gone. I felt bad disrupting them in the
Speaker 1: middle of their fun time and came back inside. But
Speaker 1: I couldn't stop thinking about this freaky old man next door.
Speaker 1: For the next few days, I watched the girl and
Speaker 1: her dog come here and.
Speaker 2: Play on the frozen lake.
Speaker 1: I never saw any adult with him, and this old
Speaker 1: man always eyed them with his binoculars.
Speaker 2: A week went by and I was on the.
Speaker 1: Verse to speak up against the creepy behavior of the
Speaker 1: neighbor next door when something terrible happened to change my
Speaker 1: life forever. It was the coldest winter night and heavy
Speaker 1: snowfall was going outside. I was feeling a bit bored. Also,
Speaker 1: I didn't see that cute girl and her dog the
Speaker 1: entire day. I thought maybe her parents didn't let her
Speaker 1: out of the house today. Honestly, it did worry me
Speaker 1: a bit whenever they played on that lake. I mean,
Speaker 1: the ice surfaces are not that thick on every spot.
Speaker 1: This is also a firm reason why I kept deny
Speaker 1: on them whenever they came to play. I couldn't feel
Speaker 1: more angry thinking about how irresponsible her parents are. Anyways,
Speaker 1: I was heavily drunk that night and dozed off on
Speaker 1: the living room couch. Around two thirty in the morning,
Speaker 1: I heard the little girl's laughter and the barking of
Speaker 1: the dog. I got up, thinking, what the hell are
Speaker 1: they doing here so late? As I peeked outside the window,
Speaker 1: I saw the girl scanting on the frozen lake amidst
Speaker 1: the heavy snowfall, and her dog playfully jumping around her.
Speaker 1: I screamed, opening the window. You shouldn't be out here
Speaker 1: at this time. Did your parents know that you guys
Speaker 1: left the house in such weather? But as usual, she
Speaker 1: didn't look at me or pay any attention to what
Speaker 1: I said. Suddenly my eyes went to the house on
Speaker 1: the other side of the lake, and I saw that
Speaker 1: old man coming out with a flashlight in his hand,
Speaker 1: walking to the girl at full speed. Oh my god,
Speaker 1: he is trying to abduct her, taking advantage of this
Speaker 1: stormy night. I couldn't stop myself anymore and came out barefooted,
Speaker 1: that too, in my pajamas, and started to run towards him.
Speaker 2: No sooner did I reach the lake.
Speaker 1: The little girl jumped one last time on the icy surface,
Speaker 1: and a loud cracking sound to place, followed by a
Speaker 1: splash and a faded scream, The little dog bark two,
Speaker 1: and soon the dog and the girl both drowned in
Speaker 1: the icy cold water of the lake.
Speaker 2: The old man screamed in a sobbing tone.
Speaker 3: Stop stop coming back and reminding me of my mistake, Kathy,
Speaker 3: stop doing this to your papa, and he crouched on
Speaker 3: the ground, covering his face and started to cry.
Speaker 1: I shouted, saying, we need to help them. Holy shit,
Speaker 1: they are drowning. I was about to jump in the
Speaker 1: freezing water when the old man screamed.
Speaker 2: Back, No, you can't shave them. What do you mean
Speaker 2: I can't.
Speaker 1: They have been dead for the lash the twenty five years.
Speaker 1: I was about to scream at him for pulling this
Speaker 1: upsurd prank, when a sound of giggle came to my ears.
Speaker 1: I looked at the lake again and I saw that
Speaker 1: little girl and her dog playing on it, just like before.
Speaker 1: Their body seemed transparent and I could see through them.
Speaker 1: The girl then picked up her dog, and for.
Speaker 2: The first time she walked into my eyes.
Speaker 1: There were no eyeballs in them except dark hollows.
Speaker 2: It was the same with her little dog as well.
Speaker 1: She then giggled for one last time and vanished into
Speaker 1: the air. I don't remember what happened next, because I
Speaker 1: had probably fainted on the spot. When I woke up
Speaker 1: in the morning, I felt pain piercing my entire body,
Speaker 1: and the old man sitting right next to my bed
Speaker 1: with the watchman. Who who was she? What happened last night?
Speaker 1: The old man wiped his tears and said.
Speaker 2: That was my daughter, Catherine. I used to call her Kathy.
Speaker 2: She was five years old then.
Speaker 1: Every winter she used to come out of the house
Speaker 1: and play in the snow with her little dog, Casper.
Speaker 1: I remember how she laughed in enjoy seeing the white
Speaker 1: snow everywhere. One night, my wife and I were asleep
Speaker 1: in our room. I got drunk and forgot to lock
Speaker 1: the main door. That night, Kathy must have woken up,
Speaker 1: seen the snowfall and secretly went out to play, taking
Speaker 1: her dog with her. They were playing on the lake
Speaker 1: when the ice cracked and they fell into the icy
Speaker 1: cold water. I came running, hearing their scream and immediately
Speaker 1: dove in looking for them, but her little body get
Speaker 1: lost in that evil lake. My wife went mad after
Speaker 1: her death and committed suicide after not being able to
Speaker 1: take this pain. But Kathy comes back often whenever a
Speaker 1: heavy snowfall takes place, she comes back to remind me
Speaker 1: of how it was my mistake, how it was my
Speaker 1: irresponsible deed that led to her death. I didn't know
Speaker 1: what to say after hearing this story, and I just
Speaker 1: sat there with a pale face. Is it even possible?
Speaker 1: Can people come back again and again? Is there still
Speaker 1: life even after death?
Speaker 2: Sponge?
Speaker 1: I used to work as a living butler at a
Speaker 1: manor in the countryside for a very old and very
Speaker 1: wealthy man. His name was mister Benson, and while he
Speaker 1: was a little distant in crushety as old rich men
Speaker 1: tended to be. He always treated his staff with respect,
Speaker 1: and I felt like I was valued.
Speaker 2: Working under him.
Speaker 1: I'm sure that the other household servants, from the aids
Speaker 1: to his personal chef, also felt the same way. Most
Speaker 1: of us have been serving him for a decade or more,
Speaker 1: even if he was just our employer. You can't work
Speaker 1: for someone for that long without getting a little attached.
Speaker 1: We all knew that mister Benson didn't have much longer
Speaker 1: to live at his age, but we were determined to
Speaker 1: make his final years as comfortable as possible as thanks
Speaker 1: for keeping us employed for so long. Each Christmas, mister
Speaker 1: Benson would leave the Manor to spend time with his
Speaker 1: family in the city.
Speaker 2: Nine times out.
Speaker 1: Of ten he would return to his ryal manner on
Speaker 1: Boxing Day the following morning looking pissed off. If I
Speaker 1: had to guess, it was probably because his family kept
Speaker 1: insisting that he put himself in a retirement home. Though
Speaker 1: I never pried him on him, I was still just
Speaker 1: his butler after all. On Boxing Day, the staff were
Speaker 1: pleasantly surprised when he came back from his Christmas trip
Speaker 1: with gifts for.
Speaker 2: All of us.
Speaker 1: Boxing Day in the UK was originally a holiday where
Speaker 1: masters would give their servants the day off alongside a
Speaker 1: boxed gift. While the practice has died down since not
Speaker 1: everyone had servants, mister Benson still gave us Boxing Day
Speaker 1: off as per tradition. However, his gifts were usually envelopes
Speaker 1: of cash rather than neatly wrapped presents. He gave us
Speaker 1: that day at his insistence, we all unwrapped the presents
Speaker 1: in front of him. Some of them let out a
Speaker 1: stifled squeeze when they realized what it was.
Speaker 2: Each servant of.
Speaker 1: The Manor get their very own golden box of luxury chocolates,
Speaker 1: myself included. Everyone thanked the old man for his thoughtful gift.
Speaker 1: Apparently it's true that everybody likes chocolate. I thanked mister
Speaker 1: Benson as well, though I knew I would never get
Speaker 1: to taste the chocolate he gave me. I was deathly
Speaker 1: allergic to the stuff, but I wasn't about to tell
Speaker 1: him that and ruined the gesture. Instead, I decided to
Speaker 1: use my day off to go do some Christmas charity
Speaker 1: of my own. With this gift, I drove to the
Speaker 1: nearby city and walked into the nearest homeless shelter. They
Speaker 1: were holding a food drive where people were donating things
Speaker 1: like canned meat and cereal, stuff that last for a
Speaker 1: long time and keeps you fed, even if they don't
Speaker 1: taste too great.
Speaker 2: I added the box of chocolates.
Speaker 1: I got to that pile, thinking that I could help
Speaker 1: brighten someone's day.
Speaker 2: The volunteer worker.
Speaker 1: I handed the box of chocolates too, looked surprised when
Speaker 1: I handed it to her and asked if I was
Speaker 1: sure about giving something like that away. I told her
Speaker 1: that it was fine, since it was a gift, and
Speaker 1: since I'm allergic to chocolate. Anyways, it's better given to
Speaker 1: someone who can actually enjoy it. Once that was done,
Speaker 1: I spent the rest of my free day enjoying the
Speaker 1: festivities in the city before I had to return to
Speaker 1: the Manor. In the countryside, I went shopping with the
Speaker 1: money I'd saved up over the year. I watched some
Speaker 1: cheesy but charming Christmas movies in the theater, treated myself
Speaker 1: to dinner at a trendy restaurant, and may have taken
Speaker 1: advantage of some sales to snag a couple of bottles
Speaker 1: of expensive whiskey.
Speaker 2: All in all, I had a good time.
Speaker 1: Once I'd exhausted all my Christmas cheer, I drove back
Speaker 1: to the Manor with a bag of Christmas goodies in
Speaker 1: the trunk. The first thing I saw when I walked
Speaker 1: through the manor door was one of the maids lying
Speaker 1: still on the floor. I recognized her as Clara, one
Speaker 1: of mister Benson's more recent hires. At first I assumed
Speaker 1: that she must have passed out drunk after having one
Speaker 1: less of Christmas brandy. To many I've been in her
Speaker 1: shoes before on my days off at the manor, though
Speaker 1: I at least had the decency to do so in
Speaker 1: the privacy of my own bedroom. Being the head butler
Speaker 1: of the manner, I was already thinking of how to
Speaker 1: reprimand her for allowing such a shameful display. As I
Speaker 1: tried to gently shake her awake, Clara, wake up this instant.
Speaker 1: You're a servant, not a dog that can sleep on
Speaker 1: the floor. When she didn't wake up, I got worried.
Speaker 1: I put my hand on her forehead and recoiled in
Speaker 1: surprise when I found that it was ice cold to
Speaker 1: the touch. My growing concern turned to outright horror when
Speaker 1: I placed two fingers to her neck and realized that
Speaker 1: she had no pulse. Everyone come quick, Something's happened to Clara.
Speaker 1: I shouted for everyone in the manner to hear, but
Speaker 1: no one gain. A pit formed in my stomach. Fearing
Speaker 1: the worst, I went deeper into the manner and came
Speaker 1: across the same scene. In every room. The servants of
Speaker 1: the house, my friends and colleagues whom I'd lived with
Speaker 1: worked with for years, all lay lifeless in each room.
Speaker 1: I called the police on my phone, and they arrived
Speaker 1: within the hour. As I was giving one of them
Speaker 1: my statement, I overheard one of the officers investigating the
Speaker 1: scene behind me talking about it. No wounds or signs
Speaker 1: of struggle. Looks like another case of poisoning. Must have
Speaker 1: been the same guy who poisoned that homeless shelter earlier today,
Speaker 1: But why would they do something like this? Minutes later,
Speaker 1: another officer came out of the master bedroom where mister
Speaker 1: Benson usually slept, holding a note signed by mister Benson himself.
Speaker 1: He told his colleagues that it looked like a suicide
Speaker 1: note and read it out loud for them to hear.
Speaker 1: To whom it may concern. Today will be my last
Speaker 1: day on this mortal coil. I know that old age
Speaker 1: will take me soon, but I am determined to die
Speaker 1: on my own terms rather than wait for the reaper
Speaker 1: claim me.
Speaker 2: However, the thought of dying alone weighs heavy on me.
Speaker 1: These past few years have only been made bearable by
Speaker 1: the aid of my cherished servants, whom I can imagine
Speaker 1: myself without it, even in the afterlife. I have poisoned
Speaker 1: them with my gift of chocolates. By the time anyone
Speaker 1: reads this, they will be dead, and I will have
Speaker 1: joined them. They did not suffer, for I have been
Speaker 1: told that the poison was painless to the loved ones
Speaker 1: they left behind.
Speaker 2: Please do not fret.
Speaker 1: I will love them in my next life as much
Speaker 1: as I did in this one.