1 00:00:01,600 --> 00:00:04,960 Speaker 1: When I found what was left to my grandfather. He 2 00:00:05,040 --> 00:00:08,759 didn't look like he was any closer to God, his 3 00:00:08,880 --> 00:00:12,800 flesh creaking like the bows of a tree. I might 4 00:00:12,839 --> 00:00:15,439 not have recognized what I was looking at if he 5 00:00:15,480 --> 00:00:20,160 hadn't whimpered at my light. I'd only met him once 6 00:00:20,239 --> 00:00:24,679 before that I was about ten or so. I had 7 00:00:24,719 --> 00:00:28,600 no idea about this strange man who turned up claiming 8 00:00:28,719 --> 00:00:34,280 he was my grandfather. For someone who believed cavemen rode dinosaurs, 9 00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:39,439 Elijah wasn't as weird as you might think. He tracked 10 00:00:39,479 --> 00:00:42,240 us down when I was thirteen and came over to 11 00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:47,240 Britain to visit us. Dad had never mentioned his biological father, 12 00:00:48,159 --> 00:00:51,200 and while the old man seemed regretful about the lost time, 13 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:56,240 he didn't sit around crying about it either. He was 14 00:00:56,320 --> 00:01:00,560 courteous but distant throughout, and he and Dad parted ways 15 00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:05,680 after those two days and never spoke again, at least 16 00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:10,040 not in person. He did invite us to see him 17 00:01:10,079 --> 00:01:13,680 some day in Texas as he left, but it never 18 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:19,079 happened Other than that. I remember that he sat me 19 00:01:19,159 --> 00:01:22,079 down one night that talked me through my maths text book, 20 00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:28,000 told me about imaginary numbers and string theory heavy stuff, 21 00:01:28,560 --> 00:01:32,439 but he made it accessible through his simple yet earnest passion. 22 00:01:33,840 --> 00:01:36,560 It was only after he'd gone that Dad told me 23 00:01:36,719 --> 00:01:41,640 the old Man was a young Earth creationist, believed the 24 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:45,120 Earth was around six thousand years old, and that every 25 00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:47,760 last solemn word in the Bible was meant to be 26 00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:53,319 taken literally. Twenty eight years later, and I was standing 27 00:01:53,439 --> 00:01:57,040 in the lobby of Elijah's privately owned museum that had 28 00:01:57,079 --> 00:02:01,359 passed to me after my father's death. Dad had never 29 00:02:01,439 --> 00:02:04,920 told me about either the museum or Elijah's own passing, 30 00:02:06,079 --> 00:02:09,319 but going through his estate turned it up, and I 31 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:12,680 was as surprised as any one to find out I 32 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:15,719 was now the owner of sixty acres on the other 33 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:20,520 side of the world. The whole place was dedicated to 34 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:25,039 teaching biblical science of the world's creation. I saw stone 35 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:29,280 slabs with human footprints displayed like great treasures, some of 36 00:02:29,319 --> 00:02:34,199 them sixteen inches healed to toe and with little placards explaining 37 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:37,919 that the rocks were proof of humans co existing with dinosaurs. 38 00:02:39,479 --> 00:02:42,919 There was a whole jungle room with plastic cavemen versions 39 00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:46,199 of Adam and Eve crouched over paper cut out fire, 40 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:49,919 while on the opposite side of the room, a badly 41 00:02:49,919 --> 00:02:55,199 made stegosaurus watched Caine push Abel to the ground, Although 42 00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:58,919 the most ludicrous was the one where two generic looking 43 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:04,520 cavemen u used to wraptor clause the harvest wheat. It 44 00:03:04,680 --> 00:03:10,039 was imaginative, I'll give him that, but it wasn't especially convincing. 45 00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:15,919 How or why Elijah was so obsessed with creationism was 46 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:19,680 something of a puzzle to me. He'd begun his career 47 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:23,080 with a pH d in mathematics and a short stint 48 00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:26,439 teaching at a local college, and part of the reason 49 00:03:26,479 --> 00:03:29,360 I spent so much time in that museum packing up 50 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:34,080 his things was to try and figure him out. During 51 00:03:34,120 --> 00:03:40,360 that time, I learned three key things. First, Elijah argued 52 00:03:40,439 --> 00:03:44,639 furiously with every other creationist he could find, and burned 53 00:03:44,759 --> 00:03:49,520 every bridge there was. Without their support, he had almost 54 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:52,599 no visitors during the thirty years the museum was open. 55 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:57,080 The second was a cutout of a newspaper I found 56 00:03:57,159 --> 00:04:01,639 on Elijah's desk, showing him grinning next to a dinosaur footprint. 57 00:04:02,639 --> 00:04:05,240 The article talked about how he'd gotten lost in the 58 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:10,159 wilderness and taken refuge in a cave full of old fossils. 59 00:04:10,719 --> 00:04:13,719 I recognized the land in that photo as the place 60 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:17,439 he'd later built his museum on, so it must have 61 00:04:17,519 --> 00:04:20,920 been important to him. I hadn't seen any cave in 62 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:24,680 my wonderings, though, but I figured if I kept looking, 63 00:04:25,079 --> 00:04:29,600 i'd come across it sooner or later. The final piece 64 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:34,120 of the puzzle was Elijah's letter to my grandmother. I 65 00:04:34,199 --> 00:04:37,399 never knew he'd reached out to her. All we knew 66 00:04:37,879 --> 00:04:41,000 was she slept with some American gi and never wanted 67 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:45,040 to see or speak to him again. The letter was 68 00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:49,639 a proposal, and I was initially surprised she'd shown no interest. 69 00:04:50,839 --> 00:04:56,560 Elijah was wealthy, intelligent, hard working, and, based on his photos, 70 00:04:57,160 --> 00:05:01,399 a good looking and athletic man. But then I got 71 00:05:01,399 --> 00:05:06,439 to the last page or so ethel, I can offer 72 00:05:06,480 --> 00:05:09,240 you more than just a good life. I can offer 73 00:05:09,279 --> 00:05:12,279 you an eternal one. I'm sure I told you by 74 00:05:12,319 --> 00:05:14,680 the time I hurt my leg hiking in the wilderness 75 00:05:14,959 --> 00:05:17,279 and was forced to take shelter in a cave until 76 00:05:17,279 --> 00:05:22,160 the storm passed. There, I found many strange and curious fossils, 77 00:05:22,879 --> 00:05:25,319 and I took the first steps on this strange hobby 78 00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:29,000 of mine. But what I haven't told the others is 79 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:31,399 that I saw more than just a few old rocks. 80 00:05:32,480 --> 00:05:38,399 I found a way down, down, down, down, Ethel. I 81 00:05:38,519 --> 00:05:42,680 went deep in the earth, and there I found a paradise, 82 00:05:43,399 --> 00:05:45,959 a peace of the world that had been preserved as 83 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:50,000 it was before the great flood. And I saw early 84 00:05:50,079 --> 00:05:53,040 Man still living as he did in the days of Eden, 85 00:05:53,959 --> 00:05:57,480 ten feet tall and a thousand years old, and speaking 86 00:05:57,519 --> 00:06:00,720 the tongue of God handed down before the fall of Babel. 87 00:06:01,720 --> 00:06:04,439 One of these great men sat me down and told 88 00:06:04,439 --> 00:06:07,959 me the secret histories of the world. I've kept this 89 00:06:08,079 --> 00:06:11,360 knowledge to myself for so long, but I know I 90 00:06:11,399 --> 00:06:14,600 can change the world, and it begins with this new 91 00:06:14,600 --> 00:06:19,160 book I'm writing. After that, a museum to display all 92 00:06:19,199 --> 00:06:23,480 the proof I've gathered. It isn't just about history, Ethel. 93 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:28,279 It's the future that at stake. Down there I learned 94 00:06:28,319 --> 00:06:31,079 how to put a stop to it. All the wars 95 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:35,560 and the fighting, hunger and deprivation, it can all be 96 00:06:35,639 --> 00:06:38,120 a thing of the past. And I believe it's God's 97 00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:41,800 will I do this. I can change the world, Ethel. 98 00:06:43,279 --> 00:06:45,480 I want you by my side when I do it. 99 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:51,240 There it is, I muttered quietly to myself as I 100 00:06:51,279 --> 00:06:55,040 read the letter by the tim light of Elijah's old desk. Lamp. 101 00:06:56,319 --> 00:06:59,279 That was why my grandmother had not responded to his letters, 102 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:02,879 and why my father did not meet his father until 103 00:07:02,920 --> 00:07:07,920 Elijah tracked him down decades later, six weeks in the 104 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:12,959 dusty ruins of Elijah's seldom visited museum, and I finally 105 00:07:12,959 --> 00:07:20,920 felt like I understood my grandfather, intelligent, stubborn, possibly mentally ill. 106 00:07:23,639 --> 00:07:26,519 Over the next few days, I continued to pack up 107 00:07:26,560 --> 00:07:30,240 his things and found myself often feeling sorry for him. 108 00:07:31,879 --> 00:07:35,279 It was lonely out there, and it made me uncomfortable 109 00:07:35,279 --> 00:07:39,319 to think of how an old man painstakingly painted little 110 00:07:39,399 --> 00:07:42,959 plaques no one wanted to read, or planning the best 111 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:46,600 place to build public toilets for field trips that never came, 112 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:52,439 and he just kept at it right until the end. 113 00:07:53,959 --> 00:07:57,160 It was like I was walking around the physical manifestation 114 00:07:57,839 --> 00:08:02,839 of someone's delusions. But then I found the door behind 115 00:08:02,839 --> 00:08:08,720 the bookcase, and I discovered that Elijah had built two museums. 116 00:08:09,759 --> 00:08:12,319 Whole time i'd been in that place, i'd felt a 117 00:08:12,399 --> 00:08:15,519 kind of quieter ease, but I'd put it down to 118 00:08:15,600 --> 00:08:20,639 the circumstances packing up a dead man's things, or so 119 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:24,399 I thought. But as soon as I pulled on that 120 00:08:24,480 --> 00:08:28,120 little locking mechanism, and the shelf popped free with a 121 00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:33,000 puff of stale air. I understood I'd been sensing something 122 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:37,600 else entirely. It was the darkness that stood out to me, 123 00:08:38,679 --> 00:08:42,639 or maybe the smell. Hard to say, since I'd never 124 00:08:42,720 --> 00:08:47,279 breathed air like it before or since, and looking back, 125 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:50,799 I think I might be overstating just how black the 126 00:08:50,879 --> 00:08:54,799 darkness at the bottom of those stairs really was. But 127 00:08:55,039 --> 00:08:58,000 just the sight of it made something inside me want 128 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:01,840 to turn and run, not just out of the building, 129 00:09:02,519 --> 00:09:05,799 but out of the damned country, back to the airport 130 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:10,039 and home again. I'd no idea what was going to 131 00:09:10,080 --> 00:09:16,759 be down there, but for some reason I was scared witless. 132 00:09:18,960 --> 00:09:23,120 Just the dark, I told myself, before forcing one foot 133 00:09:23,279 --> 00:09:26,159 in front of the other and making my way down. 134 00:09:27,720 --> 00:09:31,000 Wasn't far before the plaster shipped away and there was 135 00:09:31,039 --> 00:09:36,720 nothing but bare rock for walls. Turns out I hadn't 136 00:09:36,720 --> 00:09:39,919 been able to find the cave on Elijah's land because 137 00:09:39,919 --> 00:09:43,840 he'd build the museum on top of it. And down there, 138 00:09:44,159 --> 00:09:48,159 in a large chamber bigger than most school gyms, was 139 00:09:48,200 --> 00:09:53,679 a whole other set of displays, eight large glass tanks, 140 00:09:54,240 --> 00:09:58,159 each one bigger than a car. I quickly realized what 141 00:09:58,279 --> 00:10:03,000 I'd been smelling the whole time was from aldehyde, and 142 00:10:03,080 --> 00:10:06,399 it had turned those glass tanks into green and murky 143 00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:10,639 pits where my light revealed only the occasional glimpse of 144 00:10:10,720 --> 00:10:15,960 what lay within. Whatever Elijah was planning on showing off 145 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:23,279 down here, it wasn't fossilized rocks. There was flesh and 146 00:10:23,399 --> 00:10:29,000 bone in there, exposed muscle, all white and wriggly. I 147 00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:32,759 moved quickly at first, shining my light into each one 148 00:10:32,799 --> 00:10:37,120 and squinting. I was skittish and in a hurry, not 149 00:10:37,279 --> 00:10:39,879 sure what I was going to find. But then I 150 00:10:39,879 --> 00:10:43,960 looked into one and saw a fist sized eyeball staring 151 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:49,320 back at me, and I cried out in terror. It 152 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:53,039 was the suddenness of it that got me that, and 153 00:10:53,120 --> 00:10:57,279 it was housed in a socket of rotting flesh, unfamiliar 154 00:10:57,399 --> 00:11:01,399 in color and shape. I couldn't have told you if 155 00:11:01,399 --> 00:11:06,039 it belonged to something that slithered, swam or flew. But 156 00:11:06,519 --> 00:11:09,519 as I walked around the case, I did find a 157 00:11:09,600 --> 00:11:13,519 hand curled up in one corner, with fingers all different 158 00:11:13,600 --> 00:11:19,799 lengths and shapes. What was Elijah planning to do? Down there? 159 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:24,679 In that hidden room? There were no plaques, no explanations, 160 00:11:25,399 --> 00:11:28,320 only those eight tanks that took up most of the 161 00:11:28,480 --> 00:11:32,720 enormous space, each one raised so the bottom was about 162 00:11:32,840 --> 00:11:37,000 chest height, ready for someone to wander around and marvel 163 00:11:37,200 --> 00:11:41,799 a god knows what. The floor had been covered in marble, 164 00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:46,639 so he clearly had grand ambitions. Now there was only 165 00:11:46,720 --> 00:11:51,639 dust and sandy pebbles littering the floor, but everything upstairs 166 00:11:51,679 --> 00:11:55,080 had been hooky and cheap, the kind of evidence that 167 00:11:55,240 --> 00:11:59,480 was going to convince the already convinced. But down there 168 00:11:59,799 --> 00:12:02,759 in the dark, where I could just make out the 169 00:12:02,879 --> 00:12:07,200 great shapes floating in the murky dark, there was the 170 00:12:07,240 --> 00:12:10,840 sense of something electric in the air, a feeling of 171 00:12:10,919 --> 00:12:14,639 revelation that wormed its way up through the ground, through 172 00:12:14,639 --> 00:12:18,399 my feet, and into my chest, where it settled like 173 00:12:18,440 --> 00:12:22,759 a kind of slow panic. I couldn't stop myself wondering 174 00:12:22,960 --> 00:12:27,440 about Elijah's belief and how it factored into that strange place. 175 00:12:29,200 --> 00:12:33,120 What had he preserved for decades in that chemical filth. 176 00:12:34,799 --> 00:12:38,000 I left after only ten minutes. I returned to the 177 00:12:38,120 --> 00:12:41,440 normal world above, where I spent a good hour sitting 178 00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:44,759 in the sun, hoping that tex and warmth would purge 179 00:12:44,799 --> 00:12:47,840 the dirty feeling that dark room had left me with. 180 00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:54,440 I briefly made arrangements to return home, but quickly canceled. 181 00:12:55,799 --> 00:13:00,759 Elijah was insane, so I told myself there was something 182 00:13:00,840 --> 00:13:04,320 down there, and it was a damned sight, more compelling 183 00:13:04,679 --> 00:13:11,159 than a bunch of cheap forgeries. That night, I stayed 184 00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:14,360 in the same room I always had, and lay tossing 185 00:13:14,399 --> 00:13:18,840 and turning beneath the moonlight, unable and unwilling to simply 186 00:13:18,879 --> 00:13:22,639 let the thoughts of that room fade away. I was 187 00:13:22,639 --> 00:13:25,320 wide awake when I heard the sound of something moving 188 00:13:25,440 --> 00:13:29,879 around the rooms below. I was alone out there, far 189 00:13:29,919 --> 00:13:34,200 from civilization. The sheriff had spoken to me a fair 190 00:13:34,279 --> 00:13:37,759 bit about trying to get a hotel, and for the 191 00:13:37,799 --> 00:13:43,240 first time I wished i'd taken his advice. He was 192 00:13:43,279 --> 00:13:47,200 mainly concerned about squatters, and that's what I told myself. 193 00:13:47,320 --> 00:13:51,840 Must be out there, despite the danger, I got up 194 00:13:51,840 --> 00:13:55,159 to check on it. Anyway, the thought of a whole 195 00:13:55,279 --> 00:13:58,080 night spent hold up in that room waiting for some 196 00:13:58,200 --> 00:14:01,960 crack attict to come stumbling in didn't seem much better 197 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:05,919 than going out there and confronting them. But of course 198 00:14:06,360 --> 00:14:09,799 there was more to it than that. I had strange 199 00:14:09,799 --> 00:14:13,399 ideas floating in my head, left over from the short 200 00:14:13,440 --> 00:14:19,120 time I'd spent wondering those great glass displays. Every time 201 00:14:19,159 --> 00:14:23,360 I closed my eyes, I saw images of strange, shadowed 202 00:14:23,360 --> 00:14:28,919 things floating within. I wanted to bury those thoughts as 203 00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:32,480 quickly as possible and put an end to fancy notions 204 00:14:32,480 --> 00:14:39,279 of monsters lurking in the dark. At first, the museum 205 00:14:39,360 --> 00:14:42,759 looked much like it always had. There were boxes of 206 00:14:42,879 --> 00:14:46,519 artifacts and books I'd spent the last few weeks putting away, 207 00:14:47,120 --> 00:14:50,320 and quite a few displays still left standing from where 208 00:14:50,320 --> 00:14:54,200 I'd yet to get to them. In the jungle room, 209 00:14:54,399 --> 00:14:58,200 I walked past those funny looking cavemen and plastic dinosaurs 210 00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:02,480 hiding behind fake fo and stopped briefly to examine the 211 00:15:02,559 --> 00:15:06,399 serpent that tented passers by with an apple in its 212 00:15:06,519 --> 00:15:10,919 child sized fist. It was a cheap looking creation, with 213 00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:15,519 a strange childlike face rendered in fiberglass scales and beady 214 00:15:15,600 --> 00:15:20,919 yellow eyes. I disliked it from day one, and catching 215 00:15:20,960 --> 00:15:23,799 it in the dark that night made me hate it 216 00:15:23,919 --> 00:15:29,440 even more. But this time I stopped and re read 217 00:15:29,519 --> 00:15:34,120 the plaque beneath. I remembered the words Elijah had written 218 00:15:34,120 --> 00:15:38,240 for it, and at the time, I dismissed them, but 219 00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:41,720 some strange feeling made me revisit them. In that moment. 220 00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:47,039 Creatures alive to day, such as snakes and lizards, looked 221 00:15:47,159 --> 00:15:50,879 very different under conditions of the pre flood world, where 222 00:15:50,879 --> 00:15:54,399 the air was alive with powerful static, and water did 223 00:15:54,440 --> 00:15:57,480 not fall from the sky but seeped upwards from the 224 00:15:57,519 --> 00:16:02,320 ground as a kind of condensation. The serpent was probably 225 00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:05,440 not like any snake we'd see to day, but perhaps 226 00:16:05,519 --> 00:16:10,360 an altogether different creature whose bones continued to confound the 227 00:16:10,399 --> 00:16:14,519 non believer scientists who studied them. Only through the Bible 228 00:16:14,600 --> 00:16:19,799 can we realize what such fossils truly represent. This is 229 00:16:19,879 --> 00:16:23,519 only one interpretation of what the serpent that tempted Eve 230 00:16:23,840 --> 00:16:29,000 may have looked like. When I looked up, another pair 231 00:16:29,039 --> 00:16:32,480 of eyes were gazing at me from over the mannekin's shoulder. 232 00:16:33,799 --> 00:16:35,840 I could not see the face that hid behind the 233 00:16:35,840 --> 00:16:39,639 fake plant, but there was no denying the two yellow 234 00:16:39,799 --> 00:16:45,200 reflective points that fixed me momentarily before blinking one at 235 00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:51,159 a time. I froze, terrified by such primal sight as 236 00:16:51,200 --> 00:16:54,480 a pair of predatory eyes gazing at me from the dark, 237 00:16:55,200 --> 00:17:00,759 and watched in terror as they slinked away and disappeared entirely. 238 00:17:02,799 --> 00:17:06,039 There followed the sounds of a few rapid and wet 239 00:17:06,039 --> 00:17:10,000 footfalls across the tile floor, as something in that room 240 00:17:10,279 --> 00:17:16,160 crawled quietly into the shadows. That night, I barricaded my 241 00:17:16,240 --> 00:17:20,359 bedroom door, and come morning, when I felt a little 242 00:17:20,359 --> 00:17:24,480 braver in the daylight, I checked the jungle room and 243 00:17:24,599 --> 00:17:29,400 found wet and slimy tracks leading to Elijah's office, where 244 00:17:29,440 --> 00:17:33,680 they disappeared behind the bookcase and into the cave below. 245 00:17:35,480 --> 00:17:39,759 It was crazy, I told myself, all of it was madness, 246 00:17:40,720 --> 00:17:45,000 but I couldn't shake my curiosity, and if you were me, 247 00:17:45,759 --> 00:17:49,640 you wouldn't have been able to either. This was like 248 00:17:49,720 --> 00:17:53,000 seeing the ice wall in the Arctic, proof of some 249 00:17:53,160 --> 00:17:57,079 mad conspirital gibberish that we've all been peddled for years 250 00:17:57,279 --> 00:18:00,799 through rapid fire YouTubers who talk about at earths and 251 00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:04,799 giants under the pyramids. It was as if I'd felt 252 00:18:04,799 --> 00:18:09,240 what Elijah had spoken of. The air really was electric 253 00:18:09,319 --> 00:18:13,720 down there. The ground was different. But as much as 254 00:18:13,720 --> 00:18:17,039 I hated to even give his beliefs the tiniest iota 255 00:18:17,079 --> 00:18:20,160 of credit, I could think of no other way to 256 00:18:20,240 --> 00:18:23,680 describe it than I had briefly stood in the conditions 257 00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:29,240 of another older world. I had to make sense of it. 258 00:18:30,359 --> 00:18:34,039 I'd spent weeks putting away badly made fakes and forgeries, 259 00:18:34,599 --> 00:18:39,519 footprints with visible tool marks, badly arranged dinosaur bones, and 260 00:18:39,599 --> 00:18:44,440 diorrhamis of raptors in Noah's Ark. Elijah had found something, 261 00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:48,519 all right, but I was certain it wasn't proof of 262 00:18:48,559 --> 00:18:52,960 his worldview. I just had to understand it on my 263 00:18:53,079 --> 00:18:59,799 own terms. Despite every bit of apprehension, I went back 264 00:19:00,039 --> 00:19:04,240 down the staircase. This time I took a crowbar and 265 00:19:04,319 --> 00:19:07,920 slipped a claw hammer in one belt loop, just in case. 266 00:19:09,079 --> 00:19:12,319 I also brought a few wide floodlights and set about 267 00:19:12,400 --> 00:19:15,000 lighting that main room up so I could get a 268 00:19:15,039 --> 00:19:18,440 proper look. It didn't help me see what was in 269 00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:23,160 those cases any better. If anything, the bright lights scattered 270 00:19:23,240 --> 00:19:26,480 even harder in the filth, and it all looked like 271 00:19:26,519 --> 00:19:30,960 a kind of pale green jelly. But I did find 272 00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:35,359 two doors I hadn't noticed the last time. One was 273 00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:38,599 a simple wooden one that led into a small closet 274 00:19:38,799 --> 00:19:43,400 full of old journals and cassettes. The other was like 275 00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:46,680 a metal bulkhead, the kind that i'd be used on 276 00:19:46,759 --> 00:19:51,279 a ship to seal a flooding hallway. I know at 277 00:19:51,279 --> 00:19:55,000 some point I was going behind that door, but for 278 00:19:55,079 --> 00:19:58,599 the time being I settled for reading some of Elijah's 279 00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:03,400 old journals. It seemed like the easier of the two options. 280 00:20:04,359 --> 00:20:10,240 Specimen one rat failure. Died after only a few hours. 281 00:20:10,920 --> 00:20:17,400 Preserved and put aside for further investigation. Specimen two sheep 282 00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:22,559 partial failure. The wool continued to grow at unusual pace, 283 00:20:23,559 --> 00:20:29,920 small buds flowers we'll see. Preserved and put aside for 284 00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:38,680 further investigation. Specimen three cow failure. If size is anything 285 00:20:38,680 --> 00:20:42,720 to go by, the ark must have been colossal. Perhaps 286 00:20:42,799 --> 00:20:45,599 these creatures are the origins of the fossils so many 287 00:20:45,640 --> 00:20:51,519 scientists attribute to wooly mammoths. Attempted dissection but proved too difficult. 288 00:20:52,400 --> 00:20:56,519 Specimen has been preserved and put aside for further investigation. 289 00:20:58,279 --> 00:21:06,599 Specimen four successful A truly prehistoric creature. It returned to 290 00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:09,759 its aquatic roots and lived for many days in its 291 00:21:09,799 --> 00:21:14,160 tank before dying during an escape. Attempt to think these 292 00:21:14,200 --> 00:21:17,799 creatures once swam in the oceans. I have preserved the 293 00:21:17,839 --> 00:21:27,319 specimen for further investigation. Specimen five lizard success. The primitive 294 00:21:27,359 --> 00:21:32,160 attempts at speech were a promising sign. Euthanizing it proved difficult, 295 00:21:32,519 --> 00:21:36,759 but ultimately necessary. The things it said could not have 296 00:21:36,839 --> 00:21:42,200 been permitted in a god fearing society. Reserved for further investigation. 297 00:21:44,440 --> 00:21:52,640 Specimen six cactus house plant success. Question marks relatively unchanged 298 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:56,759 in outward appearance, but dissection revealed the insight it developed 299 00:21:56,759 --> 00:22:00,279 to meet like appearance continues. The grow des de spite 300 00:22:00,359 --> 00:22:04,680 best efforts. Preserved in the hopes the formeldehyde will kill it, 301 00:22:05,480 --> 00:22:10,200 but must keep a close eye on its display. Specimen 302 00:22:10,319 --> 00:22:16,799 seven blue catfish success. The origins of the Great Leviathan 303 00:22:16,880 --> 00:22:21,799 perhaps lie within creatures such as this. Its growth was extraordinary, 304 00:22:22,279 --> 00:22:24,400 and it will be a struggle to fit the beast 305 00:22:24,599 --> 00:22:28,200 inside one of the displays. I do not envy the 306 00:22:28,240 --> 00:22:31,319 ancient sailors who encountered one of these in open waters. 307 00:22:33,319 --> 00:22:42,279 Specimen eight sparrow failure, dreadful mistake. Euthanize itself while screaming obscenities. 308 00:22:43,079 --> 00:22:47,799 The things is said were extremely blasphemous. Preserved and put 309 00:22:47,799 --> 00:22:55,200 aside for further investigation. Specimen nine. Despite my best efforts, 310 00:22:55,720 --> 00:22:59,200 exposure to pre flood conditions has begun to affect me. 311 00:23:00,359 --> 00:23:03,359 I'll have to join the Great men below. If they 312 00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:06,440 will have me, I will not be able to continue 313 00:23:06,440 --> 00:23:12,079 my great work, and that saddens me deeply. Not a success, 314 00:23:12,559 --> 00:23:16,240 but not a failure either. At least I can take 315 00:23:16,359 --> 00:23:21,799 solace in knowing this will bring me closer to God. 316 00:23:23,079 --> 00:23:26,920 I looked at the tanks and suppressed a shudder. Were 317 00:23:26,920 --> 00:23:31,759 these Elijah's failed experiments? And if so, what on earth 318 00:23:31,839 --> 00:23:35,319 had he been doing to them? There was no scientific 319 00:23:35,359 --> 00:23:40,039 equipment down there, no mad scientist laboratory with bubbling vials 320 00:23:40,079 --> 00:23:43,920 and buzzing tesla coils. That I had been the size 321 00:23:43,920 --> 00:23:47,279 of a cantelope and could not have belonged to anything 322 00:23:47,319 --> 00:23:50,960 on that list, at least not in its natural state. 323 00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:56,880 But Elijah's notes hinted strongly at him having changed them somehow, 324 00:23:58,079 --> 00:24:01,960 a kind of mutation, I wondered, perhaps even a form 325 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:06,960 of radiation. For a moment, I considered going through the 326 00:24:06,960 --> 00:24:11,240 rest of the notes, but that was just delaying the inevitable. 327 00:24:12,920 --> 00:24:17,200 I was impatient, curious, and desperate to make sense of 328 00:24:17,279 --> 00:24:21,799 these things. So I approached the great metal door and 329 00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:25,720 reached for the lock, but hesitated when I heard a 330 00:24:25,759 --> 00:24:32,240 sound on the other side, a gentle susceration. I leaned forward, 331 00:24:32,519 --> 00:24:39,200 and listened intently as I could. Jacob opened the door. 332 00:24:41,519 --> 00:24:45,559 It was not a sound. It wasn't I could not 333 00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:49,400 tell you the tombre of the voice, the volume, or language. 334 00:24:50,680 --> 00:24:54,599 It had none of those things. It was inside me, 335 00:24:55,839 --> 00:24:59,640 and it hurt like hell, a hammer swing to my 336 00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:04,720 core that left my mind ringing. My sight turned into 337 00:25:04,759 --> 00:25:07,920 a slide show. Blood sprayed from my nose and mouth. 338 00:25:08,920 --> 00:25:12,319 The floor was suddenly inches from my face, and then 339 00:25:12,359 --> 00:25:16,319 my hands were reaching for the locking wheel. I dragged 340 00:25:16,319 --> 00:25:21,160 myself to my feet and gripped it steadily. I was 341 00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:24,880 going to open it, even as my mind finally caught 342 00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:29,319 up and I was flooded with a terrible panic, a desperate, 343 00:25:29,440 --> 00:25:33,160 feral need to get out of there. But I couldn't 344 00:25:33,160 --> 00:25:39,160 stop myself. Resisting became a kind of physical impossibility, as 345 00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:42,039 out of bounds as flying or walking on the ceiling. 346 00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:47,079 The loss of control was haunting, and I would have 347 00:25:47,160 --> 00:25:49,640 opened that door were it not for the sound of 348 00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:54,960 splashing water behind me. Something about it scared me enough 349 00:25:55,319 --> 00:25:58,200 that the spell was broken, and I regained some of 350 00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:02,359 my senses. I managed the glance behind me, and my 351 00:26:02,480 --> 00:26:06,480 light caught a glimmer of something black and oily slithering 352 00:26:06,599 --> 00:26:10,160 in one of the tanks. That sight alone turned my 353 00:26:10,200 --> 00:26:14,440 blood to ice, but it still paled in comparison to 354 00:26:14,559 --> 00:26:19,279 the force radiating from beyond that door. I could feel 355 00:26:19,319 --> 00:26:22,880 it still there on the other side, a white hot 356 00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:27,079 aura of domination that threatened to unravel me like a 357 00:26:27,119 --> 00:26:32,079 piece of thread. I'd never experienced anything like it before, 358 00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:35,519 the kind of terror that nearly had me mewing like 359 00:26:35,559 --> 00:26:41,440 a beaten child. Before the thing could speak again, I 360 00:26:41,599 --> 00:26:45,759 ran screaming from that room and out into the open 361 00:26:45,799 --> 00:26:49,519 air with a shock finally hit my nervous system like 362 00:26:49,559 --> 00:27:04,079 a freight train, and I passed out. When I woke up, 363 00:27:04,480 --> 00:27:07,279 my mouth was gummy with dried blood, and the sun 364 00:27:07,319 --> 00:27:10,759 had burned me badly. On one side, a black boot 365 00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:15,440 was nudging me gently in the side. You're okay down there, 366 00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:19,880 I looked up, and a policeman had once spoken to 367 00:27:20,119 --> 00:27:23,759 not long after arriving in Texas, was squinting down at me. 368 00:27:24,960 --> 00:27:28,200 I'd just about managed to remember that Wheeler was his name. 369 00:27:29,319 --> 00:27:33,920 You need help, well, he repeated, and I tried to answer, 370 00:27:34,400 --> 00:27:38,680 We've got a mouthful of dust. It wasn't until I 371 00:27:38,720 --> 00:27:42,279 sat upright and coughed most of the dust back up that. 372 00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:47,559 I managed some kind of response. No, I'm not okay, 373 00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:52,440 no sign of a break in. I looked over to 374 00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:57,200 see another officer step out of the museum. Some one attack. 375 00:27:57,680 --> 00:28:02,000 Wheeler asked, who was it? Crackhead sheriff told you it 376 00:28:02,079 --> 00:28:04,119 was a bad idea to stay out here all alone. 377 00:28:05,240 --> 00:28:09,119 We got to get out of here. The deputy put 378 00:28:09,119 --> 00:28:12,680 a hand on his holster and unclipped it. Don't you worry. 379 00:28:13,119 --> 00:28:17,680 You're safe now, he said, Rifle through your things. The 380 00:28:17,720 --> 00:28:21,599 second officer added, as he arrived beside Wheeler, we'll need 381 00:28:21,640 --> 00:28:25,599 you to come look and see if anything's missing. No, no, no, 382 00:28:26,519 --> 00:28:30,319 I said, stumbling to my feet. No, we gotta go, 383 00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:35,160 We gotta leave. Take me to the airport. Calm down now, 384 00:28:35,799 --> 00:28:38,680 Wheeler said, as the two men exchanged the funny look, 385 00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:42,200 you ain't even got your passport. Why don't we go 386 00:28:42,279 --> 00:28:46,680 in and take a moment. Maybe let us get a statement. Besides, 387 00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:49,319 Taylor and Keen here have done a thorough sweep of 388 00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:55,119 the place, right yep, the other man smiled. I think 389 00:28:55,200 --> 00:28:59,039 he was trying to reassure me Taylor's just finishing up 390 00:28:59,039 --> 00:29:02,599 in that basement. Elijah Shaw was a funny feller hiding 391 00:29:02,640 --> 00:29:06,920 all that down there. No, no, no, I stammered, or 392 00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:10,319 moving towards the parking lot. We gotta leave, we gotta 393 00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:14,480 leave now, there's something you plan on walking out of here. 394 00:29:15,119 --> 00:29:18,920 Wheeler's hand was on my arm, looking concerned more than angry, 395 00:29:19,279 --> 00:29:23,119 which gave me pause. Whoever left you in the dirt 396 00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:26,839 smash the hell out of your car, he added, that 397 00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:30,799 thing ain't going nowhere. Look, we'll give you a ride, 398 00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:34,559 but first things first, let's go inside and get a 399 00:29:34,599 --> 00:29:39,000 couple of your things. Dejected, and let them lead me 400 00:29:39,079 --> 00:29:42,039 back inside. Before I made a bee line to my room, 401 00:29:43,519 --> 00:29:47,240 I didn't do much, packing a single suitcase with everything 402 00:29:47,279 --> 00:29:49,559 I needed to get out of that damn place and 403 00:29:49,680 --> 00:29:53,440 back home. I also took a minute to call my 404 00:29:53,480 --> 00:29:57,400 wife and let her know I was fine. My failure 405 00:29:57,480 --> 00:29:59,839 to call her at the regular time had led her 406 00:29:59,880 --> 00:30:04,200 to phoning the police. Without that, I don't know how 407 00:30:04,240 --> 00:30:08,039 things would have panned out. At the time, I was 408 00:30:08,079 --> 00:30:10,720 deeply thankful just to have her looking out for me, 409 00:30:11,599 --> 00:30:13,880 and all I wanted in the world was to get 410 00:30:13,920 --> 00:30:16,240 back to her and put an end to the whole 411 00:30:16,279 --> 00:30:20,960 weird episode. As soon as I was packed, I ran 412 00:30:21,039 --> 00:30:24,319 back downstairs, where I found Wheeler, who was ready to 413 00:30:24,480 --> 00:30:28,559 enter Elijah's office. Keene went to get Taylor a short 414 00:30:28,559 --> 00:30:32,839 while ago. He said, getting tired of waiting, so you 415 00:30:33,039 --> 00:30:36,960 just stay here while I go round them up. Before 416 00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:40,319 I could beg him to stop, he stepped inside and 417 00:30:40,400 --> 00:30:45,880 I raced after him, but I was too late. By 418 00:30:45,960 --> 00:30:48,640 the time I reached the stairs, the only sign of 419 00:30:48,720 --> 00:30:53,400 him was the light of his torch, already fading. With 420 00:30:53,559 --> 00:30:56,319 him went the keys to the only working car in 421 00:30:56,359 --> 00:31:02,160 that place. I had no choice but to follow. As 422 00:31:02,160 --> 00:31:04,960 soon as I took the first step down, I felt 423 00:31:04,960 --> 00:31:09,880 that strange but familiar energy, only this time it seemed 424 00:31:09,880 --> 00:31:14,200 a thousand times more powerful. It run through the air 425 00:31:14,519 --> 00:31:19,480 like a kind of vibration. Sounds seemed both muted and amplified. 426 00:31:20,640 --> 00:31:24,359 My footsteps were silent, but my breath was like thunder. 427 00:31:25,599 --> 00:31:29,559 The effect was claustrophobic, like the world was closing in 428 00:31:29,599 --> 00:31:33,440 on me. By the time I arrived at the bottom, 429 00:31:34,359 --> 00:31:36,400 I had already felt like it was too late to 430 00:31:36,440 --> 00:31:41,279 turn back. I nearly cried out when I saw that 431 00:31:41,319 --> 00:31:46,640 the great metal door was already open, no sign of 432 00:31:46,680 --> 00:31:50,920 the men. For meldehyde lay pooling on the floor where 433 00:31:50,960 --> 00:31:55,359 it mixed slowly with a puddle of fresh blood, although 434 00:31:55,680 --> 00:31:59,319 I had no idea who it belonged to. The tanks 435 00:31:59,359 --> 00:32:03,319 remained intact, which I was thankful for. But it troubled 436 00:32:03,359 --> 00:32:06,279 me to think of how that fluid got splashed around 437 00:32:06,359 --> 00:32:09,839 so violently, And the lights I set up had been 438 00:32:09,920 --> 00:32:13,440 knocked over in what must have been some kind of struggle, 439 00:32:14,400 --> 00:32:19,759 and now they cast long and frightening shadows. Wheeler had 440 00:32:19,799 --> 00:32:22,079 never been more than a couple seconds ahead of me, 441 00:32:23,079 --> 00:32:26,799 and yet he was nowhere to be seen in that room. 442 00:32:27,440 --> 00:32:30,640 But I already knew that every question racing through my 443 00:32:30,759 --> 00:32:35,519 mind could be traced to a single place. Where had 444 00:32:35,559 --> 00:32:39,000 the men gone, What had caused such violence and mayhem? 445 00:32:39,319 --> 00:32:42,359 Why are my ears ringing? Why are my feet moving 446 00:32:42,400 --> 00:32:46,240 of their own accord? What had Elijah found in the wilderness? 447 00:32:46,759 --> 00:32:50,039 What had changed those animals? What had spoken to me 448 00:32:50,119 --> 00:32:53,240 from the other side of a foot thick steel doorway. 449 00:32:53,960 --> 00:32:57,000 What it compelled me to be drawn helplessly towards the 450 00:32:57,079 --> 00:33:01,400 strange and corpulent mist that role to the black abyss 451 00:33:01,759 --> 00:33:04,240 and beckon me deeper into the depths of the earth. 452 00:33:05,200 --> 00:33:09,519 The answer to every one of those questions was the same, 453 00:33:10,759 --> 00:33:13,599 and it was all due to the force that lived 454 00:33:13,920 --> 00:33:19,079 on the other side of that door. It must have 455 00:33:19,200 --> 00:33:21,799 surely affected the policeman in the same way it had 456 00:33:21,839 --> 00:33:25,559 affected me. I was no more than half way across 457 00:33:25,559 --> 00:33:28,720 the room when it felt like I was actually falling 458 00:33:28,759 --> 00:33:34,200 towards an open vault. After I crossed the threshold, I 459 00:33:34,240 --> 00:33:38,559 seemed to lose all sense of time and self. God 460 00:33:38,640 --> 00:33:41,200 knows what it must have been like for Elijah, all 461 00:33:41,279 --> 00:33:46,519 those years ago, lost in the wilderness. I don't know 462 00:33:46,559 --> 00:33:49,440 what it was he found, but I still think he 463 00:33:49,599 --> 00:33:53,519 was mad and naive to genuinely think it was anything 464 00:33:53,559 --> 00:33:58,000 to do with God. Even now, glimpses of the journey 465 00:33:58,039 --> 00:34:01,000 down echo in my mind like snap shots in the dark. 466 00:34:02,240 --> 00:34:06,359 I remember heat and light. I remember pale mist that 467 00:34:06,519 --> 00:34:10,599 curled around my feet, lit within by some impossible light. 468 00:34:11,840 --> 00:34:17,320 I remember wondering vast caves larger than any stadium. But 469 00:34:17,440 --> 00:34:21,039 most of all, I remember the air and the way 470 00:34:21,079 --> 00:34:26,599 it crackled with skittish electricity. I could feel it across 471 00:34:26,639 --> 00:34:32,360 my skin like a gentle sunburn. There were buildings down there, 472 00:34:33,400 --> 00:34:36,360 and as I went deeper, over what might have been 473 00:34:36,480 --> 00:34:40,800 hours or maybe even days, I saw the air filled 474 00:34:40,840 --> 00:34:44,519 with glowing mists so bright it was more like day 475 00:34:44,599 --> 00:34:48,880 than night. And it was in one of those buildings 476 00:34:50,079 --> 00:34:56,440 I found my long lost grandfather, or what was left 477 00:34:56,480 --> 00:35:01,280 of him. I guess, of course, I say that, but 478 00:35:01,360 --> 00:35:05,199 he was alive. He made noises, so he must have 479 00:35:05,280 --> 00:35:10,440 been alive. The building was enormous, larger than even the 480 00:35:10,519 --> 00:35:14,639 cave above, but poor Elijah had still grown to take 481 00:35:14,719 --> 00:35:19,119 up nearly a third of it. He'd grown taller, like 482 00:35:19,199 --> 00:35:22,880 he believed would happen, and I bet he was longer 483 00:35:22,960 --> 00:35:27,079 lived too. But I don't think the conditions of that 484 00:35:27,159 --> 00:35:32,320 cave had made him into something divine. If anything, he 485 00:35:32,400 --> 00:35:35,760 looked to me like he was breaking down, melting in 486 00:35:35,840 --> 00:35:41,400 slow motion. Made me think of the elephant's foot in Chernobyl. 487 00:35:41,679 --> 00:35:46,159 Someone or something had also staked bits of him into place, 488 00:35:46,719 --> 00:35:49,320 and tied some of his limbs to the vast rocky 489 00:35:49,360 --> 00:35:53,920 beams that supported the building ceiling. There was a touch 490 00:35:53,920 --> 00:35:56,880 of cruelty about it that I couldn't quite place at 491 00:35:56,920 --> 00:36:00,719 the time, but would later attribute to the brand burned 492 00:36:00,719 --> 00:36:05,719 into his flesh at semi regular intervals. If he had 493 00:36:05,760 --> 00:36:09,079 a mouth, I've no doubt he would have begged me 494 00:36:09,199 --> 00:36:12,440 to kill him. But my mind was not my own 495 00:36:12,480 --> 00:36:15,639 at that time, and I left that place and went 496 00:36:15,679 --> 00:36:18,800 back to wondering the mist in search of something I 497 00:36:18,840 --> 00:36:23,679 could not understand. I was merely compelled to go deeper 498 00:36:24,039 --> 00:36:28,320 towards some strange force that beckoned me onwards, working my 499 00:36:28,440 --> 00:36:34,119 feet and body like I was nothing more but a puppet. Eventually, 500 00:36:34,599 --> 00:36:39,679 during my journey, I heard a voice who was wailing 501 00:36:39,760 --> 00:36:43,039 and sobbing, and he came screaming out of the mist 502 00:36:43,239 --> 00:36:47,639 and ran right into me. Something about the collision shocked 503 00:36:47,639 --> 00:36:50,000 both of us enough that it seemed to break the 504 00:36:50,079 --> 00:36:53,599 cave's effect on us. He looked as surprised to see 505 00:36:53,639 --> 00:36:56,840 me as I was to see him, and for a 506 00:36:56,880 --> 00:37:00,639 brief moment, we both lay on the floor and stammered 507 00:37:00,679 --> 00:37:06,360 desperately in an attempt to speak. Eventually I managed to 508 00:37:06,480 --> 00:37:09,519 ask what the hell had happened, but he jumped on 509 00:37:09,559 --> 00:37:11,840 top of me and climbed a hand around my mouth. 510 00:37:13,519 --> 00:37:16,639 He held me there for a few seconds, his wide, 511 00:37:16,760 --> 00:37:24,519 terrified eyes imploring me to stay quiet. And then I 512 00:37:24,599 --> 00:37:29,760 heard the footfalls of a giant, and I felt its 513 00:37:29,840 --> 00:37:34,039 mind looking for us, and I caught glimpses of the 514 00:37:34,079 --> 00:37:38,400 world as remembered by that man shaped creature, the contents 515 00:37:38,440 --> 00:37:42,440 of his mind spilling outwards into me. I saw the 516 00:37:42,480 --> 00:37:47,039 great flood, the ark a world with wondering Seraphim, and 517 00:37:47,119 --> 00:37:52,880 the great Tannin, the Behemoth and Leviathan. But more than that, 518 00:37:53,960 --> 00:37:57,320 I felt a kind of seething contempt in his feelings 519 00:37:57,360 --> 00:38:01,599 towards us, a burning distance for the lesser race that 520 00:38:01,679 --> 00:38:06,480 had inherited the surface. I don't know how to fully 521 00:38:06,519 --> 00:38:11,199 describe it, But whatever that thing was, I don't know 522 00:38:11,239 --> 00:38:16,679 how Elijah could have possibly mistaken it for benevolent. Perhaps 523 00:38:16,840 --> 00:38:20,320 he had seen only what he wanted to. Perhaps it 524 00:38:20,360 --> 00:38:23,559 had read within him a desperate need to believe and 525 00:38:23,719 --> 00:38:27,639 used that to manipulate him. God knows what would have 526 00:38:27,639 --> 00:38:31,239 happened if Elijah had actually managed to fill that hidden 527 00:38:31,320 --> 00:38:36,440 room with people and open the door. Whatever lived within 528 00:38:36,519 --> 00:38:39,239 that cave would have had ten times the number of 529 00:38:39,320 --> 00:38:43,599 victims it had claimed so far. Only Elijah's arrogance and 530 00:38:43,719 --> 00:38:49,880 obstinace had saved him from playing right into its hands. Eventually, 531 00:38:50,280 --> 00:38:54,079 the creature moved away from us. I'm not sure how 532 00:38:54,239 --> 00:38:57,679 or why it couldn't find us. The spelled cast seemed 533 00:38:57,719 --> 00:39:01,360 to come and go, and in that moment, the only 534 00:39:01,440 --> 00:39:04,400 thing I could be sure of was that once free, 535 00:39:05,039 --> 00:39:08,239 I had every intention of getting the hell out of there. 536 00:39:09,400 --> 00:39:12,960 Wheeler and I seemed to share this understanding, because as 537 00:39:12,960 --> 00:39:15,480 soon as it was saved to he let me go, 538 00:39:15,920 --> 00:39:19,239 and the two of us wordlessly began to skulk back 539 00:39:19,440 --> 00:39:23,440 the way we came. It wasn't as long back as 540 00:39:23,480 --> 00:39:26,480 I feared it might be, Although it's still hard to 541 00:39:26,519 --> 00:39:29,880 be sure of the time. What I can be sure 542 00:39:29,880 --> 00:39:33,079 of is that it was a special kind of nightmare 543 00:39:33,119 --> 00:39:37,519 to leave that place. The mist made it impossible to navigate, 544 00:39:38,280 --> 00:39:40,320 and if it wasn't for the tracks we'd left in 545 00:39:40,360 --> 00:39:44,119 the strange wet ground, we would have been lost forever 546 00:39:44,199 --> 00:39:49,039 down there. Even then, we often got waylaid and had 547 00:39:49,079 --> 00:39:51,559 to take hours just to find our way back to 548 00:39:51,639 --> 00:39:55,559 the track, and more than once we found ourselves forced 549 00:39:55,559 --> 00:39:59,400 to hide in crevices and caves as terrible things drifted 550 00:39:59,480 --> 00:40:03,519 close in the fog, drawn perhaps by our scent or 551 00:40:03,559 --> 00:40:09,280 some other strange force. But eventually we found ourselves hiking 552 00:40:09,360 --> 00:40:13,440 upwards at a steep and familiar incline, where the mist 553 00:40:13,519 --> 00:40:18,639 thinned out almost entirely. By the time we were finally 554 00:40:18,639 --> 00:40:22,559 stumbling back out into the hidden room with the class tanks. 555 00:40:23,280 --> 00:40:25,559 I had managed to grow a fair bit of stubble, 556 00:40:26,280 --> 00:40:29,599 and I noticed that what was once fresh blood had 557 00:40:29,599 --> 00:40:34,760 now congealed into a dark, rust colored brown. Had a guess. 558 00:40:35,480 --> 00:40:39,119 We were down there for a good two or three days. 559 00:40:40,079 --> 00:40:43,920 I'm only thankful our memories of it were so broken. 560 00:40:46,039 --> 00:40:49,639 Wheeler almost immediately made a beeline for the exit, but 561 00:40:49,719 --> 00:40:53,719 I grabbed him and pulled him back the door. I 562 00:40:53,800 --> 00:40:56,800 gasped while grabbing the locking wheel and trying to push 563 00:40:56,840 --> 00:41:01,039 it shut, but I was weak, and he took both 564 00:41:01,079 --> 00:41:04,559 of us, trying with all our might to finally swing 565 00:41:04,599 --> 00:41:09,639 it closed. Once the mechanism clicked into place, I tried 566 00:41:09,639 --> 00:41:12,800 to turn and run, but something in me gave out 567 00:41:13,280 --> 00:41:16,239 and I collapsed to my knees, where I began to 568 00:41:16,320 --> 00:41:20,920 heave and cry. Wheeler placed one hand on my shoulder 569 00:41:21,400 --> 00:41:25,599 and slowly pulled me back to my feet. What the 570 00:41:25,719 --> 00:41:29,159 hell was your grandfather up to out here, he moaned, 571 00:41:29,280 --> 00:41:34,239 as we both limped towards the exit. God knows, I muttered, 572 00:41:35,280 --> 00:41:37,760 and as I placed my foot on the first step up, 573 00:41:38,599 --> 00:41:43,079 I felt the deepest relief I've ever known flood through 574 00:41:43,119 --> 00:41:52,519 my body. Wake Up. The voice was as clear as 575 00:41:52,599 --> 00:41:58,599 day for this time, there was no pain. I looked 576 00:41:58,639 --> 00:42:01,800 Wheeler to confirm that he he'd heard it too, and 577 00:42:01,920 --> 00:42:05,960 sure enough, he was staring at me with a horrified expression. 578 00:42:07,920 --> 00:42:11,159 But the command made no sense, and it seemed to 579 00:42:11,199 --> 00:42:16,199 be distant, almost thinned. Was it the distance, I wondered, 580 00:42:16,599 --> 00:42:20,039 or the door. Elijah must have put the barrier there 581 00:42:20,079 --> 00:42:23,559 for a reason, but I couldn't be sure. That was 582 00:42:23,599 --> 00:42:28,199 the only reason that the voice felt different somehow. But 583 00:42:28,280 --> 00:42:31,639 then I heard the sound behind me, and I realized 584 00:42:31,760 --> 00:42:38,800 why there was words had been so strange. The command 585 00:42:39,480 --> 00:42:46,000 wasn't meant for us. The glass tankers broke one by one, 586 00:42:46,760 --> 00:42:49,679 and Wheeler and I both turned to see the room 587 00:42:49,760 --> 00:42:55,159 flood with formeldehyde and slick, oily flesh. The smell alone 588 00:42:55,280 --> 00:42:59,280 was enough to make me recoil and cry out. But 589 00:42:59,360 --> 00:43:05,719 then I saw them, the creatures within God, most of 590 00:43:05,760 --> 00:43:09,320 them merely thrust around. I don't know what that was. 591 00:43:09,800 --> 00:43:15,559 I simply don't know. Something fish like, I suppose, screamed 592 00:43:15,559 --> 00:43:18,559 in an almost human voice and rolled around in the 593 00:43:18,599 --> 00:43:23,159 slick waters. Another thing was pulling apart its face with 594 00:43:23,239 --> 00:43:27,239 a starfish shaped hand. One was just a pile of 595 00:43:27,360 --> 00:43:31,480 legs that wrapped around the central mass, but one of 596 00:43:31,519 --> 00:43:36,480 them was rising to its feet, two yellow eyes glaring 597 00:43:36,559 --> 00:43:40,039 back at me from the dark, the irises glowing with 598 00:43:40,119 --> 00:43:47,599 a sickly rage. It almost looked human. Before I had 599 00:43:47,639 --> 00:43:50,519 time to react, the creature leaped up both of us 600 00:43:50,760 --> 00:43:53,360 and sent us both sprawling onto the steps, where I 601 00:43:53,440 --> 00:43:58,079 hit my head. For a few terrifying moments, I felt 602 00:43:58,119 --> 00:44:03,679 myself being dragged slowly down into that disgusting liquid, where 603 00:44:03,719 --> 00:44:08,280 strange tentacles and insectile legs threshed violently for some kind 604 00:44:08,320 --> 00:44:13,599 of purchase. I remember something hairy and kiteness brushing against 605 00:44:13,639 --> 00:44:17,679 my cheek, and the disgusting sensation was enough to bring 606 00:44:17,760 --> 00:44:21,320 me back to my senses. When I looked over to 607 00:44:21,320 --> 00:44:24,639 where Wheeler was being pulled right beside me. It was 608 00:44:24,679 --> 00:44:29,000 semi conscious and groaning, and I realized it was up 609 00:44:29,039 --> 00:44:31,360 to me to try and get us out of there. 610 00:44:33,239 --> 00:44:36,920 I kicked violently at the strange thing pulling us. It 611 00:44:37,119 --> 00:44:40,599 was smaller than I thought, a bit bigger than most children, 612 00:44:41,320 --> 00:44:44,559 but it held onto my leg with an iron grip. 613 00:44:45,239 --> 00:44:49,280 But my movement woke Wheeler, who finally coming around, began 614 00:44:49,360 --> 00:44:53,440 to fight back. Both of us kicked as violently as 615 00:44:53,440 --> 00:44:56,679 we could, and seemed to enrage the monster that was 616 00:44:56,800 --> 00:45:01,199 fighting to pull us towards the door. A strange hiss, 617 00:45:01,440 --> 00:45:04,639 he let go and turned towards Wheeler, lashing out with 618 00:45:04,719 --> 00:45:09,159 a single swipe of his hand. Almost immediately, there was 619 00:45:09,199 --> 00:45:12,519 an arterial spray of blood and a death rattle from 620 00:45:12,559 --> 00:45:16,960 the officer's lips that made my blood run cold. For 621 00:45:17,000 --> 00:45:20,519 a few desperate seconds, the dying man seemed to fumble 622 00:45:20,599 --> 00:45:24,360 towards his belt and grabbed something in his fist. I 623 00:45:24,440 --> 00:45:28,400 hoped it was a gun, but instead his limp hand 624 00:45:28,480 --> 00:45:33,480 fell open and revealed a beaten old zippo lighter and 625 00:45:33,599 --> 00:45:37,639 his car keys. I don't know if he meant to, 626 00:45:38,800 --> 00:45:46,199 but in that moment, Wheeler saved my life. I grabbed 627 00:45:46,239 --> 00:45:50,000 both items and ran as quickly as I could, reaching 628 00:45:50,039 --> 00:45:53,679 the steps and refusing to look back for even a second. 629 00:45:54,760 --> 00:45:57,880 I lit the zippo and tossed it behind me, praying 630 00:45:57,920 --> 00:46:02,719 to God that this final gambit work. Something took a 631 00:46:02,760 --> 00:46:06,840 swipe at my back, a hot, burning sensation, followed by 632 00:46:06,840 --> 00:46:10,400 a warm trickle that ran down my legs. My final 633 00:46:10,440 --> 00:46:13,599 memory before I stumbled face first and hit my head 634 00:46:13,599 --> 00:46:18,800 again was one of light and heat. A blinding flash 635 00:46:19,039 --> 00:46:22,159 and a terrible warmth that pushed the last glimpse of 636 00:46:22,199 --> 00:46:26,920 my consciousness aside and left me drifting in the dark. 637 00:46:29,920 --> 00:46:33,960 I never recovered from my time in Elijah's museum, and 638 00:46:34,039 --> 00:46:37,360 I never even made it to the car. Please found me, 639 00:46:37,559 --> 00:46:41,360 having crawled just outside while the entire place went up 640 00:46:41,400 --> 00:46:45,320 in flames. The plume of smoke was what caught their attention, 641 00:46:46,159 --> 00:46:49,440 and when they arrived, I was soon rushed off to hospital. 642 00:46:51,199 --> 00:46:54,199 The death of Wheeler was attributed to a violent attacker, 643 00:46:54,880 --> 00:46:57,480 mainly an account of the damage to his body, and 644 00:46:57,719 --> 00:47:01,280 they pulled it out of the fire, not just burns, 645 00:47:01,320 --> 00:47:06,760 of course, but the slash throat and damaged vertebrae. Taylor 646 00:47:06,800 --> 00:47:10,960 and Keen, while never recovered, were both considered victims of 647 00:47:11,000 --> 00:47:16,960 the same attacker. For my part, I never contradicted this theory, 648 00:47:18,000 --> 00:47:21,159 but I never could quite bring myself to outright say 649 00:47:21,320 --> 00:47:24,239 some crazy addict was the reason for the fire and 650 00:47:24,320 --> 00:47:29,679 the men's deaths. Besides, I had my own issues to 651 00:47:29,760 --> 00:47:33,960 deal with, third degree burns over most of my back 652 00:47:34,400 --> 00:47:37,199 and damaged to my spine that left me with severe 653 00:47:37,320 --> 00:47:41,599 nerve damage. It'd be a lifetime of work just to 654 00:47:41,639 --> 00:47:45,119 get back at my feet, so the doctor said. Back then. 655 00:47:47,039 --> 00:47:51,280 As for the museum, I'm glad it went up in smoke, 656 00:47:52,119 --> 00:47:55,320 and I'm glad the explosion caused the cave in down there. 657 00:47:56,559 --> 00:47:59,599 My memories of the cave itself are still quite fuzzy. 658 00:47:59,599 --> 00:48:04,000 Of course, I've relayed as much as I can. We 659 00:48:04,039 --> 00:48:08,679 went down, we saw things, then came back. The images 660 00:48:08,760 --> 00:48:12,840 the giants pushed into my mind. I'm still not sure 661 00:48:13,159 --> 00:48:18,639 how trustworthy they are. I still don't believe Elijah's interpretation 662 00:48:18,800 --> 00:48:22,000 of that cave was correct. I don't think the Earth 663 00:48:22,039 --> 00:48:24,960 is only six thousand years old, or that the Bible 664 00:48:25,119 --> 00:48:29,199 is meant to be taken literally. Will they say humans 665 00:48:29,239 --> 00:48:33,000 evolved over a million years ago? I guess there's a 666 00:48:33,000 --> 00:48:37,119 lot of history that got lost along the way. As 667 00:48:37,159 --> 00:48:40,159 for Elijah's theory that the conditions of the cave would 668 00:48:40,239 --> 00:48:45,559 cause some divine change in humans, well, I can remember 669 00:48:45,639 --> 00:48:50,039 him clearly enough to know there was nothing godly about 670 00:48:50,079 --> 00:48:55,480 what happened to him. And as for me, the doctors 671 00:48:55,559 --> 00:49:01,000 keep scanning me. It was once every six months, then three, 672 00:49:01,039 --> 00:49:04,920 then one. Then I was being called into the hospital 673 00:49:05,239 --> 00:49:08,440 damn near every other day, and now they won't even 674 00:49:08,519 --> 00:49:12,119 let me out of my room. They won't tell me 675 00:49:12,199 --> 00:49:15,800 what's wrong. Why. I sometimes wake up to find my 676 00:49:15,880 --> 00:49:20,000 back itching like it's covered in a thousand ants, while 677 00:49:20,039 --> 00:49:22,599 the last nurse who gave me a sponge bath ran 678 00:49:22,639 --> 00:49:26,960 out sobbing halfway through. They took me in for surgery 679 00:49:27,000 --> 00:49:30,760 a few days ago, and when I woke up, they'd 680 00:49:30,760 --> 00:49:34,559 amputated something from my leg, but they wouldn't tell me what. 681 00:49:36,519 --> 00:49:39,519 I'm lucky my wife managed to sneak this phone in. 682 00:49:39,800 --> 00:49:42,719 It's the only communication I have with the outside world. 683 00:49:43,719 --> 00:49:46,920 I'd like to see her again, but I'm not sure 684 00:49:47,039 --> 00:49:51,039 I will. I guess I was down in that cave 685 00:49:51,119 --> 00:49:55,559 for too long, but I know it's getting worse and 686 00:49:55,599 --> 00:50:00,239 that I don't have much longer. The last doctor who 687 00:50:00,280 --> 00:50:04,400 came in wore a hazmat suit, and I'm pretty sure 688 00:50:04,440 --> 00:50:09,199 when he left he was still coughing out blood.