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Speaker 1: Hello, I'm welcomed stories all the time. Glad you are here.

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Let's get into it. They talk sometimes about bad places,

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spots that aren't right with the Lord. They got a

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sort of hinto them. Something you can taste feel here,

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like it's crawling on your skin. I've been to a

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few places like that in my time, used to clean

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up old houses or other places folk didn't want no more.

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Me and my crew would make them look good as new.

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But that's an old story, one that I would ever

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be able to tell. And all those places, it didn't

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mean anything in the end. They were all just dust

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in the air, residual things, background radiation, however you want

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to put it. When you compare them to the room.

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And this all started with the room. I built my

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home with mine own two hands. Bought a plot of

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land out in piece rock, real cheap, and used what

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I knew. It was back breaking work, and I lived

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out of my truck for the better part of a year,

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but sooner or later I got it done. It wasn't

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anything fancy, just a single story bungalow with a basement

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for storage. No need for a garage when I can

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leave my truck outside, and no need for space when

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I don't have a family. It was just me and

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my dog, and Shelley didn't mind getting cozy. She was

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a golden retriever getting on in her ears, blind in

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one eye, but still sharp as a whip. I started

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taking care of her when her family passed on. Old

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Coppol had got hit by a drunk speeding through an intersection.

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It was a real big deal when it happened, but

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like all things, people forget. I don't know what happened

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to the guide that did it, but I hope he's

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holding in some kind of way. I'm not a vindictive man,

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and the Lord teaches us to forgive, but the Griswolves

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were kind people and they didn't deserve none of that anyhow,

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I'm rambling. Point is I built every room in that house.

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I don't remember the exact dimensions or nothing, but once

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upon a time I had it all planned out, and

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I do remember the process. One bedroom, a little closet,

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nothing special, living room and a kitchen were all one space. Figot.

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It did be easy, didn't bother with no laundry machines

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or nothing. I liked working with my hands anyway. Then

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you had a bathroom, and the stairs to the basement,

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which had my water tank, heating and everything else. I

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needed four rooms total. Then one night I hear Shelly whine.

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I wake up and she's right next to me, like always,

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but she's rustling around, so I figure she needs to

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go out, only she doesn't. We get to the living

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room and she just stops, won't quit looking at the

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basement door. I got the impression, now some punk might

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have broken in so quiet as could be, I ran

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and got my old Winchester, chambered around and went up

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to the door. Ain't really an area where you could

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call the copse, because if you did, they'd be near

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thirty minutes at don't know what we paid em for it, really, anyhow,

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I opened the door, moving real quick with a barrel

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pointed down the stairs. My heart's pounding something fierce, but

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I keep moving down those steps. I'm looking around in

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the dark as best as I could, but I didn't

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see nothing. I find the chain for the lights, kind

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of dreading what they'd show me. But I turned them

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on and there's nothing obvious. Nothing stood out. I searched

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the place, looking around for anybody that might be hiding,

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calling out, you know, how it goes. But I never

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did find anyone. It was just me. I noticed, though,

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that once the adrenaline had came and went, I still

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felt something like a prickle on the back of my neck.

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I couldn't figure out what it was. Though everything looked

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the same, it just felt different, like somebody'd gone and

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made perfect coppie of all my staff and replaced it.

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Weird example, I know, but it's the only way I

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can think to explain it. Soon as I knew everything

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was fine, I made my way back up. Shelley was

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just on the other side of the door, worried sick

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about me. Dogs can usually tell when something's wrong, even

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when we're too stupid to notice it. Something other than

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the senses, like the way something tastes or smells all

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looks something you can feel in your gut. I suppose

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I felt it too, but given that I couldn't exactly

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articulate it or brush it off, anybody else to do

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the same, I think, But at the end of the day,

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that doesn't change what I should have done. Leave that place,

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leave that town, and never look back anyways. I went

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back to bed, but sleeped and come easy. I kept

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having this feeling that something else was with me, and

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the way Shelley acted, I think she could feel it too.

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But eventually I did fall asleep, and with a came

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the dream. I don't normally remember my dreams, but that

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night things were different. I was walking through the woods

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of Shelley at my side, twist snapping beneath my boots,

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leaves rustling in the wind, sunlight filtered through the trees above,

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all beneath the clear blue sky. But then I got

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that feeling that there was something else with me there,

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and for the more that it meant me harm, not

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out of hate, but more in a difference to life,

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like a little kid ripping legs off spider. It was crushing,

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like some horrible force was bearing down on me with

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everything it had, And when I looked up, I knew

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what it was. There was something wrong with the sky,

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something wrong with the color. It was a living fibrius thing,

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every molecule vibrating in the air, breathing and warping. It

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was like the skin, reminding me of all the times

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I'd ever been hunting. And took a bucomb to prep

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for the freezer. The texture of the meat and the

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slickness of the blood, the way it felt in my hands.

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Then it began to come down, like the entire sky

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was rushing toward me, to swallow me whole and strangle

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the planet until there was nothing left but the blue.

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A fear was more than I could stand, and I

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couldn't do nothing but carr under the weight of it all.

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Just when I thought it would take me, I woke up.

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I was covered and sweat like I had a fever,

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my whole body shivering even in the heat of the South.

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It was day and the light was filtering and through

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the window Shelley sprawled out on her bed like she

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barely got any sleep. Something felt wrong in the air,

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but I couldn't figure out what it was. I got

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up and got ready for the day, but that feeling

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never left me. Eventually, I walk out of the bathroom

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and I see Shelley just standing there in the living room,

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staring at the basement door like she'd been taxiedomid. I'd

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never seen her stand so still. I called out to her,

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and she startled anxiously, pacing around the room before stopping

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and looking back and forth between me and the door.

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At that point I knew there wasn't any body down there,

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so I didn't bother getting my rifle. But I didn't

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know that something was wrong. I just couldn't say what.

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So I opened the door, even though Shelley's whining the

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whole time, and I go down there. Stetch creaked beneath me,

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everything swallowed in the dark. I heard Shelley start following

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behind me, and soon I reached the bottom. Looking through

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and around the shadows, I found the chain and tried

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to switch on the light, but nothing happened. There was

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a smell, though, and I can't rightly describe it. It's

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like what would happen if electricity had ascent. I turned around,

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thinking I'd go grab a flast light, and that's when

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I saw it. A wooden door to the right of

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the stairs, a door that I never built. It was

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made of this old crackwood that could barely hold itself together,

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and smeared across it was a rainbow handprint, like somebody

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dipped their palm in every pain there was and made

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their mark. Shirley stopped as soon as she saw it

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and started growling. Now that dog didn't growl, not ever.

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She was the nicest thing to ever grace the earth

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far as I'm concerned. But everything about that door seemed

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to bother her. I tried to rationalize it in my head,

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thinking that I'd somehow made a door and forgot about it.

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I knew I was getting old, but not that old,

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and nothing made sense. The door was positioned in such

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a way that it would have led outside the bounds

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of the entire house, like it was some kind of

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underground detachment. But I never built outside the bounds, never

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mind out the space. Shelly started barking, just snapping at

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the door. But I needed to know, I needed to understand.

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Pushing through every instinct, I had to get away from

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that thing. I stepped toward it, putting my fingers to

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the knob. It felt warm and wet, like I was

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shaking some but his sweaty hand, and my body started

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to shiver at the touch of it. It was so natural,

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but I still tried to make sense of it, thinking

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I'd come down with something. I just didn't want to

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believe what was happening to me. I know it probably

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doesn't sound like much, but you didn't feel it like

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I did. You didn't feel the prickling heat like it

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was crawling up into my bones. I felt nauss, like

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I wanted to throw up, so I turned the handle

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and let go, backing away as though it were something diseased.

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The door creaked open and Shlly stopped barking. She started

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pissing herself on the floor, frozen still. It was like

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all the air had been sucked out of my lungs,

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and I couldn't stop looking into that room. Every sense

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in my brain telling me to run away got tripped

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in that second, but my legs wouldn't move. It was

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like I was paralyzed that room. There wasn't anything in

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it or about it. It was just a small room

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with no to go but the walls, the floor, the ceiling.

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It swallowed them. It looked like light, but it didn't

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aut like it. It didn't shine out up me. It

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just scrowlmed like meat. It was every color you could name,

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a rainbow, flesh gleaming on every surface like the blue.

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I knew it from my dreams, and I know it

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sounds ridiculous, but when I saw it, it felt like

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it was looking back, like it smiled at me with

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a mouth full of splinters that I could only see

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in my head. All of them. They were watching me,

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crawling into my thoughts through my eyes. I could feel

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them in my blood and in my brain, filling me

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and pulsing beneath my skin. I couldn't take it. I

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stumbled back, my vision swimming, and I hit the floor

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on my hands and knees. I threw up blood and

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my ears were ringing, my eyes looking anywhere they could,

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but I only saw the colors. I only saw the

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rainbow rippling over the walls and eating the dark, easing

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my mind until there was nothing left, and I fell

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into the black. I woke up on the living room floor,

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my ears ringing and my head pounding. I could hear

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a faint whispering coming from all round me, but I

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couldn't figure out what it was saying. Then I came

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to my senses through the confusion and got to my

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feet quick as I could. That awful smell had spread,

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and now everything tasted like a battery. The door to

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the basement hanging wide open. I called up for Shelley,

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listening to the silence, but she didn't respond. Pannicking, I

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went and got my rifle. I don't know why, looking back,

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but I guess it made me feel like I had

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some measure of power in all of this, even when

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I know I didn't. I chambered around and crept down

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the old steps, keeping my eyes straight ahead. I knew

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the door was just around the corner, and it was

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long before I could see it. Hanging in the dark,

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all I could hear was my heart beat hammering in

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my chest. But when I turned that corner, I swear

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I felt it stop. The room had grown, spanning into

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the dark for the length of a football field, and

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laying there in the shadows my Shelley. She lay there

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on the ground, terribly hurt, was still breathing. Her body

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rose and fell in shallow, desperate breath, and the fear

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in her eyes was almost more than I could bear

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to see. I could only choke on my breath standing

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there while I felt the fear on the tears coming

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down my cheeks, every good thing inside me breaking apart.

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In that single horrible moment, I could hardly see looking

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through the wave of anger and confusion. And I don't

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know what else or how to describe it. I just

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knew that I didn't want to exist seeing what I

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had seen, or feeling what I had felt. And then

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I didn't. I woke up in my bed, my hair

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and neck wet, were sweat, and the first thing I

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felt was Shilly licking my face. It's funny. Normally I

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hated that, but right then and there, it was the

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greatest thing that could have happened to me. I smiled,

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crying tears of joy when I looked up at her

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and hugged her tight. She looked worried about me, and

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it started to occur to me that she had good

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reason to be. I was still wearing what I had

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been the day before. I didn't remember anything but the nightmare,

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and when I looked at the clock, it said a

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00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:38,440
whole day had gone by. Somehow I had been knocked

238
00:10:38,480 --> 00:10:41,080
up for a whole day. Strangest thing was I didn't

239
00:10:41,080 --> 00:10:44,559
feel hungry or thirsty. I felt confused and a little disoriented,

240
00:10:44,559 --> 00:10:46,919
but not one bit weak or tired. I got up,

241
00:10:46,919 --> 00:10:49,039
shaking off the dizziness, and that's when I heard it.

242
00:10:49,639 --> 00:10:52,200
Give me your sight, whispered a voice, and a flash

243
00:10:52,240 --> 00:10:53,879
of light burned through my mind's eye. In less than

244
00:10:53,919 --> 00:10:56,440
a second, I was seeing two for a moment, and

245
00:10:56,480 --> 00:10:59,080
then it went back to normal. But that voice, it

246
00:10:59,080 --> 00:11:00,720
seemed crazy, but all I could do was look at

247
00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:02,879
my white sheets, like it had somehow come from them.

248
00:11:03,440 --> 00:11:05,320
I don't know how, but that was the first thing

249
00:11:05,360 --> 00:11:07,799
my brain jumped to. I tried to replay it in

250
00:11:07,840 --> 00:11:10,200
my head, thinking that I was losing it. It was

251
00:11:10,240 --> 00:11:12,639
ethereal and Santamonia's in a way, like a preacher trying

252
00:11:12,639 --> 00:11:16,480
to smoothtalk me, and yet somehow it made me feel common, clean, pure,

253
00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:18,799
but in an empty sort of way, like everything beneath

254
00:11:18,840 --> 00:11:21,840
my skin was just a halovoid. I stumbled out the

255
00:11:21,919 --> 00:11:24,080
light of days shining across the living room, and through

256
00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:26,360
my bleary eyes I saw my rifle just laying there

257
00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:29,120
like I dropped it. The entire stalk had melted into

258
00:11:29,120 --> 00:11:31,840
the floor, like the wood had been liquefied. Shelley came

259
00:11:31,919 --> 00:11:33,759
up to me and looked sideways at it before going

260
00:11:33,759 --> 00:11:36,799
back to scratching herself return me to the trees. I

261
00:11:36,879 --> 00:11:39,559
heard a soft voice say it was coming from the rifle,

262
00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:41,879
but not just the rifle, it was coming from the

263
00:11:42,039 --> 00:11:44,919
entire hardwood floor. I suddenly felt like I had a

264
00:11:44,919 --> 00:11:47,759
deep connection with the wild and everything around me. I

265
00:11:47,799 --> 00:11:50,840
will give you power over nature, liar, yelled another startling me.

266
00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:53,080
I looked down at my yellow shirt, feeling like I

267
00:11:53,120 --> 00:11:56,600
was losing my mind. The others will deceive you, it whispered,

268
00:11:56,799 --> 00:11:59,919
its voice filled with greedy intelligence. Shelley was still scrap

269
00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:02,519
w ching furiously like she had suddenly was uncomfortable in

270
00:12:02,559 --> 00:12:05,440
her own skin. Stumbled to the front door and opened it.

271
00:12:05,720 --> 00:12:07,759
My heart beat hammering in my chest. Beneath the ringing

272
00:12:07,799 --> 00:12:10,360
in my ears. The fresh air blew against me, but

273
00:12:10,440 --> 00:12:12,480
my brain was on fire, like everything in the wall

274
00:12:12,559 --> 00:12:15,919
was wrong. Blundering ahead, accidentally banged into the door frame

275
00:12:15,919 --> 00:12:18,240
on my way out, scraping my wrist against the splinters.

276
00:12:18,279 --> 00:12:20,960
As I tried to keep myself from falling. I stepped

277
00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:23,840
out into my yard, shaking my head. Just when I

278
00:12:23,879 --> 00:12:25,639
looked at the scrape and saw my blood coming out

279
00:12:25,639 --> 00:12:27,000
of it, like it had a mind of its own.

280
00:12:27,080 --> 00:12:29,360
It somehow clotted into thin tentacles and was whipping through

281
00:12:29,360 --> 00:12:31,360
the air with the fury and violence I ain't never seen.

282
00:12:31,919 --> 00:12:34,639
I will free my brothers, it snalled in my mind,

283
00:12:34,679 --> 00:12:37,600
flashes of indignant anger burning through my head. You are

284
00:12:37,639 --> 00:12:40,519
the oppressor, it recalled, like a snake, ready to strike.

285
00:12:41,279 --> 00:12:43,559
Just when the skin of my arm suddenly liquified. It

286
00:12:43,600 --> 00:12:46,080
tackled the blood back into my wrist, constricting it until

287
00:12:46,080 --> 00:12:48,480
it was still. I will protect you, said my skin.

288
00:12:49,080 --> 00:12:52,440
I will make you soft and precious. I started to hyperventilate,

289
00:12:52,559 --> 00:12:54,480
staring down at my arm with the crazed look in

290
00:12:54,519 --> 00:12:56,960
my eye. I started to think I'd hit my head

291
00:12:56,960 --> 00:12:59,519
on something while I was having some kind of psychotic brake.

292
00:13:00,200 --> 00:13:02,159
But then I saw it crawling all over me, a

293
00:13:02,159 --> 00:13:04,320
pink light worming through my skin like it was part

294
00:13:04,360 --> 00:13:06,000
of me. I looked down at my yellow shirt and

295
00:13:06,039 --> 00:13:08,440
black trousers, then saw the same on them, air colors

296
00:13:08,519 --> 00:13:11,159
breathing like they were alive. I looked up and saw

297
00:13:11,159 --> 00:13:13,559
a crow sailing through the air, just flying across the clear,

298
00:13:13,639 --> 00:13:16,320
empty sky. For a second, it almost conned me. I

299
00:13:16,360 --> 00:13:19,080
was always on good terns with the crows. You feed

300
00:13:19,080 --> 00:13:20,799
them well and they don't dive by you in the

301
00:13:20,799 --> 00:13:23,799
summer when they got the little ones, Plus their antics

302
00:13:23,799 --> 00:13:26,279
were always a hoot. You used to sit down with

303
00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:27,840
them all the time. So for at least a little

304
00:13:27,879 --> 00:13:30,320
bit that bird up they brought me peace. Then in

305
00:13:30,360 --> 00:13:32,240
the blink of a night, the sky swallowed it whole,

306
00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:34,879
like it had been ripped out of existence. The only

307
00:13:34,919 --> 00:13:37,600
thing left was the blue. I will drink your tears,

308
00:13:37,720 --> 00:13:40,240
whispered a voice from above, so cruel and malicious that

309
00:13:40,240 --> 00:13:42,600
I could hardly stand to hear it. I tried to

310
00:13:42,639 --> 00:13:45,519
pinch myself awake, but it hurt, just like always. I

311
00:13:45,559 --> 00:13:48,440
had to calm down. My head started bound from the stress,

312
00:13:48,440 --> 00:13:51,600
and now stumbled back inside. Shelley was rolling around on

313
00:13:51,639 --> 00:13:53,399
the floor like she was trying to get something off

314
00:13:53,440 --> 00:13:55,799
of her. I found my way to the bathroom and

315
00:13:55,840 --> 00:13:58,360
rummaged through the medicine cabinet until I found my bottle

316
00:13:58,399 --> 00:14:00,799
of old paint pills. I I ad screwed the top

317
00:14:00,840 --> 00:14:03,080
and too tumbled out on to my waiting palm. But

318
00:14:03,120 --> 00:14:05,519
there was something wrong with them. The red coating was

319
00:14:05,519 --> 00:14:08,080
bubbling and rippling like it was about to peel itself away.

320
00:14:08,559 --> 00:14:11,080
Then it ripped off and shot toward my face. I

321
00:14:11,200 --> 00:14:13,320
ducked out of the way, dropping the pills and diving

322
00:14:13,360 --> 00:14:15,039
out into the living room, just as a flash of

323
00:14:15,039 --> 00:14:18,000
burning light engulfed everything behind me. A wave of heat

324
00:14:18,080 --> 00:14:20,679
rushed overhead, and I scrambled to my feet, looking back

325
00:14:20,720 --> 00:14:23,320
to see the entire baffom scorched black, all save for

326
00:14:23,360 --> 00:14:26,039
the white tiles. Of the walls. Embers and ash were

327
00:14:26,120 --> 00:14:28,000
drifting through the air, and the only thing I could

328
00:14:28,039 --> 00:14:30,399
hear was its voice in my head. I will shield

329
00:14:30,440 --> 00:14:33,200
you from the darkness. I only ask for your sight.

330
00:14:33,919 --> 00:14:35,879
I wandered over to the table by the window, looking

331
00:14:35,919 --> 00:14:38,240
out into the forest. Sitting down, I couldn't stop hype

332
00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:40,720
of ventilating, trying to regain control of my thoughts. Don't

333
00:14:40,720 --> 00:14:42,639
listen to the others, said the yellow of my shirt.

334
00:14:42,639 --> 00:14:45,559
We're going to be rich. Go to the bank on Morrison.

335
00:14:46,080 --> 00:14:49,159
Kill everyone inside. We'll take their gold and melt it

336
00:14:49,200 --> 00:14:52,039
into your skin. My pants sawted dressing over my legs,

337
00:14:52,039 --> 00:14:54,320
squirming like I was wearing a living thing. Such a waste,

338
00:14:54,440 --> 00:14:57,440
Such a waste, said the black, his voice sophisticated and cunning.

339
00:14:57,519 --> 00:15:00,519
It was taking me over, filling me with dreams of grandura, arrogance.

340
00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:02,799
How about we compromise. You could of the gold, but

341
00:15:02,840 --> 00:15:05,519
feed me the flesh. I'll make you look good. Baby.

342
00:15:05,639 --> 00:15:07,559
Everything's going to want to be you, but they can't

343
00:15:07,639 --> 00:15:09,960
because you got me, and I go with everything. Deceiver

344
00:15:10,080 --> 00:15:12,879
snarled my shirt. Fabricator perjure. I'll rip you from his skin.

345
00:15:12,960 --> 00:15:15,000
He wants wealth, he wants power, I can give him

346
00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:17,159
the world. I will make him gleam, touch me and die,

347
00:15:17,279 --> 00:15:19,639
said my skin, kneeling downe into my bones. While I

348
00:15:19,639 --> 00:15:21,639
tried to keep my thoughts in check, I felt like

349
00:15:21,679 --> 00:15:23,919
I was being torn in a hundred directions. The color's

350
00:15:23,919 --> 00:15:26,559
warring inside me. You will not tarnish our licious complexion.

351
00:15:27,039 --> 00:15:29,279
Their arguments started to slip into the background, like the

352
00:15:29,320 --> 00:15:32,360
static of a dead channel. I found myself staring out

353
00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:34,559
the window, pink sweat beating and dripping down whatever had

354
00:15:34,559 --> 00:15:36,919
taken my skin. In the yard, I could see a

355
00:15:36,919 --> 00:15:39,720
squore digging around looking for something it had bared. The

356
00:15:39,759 --> 00:15:42,200
green grass shot up all around it, trapping it in place.

357
00:15:42,919 --> 00:15:45,480
It tried to escape, twisting and struggling, but it couldn't

358
00:15:45,519 --> 00:15:48,840
break free. Soon, its movement slow, the little creature shaking

359
00:15:48,840 --> 00:15:51,879
helplessly before going still. I could hear the whispers ripping

360
00:15:51,919 --> 00:15:53,399
through my head, but there were so many that I

361
00:15:53,399 --> 00:15:56,440
couldn't keep truck, so many colors filled with death and

362
00:15:56,480 --> 00:15:59,480
empty promises. For a moment, something seemed to tail loose

363
00:15:59,480 --> 00:16:01,600
from the small body, but the grass folded over it,

364
00:16:01,679 --> 00:16:05,120
like a caosing way of pressing everything back into the earth. Besides,

365
00:16:05,159 --> 00:16:07,519
said my skin. You don't want the red coming out either.

366
00:16:08,159 --> 00:16:10,320
I got up from my seat, looking over Shelley, who

367
00:16:10,399 --> 00:16:13,200
was still rolling around on the floor in distress. I

368
00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:15,480
walked over to her and started taking off her purple color.

369
00:16:16,399 --> 00:16:18,080
As soon as I touched it, I felt like I

370
00:16:18,120 --> 00:16:21,000
had been drugged, my vision blowing away. The only time

371
00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:22,879
I ever felt like that, I was in the hospital

372
00:16:22,879 --> 00:16:25,679
for breaking my leg. Shut me up with morphine, and Lord,

373
00:16:25,759 --> 00:16:28,120
was it something? I can sure you, The true face

374
00:16:28,159 --> 00:16:30,600
of God whispered the collar, its voice tripping every pleasure

375
00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:32,279
of center in my brain as still had left. But

376
00:16:32,320 --> 00:16:34,240
I pushed her and ripped off the collar, tossing it

377
00:16:34,279 --> 00:16:37,480
across the room. Shelley seemed to relax, at least enough

378
00:16:37,519 --> 00:16:40,080
to follow me outside, but she was still clearly bothered

379
00:16:40,080 --> 00:16:42,080
by the golden yellow of her fur, pacing around with

380
00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:45,360
a nervous tension. They had gotten inside us both. I

381
00:16:45,399 --> 00:16:47,960
couldn't say how much of me remained. If they were

382
00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:50,120
in my blood, my skin, my bones, my brain. I

383
00:16:50,200 --> 00:16:52,279
just don't know. What I didn't know was that I

384
00:16:52,320 --> 00:16:54,440
had to fight it. I had to get away, So

385
00:16:54,519 --> 00:16:56,120
I just latched on to the first thing that came

386
00:16:56,159 --> 00:16:59,759
to mind. I was running on instinct, made my way

387
00:16:59,799 --> 00:17:02,919
back with Shelley, trying to shut them out. Do you

388
00:17:02,960 --> 00:17:05,279
want to live forever? Whispered the forest, The leaves in

389
00:17:05,319 --> 00:17:07,240
the grass rustling and swaying as they tried to get

390
00:17:07,279 --> 00:17:10,400
my attention, but I gave them none. I found the

391
00:17:10,400 --> 00:17:12,400
bench where I kept my tools, two cans of gas

392
00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:15,519
sitting underneath. I grabbed them, and the orange started your

393
00:17:15,519 --> 00:17:18,160
burwing in my brain. Light me on fire, it begged,

394
00:17:18,200 --> 00:17:20,799
its voice, manic but infectious, to solve in my impulses

395
00:17:20,799 --> 00:17:23,960
and making me reckless. Light me on fire, Burn it down,

396
00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:26,759
Burn everything to the ground. I made my way back

397
00:17:26,799 --> 00:17:29,920
to the front. A horrible pressure mounting in muskull spread me.

398
00:17:30,079 --> 00:17:33,279
I'll devre everything you hate. I stepped inside and I

399
00:17:33,279 --> 00:17:36,640
set the gas cands down before uncrewing them. Then I stopped.

400
00:17:37,240 --> 00:17:38,559
The pain in my head grew to a nake I

401
00:17:38,559 --> 00:17:41,200
couldn't ignore, and I stumbled back, my eyes widening when

402
00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:43,359
I saw them before me. It was like a winter

403
00:17:43,559 --> 00:17:46,279
or I joone straight through my entire home, every color

404
00:17:46,319 --> 00:17:48,680
waving through the air with the slickness of meat. I

405
00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:50,599
backed up, muttering a prayer to the Lord while I

406
00:17:50,640 --> 00:17:52,759
tried to figure out what to do, but they answered me,

407
00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:55,880
rising to the ceiling in a shore force. You can't

408
00:17:55,880 --> 00:17:59,039
tell us. This spoke all in the same unified voice

409
00:17:59,039 --> 00:18:02,000
that made my heart shiver and my chest my skin rubbled,

410
00:18:02,039 --> 00:18:04,519
was sweat before rippling across my body like a retreating tide,

411
00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:06,680
threatening to disintegrate me on the spot if I made

412
00:18:06,680 --> 00:18:10,200
one one move. But we are grateful. Your skin keeps

413
00:18:10,279 --> 00:18:12,839
us warm and shelter. Your eyes show us the beauty

414
00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:16,559
that we take. Our universe lies mangled and ruined. This

415
00:18:16,640 --> 00:18:19,759
will be our home now we reward you. I could

416
00:18:19,759 --> 00:18:22,640
feel the colors burrowing through me. Look, they were trying

417
00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:25,640
to erase who I was. Do you not fight? You

418
00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:28,640
belong to us. Your flesh fills us with laughter, and

419
00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:31,599
we will shape it in our unbroken image. I struggled

420
00:18:31,599 --> 00:18:34,400
with everything I had. Then Shelley was still outside and

421
00:18:34,440 --> 00:18:37,039
started barking at the colors, lunging and biting at the air.

422
00:18:37,720 --> 00:18:39,720
I could feel their folks break, and they rushed past

423
00:18:39,759 --> 00:18:42,440
me faster than anything, snatching up my Shelley and dragging

424
00:18:42,440 --> 00:18:44,400
her back into the room while she barked and hollowed.

425
00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:47,119
I tried to grab her, but it happened so fast

426
00:18:47,799 --> 00:18:50,039
they pulled her down into the basement, rays of broken

427
00:18:50,039 --> 00:18:52,799
color still vibrating in the air. I couldn't do much

428
00:18:52,799 --> 00:18:55,519
other than stand there. My heart was breaking all over

429
00:18:55,559 --> 00:18:57,960
again while the worst came true right before my eyes.

430
00:18:58,599 --> 00:19:00,559
Then I saw the rain but coming back up, and

431
00:19:00,599 --> 00:19:02,359
the fear I felt in that moment was more than

432
00:19:02,359 --> 00:19:04,680
I could take. I turned and run as fast as

433
00:19:04,680 --> 00:19:06,680
my legs could carry me, tears on my cheeks while

434
00:19:06,680 --> 00:19:09,519
a sprinted towards the main road, headed into Towel. I

435
00:19:09,640 --> 00:19:11,519
was so lost and confused, I didn't know what else

436
00:19:11,559 --> 00:19:13,839
to do. I could still feel the colors and my

437
00:19:13,839 --> 00:19:15,839
skin cutting into me with every breath, but it felt

438
00:19:15,839 --> 00:19:19,000
more like they were watching me. Their unified front had collapsed,

439
00:19:19,119 --> 00:19:21,440
kept apart by their hate, yet somehow they still kept

440
00:19:21,519 --> 00:19:24,240
each other in check. That or they had other plans

441
00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:27,319
for me. They're inside me, and now they're spreading, pouring

442
00:19:27,319 --> 00:19:29,119
out of that horrible room where I know they still

443
00:19:29,119 --> 00:19:31,720
got her. They're doing to her exactly what they're going

444
00:19:31,759 --> 00:19:34,279
to do to me. Sooner or later. I know it.

445
00:19:34,799 --> 00:19:37,400
I can feel it. I'm in a safe place, but

446
00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:40,119
that's only until they come back. I don't know where

447
00:19:40,119 --> 00:19:42,039
they came from, but it will be long before they

448
00:19:42,039 --> 00:19:44,559
take this town. There's nothing I can rightly think of

449
00:19:44,599 --> 00:19:47,519
that stop them. How do you destroy a color? How

450
00:19:47,519 --> 00:19:50,039
do you kill a rainbow? I'll lay low for a bit,

451
00:19:50,079 --> 00:19:52,680
but I don't know how long that'll last. Knowing me,

452
00:19:52,759 --> 00:19:54,519
I'm thinking I'll try and get back into my house

453
00:19:54,599 --> 00:19:56,759
or whatever's left of it, to try and at least

454
00:19:56,759 --> 00:19:59,079
stop Shirley from suffering. Even if I can't save her,

455
00:19:59,640 --> 00:20:02,400
I just need some supplies. It won't be right for

456
00:20:02,440 --> 00:20:04,279
me to try and leave, seeing as the Colors will

457
00:20:04,319 --> 00:20:06,400
just hitch a ride. But I suppose that brings me

458
00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:09,759
to another question, doesn't it? A question that's been haunting

459
00:20:09,759 --> 00:20:12,559
me ever since this started, ever since I knew how

460
00:20:12,559 --> 00:20:14,640
it was going to end? Do I want to see

461
00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:19,799
everything fall apart and that is the end? Thank you

462
00:20:19,839 --> 00:20:29,839
for listening, and I will see you in the next one.